After a huge absence, it's time to play catch-up...

I have so many pictures to share and so many things have been going on - great big things and small, everyday things that amaze. To begin, the first three photos were taken in late Dec, early Jan and just a few days ago in Feb. You will notice the greenery floating in the water. These are Lirios (water hyacinth). Notice in the third photo that they are threatening to take over? That's what they do. The local powers that be have finally decided to invest some money in a program to deal with these. They'll clear them out of the lake and recycle them for agricultural uses as plant food.

Sometimes things are done here in a logical way, albeit usually that's a LONG time coming. Then on a daily basis some of the most comical, illogical things go on it is important to share them for the sake of "this is too funny to keep it to myself" moments. Examples: Before our upstairs neighbors came down for the winter at least 4 of the regular staff came in to clean up their 1 bdrm apartment. To put on the final touch, the all around maintenance guy came in with a tall ladder, a bottle of windex and some rags and cleaned up the outside windows. Mind you these windows are 20 ft high (for that unit only) and cover the whole front of the building... Then the other day they were moving furniture out of what we call "Casa Grande" which is the owner's house. They had a standard sized pick up backed in and proceeded to load it up, beginning with two large chests of drawers that they stacked "portrait" style rather than "landscape" (for a lower profile). Then the speculation around the happy hour table by the pool was "How much more are they going to try to load in that truck?" They proceeded to load 4 large chairs partially hanging over each side and then two more off the back. At one point they had two guys standing one on either side holding on to the top of the two chest of drawers. They opted to wrap all of it in padded stretch shrink wrap and ONE strap around from side to side - nothing over the top. Unless they were just going down the street a couple of blocks I don't hold out much hope ...
There is much more I could go on with here but I'll show some self-control and pick it up another time.

I'll just close with a promise to post photos of some of the great events like the Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday parade and others soon.

And a couple of Random Thoughts:

If you don't know how to use a car alarm don't install one on your car ... And below fell off a tree here - really!  I must have been a botanist in a former life, 'cause I think this is so cool!!

It's New Year's Eve as I write this. We've had a beautiful holiday season this year. The poinsettas are in bloom everywhere. Here they grow to 5 ft tall as a garden shrub. Many years ago, this is where this well-known Christmas "flower" originated, and was named after the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico who brought them back to propagate in his greenhouses in the U.S. South.  Flower is in parenthesis because what looks like the red petals of this flower are actually leaves, also - no petals.

On Christmas Eve here at the Ranch all of the Mexican families, and their extended family members, got together for the traditional late dinner and bonfire afterwards.  The bonfire, loud music and fireworks, etc are part of another tradition that is pre-Christian in origin and meant to keep away bad spirits for the coming year. My post from 1/22/2012 talks about our first Chirstmas Eve in Ajijic in 2011 when we stayed in the heart of town. This year I was excited to find Gingerbread Men (cookies) at a local shop near the plaza. This clearly is a nod to the Gringo population, and I found them to be just like the ones you can get up North. So I bought some for the kids and handed them out in the evening. They all lined up and their moms prompted most to say "gracias". In the middle of the line was our Gardener who grinned and tried to make himself small. I indicated he was too tall to qualify. One little girl ran after me as I left and shouted "Thank you!". I said "You're welcome!", and she laughed and tried to repeat it.

These last photos are of two of the kids taking on pinatas slung over a branch on one of our huge trees here.  This practice is done either on Christmas Day or on New Year's. The littlest ones usually get help as it's not easy to break these. The older ones (usually the boys) are blindfolded to make it more challenging.

It's the middle of December and everything's blooming here. I'm amazed at the color and complexity of so many of these. To the left is a delicate flower with beautiful leaves and what look like pea pods hanging from the branches!?! The plant shown just below doesn't flower, but look at the beautiful purple color of the foliage. Below that is a picture of Mexico's version of our wild blackberries up north. The flowers on ours are simple white or pale pink - these are three colors. Lavender, pink and yellow. Everyday I take at least one "walk about" on this large piece of property with our dog. No leash needed as it's all enclosed, but she just loves the company.

What else do we do?

