Are You Certain......

A couple of weeks ago, one of my Houston neighbors commented to one of my blog entries, "Are you certain this is a place you want to live full time?"

I was thinking about that question this weekend as we prepare to come back to Houston to clean out the house for the people who want to buy it.

It hasn't been an unusual weekend but it has been a nice weekend.

Friday morning I headed into town for Yoga. A stop at Buena Vida for bottled water and I saw Meg and Sandy having breakfast. Not much time to visit, just hugs and then across the street to the Yoga Co-op at Bellas Artes. It was a good session. I always leave there feeling centered, aware of my body and on an emotional high.

I walked up Canal and through the Jardin and saw that they were setting up a stage and getting ready for a political rally later in the day. The Jardin was crowded with Mexicans and just a few foreigners since this is the low season for tourists. The food vendors had moved their carts back under the trees.....I'm not sure whether it was because of the preparations for the rally or to escape the sun.

I walked on toward home and stopped to visit with Rick and Deb at Zocalo. I told them that the Houston house was under contract so we would be here full time. Lots of hugs and excitement from them. I heard about their Semanta Santa adventures. We have to follow them next year. After I left Zocalo, I ran into Tom who was buying flowers. Their daughter was expected from the airport in the next hour or so. I told him what a lovely evening we had at dinner at their house on Monday. We walked along together chatting until we reached his house then I walked on home.

In the afternoon there was time for a siesta along with working at the computer trying to catch up with some image processing.

Friday evening we met Barry and Tracy at Romano's Restaurante. After a drink in the bar, we went up to the terrace and while we sat sat there we watched the setting sun outline the clouds with that proverbial silver lining before becoming a red-orange ball and slipping below the horizon. The day had been hot but on the terrace lit by candle light we were cooled by a gentle breeze. We talked about immigration, houses, friends, kids, and trips to New York City. Easy talk among friends. I met Barry and Tracy right after we bought our house. It was one of those friendships that immediately took hold. We lingered at the table long past the sunset and then walked back to Colonia San Antonio together.

Saturday Ned had errands in town and I had some chores around the house and more work in Photoshop at the computer. About 5:30 we went up on the terrace, sipped cool drinks and watched the Egrets flying back to the trees in the Parque. Some hummingbirds came to the feeder or to sample the Mexican sage blossoms. The shadows grew longer and the town glistened in the setting sun light. The breeze turned a bit cooler. We could hear the early evening street vendors announcing their wares. We decided to go into the Centro for dinner.

Again we walk. There is no getting the car out to go the three-fourths of a mile to the Centro even though it is uphill. If we think about it at all, we tell ourselves it is good for our hearts. But here walking isn't "exercise." It is just going where you want to go.

Luckily we planned to eat at the sidewalk cafe at the Posada San Francisco because when we reached the Jardin, there were Mariachi's playing at one cafe, a seated audience in front of the Parroquia listening to a men's chorus, some huge piece of equipment on a flat bed truck in front of the bank about which we speculated had they just lowered it from the roof, were they getting ready to put it on the roof or was there some other purpose. It didn't move off the flat bed truck all evening and we don't know what the equipment was doing there.

The Jardin was full of people....young families with toddlers playing with toys bought from the vendors, people rushing across the Jardin toward the Monjas Church in the finest of suits and ties and cocktail dresses. We decided it must be a wedding. Young couples cuddled on the benches, older couples walked hand in hand. Grown children helped elderly parents up and down the stairs. More than the usual number of food vendors were set up around the Jardin.

We remembered that this was the evening when there would be a Mass for Pedro Vargas, a world famous entertainer who was born in San Miguel. And there were fireworks set up in front of the Parroquia to be exploded later.

After we circled around the Jardin a time or two just checking on what was going on, we went to the cafe for dinner. We were seated at a table by the window and there was a trio playing and singing in the cafe. We order drinks, then dinner and watched the world go by outside. Just when I'm thinking that I have seen hardly a gringo all evening, Carrie, David, Bob and a friend of theirs walked by and stopped to chat.

We left the restaurant just in time to walk across the Jardin and see the fireworks. We see Barbara and Mike. They have been to dinner to celebrate Mike's birthday. They live in San Miguel full time and Barbara remarked that she never gets tired of seeing the fireworks....that is saying a lot because we have them all the time. I understand. I feel the same way.

