Stuff from Last Week

Lots of good feelings from last week so I'll roll them up in this one post. This is the stuff that makes me so happy and contented in San Miguel.

Over a week ago, Deb brought me yellow roses. Not all roses have a smell these days. These roses had a sweet light fragrance when she brought them to me, like a light cologne. They are still on my dining room table. Wilted and getting drier each day but the fragrance has intensified so that when I walk into the room I smell it. Musky, heavy. Not just a smell but almost like a substance. Gone is their beauty. What remains and intensifies is the essence of a rose. I guess I'll throw them out today but they have been a joy.

Dinner at Brasserie brought surprises. They have been closed for vacation and we have been gone so it was hugs and kisses with the owners when we walked in. Before we ordered Joseph walked by and saw us. He came in and joined us for dinner. And before dinner was over in came another couple that we all knew. They had just arrived back in San Miguel an hour before. I love these casual encounters with friends that end up being a time to sit and talk as if it had been planned for days.

A first meeting and comida with the owners of a house that we rented several times in the past. It is almost like it was inevitable that we would be friends we have so many connections including finding out that they are friends of some Houston friends. The conversation at the table was exciting as we heard about some of the places they have traveled and we shared information about Mexico.

A dinner table at the window of the San Francisco Cafe. I love that place in spite of mediocre food and slow service. Somehow there, the slow service doesn't bother me too much because I'm always so intrigued with the street life. Beautifully dressed people walking down toward the Monjas church for a wedding, cars cruising the streets, young girls flirting with the boys in the park, mariachis looking for a gig, Mexican tourist pushing baby strollers, families with digital cameras posing for each other in the Jardin, a trio playing in the restaurant, church bells calling time for Mass. And I feel incredibly content because here we sit with a front row seat to something that we could never experience in the USA.

The San Antonio church festival awakened us Sunday morning with booming fireworks. Others complain and want them stopped. Sometimes we grumble that they woke us up but something so Mexican would be lost if they were ever stopped. The annual festival is huge and has a carnival atmosphere. It is so strange at the outdoor Mass to see all of these costumed figures. Soon they will be dancing into town behind many, many blaring trucks carrying sound equipment. Some of the speakers are bigger than a dresser. After the parade they come back to the church to dance all afternoon. Food booths are everywhere. After we came home about 9:00 PM, there was live music. Loud live music. It could be heard anywhere in the Colonia. And of course, more fireworks. We sat on the terrace and listened and watched. Even Taylor sat between us and watched the sky light up with the fireworks. He is getting to be quite Mexican.