A couple of weeks ago we went to a fabulous 70th birthday party held by a good friend at the huge house he shares with his 52 year old lady-friend. No, she is not Mexican, but you do see that often as a large difference in age is not considered unusual between partners here. That is true for men as well. But more about the party: There were about 100 people there. Great food provided by a Mexican catering company that made the tortillas fresh, one-by-one for the guests and an open bar and live music with dancing on their veranda. The following week I went to a play with friends at the Lakeside Little Theater. It was a Neil Simon play - "Rumors"- well-played and hilarious! Cost: $200 pesos (less than $12US). Very talented actors here, and some have many years of acting experience in their former lives. Last week we went to a local bar that frequently has live music and dancing (and Sushi!) to see a blues band from Guadalajara, I believe. Absolutely amazing - the best music I've heard ANYWHERE for a long time. Google the "Cadavieco Blues Band" if you like music in the style of B.B. King, early Greg Allman or Stevie Ray Vaughn. Fabulous musicians, all Mexican, that play like they were mentored by all of the above and perhaps Clapton as well! Most of what I found online does not do them justice as we saw them the other night...

And further on the topic of daily activities - we have been playing Petanque twice a week down at the malecon. Petanque is France's version of Bocce ball played with metal balls that are heavier and slightly smaller. The play field is very casual vs the carefully groomed field for Bocce, I'm told. I know our area is fraught with all kinds of built in "obstacle courses" that include scraggly grass fading into dirt areas that have pebbles and exposed tree roots. I think I would be bored to death on a Bocce field - no challenge! Our friends who established the small group have been playing for years, beginning back in San Francisco before they moved here.  

The weather continues to be very nice, albeit a bit chilly at night. It's been about 70 - 75 degrees consistently and in the upper 50's at night.

We have a busy couple of weeks coming up with good food and drink with friends we have made down here, but I still do miss my kids and grandkids at Christmas. We'll Skype with our youngest (so that I can see how much our 22 mo. old grandaughter has grown!) on Christmas day.

All of these grow on "the Ranch" with no maintenance (or very little) once planted. And these photos were taken on only about a quarter of the spread here. This year the Summer months were warmer than usual and the rain was frequent, so everything is still blooming like crazy and the fruit trees on site are heavy with fruit. I have pledged to start using lemons, kumquats, oranges and pomegranites on a daily basis even though I'm not a huge fan of some of those. They are all here and I hear my mother's voice saying "Eat more fruit!" ...

From the Guadalajara Reporter in the last two weeks are lots of reminders that this place is very like up North in many ways - but usually with a Mexican twist. For the first time in this area they will begin imposing fines on autos that fail emission tests. Until now it was a suggestion, that might get ticketed. Then the fine would be forgiven if the situation was corrected within 15 days.

As Guadalajara centro has gotten a "facelift" recently the current mayor has banished hundreds of street vendors from the area, with a mixed response. The front page story said the area now has an "eerie stillness".  Many of the vendors took part in protests outside City Hall in response. This is perhaps the busiest time of the year for them and the hardship it places on these folks is huge. I personally think it is a harsh thing to do, particularly at this time of year and I love the street vendors! It is part of the heart and soul of the region and an editorial piece penned by another expat here echoed that thought.

Amazingly, they will begin to enforce and fine pet owners who are irresponsible for reasons ranging from not picking up after their pets, to allowing them to wander unleashed. And for more serious reasons such as neglect and damages done to others or their property by your dog they will take action leading to filing criminal charges against the owner. Finally! Many of these laws have been on the books for awhile, but not enforced. It seems to be related to who is in office at any given time ...

Lots going on here Lakeside - theatre, various benefits and LOTS of visitors. American Thanksgiving is this week (Canada celebrated theirs last month). This is also the week that Ajijic celebrates it's patron saint, St. Andrew (San Andreas).  It's loud, raucous and a party going on until the wee hours nearly every night. The newspaper published an explanation of the fiesta that was excellent. The "cohetes" which are loud bottle rockets set off every morning are meant to drive evil from the area, or are set off because prayers follow smoke into the sky and directly to God. These are pre-historic beliefs but still widely held by many. The festivities on each day are sponsored by various groups of workers in the area, but the largest is the final day sponsored by returning family members (hijos ausentes)who are working in the US and return this week to remember their home, families and their church.

"Castillo" in the making

Dia de Los Muertos alter on the Ajijic plaza

These guys are putting together one of the castillos that will be lit up as part of the Dia de Los Muertos celebration the first few days of this month. These handmade structures are amazing to behold when they set them off - producing spinning, shooting and generally exploding showers of sparks and fireworks. Look at a photo in my post dated 1/13/15 to see what that looks like.