We walk home. As we pass the Instituto, we pause a few minutes to watch the wedding party arrive for the reception. Along Calle Orizaba we hear music from cars that pass as well as some from some of the houses. The men's bar on the corner of 20 de Enero is lively with music and voices. The Exquisito Taco stand is doing a good business and there is a steady stream of young people dressed to attract the opposite sex headed toward centro and leaving a trail of perfumed air behind them.

We nod and speak to our neighbors sitting outside talking or selling jellos and custards from tables in front of their house. "Buenos Noches," we say. They smile and reply, "Buenos Noches." Our dreams float under the ceiling fan and mix with the far-off sound of music from the reception at the Instituto. We sleep well.

Today, Ned went to the market. I spent the morning "exploring" for images as I walk in Colonia San Antonio. I came home and downloaded them and then started processing some of them. Tonight we are cooking in. Something simple....Roasted pork tenderloin, broccoli, and salad. I think we will eat on the patio.

"Are you certain......"
Yes, I'm certain.

Exploring

I've been exploring in Colonia San Antonio and exploring what I can do in Photoshop with images made with the Lensbaby on my digital camera. The colors with the uncoated lens of the Lensbaby are already altered and I've been pushing them to be even more saturated. Sometimes it is just fun to explore and play.

Five-Year Plans

My friend, Jay Schwarm, started talking about Five-Year plans 20 years ago when he took a promotion that moved him from Houston to Chicago. He was working a series of five-year plans to get him to early retirement. It was Jay's theory that as we get older that we probably can't make realistic plans more than about five years out.

The concept of a Five-Year Plan was developed in 1928 by the Communist Party in the USSR as a series of centralized plans to promote rapid economic development. Sometimes they were fulfilled early and sometimes they weren't fulfilled at all. The term "Five-Year Plan" has always had a very Communistic ring to it to me who grew up in the Cold War.

While I was in the business world, we periodically made Five-Year Forecasts.

Five-Year Forecasts = Capitalism
Five-Year Plans = Communism
Semantics? Well, sort of. Might be debatable based on who is doing/enforcing the planning/forecasting

For a while I thought Jay's Five-Year theory wasn't that great an idea but when we bought our house in Mexico suddenly we found ourselves using a Five Year Plan. The economics of buying here was based on some financial planning with a.....Guess what?.....a Five Year Plan. We are now about 4-1/2 years into that five year plan.

The plan was that we would buy the house, live in Mexico four or five months of the year and then rent it out to cover the cost of maintaining the house. Since we had rented houses in San Miguel for a month of so at a time, it would be nice to know we were always going back to the same place, our place, and I would have the opportunity to decorate and have "my stuff" around me. Well the plan worked great for the first two years but by the third we found that we didn't like having renters and wouldn't you know, they would have rented the house six months earlier and suddenly we wanted to be in our house but the renters were occupying our space.

In the fourth year we realized that we didn't just want to be able to come anytime, but we wanted to be here all of the time. Well this just didn't jive with the five year plan because part of the the original five year plan was that at the end of five years we would probably have enough of San Miguel or maybe our health situation would have changed and we would be ready to sell it and move on.

For the last six months we have been working on a new Five year plan. Selling the house in Houston and living in San Miguel full time are a part of the New Five-Year Plan.

Maybe Jay was on to something 20 years ago and I'm just now catching up.

Under Contract

Sixteen days after I wrote that we had made a decision and we were putting our house in Houston on the market, we are under a Sales Contract with a closing date of June 1. Yikes! We don't have any regrets but we are surprised that it all happened so fast. The house in Houston is unusual and we knew that it would take a special buyer. Well, they showed up sooner rather than later. We aren't counting our chickens yet. They have an option period where they can get out of the contract but I think it is all going to happen.

Now we just have to figure out how we are going to get rid of all our stuff in the house. I dread all the work for the next six weeks but I'm excited about all the doors this opens for us. So as my blogging friend Juan Calypso says, "Stay tuned!" Who knows what these crazy old gringos might do next.

Busy Times

It seems like a lot is going on in our world. We've had house guests. My husband's sister, Betty and her husband, Jim. I decided to use the Lensbaby on the camera this weekend while they were here. We picked them up at the Leon airport on Wednesday and it was non-stop after that. They have been here before but we always have something new to show them. This visit was the first time we made it over to Dolores Hidalgo.....which of course meant that we had to eat comida at Vicente's. Jim thought that was the "Best."
Our friends Barry and Tracy invited us to a party. I've said before that Tracy knows how to give a party and she can put food on the table in what seems to be an effortless fashion. This time Jess, their son was the grill chef and we had grilled salmon and grilled vegetables along with lots of other platters of goodies. I always enjoy talking with Tracy's Mom, June who has been living in San Miguel and painting for the last six months. Can you believe the woman will be 80 this year. She is on the go all the time, a wonderful painter, and a lively conversationalist.

