Sunday morning serenade.

Sunday mornings are my day for tranquility. I usually get up earlier then my better half and make some nice dark coffee via the French Press.
During the week we have an machine that first grinds then packs the coffee into a puck prebrews and quickly dispenses a nice but weaker cup than I can make with my own measure in the French Press.

Sunday I have time, to sit read and relax.

One might say that I relax every day, which can be correct but Sundays are different.
Today I will not start any projects nor will I finish any except figuring out what I may make for dinner tonight.
A hazelnut crusted apple tort sounds like my gargantuan project for today.
I bought some Granny Smith apples on our last trip to the mega store and then because of a lack of motivation, put the that project on hold.

The other nicety about Sunday morning is to sit on our patio, enjoying the sun peeking through the vegetation as it paints parts of the lawn and flowerbeds, then illuminating my lettuce plantation......

I enjoy the serenade of the multitude of birds that have invaded the branches and trees that surround my space.

Acres of trees have been hacked by villains cajoling the birds to seek refuge in the mammoth tall trees we still have and are having a hard time in protecting.......you've heard that story before....

Anyone have a high power laser out there that I can borrow to protect our flimsy perimeter?

So with a steaming dark cup of jo, some of yesterdays pan de platano con nuiz de castilla, I sit enjoying the moment. Attempting to chronicle my struggle to achieve tranquilly.

In a hour or so the works of Bach or Bizet will start to drown out the noise that will slowly ratchet up from the surroundings waking up. Then perhaps if there is too much tranquilly going on I will have to lay down for a well deserved siesta.
I love Sundays...........

One step forward , twenty steps back

I waste time during the day by reading the online version of USA Today. The cover story is pretty strange in the realm of how the government is reverting back to the dark ages.

The story says that municipalities are charging the jail inmates for their incarcerations. Ok, I don't have too much of a problem there, except that 25% of the locked up people got there for their drug offenses and that is a waste of time, money and manpower.

The story goes on and states that because the cities have been spending more money than they bring in, you know, they do what businesses and families can not do...that of spending money they do not have, they seem to do an excellent job of it, nevertheless.

SO....they figure they will just bill the inmate anywhere between 20 and 80 dollars a day for their upkeep.

Huumm....that's sound good, if you can get the money, but it goes on to say that if the person doesn't pay the bill, they simply turn them over for collection.

So now the person, will have their credit ruined, if it isn't ruined already, and wind up in a worse situation maybe without employment which will then cause them to rob and steal......

I don't know about you but that just seems like they would be better off in debtors prison.......Thank God, they got rid of debtors prisons in the last century.........

They might try cutting out their overhead by stopping funding of programs and studies that do nothing, or maybe they just want everybody to be working for the government..... I think we already do that?
But that's just my opinion..........

In Mexico at least jail is no country club, unless your family has some money, then you have good food, tv, other entertainment, fine wines, almost like home......

Lettuce eat well now

We had some guests for dinner the other night and they asked where I got my lettuce greens.

If you have been following my rants, you would have seen my last month posting of one of my lettuce boxes.

Fresh greens with a basic vinaigrette is a simple yet elegant dish.

No this blog is not a cooking blog just a mishmash of information , you know.

What you can do is get something fresh, affordable and not have to put up with mediocre lettuce from the mercado.

I have tired shopping every day at the mercado and have yet to see fresh greens that are not half wilted.

Mexicans are not to keen on salads, or weeds as they call them. WalMart in Morelia occasionally has some half way decent Romaine, but depending on the deleiver day, good luck.

So why not grow your own, you may like it.

Reading other residents around, many enjoy the benefits of gardening. So you might as well toss some seeds in the ground and reap your lunch or dinner salad......

The photos above are the growth in about a month. The lettuce you see is Romaine, and when you pick them at this stage, the leaves are tender and absolutely delicious!

Look up in the mountain , it's a tower!

Ever wonder what those signs on the side of the road are that say:
Microndos Cerro Negro,
or other road signs that say Microndos something else??

There are lots of them on almost any road that you may be on for more than an hour.
There are at least 20 from Nogales to Morelia. I know exactly when they are going to pop up, kind of an obsession with me or rather just being observant.

You can't teach on old dog any new tricks so to say and you can make me take my eyes off of mountain tops no matter where I may be.

The US, Mexico, Honduras, Spain, Italy, any where that I may visit, my eyes naturally gravitate towards the mountain ridge lines.