I took the two photos below at the plaza in Ajijic on Nov 2 (All Souls Day) and this huge altar was very impressive, incorp-orating a skeleton on the left and a Catrina standing on the right.  The Catrinas are feminine skeletons, usually dressed up in long dresses and large hats, as this one is, but not always. Please look at my posts from 12/5/14 and 12/13/14 for great pictures from a year ago, when they had a wonderful collection of La Calavera (skull) Catrinas on display on the malecon in Chapala.  There was no display this year. They couldn't have topped last year's group anyway. What imagination!

The photo below shows a bit more detail of what is actually put on the altar for the person who is being honored. For those that aren't familiar with this Mexican holiday, it epitamizes the way people view death in this country. It's refreshing, but hard for those of us raised in other areas to grasp. I read an article in the local English language newspaper that explains from the Mexican perspective that "Most people don't have a fear of death" but they fear the process of dying. This is a quote from a Mexican nun who runs a non-profit hospice facility - very small - in this area, by the way. But, I digress...

To continue with the explanation of this holiday, people celebrate (literally) the dead relatives and friends by putting out their favorite food and drink, and with photos and other memorabilia on the altar. Then they visit the grave site and have a picnic and swap anecdotes about the departed. The marigolds are thought to attract the souls of the dead to visit the party. A couple of years ago we visited the main cemetary for Ajijic during this holiday and it was refreshing to see all the families, friends and visitors there to view the beautiful gravesites that had been painstakingly cleaned up and decorated, having comida (picnics) there and laughing at funny stories being shared. Those of us from north of the border should, perhaps, take a cue from this perspective, as death is historically treated as such a tragic thing with our funerals attended by grief-stricken family and friends. Yes, we should miss our relatives that have passed, but I personally don't think that grief serves any purpose if extended for any long period of time (my own perspective based on having lost several close relatives including my Mother and Father).

Another alter inside the Cultural Center

Hello from sunny Mexico!

We arrived recently by car, with our 65 lb dog in the back, as well as a Weber kettle BBQ as a gift for our Mexican family here at Rancho el Rosario - and a few suitcases... But it wasn't without incident. We missed being caught in a monumental mudslide north of Los Angeles by about 2 hours. The slide completely covered the freeway and carried cars and everything else off with it. Over 200 people had to be rescued. We merely had to be diverted off of the main road and over to the coast, along with thousands of other cars during the morning commute, and then back inland south of the slide. We spent the entire day moving at 10-20 mph, drove for nearly 13 hrs with very little southerly movement to show for it. We did get off the road briefly to take our high-strung dog for a good run at the beach at one point!
The image above is not a great picture as the natural light was not in the right place when I snapped the photo, but look at the size of this HUGE sculpture (compared to the 3 people at the base) nearly installed outside of Culiacan on our last full driving day. The signage was not there yet to identify this fellow so I did some research. It is most likely an Otomi (Aztec) warrior. I was not thrilled to be in Culiacan at nightfall as we don't know the city and, honestly, it is a city known for a lot of drug cartel crime. It didn't help that as we approached town we saw maybe a dozen different policia with their lights and sirens blasting, stopping cars, questioning multiple people and snarling traffic. We stopped at the first semi-decent hotel we saw at that point and went no further. A bit later Gregg took the dog for a walk and reported back that he thought it was a DUI campaign going on ...

When we arrived in Ajijic, it was a comfort to return to our casa inside the walls of Rancho el Rosario where we have been for a couple of years doing a 6mo lease over the winter months. Please see some of my earlier posts to see what this lovely place looks like, right in town and right on Lake Chapala. Some of the infrastructure at "the Ranch" is deteriorating as it's pretty old and that has it's challenges at any given time - however, no sooner did we arrive here than they began to talk about a hurricane offshore in the Pacific. It was of epic proportion, they said, as it approached the coast due West of here. Hurricane Patricia was supposedly the most powerful hurricane ever recorded - EVER! At landfall about 130 mi from here it was expected to be a Category 5, and when it reached Guadalajara (only 30 min away) it was predicted to still be a Cat 3 with winds of over 100 mph. It was the first time I have ever been truly frightened by the proximity of a natural phenomenon that had the power to be the end ... Long story short, we escaped the wind almost entirely as the hurricane did not take the predicted sharp turn that would've put us directly in it's path, and secondly the mountains in this part of Mexico did their job and shut down what wind did make it's way our direction. There was a lot of rain, which is a big problem here in town because of the threat of slides. Don't get me started about the situation on the West coast related to Climate Change. It has changed agriculture all the way down the coast - we saw that on our drive through California. And the effect is so much more than that, but this blog is not meant to be political so I'll leave it at that.