Betty and Jim left on Sunday but while they were here we were out on the town and tried as many restaurants as we could fit in. I think they will be back before too long.

The day after they left we went to a dinner party at Dianne and Tom's. Excellent dinner but again the conversation made the evening. Some lively discussions about oil prices. One train of thought from a Houstonian and someone who had lived in Saudi for over 20 years and the other from Oregonians.

By Tuesday I was very happy to get back into my kitchen and serve dinner on the patio.

I'm still behind on my work. I haven't processed all the images I'm interested in from Good Friday, plus others that I've taken since then. I did managed to get to Yoga on Monday. Yoga is good for my body and my mental health.

And people ask what we do with our time in San Miguel.

Rainy Nights

This morning we awoke to clear skies and a cool breeze. So nice after the heat of the past week.

It has rained the last three nights. The first night was a storm accompanied by hail and maybe some sleet. We could hear it clattering on the windows but didn't get out of bed to check it out. But the rain the last two nights has been a nice rain.

This is good. It had become so hot and oppressive that we were fearing the month of May. May still may be hot and dry but this reprieve has been reassuring. Not only reassuring that maybe May will not be so hot but it has given us hope that the rainy season will be a good one. The lakes are down about 30%.

Last year the rainy season....usually from June through September, was very sparse after the middle of July. We need the rain.

Agave and Blue Wall

I'm still playing with the Lensbaby and I loved the play of colors by this Agave plant outside a house.

Learn the Language

Jose commented to my blog about Customer Service and our the Cablevision company here in Mexico:

Que lastima que Uds. estan en Mexico pero no hablan la idioma, y continuan a ver television de gringolandia. Por que no lee un libro, o aprende espanol p'hablar con sus vecinos? O ellos son gringos tambien?

Basically he is saying that I should learn Spanish so I can watch the Spanish channels and I can speak to my neighbors. And then he asks if all my neighbors are Gringos too.

First of all I live in a Mexican neighborhood and my neighbors are Mexican with a few Gringos scattered around the Colonia. We didn't want to live in a totally Gringo community. Because we live in a Mexican neighborhood I have always seem to have something interesting to write about.....the differences in the culture are fascinating and you either are willing to go along with the Mexican way of doing things are you are unhappy living here. I love it and I hope I never lose my enthusiasm for seeing and living here in Mexico. Most of the time I have to laugh at my USA expectations of how things should be.

But the one thing that Jose is dead right on is, I should learn more Spanish. Ned's Spanish is pretty good. Mine is bad. I sound like an uneducated child speaking in the present tense and using lots of gestures. The kind Mexicans put up with it and figure out what I'm trying to say. If I listen to a conversation I can usually get the gist of the conversation but that loses so much of the meaning. But when they start to speak rapidly, I'm lost.

I'm living in Mexico and I should learn the language so that I can carry on a conversation where we can exchange ideas and opinions. With my old brain that is going to take time and a lot of effort but I'm feeling the need to do that more and more.

I've been told that watching the Mexican channels will help me learn Spanish. I'm sure this is true and I was surprised how much I understood when we were watching the World Series in Spanish. While we don't watch a lot of TV, I think that even if I become better with the Spanish, I'll still want to see some TV from the USA.

But Jose if you check in on the blog again and read this, doesn't that letter from the Manager of the Cable Company make you giggle when you compare the Mexican response to what would probably be the USA response? It is more honest, more down to earth, and not crafted by the legal department. I love it. Viva la diferencia!

And Jose, I promise, I'm going to start studying Spanish again.

Out with the Old, In with the New

Will lost his first tooth last night.

Customer Service?

The local cable company in San Miguel seems to have problems from time to time with it's programming from the USA. We usually get the two stations from New York and one from Erie Pennsylvania. Yes Erie....and Erie doesn't even have a 10 PM newscast but they do have the Caribbean forecast with a guy in a flowered shirt telling us how nice the weather is in the Caribbean. But at least we get the ABC programming in the evening. We have adjusted to it.

