Adjustments

Maybe we have gone back and forth between Houston and San Miguel so much that some things don't "hit" me in the same way they use to when we come back to Houston after an extended stay in Mexico. I remember going to the grocery store back in Houston several years ago, and just being overwhelmed at the size, the lighting, the cleanliness, and the cool, fresh air....no smells of ripe fruit or fresh meats. I don't know why that change doesn't seem so big today, except that we have had one foot in both places for quite a while now.

But what does still make me suck in my breath and say WOW is the open space. Yes, I live in the 4th largest city in the United States but the freeways that disect the city leave huge holes in the fabric of the buildings so that you can see the skyline. The highways and roads are wide to try to move all the cars....since Houston isn't much of a walking town. Although Houston doesn't have a great park system, individual buildings have left space for fountains and landscaping. So there is this feeling of space, lots of green space.

Houston is so ripe and green now. There has been a lot of rain and the crepe myrtles are full of blooms, all the yards seem lush and over-grown....mine, that you see here, certainly is inspite of having a gardener who tries to keep it cut back while we are gone. The city is a bright grassy green as compared to San Miguel that is actually very dry and earth-colored. Patios can be lush with bouganvilla and pot plants but San Miguel doesn't overwhelm you with green spaces except in Parque Juarez and the Jardin in the Centro. But even in those two places, it is very structured with walks and it is as if those places would not exist with out humans to take care of them. In Houston, you have the feeling that if humans didn't do battle with the lush vegetation on a regular basis, that the houses would soon be taken over by the vines and trees.