We are in the beginning of the Dia de Los Muertos multi-day celebration here. Halloween is relatively new as a part of this. I always try to capture the many wonderful parts of the Mexican celebration of this holiday, and I'll post about that next. In the meantime, we found some great Mexican craft beer with a Dia de Los Muertos label that is very cool. It is an IPA and it's pretty good. The craft beer industry, by the way, is doing very well here.

Last week the families who live on the Ranch had a huge Feliz Cumpleanos (birthday) party, with many extended family members attending. There were 35 people fed and entertained over the course of the evening. The party was for the eldest son of our maintenance mgr whose mother has been our maid for a couple of years now. It was his 19th birthday. Again, we were the only gringos invited.

Cooking up some pig in a pot

The pig being cooked up in the pot was butchered on site that morning, and we were told they were fixing Carnitas when it was done. Rather than shredding the meat after it was cooked to tender, they just filed large platters with chunks which you could put on your plate. Then you could pull the meat off the bones yourself and assemble "soft tacos", as we call them in the US, with all the fixings on the table. Gregg made a wonderful batch of Ceviche made with fresh tuna, local white fish (from the coast), mango and avocado. Then, after comida, Gregg brought out a bottle of very nice Tequila which he and all the guys proceeded to finish up, one shot at a time... In the meantime, the kids (who ranged from 6 mo - 6 yrs) ran around in the open space playing old-fashioned games like Tag and Hide & Seek. To be honest, there was one little boy whose mom had an IPhone with some game on it. Reminded me of kids back home. The dogs were having a field day, being fed scraps with bones attached from EVERYONE there. Our dog got very sick that night - I thought she might explode she had eaten so much!

Open Studios event in Ajijic

This was the other happening early this month. I love this event and have volunteered my help for two years now. The picture above was taken from inside one of the venues that allowed artists to display their wares in. It's a win-win situation. The owner of this B&B got exposure as person after person said "Wow - I've never been inside the doors here. Can I get some information on the rooms and the rates?" The artisans got a beautiful setting in which to display their work. This recurring event is in February every year and is sponsored by the Ajijic Society of the Arts. We have an astounding number of very talented artists here and this group keeps growing and growing, with many shows, sales and display opportunities throughout the year.

 Welcome to two of our newest tenants! They arrived two months ago, but they're not "Snowbirds" - they belong to the owner's wife. Beautiful, but very noisy, these are youngsters, and can live a very long time. Often they are included in peoples' wills to pass on to the next generation. Macaws can cost as much as several thousand dollars. I mention this as a lead in to the theme of this post: Why use money to maintain the integrity of your property when you can spend it on whatever frivolous project occurs to you at the moment?

For example, the tree they are perched in here is now enclosed in a very spendy cast iron strcture, with a concrete floor and covered with sheets of metal, like a grill - open to the air outside. It was designed by an engineer and is worthy of placement in a zoo. There is a ladder-like, multi level perch included for their entertainment. This aviary could easily house a few more birds. The joke is that it's larger than one of the smallest units here (inhabited by people).

The very OLD trees covered with what I believe is a variety of  Morning Glory was a spectacular sight. They cut them back to look like the ones in the bird enclosure - very bare and ugly. I can imagine it took many years for them to look as they did. In the process of cutting these two trees back, several huge piles of debris and many large chunks of wood, some that probably measured close to 4 ft across sat in one of our neighbor's front lawn and walkway for a week before it was cleared. You may also notice the spindley roses planted in the foreground below. Those were the first of truckloads of rose bushes brought in and planted all over the property, and promptly ignored, many of which are diseased and dying now. None of the staff is trained to maintain roses properly - heck, they can't even water them all there are so many! And all the while this is going on the plumbing in nearly every one of the units here has serious issues and is beginning to fail... We can only hope the owner will take notice sometime in the near future. Mind you, I'm not holding my breath on that one.