There are some nice ones between Morelia and Guadalajara. The best one is by Los Moches.

There just outside town there is a ridge that has over 30 towers on it..... interesting, right?
Sure, I'll bet no one besides me ever gives them a second look!

Down here I am close to Cerro Burro, which is east of Patzcuaro. It happens to be the site that is used partially to blanket a majority of Michoacan.

Kind of sick , eh?

People ask me what I use to do, so here is a tiny part of how and what I spent the last 40 years.

I started out as a photographer for a daily newspaper in San Francisco, then did TV News for a few years and then got into radio and communications.

One of the benefits of that vocation was to be one of the lucky few to visit and have access to some of the most beautiful and peaceful places in the country.

One of my duties when I stared out in the radio business was to install and maintain two way radio equipment which was located high atop mountains in places located all over California.
Two way radios (before cellular phones) were used by businesses to communicate with their offices and other trucks in the field for dispatching and coordination.

Police and Fire services as well as public safety still rely on those types of systems even today because of their fast direct unit to unit operation.

Traveling to these mountain tops was the high point of my days.
Ask any old radio man and they will all tell you that it was the most rewarding part of the job.

No one wanted to stick around and sit at a bench working on equipment when it was possible to hop in the truck, usually a 4 wheel drive and go up to a mountain.

Quiet, serene, undisturbed, you would be privy to views and locations the normal person would never have access to.

Every half hour or so, if you were inside a building you would come out and sit in the truck or walk around gazing on the beauty, see some eagles flying around, views that often would span 50 to 100 miles on some days.

The only bad thing was when you had to go up there during winter. Often we would get about a quarter of a mile off the main road and we would be stuck in a foot or two of snow drifts.

Once I had to get a pair of snow shoes and hike up about 5 miles to the top of one mountain, that's something that I wouldn't consider doing nowadays....That was back in the early 70's.........Interesting what one will do when they are young and adventurous......


Once you left the office you usually were gone for at least the rest of the day. Most of these locations were a 2 to 4 hour drive, one way!
Depending on what the problem was it was either a real easy fix, something like a blown fuse or circuit breaker or perhaps a backup generator would not start, those calls usually always seemed to happen during storms or 2 am on Saturday mornings.

When I first got into the business, I was the one that had to respond to those after hour calls........ I saw to it quickly that there was someone else hired to get that responsibility......real quick.

Funny thing is I talk to lots of friends that depending on what they did in life they still have a habit of noticing things. Friends of mine who is an architects looks at building, shapes and styles. Another friend who was in construction looks at heavy equipment, structures, roads and foundations.
I look at mountain tops, radio towers and satellite dishes.

I can always tell you which direction is south.......

Oh, and if you click on the photo, you will see a high resolution image, that way you can see all the great detail in the antennas, feed lines and even identify the manufacturer of the antennas and frequency..........oooooouuuuu!

A Moment to Reflect is not asking too much, is it?

Memorial Day...., no it's not a day that was created to run to the stores for various sales and shopping junkets.
It's not a celebration of the unofficial start of summer, nor the celebration of the petroleum industry of being able to gouge many Americans as they fill up there gas tank in their cars.

Wait a week or two and the price will plummet 10 to 20 cents per gallon, for some strange reason.

Memorial Day is not the only day where people get together , drink too much and eat one too many hot dogs, and wind up being sick and not showing up for work the next day. Even though or Mexican friends seem to have many Memorial Day festivities through the year were they also do not show up for work.
Most of the time it starts a day or two before a holiday and lasts up to several days after.....but that's another subject.

Memorial Day should not be a party day, even though it has turned out to be, it is a solemn day where we should be stopping and reflecting on sacrifices.

The utmost sacrifice that a human can do for their other humans, that of giving up their life fighting for the concept of freedom and honor!

Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers.

Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country.

The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

The ceremonies centered around the mourning-draped veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Various Washington officials, including Gen. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, presided over the ceremonies.

After speeches, children from the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphan Home and members of the GAR made their way through the cemetery, strewing flowers on both Union and Confederate graves, reciting prayers and singing hymns.

Today, cities in the North and the South claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day in 1866. Both Macon and Columbus, Georgia., claim the title, as well as Richmond, Virginia. The village of Boalsburg, Pennsylvania., claims it began there two years earlier.