About a month ago, the three major channels were gone and in their place was a variety of other programming. Ned hiked over to the cable company about a mile away to ask what was happening. They said that the major channels had switched to some new digital format and they were waiting on equipment so that they could again receive their output. Then we found out that this change to digital was announced months ago and so we assumed that the local company just had not bothered to order the new equipment until it was totally necessary.

After a week or two, we started to receive the three major channels from stations in California. Just one problem. We are getting the programming three hours later than usual. It is hard to stay up late enough to get the 10 PM news.

So once again Ned hiked to the cable company to find out what was going on. They said that they were negotiating with the channels out of NY and they hoped to resolve the issues within a month and then they gave him a letter from the local station manager to read.

DEAR MR:
Let me tell you that we are sorry for the inconveniences the change on the networks is giving you, but all is a problem of copy right, and as long as we don"t get those copy rights for the new york or any other east or central station, we cant do anithyng abou it, we are working on that and as soon we can seattle an aggreement we'll go back to the east time, for now, all we can do, is wait. As yoy know, having satelite from the states in Mexico is iligal so if you feel good about doing iligal stuff, go ahead, we cant do to much about it, is your desision. About the reinbusement , no problem when you come to the office ask for it, but when you sign the contract with us, please relize thta is said that we can change the programing without notice, because we don't own the signals, so you were out of the networks but you always had a signal from other station. the tv screen never went blank. And about the time zone, we'd never promese you to have an specific time zone, only the networks, without compromising ourselfes for any special ones. (sorry about any misspellings, my english is not so good) -----

If this kind of stuff drives you crazy, don't plan to live in Mexico. Their concept of Customer Service has a little different twist.

Good Friday

I followed the Good Friday procession from our neighborhood church in Colonia San Antonio through our neighborhood. Here are some of the altars for the Stations of the Cross. I love them. They are made by the people in the houses with what they have at hand or can borrow from neighbors. I don't seem to be able to catch up with processing images but when I do, you'll see some more from the procession.

Illegal Gringos

This past week the front-page headline of one of our local Mexican newspapers was "Gringos Ilegales" and the story continued:

• Jubilados norteamericanos trabajan ilegalmente en nuestra ciudad.
• Se introducen como turistas pero trabajan en el sector inmobiliario sin pagan impuestos

Roughly translated:

• North American Retirees are working illegally in our city
• They come in as a tourists but they work in real estate without paying taxes.

As best as I can understand the Spanish, the North Americans are collecting real estate commissions but they do not have an FM-3 that would allow them to work in Mexico. They come in on tourist visas and sell some real estate, they do not pay taxes and they return to the USA and then later come back and do it again. Mexican Professional Real Estate People are not happy with this situation.

We certainly know North Americans in San Miguel who are working in Real Estate here but all of them are very careful to follow the legal procedures. Most of them own property in San Miguel and they could be deported and lose the right to live in Mexico. But that sure doesn't mean that this story isn't true. Just like I feel if Mexicans live in the USA they are subject to the laws there, the same is true for the Americans who come here.

I do find it interesting that this story appeared at the same time that much is being written in the USA about Mexicans who are working illegally in the USA.

Holy Wednesday

On Holy Wednesday, the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) Procession begins at the Oratorio Church in the Centro. The Procession stops at 14 Stations of the Cross that are marked by crosses embedded in the buildings. There are many women in black dress and children with feathery angel wings in this procession. It is one of my favorite processions in the Centro because the town has not yet become so crowded with tourists, mostly Mexican tourist....and it is possible to move along with the procession or jump ahead of it in order to catch the photograph that you missed earlier. I love the symbolism in this parade. The women wearing black carry symbols of many things leading up to the crucifixion...the crown of thorns, the cock, the dice, the stakes, candles, flowers. The parade is rather long and uphill. I don't know how the women manage to walk this parade in spike-heeled party shoes but many of them do. Another thing I love about processions here. The floats, the flowers, the banners are made by the common man/woman....not some set designer.

Palm Sunday with the Lensbaby

I've photographed the Easter Processions several years so for Palm Sunday I decided to try to photograph it with the Lensbaby. Actually there are two processions....one from the San Francisco Church and one that starts in Juarez Parque and goes to the Parroquia. I'm still deciding if I like using the Lensbaby for the processions.

Lawbreakers 1, Police 0

The young men had been drinking on the street corner. Talking, laughing. About 3 AM some point had been crossed between drunkenness and the young men's testosterone levels and a fight broke out. There was much screaming of obscenities and the noise of the young men getting pushed and shoved against the doors of the houses on the corner.