This was the "castillo" that was set off at the primary church near the plaza downtown at the height of the San Andres fiesta which took place the week of American Thanksgiving. We had friends visit that week and, to their credit, they were extremely good sports about the noise - especially because they were only blocks away from the source of it all! We went down to the plaza the night of the fireworks just to be a part of it, and it was huge. Many, many people there that night and rides, music and vendors of all kinds that reminded you of a carnival. Castillo, by the way, is one of those words that have two meanings. We have many in English. In Spanish the word means castle, but is used to describe these firework structures that are very intricate and built to order, by hand, for any given event. In the past we have seen people actually climb onto them and spin around on parts of the structure that were not lit. They are fearless here. Another example is the way they drive with total disregard for any other vehicle beside their own. But you don't want to get me started on that one ...

Above is the inner garden at a charming B & B in Chapala that we were able to visit when our friends were here that week. Locals call it "the double Q". It's actually called Quinta Quetzalcoatl. Recently written up in the Guadalajara Reporter, the writer DH Lawrence stayed here in 1923. We also visited the historic former railroad station, now a museum in Chapala, that day. So much to see - so little time.

Correction from a previous post: A catrina I named "La Rueda" is actually "La Rusa" - the legendary Horsewoman in Black who was a wealthy Russian ballerina that relocated to this area. "Rueda" means wheel in Spanish" La Rusa's beautiful home is in Ajijic, and is occasionally available for long-term lease.

Here is the altar table I mentioned in my last post that was prominently placed at the entrance to the main vendors section at the Feria Maestros del Arte event. I was told that one of the artist's children hand-lettered the pink chairs, each with the name of one of the murdered students. Below is a picture of one of my favorite things seen there - a unique chess set. Each piece was handmade, of course, with great detail. My son is an excellent chess player and it would have been fun to get this for him, however he has a new baby and no time to play these days. Besides, this is such a special set I'd be afraid to actually use it, wouldn't you?

Over Thanksgiving week we had friends visit us here. Although I should've remembered how crazy and loud that week is in Ajijic, I didn't. In general there are fiestas almost continuously from that week until the end of the year, although if you are in town - that's the one. It is the week that the residents of Ajijic pay tribute to their patron saint, San Andres (St. Andrew, patron saint to fishermen). Difficult to believe now, as the lake is so low compared to many years ago, but fishing in Lake Chapala was a huge "industry". Although it is still done now, the lake will never be what it was those many years ago.

To continue with this thread, see my next post. San Andres fiesta week was calamatous in some ways, but also great fun for us and our visitors. My larger photos seem to cut short the amount of space I can use each time for a post. I'll make that sacrifice for the larger, more detailed pics!

Entrance to Day of the Dead altar displays

Pancho Villa altar with live impersonator

The largest local showing of Dia de Los Muertos altars on Nov 2nd was in Chapala. According to the Guadalajara Reporter, there were over 70 altars there on display, and it took over a good portion of the main thoroughfare in town. There were altars for local performers, founding fathers, historical figures and internationally known musicians as well as well-loved local patriarch and matriach family figures and for some who lost their lives early due to unfortunate circumstances. My guess is that there were a couple thousand people in the area for this event, with perhaps only about 100 of them Gringos.

Another place I saw a distictive altar for the Dia de los Muertos celebration was at the Feria Maestros del Arte. In my next post I'll have the photo of a table set up at that event to commemorate the deaths of 43 students in Guererro. President Pena Nieto has come under fire for his lack of effectiveness in dealing with the tragedy which spurred thousands to march in many cities in Mexico and elsewhere. The similarities to marches happening in the US at this time are notable. All of these have been spurred by murders of people (many of them children or young people) at the hands of, or with the help of, those in positions that are expected to be protectors. In the case of the Mexican students, there is a great deal of evidence that points to the mayor of the town where their school is providing assistance to drug cartel members to allow the mass-killing to occur.

Catrina with a dog

Vampire princess at our door

Catrina with bird cages

Evil clown catrina

La Rueda catrina

I had so many wonderful pictures from the last few weeks that they will be the main focus of this post.The little girl in the upper left hand photo is a neighbor, and is really "in the moment", I think. The Mexican kids have finally embraced Halloween as the beginning of the Dia de los Muertos celebration that runs through Nov 2nd. Kind of like I imagine it was when Santa Claus was added to Christmas many years ago, you know? When we first started visiting the area 9 yrs ago they didn't know what it was. Now they go door to door saying the Spanish equivalent of "Give me Halloween" and know they will get dulces (sweets) in return.

The remainder of the images are from a display in Chapala of many catrinas along the malecon (the walkway by the lake) and throughout part of Chapala centro. I had a couple more photos from the Dia de los Muertos festival that I will have to post separately. It was a huge celebration.
 