Approximately 25 places have been named in connection with the origin of Memorial Day, many of them in the South where most of the war dead were buried.

So before you smear the mustard on the hot dog, or shake the bottle of salsa on the fresh carnitas taco, think of what our predecessors, for all countries, near and far have done. This is the day to sit down, explain to the young generations the relevance of what and how important the memorial day is, especially in this day and age of the disappearance of freedoms.

Lest not forget the reasoning of why these brave souls gave up their lives, and attempt to curtail any actions by anyone who may want to disrespect the fallen soldiers.

Are you sure?

Some of the little annoyances of residence south of the border is first the questions, questions and more questions. Some I don't mind some I do. If you ask then you should at least listen and ponder the reasoning for the answer.

But when they start arguing with you about how life should be, then that is when I give up by walking away.

I use to enjoy confrontational discussions until I figured out that 30% of the people were stupid, and 30% were not sure of what they understood or knew and the balance were satisified with their decisions and are comfortable with their surroundings.

OK, I am being a little harsh, I have paid my dues and am entitled to be crotchety or if I was the other sex someone would describe me as "Bitchy"at times.....

I actually have been called a lot worse, and sometimes I actually refer to myself as the old xxxx

I don't mind it, hell I have gone through great lengths to preserve that title.

It allows me to insulate myself by making people think of me as an old grouch etc. That does come in handy at time you know....

So back to the story, I have questions of where to retire in Mexico almost daily.....And I think that from now on it will just be simpler to answer. Take your pick, San Miguel or Lake Chapala.

There, I 've said it and you can now pick your battle.

"But there isn't the culture of real Mexico there."

"OK, then why did you ask me if you already have a preconceived notion of where you want to reside?"
Besides you will not be happy down here unless you have your creature comforts.....

Why so many people move to Mexico is interesting. I know my reasoning, but when someone tells me that they want to move here because life is more affordable, I just chuckle and remember exactly what they said so I can remind them later.

They move here, but they want, 3 flat screens, they want a freezer, a double door refrigerator, a hot tub, computer, a lap top, a microwave, a blender, electric blanket or air condition and don't forget the big stereo.

They have lights on in the house all the time, not the CFL ones , but big halogen ones that suck the watts right out of the power pole, and then they tell me that their monthly CFE bill or expenses are almost as expensive as in the US.

Hello........

Why move here if you don't do at least some minimal lifestyle change?


You will probably just move back after a few years anyway.

Or am I being to narrow minded?
Me, not me!

Miles per bail of hay, hay no?

Well the news today is that the US is imposing mileage standards that should put a dent in whatever little business the car dealers have.

What are they going to do with all that inventory?

Getting good mileage should not be a problem, after all in our last vacation to Europe the Mercedes we rented about 4 years ago was getting 45 miles to the gallon.

In North America the same Mercedes model gets 24.

I wonder why?

So how do you get a vehicle that we hall animal feed, lumber, gravel and other stuff that requires some semblance of power to run at a low mileage?

I guess someone well tell us.

We can use a bicycle to go down hill to Patzcuaro, but up hill with a load of carnitas, tortillas and milk, will a tad more difficult.

Maybe I can find one of those old Volkswagen Beetles, the ones from the 60's

Or better yet, just on old nag. That is the epitome of efficiency. You go to town on it, gets decent mileage, as a byproduct you get decent fertilizer, the only drawback is it will be ahalf a days journey to trek 30 kilometers there and back.

Morelia will be a full day, if you get started real early...

Back to the old days. Basics and lots of time.

A burro is not any faster although cheaper.

If all else fails I can do what the enterprising individual did in the picture.

Flash

First the flash then the rumble, then the lights flash a few times or go out some of the time, then the downpour overfilling the gutters, then the sun peaks out and all is normal again.

Months of dusty parched ground is finally getting some needed moisture.

I have always been fascinated by the power and uncertainty of this natural phenomenon.
During the construction of our house, one of the workers met his demise on the road waiting for his ride, under one of our tall trees.
So it does come close to home, and there are flashes that are immediately followed by the rumble, meaning that the strike is close, real close.

Not growing up in the Midwest or area where lightning was common, I usually run out side to be fascinated by the show of nature, to the consternation of my much smarter wife. Hey, if it's my time to go,........

I still stand outside under the protection of the courtyard overhang under the metal gutters and downspouts. If it is a nice show at night, or during the middle of the night, I still run outside only sans clothing, you know, kind of a nature to nature experience.