Someone must have called the police. They arrived in force. Motorcycle cops, wagons and cars. The fighters scattered with the police chasing them. One was captured and handcuffed and put in the wagon. The others must have escaped into the house where they live a few doors down the street and the police were banging on the door. Suddenly bottles were exploding all over the street as the young men who were on the roof started throwing bottles at the police. The police responded by throwing rocks. The young men were screaming obscenities at the officers.

The bottle throwers were winning the war. The police retreated to safer spots. In a lull in the battle, they moved their motorcycles further up the street away from hits by bottles. Soon they were all gathered about a 1/2 a block away from the bottle throwers. They stood in the street discussing the situation. Then some of them left. Now there were six of them in the street. Far from the bottle throwers who stopped throwing bottles.

The six police officers stood there a little longer. All was quiet on the street now. Soon they all left. Perhaps the bottle throwers went to bed to sleep off their intoxification.

What happens next time?
Will the police respond if they are afraid of getting pelted with bottles?
Will the police file a report with the Ministerio Publico?
If they do, will the Ministerio Publico investigate?
Will these young men be arrested?
Will the young men think they own the street?
Is there any respect for the police in San Miguel?
Citizens in San Miguel are being urged to organize Neighborhood Watch Programs. If the police retreat when they are being attacked by lawbreakers, what good will a Neighborhood Watch do?

More Road Work

Last week I wrote about the road work all over town. This is outside our front door.

And this is just down our street about 1/2 block. Before we bought our house, we rented the terracotta and gray house several times. They worked on this street last year. I think as long as they lay rocks and smooth dirt on top of it they will be back again the next year. The good part is that these guys will have another job next year.

Permission Granted

I've been granted permission to live in Mexico as a rentista for another year. This is my third renewal on my FM-3 visa. The original FM-3 was easy. I had a list of what was needed and I took the papers to the Mexican Consulate in Houston one day, paid my fees and came back the next day to pick up my FM-3. It would seem that renewing an existing FM-3 in Mexico would be easy too..............

Well, it isn't hard but you sure can't do it in one or two trips to the Immigration Office. So it has become a business for some of the bi-lingual Mexican people in San Miguel to do the renewals and take care of other visa issues with the Immigration Office here for lots of us gringos who don't appreciate the Mexican adventure of it all.

First of all, you can not apply for a renewal until 30 days before your FM-3 expires. Then you must have copies of EVERY page in your passport and your FM-3. Next it is off to the clerical offices around the Immigration office to have your paperwork typed up. Notice I said typed up....like a typewriter where you can insert multiply sheets of paper with carbon paper in between. After all that paper work is done, you take it to a bank to wait in line and pay the required fees for the FM-3.

The next thing that you need is a Letter of Solvency notarized by the US Consulate. Until recently we had a full time Consul in San Miguel. You could take in your last three bank statements proving that you have sufficient income on one day and the next day you could go back and pick up the letter. But our Consul has retired and now someone from the Embassy in Mexico City comes over once a week. You need to make an appointment two weeks in advance to see her. In the past the Secretary at the Consulate would type the letter that was to be notarized but now they give you a copy and you type your own letter.....but you still pay the same fee. So you have been to the Consul to get the copy of the letter that has to be typed and to make an appointment and now you go back to see the Consul from Mexico City and swear that your bank statements are correct and you have the required funds. She notarizes the letter. Now it gets easier. You take all of that to the Immigration Office, take a number and wait to see an Officer. Some days there are a lot of people waiting. He takes your paperwork and your FM-3 and tells you to return in 10 days. All of this is accompanied with much rubber stamping on just about every page of the paper work. Ten-days later you return and take a number and wait to see the Officer to pick up your renewed FM-3.

It is always an adventure but I'm a legal rentista for another 12 months.

Immigration Reform

Our next door neighbors have four children. One is a grown son. We had missed him since we returned to San Miguel. He worked at a hotel in the evenings so we always knew he was around during the day because he played his boombox. I have no idea how his mother put up with that noise during the day but a lot of the time I think he waited until she was out of the house.

We asked his younger brother where he was. Daniel replied that he was in Phoenix, Arizona. Then today we found out that several of the young men on the street had all gone to Phoenix together to find work.

I'm sure his father did the same thing. He speaks some English and they have an old car and a few things that maybe they never would have had if he had not crossed the border to make more money than he could make here. Maybe going to the USA is like a right of passage.

I'm sure they crossed the border illegally. We have asked the American consulate here what does a Mexican citizen have to do to obtain a visa to even visit the USA. A very expensive process and that is only for a permit to visit, not to work.