Mexican barbeque on our patio

Can you pick out the gringo in the picture? Last weekend the folks that keep this beautiful place that we live in while in Mexico maintained, in all ways, threw us a welcome back party. As is customary, whole extended families were there, many that we knew and many we did not. We were introduced to most and struggled with how to describe the relationships, beyond hija (daughter) and hijo (son) and grandaughter/grandson (nieta/nieto).The terms for stepchildren or "in-laws" seemed especially difficult to transfer. Cooking began at about 3:30 and continued for hours, as did the Cervesa and Tequila drinking. They filled a whole table with side dishes, including Nopales in a wonderful salad. Nopales are the flat cactus "paddles" that are hard to find outside of Mexico but commonly found on Mexican tables. I was surprised to find they tasted much like lightly steamed green beans, slivered in the salad with sweet red peppers and white onions and probably some limon (lime) juice. There was also a salad with jicama, cucumber, pina (pineapple) and ? Also very fresh and healthy. The grilling started with small, sweet onions, then Chorizo, Carne Asada, and a stack of thin steaks. In addition were the usual sides: mountains of rice steamed in stock, warm tortillas, soft Mexican cheese, homemade salsa and frijoles. We had several bilingual attendees which allowed the conversation to flow between us all with few snags. After hours of eating, a couple of the guys insisted that they go pick some corn to grill for those that were still there. Some of us groaned - no room! - but No was not an option. All in all, a great evening due to our gracious hosts who also cleaned up nearly everything so that I had little to follow up on the next day!

Saturday, Oct 26 unofficially begins the extended celebration of Dias de los Muertos. I will post details on some of the events later as it will run through the first couple of days of Nov. What has become one of my favorite parts of this holiday is the local participation in the "Thrill the World" event that will happen at the plaza on Oct 26 in Ajijic (and in locations all of the world.) For a look at last year's performance go to You Tube at http://youtube/QvJ4mbyEIHc. If this copied address doesn't work, look for "Ajijic Zombies 2013 - Thrill the World" there. 

Below are pictures of my two favorite "catrinas" on display at the Ajijic plaza

  

Seen on the streets of Ajijic

Art is alive and well here!

We arrived here this visit to some crazy weather;  just before our return,  Ajijic had more rain in one day than in over 100 years of records. Last Saturday, after a beautiful day, we had SERIOUS thunder and lightning and lost our phone and internet. TV reception was still OK, though intermittent. So… I started this post as a Word document, to become a blog post – well - whenever the internet returned.

I need to respond to a question I often get when I’m back in our other home in Oregon. It’s some variation of “What do you do all day?” or “What’s a typical day there?.” The implication is that it must be hard to find things to do, so the assumption is that day after day is spent sitting in the sun doing nothing. Of course, that’s always available… But if you did that you would miss out on so many things.

It took awhile to summarize all the options and not end up with a post of epic proportions. No, really! So here goes –

The day begins when the sun rises, or when our Mexican dog comes to get us up, whichever comes first. I have coffee and something to eat, and read the weekly English language newspaper, the Guadalajara Reporter. The paper does a great job of publishing info about all the events in the area. I’ve got a day planner and I use it to keep track. Old school, I know, but it works.

For me/us on a day-to-day basis we spend our time going to the various open-air markets which tend to have a special focus. For example, the Tuesday Organic Market, is new within the last few years and is hugely popular. The original Ajijic market is on Wednesday and has a little bit of everything. You will often have to go to different locations for fish, for chicken and for bread! Yes, there is a transplant who lives here now who makes fabulous artisan bread like we are accustomed to in Oregon with a crusty outside unlike Mexican "pan". We also go to the many Estate Sales, or "bazars" looking for items that we can't easily get down here. The downtown area or "Centro" is clustered around the plaza as in all Mexican towns, and is rich with shopping options. I am usually looking rather than shopping, but there are so many galleries, and many weekends shows of various kinds in the plaza, such as the Michoacan Art Show (see my Jan 17, 2014 post) where you can look and purchase as you wish. I am fortunate enough to know a lot of very talented people here who exhibit in the Efren Gonzales Cultural Center or in the plaza occasionaly. Which brings me to the many Open House and Grand Openings and Re-Openings that are going on all the time. There are parades and fiestas related to the many holidays. If you google Mexican National Holidays you will be amazed at how many there are. You can begin to see why my day planner is so essential...