I can just hear the comments, " Well we found him buck naked, burnt to a crisp laying under the metal gutter, where it appeared that the footprints where over the electric box, that houses the fountain pump......."

Not my time to go

Probably not the best place to watch, it can also be lethal just having a strike 50 ft away since the whole area can be effected.
I have found evidence of that by finding fused funny looking things in the ground under some of the metal objects that we have up on the top area of the property.

Hummm, too bad there is no way to harness that energy and reduce my CFE bill.

Sometimes I drive up to the top of our property and park to observe the light show as it rolls into the mountains and disappears after 30 minutes to entertain another audience.

At least the season will moisten the trees and ground on one hand acting as a better conductor to ground and on the other saturating the flammables to curtail a roaring firestorm.

Love nature, something no one can control, not yet anyway.

Now you can smoke.....burn baby burn...

From Reuters Health

"Researchers found that compared with non-smokers, a group of healthy smokers showed greater activity in a gene called AZGP1 in cell samples taken from their airways."

"Because the gene is thought to be important in breaking down fat and controlling weight, the findings point to one possible reason that smokers tend to weigh less than non-smokers -- and why people often put on pounds after quitting."

So, let me get this straight, something is healthy for you? Well what do you know, it brings to light a old Woody Allen movie, Sleeper, where he is put into suspended animation and brought back 200 years later only to find out that Twinkies and fattening brownies are good for your health.... So are they telling us that it is healthier to smoke than to get fat?

Sorry, there is still a lot of smoking going around in Mexico. The US at least is on its way to curtailing smoking, maybe a way overboard to the point where it is now illegal to even smoke outside in the street.

They should go to Mexico, to the restaurants.

"Would you like to be seated in the no smoking area?"

Thanks a lot! The tables are right next to the smokers and their smoke wafts over to your table, and you still smell like a forest fire when you come home.......

Sanborns is a good example of that. Where non smoking sections are not separated from the smoking section. So why bother, other than to placate the non smoking stormtroopers.

That's probably why I enjoy outside dining more and more, but I will have to say it is getting a little better, just a little, Mexico is still a lot better than Europe...... But that's another story.....

So meanwhile I will have to say, that although irritating, smoking is subsiding in Mexico, I hope they don't get Reuters new down here.

How hot is it?

Well, Mexico is suppose to be hot, right? Well yes it is, and at 8500 ft elevation it will be a nice 88 today or so.
But, when the sun goes down, first behind the towering pine trees, then about a hour later behind the mountains it will drop down to the mid 40's tonight.
Patzcuaro has one of most decent climates in Mexico. At least I think so, you have sun, great weather all year round, which includes the rainy season which will be starting this month. After a few months everything will turn green, wild flowers amass, fields upon fields of multicolor, every year.

San Miguel de Allende temperature is hot too. (transpose if you like)
In the high 90's today, but not dropping off to chilling temperatures like in Patzcuaro. They see mid 60's for the night. I guess you don't have too many woolen blanket shops around the plaza.....

Sounds like San Miguel would be the perfect place for visitors and residents alike. Good temperature, lots of decent restaurants, great museums, stores and culture. If you are an English speaking person, you can find a vast assortment of things to do, places to go and locations to be seen at, there.

There's always something happening in San Miguel.


The hot spot for Mexico is Hermosillo. Hermosillo is hovering around 100 degrees today and there that is not a pretty picture.

Land of pretty much nothing except a large dry lake bed that has a spillway right next to the road that we pass a few times each year, and for the last 15 years that I have never seen more than a barrel full of water around.

But at sometime there must have been tons of water, why else would they have built a large spillway ? Maybe someone can tell me one of these days what all the water management is really all about in Hermosillo. The government must have diverted it to grow something or other....

Back to the high hills, one of the nice conditions is that in Patzcuaro you can cool off by just going into the shade. Whether it be underneath a colonial overhang one of many in the big plaza or in the multicolor tented overhangs of the many vendors in the plaza chica mercado.

Occasionally I will see some older women walking around with a parasol, must be afraid of too much sun, bad for the melanomas.......

Or maybe they want to keep the wrinkles from becoming permanent frown lines......you think?

Lots of people think Mexico is just beaches and palm trees, yep you are right, that's all there is down here....

Mexico has almost everything for everybody. It also has drug cartels, murders, flu epidemics and kidnappings.