I hope he is going to be okay.

San Miguel Streets

Made with the Lensbaby.

Decision Made

Several weeks ago I wrote about the flying trapeze act and how you have to let go of one trapeze and hang in mid-air for a few seconds before you grab the other trapeze. Change is like that. Most of the time you have to let go of something that is safe and comfortable to move on. After a lot of talking and thinking and listening to our hearts, we have decided to sell our house in Houston. This is a big decision because we built the house about seven years ago. We worked with a marvelous architect, Cameron Armstrong, to design a house that although not a huge house feels spacious and full of light. Gregory Henry Landscape Design helped us with the garden design and the initial plantings and we have continued to work in the garden and it has evolved. It is very much a part of the house. We were honored to have an article written about the garden in the Houston Chronicle. We love the location in the Old Sixth Ward and we love the neighborhood and it was where we thought we would live for a long time. But even at our age, life can throw you a few surprises.

After much travel in Mexico and renting houses in San Miguel, we thought that maybe it would be fun to have a house in San Miguel and we would always have the same place when we came down for three or four months out of the year and we could rent it out when we weren't here. So we found a little house to buy. Never did we expect to fall so in love with San Miguel and the little house we bought. Never did we expect to make so many deep friendships so quickly. It happened though and suddenly we found that we were spending almost all of our time in San Miguel.

So we are putting the house on the market. It isn't a firesale. We aren't in a hurry. We aren't giving it away but if the right buyer comes along, fine. In the meantime we'll just keep doing what we have been doing....enjoying our lives in both places.

Palm Sunday

Pictures from Palm Sunday 2005. Palm Sunday 2006 looked the same except it was a different Jesus....but I think it was the same donkey. That donkey just doesn't want to go down the ramp to the San Francisco Church.

I photographed the two processions again today but I used the Lensbaby. I might have a few I'll post in the next day or so after I have time to process the files.

Viernes de Dolores

Friday of Our Lady of Sorrows - Viernes de Dolores. Next week during Semanta Santa the celebrations will be full of circumstance and pomp. This contrasts with Viernes de Dolores when people build altars in their homes and serve aguas, helados and a dessert made of chilacoyote which is a type of pumpkin to those who come to visit. In the Centro there are homes and public buildings that do elaborate altars but in my Colonia, Colonia San Antonio, the altars are beautiful but humble built by my neighbors with chamomile, fennel, grains, flower petals and sprouting wheat. They use small gold flags and drape the altar with purple and white. Purple for morning and white for purity. They add pictures of the Virgin and Jesus on the cross sometimes with the two thieves on either side of him.
About dark people in the neighborhood walk and stop to pray at each altar although I think the children are more interested in the helados and aguas frescas. Of course, it is an opportunity for neighbors to stop and visit as they go from altar. These altars may be simple but they are a sign of a deep devotion.

The Rapist Is Still In San Miguel

There has been speculation that the serial rapist that has raped four gringas since October has fled....maybe to the USA. Or maybe he left town because he was afraid of being caught. No, he hasn't gone anywhere. He is still right here among us.

This morning at 3:50 AM we had a frantic phone call from my friend. She said, "He is back. He is in my house. Call the police, call the police." We immediately called the police and then Miguel Kegel, the Police Foreign Community Assistance Officer.

When we arrived at my friend's house the police were there and she told us that she had awakened to some soft noises which at first she thought might be in the street, and then she realized that they were coming from her patio. She began slamming her windows and screaming. The windows were barred and the rapist could not get in through them but she was slamming them to create a commotion. The man quietly called her name and told her to stop. The voice was the same.....it was the rapist back again. He had climbed walls, to get into her patio and was trying to get in a door.

When she started screaming, he managed to get back over the patio walls and escaped. We went with her to the Ministerio Publico to report the incident.

The San Miguel rapist has not left town.

Road Work

Last July I wrote about "Public Works" or the road repair that was going on in our street. Well some of the same places are being repaired again as well as other places. But we are not the only street with road repairs underway in San Miguel. There are repairs all over the town. Right now in the Centro Calle Reloj is closed for a block for major road repairs. All along Mesones near the Bonanza Grocery store there are pockets of road repair. In Colonia San Antonio where we live there are several other streets also under repair.

Imagine two-way streets that are two cars wide with parking on the street, add in road repairs and you'll get an idea of the difficulty of getting around. Thank goodness we walk almost everywhere. But even with the walking you sometimes have to walk over a load of dirt that has been dumped on the sidewalk.