There are two gyms in town - nothing fancy, but they serve the purpose. I go three times a week. The cost is similar to what I pay up Norte. On Thurs afternoons, the maid comes so we leave for that couple of hours and take the dog for a "run around and chase the ball at the lake" adventure. Lots of people go hiking, or kayaking on the lake. I'm not that ambitious, I'm afraid. In the evening there are a couple of clubs that have really good music - sometimes local bands and sometimes gringos that are doing what they did (or wanted to do) in a previous life - blues, rock n roll, jazz and wonderful Mexican music is everywhere. I've talked about the restaurants here before. Some are nearly world class, as the chefs have often trained in the US or France in some of the best culinary schools. The only problem is that they open and sometimes close within months if they can't survive the first 6 mo.

I have 3 groups that I belong to here that are of special interest to me: the Writer's Group that meets twice a month and helps keep me inspired, Amigas Jewels is a group of talented women that make and sell jewelry (and often teach techniques and procedures to those of us that are still learning) and I belong to Lake Chapala Readers which is a group of mostly like-minded women who read books on e-readers like Kindle and get together once/mo for lively discussion . In addition to these, I volunteer at the Feria Maestro del Arte event in Nov. every year which is an intense 4 days of exposure to over 70 artists from all over Mexico in a sale and show in Chapala (just a few km east of Ajijic on the lake). Please see the poster above for this year's event and look at their website mexicoartshow.com.

So despite my best efforts, I have been unsuccesful in keeping this short. For specific info on some recurring annual events that are not to be missed see my previous posts from Feb 26, 2014 regarding the Mexican National Chilifest and Feb 23, 2012 and Mar 17, 2014 for the Carnaval Parade. For what goes on here on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day see the post from Jan 22, 2012.

Among other things, I will post soon about a Mexican parilla (barbecue) on our patio - amazing experience!

Thundershower ended

The weather changes rapidly here

This is what the weather looks like in May and June in Ajijic - very volatile at times. There is rain, or the threat of rain, nearly every day. And in between it is lovely and warm.

I promised myself (and at least one other person) that I would post one more time before hanging it up until next Fall's visit. I've been busy and suffering from a bit of "writers' block", which brings me to the theme of this post.

One of the groups I belong to when in Mexico is called simply "The Writers' Group". Nearly everyone who writes (Gringos), in the Lakeside area attends the meetings. I feel fortunate to be in the company of these talented people and would not have had the opportunity were it not for my friend and mentor, Karen Blue. I met Blue, as she prefers to be called, by chance as often happens in a small town. She is down to earth, straight-up, no BS (I like that in a person) and she has just published her second book. She is a world traveler, was married briefly very young, had a successful working career and has been single for quite awhile. Her just published book is called "Baby Boomers: Reinvent Your Retirement in Mexico". It isn't a How-To book; it's a group of interviews of actual residents of the Lake Chapala area and what their own experiences were in choosing to retire in Mexico - fabulous, frustrating, rewarding - all of it! From my own experience, I have learned more from conversations with resident Gringos and long-time visitors than I could have ever learned from any of the "How-To" books. Her book is available at Amazon. I urge you to read it if you are considering Mexico for retirement.

And another friend from the group, Kelly Hayes-Raitt, has a book in the final stages before publishing also. Her book is written from her own perspective rather than from interviews, and is about her time spent with Iragui and Palestinian refugees in 2008. She made working with those displaced people her own "assignment" after working for years in the California legislature, winning many awards and commendations, and then losing a close and highly contentious race that left her wondering ... What now? Her website for the book is: livinglargeinlimbo.com. If you Google her by name you will be able to read her own backstory.

Just a couple of examples of the great people I have come into contact with in Ajijic; It really is a haven for creative people. I even have a neighbor working on a book that will possibly be a memoir, and is fascinating, with a lot of history worked into the narrative. I'll keep you posted on that as it becomes available. In the meantime, I will take a sabatical. Hope you will look me up in October when we return to the Lake Chapala area with their wonderful late Fall and early Winter weather.          

Once again, the pictures can tell the story. This is a collection of photos taken on Thursdays when we go in to Chapala with the dog to play on the "beach". For Thursdays, this is usually the "One Thing" (see my previous post), although I do go to jewelry classes in the afternoons sometimes if it fits into the schedule without adding stress. Chapala is just a few km east of Ajijic and I thought it served as the capital of the state of Jalisco, but I couldn't verify that on Wikipedia.