Ahhhh, so much stuff, so little time to enjoy everything......

Life and cherries

One of our fellow cyberwriters has referred to life in Mexico as no bowl of cherries, for some reason there have been a lot of rose colored glasses handed out to Americans for the last several decades.

Some choose to wear them other have ground them into the earth hoping to return some of the elements back into from whenst it came.

Life in Mexico is grand, life is mellow, life is sad and life is difficult.
Depending on the day of the week and if you had to deal with other people , government employees or local residents you can choose any of the preceding descriptions.

There are certain ways of doing things, and if you try to upset the old apple cart by doing it your way, you better be careful.

"we have been doing that for hundreds of years and......."

Yes there is something to be said for that, but.........if you are not willing to pull yourself out of the pig wallow, then why not?

But that's the way it is!

Why is that many temporary transplants seem to want to change things around here?
They leave their "place of residence" obviously for some reason then come down here and want to create the copy of where they left?

I see too many people want to foist their ideas on other people nowadays......just look at the land to the North, that is a good example.
You can't do much of anything without somebody standing over your shoulder telling you how to do this or that.

Personally we have not been big on socializing with groups or crowds of people for some reason.

I can count the people I talk to on both hands, and in a way I want to keep it that way. It may be easier or certainly less complicated on having to process this and that......

I have my beliefs and ideas and I am quite happy in my place at this time. Thinking or complicating my life is not on my agenda, not as much as on someone else's agenda.

I can give you reams of examples, but today is Sunday, the day for quiet enjoyment and family, ones own thoughts, and thanking life for being able to breath one more day.

That is my opinion for today, but I might be wrong.........check in with me in a few days.....

Back to the beef bourguignon........

You tell me

What's next.


We had the Narcos with their rampages across the country,
Next the talamontes bad boys, needed to be punished for zipping trees down without permission.

Ok, the economy was stale, so some new topics needed to be spouted,
Poor pigs got a bad rap, pharmaceuticals got a big boost along with paper mask companies.

Now it looks like the flu is not what was expected, they wanted more deaths.
It is fizzling out after only 10 days of hype.

You tell me what is now going to be the new holy crap story?

Another bail out of a failing company destined to die, after gazillions of dollars are appropriated by someone?
Now FIAT, yep FIAT the car company that had it's initials stand for Fix It Again Tony, is going to get Chrysler. Big Daimler couldn't make money with it, so now the Italians are............
Ok......

We need lots of diversions to keep our mind off of the real important things.
Price of tortillas, kilo of harina, the next American Idol.

I remember when kids knew where countries, cities, were located on the map.
They could walk up to a globe and point to them. Remember Globes?

Now they ask someone on Twitter.
I give up, what's Twitter?

Meanwhile, back on the hill, we are still waiting for some rain to soak the parched earth and stop the threat of our trees burning up. I sometimes wonder what's more disturbing. A ravaged grove of trees turned into charcoal or useless stumps from tree thieves.......

Now what?

So now the Mexican government is concerned about the sinking economy due to the travel and swine flu situation.
Maybe they should have thought of that a little sooner.

I have seen pictures of DF and you could shoot a canon down the street and not hit anyone.

Cancun reports that restaurants are down 90%

It is tough goings for the average Jose , the family that runs the small independent restaurant or the corner bodega, all report devastating situations.
No income.

How much of that is fact? From what we see on TV, things look very sloooooow. Planes are flying people out, not too many coming in to spend money.....but then again it is starting to be the slow season. No one wants to lay on the beach during thunderstorms.... and the bugs are mean and thirsty.

I would think that the people have been through worse times, but maybe not.

Excesses were not only in the US, but the taste of stuff has filtered down to here. Just look at how many people are walking around with cell phones.

We were at the Telcel office a few weeks ago, and the waiting time was about 45 minutes in the line to get an issue resolved.

The big questions is how long is it going to be before things get back to some normality?

Everyone we know are concerned and staying at home. Their eyes and ears glued to their new flat screen TV, that they borrowed from another family member to purchase.

The Electra Store looked pretty empty as we passed it the other day.

Back to growing your own food and chickens........at least for another week or two.
Now there is talk that the US will have to bail out Mexico........that's pretty funny.

Where is the money going to materialize from?
I wonder why Mexico can't do the same thing as the US is doing?

Just feed more paper and ink into the presses.............