The process of road repair means that the men use pick axes to pull up the stones and they are dumped somewhere while the bed of the road is smoothed with dirt, then the stones are carefully replaced and more dirt is put over them to settle inbetween the stones. With 5-ton trucks, Coca-cola and Pepsi trucks, gas trucks, water trucks as well as cars and a constant stream of taxis passing over these rocks all day it doesn't take too long before the whole process needs to be done again. At least on our street we don't have buses....at least we don't have buses most of the time unless the traffic has to be rerouted for road repair.

We've speculated with friends why there is so much road repair going on now and the feeling seems to be that elections are coming up so the party in power needs some bragging rights. Sounds kind of like the USA doesn't it.

Clogged Nozzle Anxiety II

I'm reporting on the nozzles of my Epson 4000 printer because I can't believe how many people have come to my blog after they have googled Epson 4000 clogged nozzles. It seems like there are three or four hits everyday. I think that confirms that there really is a problem with the ink delivery system of the Epson 4000. For a while I was hopeful that since my machine was made during the end of the manufacturing period that Epson had made some engineering adjustments and that the problem might be solved. Don't think so since the newer model, the 4800, is also experiencing clogged nozzles.

I first wrote Clogged Nozzle Anxiety on March 1 when I was worrying about what was happening to my Epson 4000 while it was sitting idle for 5 weeks. I left it in a room with a humidifier running because it resides in a very dry desert location. We came back and I started it up with anxiety. The printer told me that I need to do a cleaning but I didn't. I just ran a nozzle check. Perfect. I printed something. Again the printer told me to do a cleaning. I didn't. I printed something else and it quit telling me to do a cleaning.

I've had it off for a couple of days and just printed something else today. First a good nozzle check, then the print. I think I should be knocking on wood. The other shoe may drop any minute.

I am keeping the humidifier running but there is no way it can put enough humidity in this room to come anywhere near a minimum of 40% humidity because there isn't any air-conditioning and we have to leave the windows open to catch the breezes. At night when the room is closed up the humidifier is able to catch up and even goes off from time to time. During the day I'm going to try the procedure we used with our children when they were small and needed a humidifier, I'm making a tent over the printer, putting the humidifier under it and I'll see if that works or if I end up with condensation under the tent. Since it cuts off when the dialed in humidity is reached maybe we will not have a condensation problem.

So to my Clogged Nozzle Readers, stay tuned. I'll keep reporting on my experiences with the Epson 4000. And Dear Clogged Nozzle Readers, if you find a solution or solutions.....let me know so I can be prepared.

How We Met Eddie

Photography is the most amazing door. It has been a door to my inner artist. It has opened the door to so many friendships. It is my life on so many different levels. I think my life would be very boring without photography.

I met Laura back in the early 90's at a photography workshop in Oaxaca. Laura is from Austin and we have stayed in close touch over the years. I'd meet her for a lunch or dinner whenever I was in Austin. We always visited during FotoFest or whenever we could get together when Laura was in Houston.

Laura met Gloria at a photography workshop in Italy. Six years ago she came to my house along with a lot of other FotoFest participants and brought Gloria who also came to FotoFest. We ate Pizza and talked about photography.

Gloria had a new photography book out. We exchanged emails. I bought her book. I felt like I got to know her from her photography. We kept in touch via email.

When we bought the house in San Miguel and planned to rent it, I sent Gloria a brochure on the house. A couple of times she inquired about renting it but it didn't work out. She and her husband Eddie did come to San Miguel but we weren't here and didn't get to meet them.

Gloria and Eddie fell in love with San Miguel. Eddie is back in town looking at Real Estate. Last night he came for dinner. I liked Gloria when I met her and I like Eddie too so we are really hoping that they will buy a house here or at the very least be coming here often so this friendship can grow.

As I said photography opens doors and it opened the door to knowing Gloria and Eddie.....otherwise how would we ever have met these two wonderful, creative people from Missouri.

El Senor de la Columna

After a late night on Saturday it was difficult to get up at 5:30 AM to go see the pilgrimage of El Senor de la Columna. The 8-mile pilgrimage begins in Atotonilco with the faithful carrying a statue of Jesus with wounds on his back and sides depicting flagellation and the mark of the kiss of Judas on his cheek and it ends at the San Juan de Dios church. Senor de la Columna whose home is in Atotonilco is credited with miraculous powers. Starting at midnight the procession stops along the way for prayers and enters San Miguel de Allende at Independencia around dawn. Fireworks and rockets have been exploding for several hours before they arrive but with even mightier displays when the procession enters the town.