Fishing boats in Chapala

Old fishing boats and White Pelicans

Tour boats off dock in Chapala

Beautiful gate to Chapala main dock

As we wind down our time here in   Mexico, I am already missing these walks on the edge of the lake. The weather is wonderful and our time with our adopted dog may be short. Although she appeared to be pregnant (and justifiably so) a month ago, it now looks like she crafted a "false pregnancy". She is a young dog and they do this sometimes. Suffice to say she would have given birth by now if she actually was pregnant. Now we think it might be worth a try asking the owner if he will let her go home with us. Gregg will do that, and the answer we get will determine what direction we take in a lot of ways, not the least of which is that we will have to continue to drive to and from on our visits to Ajijic in the future.

 Pictures this time are from the Ajijic Carnaval parade annually held on Fat Tuesday. To many this may look like Halloween costumes but these guys are "Sayacas" and this is part of a long-time tradition in the Lake Chapala area. It amounts to some pretty wild fun for the local boys. Please see my post from Feb 23, 2012 for a full explanation of this bit of folklore.

I want to share something I have learned since retiring in December 2011 - it's the "Do One Thing" philosophy. A new friend (one of our neighbors) used this phrase in conversation a couple of months ago and now I use it all the time. It's a mantra for me! As there are SO MANY things to do when we are here, and it is Mexico so things frequently don't go on a set schedule,  many of us believe that it is not realistic to plan to do more than one thing every day. For example, if the Carnaval Parade is today - that's it. You can fill in grocery shopping, laundry or cooking in addition - but not ALL of those things. Don't commit to multiple other things as you will just be frustrated and stressed, and let's face it, we did that for too many years before we retired. Another example of what can throw a day into the dumps - you have your one thing planned and your car has some unexpected minor issue that you must take it to a garage/mechanic to fix. Now not only can you not get to your one scheduled event, you are without transportation for an unknown period of time because that is common when minor repairs are needed in this area. Places may be closed when you had every reason to believe they would be open. This can throw a monkey wrench into your whole week as well. Maybe you can't get a part for your computer - ANYWHERE nearby. You need to copy and scan a document that you promised to hve ready for someone today. Who knew, until you are in that predicament. So, rather than it being the choice of a (lazy?) retiree to just plan One Thing, perhaps you are getting a feel for why it is the sensible thing to do. I will return to this theme as it is so relevant to our daily lives here...

Here is the dog that adopted us when we first arrived - with an additional 10 lbs or more on her bones! Gregg walks her around Ajijic and throws tennis balls for fetching several times during the day, so she's in pretty good shape now. She may also be pregnant ... which really concerns us. Over a month ago she came into season and although the male shepherd here has apparently had a vasectomy, the staff weren't careful to keep her inside the gates of the compound. We took her in to see a vet a couple of weeks ago, who said it was "too soon" to know if she was pregnant (?) but that it was "likely". The property owner here owns this dog and the 3 shepherds on the premises

but shows no interest in any of them when he visits. They are possessions, in his mind. Apparently she (Leika) is purebred - possibly from a pedigreed line of Weimaraners that his father had. The owner has his own vet who makes personal visits several times a year for shots, etc. For the day-to-day, the gardener here throws food out on the ground for all of the dogs and they have to bully their way in to get it. They drink water from the pool and only the children pay any attention to them at all. The irony is that he doesn't want the dog spayed, so we are told, yet if she were to have "mutt" puppies, he would be VERY upset. Go figure. We thought briefly of kidnapping her and taking her home with us in April, but quickly abandoned the thought as we don't want to end up in a Mexican jail!

I like to keep these posts fairly short, but have fallen a bit behind, so I'm going to add another element to this one. A week ago was the 36th Annual Mexican National Chili Festival which incorporates Chili, Margarita (my favorite) and Salsa competitions as well as entertainment and sales of artisan crafts and other local vendors into 3 days. There is also a parade which runs through the town to officially open the event. The competitions had more participation in the past, and some years the entertainment is better than others. This year I was most excited to see one of the

participants that had been rained out a couple of years ago. They are the Voladores de Papantla or the Papantla Flyers. This is a very old, Mezoamerican, traditional performance which is a request of the god of fertility to bring back the rains, and thus the crops, to feed the people. It is astounding to watch. Just last December their "foreman" died after falling 22 meters from the center post. He had been performing for 30 yrs with the group. To best appreciate them, go to You Tube and watch the whole performance.