All along the route to the San Juan de Dios church people have decorated the streets with sawdust paintings, carpets of herbs and rose petals, bouquets of flowers, balloon arches, and cut-papers. We left the house while it was still dark and joined other quiet groups from houses along our way walking toward Independencia. Just on the far side of the San Juan de Dios mercado there were big torches and a couple of places set up where the procession would stop for prayers. Three years ago we had waited for the procession there but the crowds are so thick at that point that it was impossible to move to get photographs so we walked up Independencia.

In the dark many sidewalk vendors had set up stands to sell atole and tamales. Or some vendors had mini-tiendas offering many other things besides atole and tamales. Families found places along the road so that grandmother could sitdown and toddlers were cuddled in laps and wrapped in shawls as they waited in the chilly morning air for the procession to come. Others walked on up Independencia to join in the procession when it entered the city.

By the time the procession had arrived at the San Juan de Dios church it was light. Just outside the walls surrounding the church there were many ladies frying tiny empanadas to sell to the tired and hungry after the mass. While the little empanadas looked good, we decided on a more substantial breakfast at the Cafe in the San Francisco Hotel. Then we headed home for a early siesta.

Dexter's Birthday

I can't believe that Dexter is one year old but he is and he is getting a little help from his Mom and big brother to blow out his candle. But he didn't seem to need any help to eat it.

He is almost walking. He is a pretty verbal boy but now he is starting to say some words that we recognize. He is happy and outgoing.........and he is delicious even without birthday cake from ear to ear.

Photographs from Dexter's Dad.

The Wedding Party Weekend

The Wedding Party.....actually I should say the Parties. One of our neighbors in Colonia San Antonio got married this weekend and what a party it has been. What a romantic story Darlene and Niall have.

It all started a year ago when Darlene's best friend told her she had found a man for her to marry. Now Darlene has been single for 25 years and wasn't looking for anyone to marry but her friend persisted and managed to get a picture of Darlene to the "man." Well Niall liked what he saw and now a year later they are married.

Since family and friends came from as far away as Ireland as well as all over the USA, a welcome fiesta on Friday night was at the Vista Real Hotel located high above San Miguel.

Getting up to the hotel was an adventure. We took a cab and to get up to the top of San Miguel some of the streets are very narrow. You would think that they would be one-way streets but they aren't. First of all a car in front of us stalled and couldn't climb the street. There was a woman driving and her license plates were from D.F. I don't know what it is about the people in the town and the people from Mexico City but the people from D.F. do not get a lot of respect here. When it became obvious that the woman couldn't go up and couldn't get her car out of the intersection, our cab driver got out to help her push it enough to turn it so she could roll downhill. He was having a hard time with the push back up the hill so another man came to help out. They got her turned enough so she could coast downhill and the two men exchanged some remarks....probably about women drivers but certainly about people from Mexico City.

Now our cab driver has to turn up another even more steep two-way but really one-way street and his clutch was slipping so he had to coast back down to the bottom and give it another run. This time we were able to climb, and climb, and climb up to the ridge where the Vista Real is located.

Oh, my, what a view of the city and the sunset. Lots of great music including entertainment by Niall and some of his Irish friends with a banjo and Irish songs.

The wedding Saturday night was in the Instituto Allende. The bride was radiant, the decorations were beautiful, the dinner was excellent and the atmosphere could not have been more perfect. Everyone seemed to have on their dancing shoes.

I'll tell you, I loved every second of these parties but we got in bed late both nights and today I'm tired. Still I'm so glad to have been a part of seeing these two wonderful people get married.

Darlene and Niall, congratulations and best wishes for many, many happy years together.

Jacaranda Tree

Right after we arrived back in San Miguel de Allende, I promised you a picture of the Jacaranda Tree. The blossoms on the trees were probably just past their peak when we returned. They bloomed a little early this year.

This picture just doesn't do justice to the color of the blossoms. The color that my eye sees is deeper, richer, more purple but I haven't been able to photoshop that color. You can see some green leaves in amongst the blossoms on this tree and when the leaves start coming out the blossoms are quickly gone.

From any vantage point you can see the splotches of purple across the mountainsides in San Miguel. It has been beautiful. Soon we will be looking forward to the Jacaranda blossoms next year.