More about the day-to-day here. It has been a whole different adventure this visit. Big changes, which I will elaborate on later in this post! But also, our days are spent differently than in the past. Several of our neighbors have experience growing up on a farm, or as adults, before retirement. Gregg and I have none. We have been fascinated to watch the "free range" chickens here recently as they lay eggs. In several of the very large, old trees there are hanging baskets which we found out are not just for aesthetic purposes...

Further about the chickens - several of us stood off at a 20 ft distance to watch the process. They would alternate between squawking loudly and clucking, and then flapping their wings. Finally they would flap wings wildly and lift up just enough to awkwardly land in the nest, thereby being able to lay their eggs in relative peace without dogs having access. They did not count on the larger humans (my husband, for example) raiding the nest later... After researching how to make sure the eggs were OK to eat, he had a wonderful omelet the next day! At least one egg succumbed to a dog (don't know how he got it) , and one was successfully hatched, thus ensuring the linage continues here on the Ranch.

Regarding the folks who live here, either part-time or permanently, several were teachers by career. One was in the RCMP in Canada, and then was Warden at a prison there - he's the nicest guy you could ever meet, by the way. All of them have travelled the world. One woman has walked across Spain three times, and plans to do it again this year. And, in the end, all of them chose to spend their time here. Most have been here, or returned, for years. They have gone through numerous property management arrangements - some good and several not good. This property is Mexican family owned and is now in the hands of the eldest son who (in the past, at least) has been ill-equipped to oversee it. After a recent near death experience, and a 5 week stay in the hospital, he informed us that he was cleaning up his act  and was ready to take a more active involvement in the Ranch, which is MUCH smaller than the other property (resort) in the San Diego area owned by the family. To cut to the chase, we now have a new manager who speaks good English but has been working with us to negotiate a long term (12 mo.) contract for two weeks now! We are hoping that we will get something to sign next week. To be fair, everything does take much longer to process here but we are concerned (on many levels) about nothing proceeding without approval from the owner who seems to have some convoluted ideas about running a business that are complicated by the Mexican machismo, and other cultural differences that are a mystery to us!

I was going to follow up on our favorite dog here, whose owner is actually the son now in charge, but I will do that soon. It is a whole 'nuther story complicated by Mexican culture.

As promised, the two images that belong to the previous post about the Michoacan art festival are below. The first is a photo of a typical Tucuaro mask only produced in that area (and probably made by the master, Felipe Horta). Each one is more hideous/fantastic than the last. This one is probably my favorite ever!

 The photo below was taken at the Feria Maestros del Arte that happens earlier in the year. This gentleman is in full "dress uniform" to the delight of the crowd in attendance at that event in November every year. Another performance that is not to be missed is the "Dance of Old Men" where the performers wear masks that are almost angelic in their countenance. This is the regional Michoacan dance that represents the acceptance of aging in a happy and positive way. It is humorous and very entertaining to watch. To see these dances performed go to You Tube and you'll find a few great examples.

I'm going to let the pictures steal the show this time!
These are from an exhibit called "The Spirit of Michoacan" that was part of a weekend celebration of the arts and culture of the neighboring state of Michoacan, here in the Ajijic plaza. The event was the Purepecha Festival, or the Union of Pueblos. Besides the amazing large-format images . by Jesus Alexandre displayed there, artisans from more than a dozen villages displayed and sold their wares at very reasonable prices. A couple of other images I wanted to share were lost at one point when I tried to save them. Will follow up ...

The artisan community is huge and so diverse there. To the left is a copper craftsman, I believe. They also do a form of ceramics that is unique to the area. Please look at the website: www.visitmichoacan.com.mx to see the whole reperatoire of arts there. As a cautionary, this is the area recently that has had the most drug cartel violence (at least what has been reported ). Again, what I would suggest from over 8 years of visits in the area is to use a large dose of common sense as you would anywhere that is "questionable". Just as a follow-up to this post:  Regarding the photo exhibit in the Ajijic plaza, in the early morning about a week before the exhibit was to pack up and go on tour to San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, N.Y. and Toroto four of the images were stolen in the middle of the night, despite the efforts of the exhibit organizer to provide security around the clock. As soon as the word got out, a local effort here in Ajijic came together to support 

in replacing the stolen pictures. A bank account was established, etc. This is what we do here - when there is a need the community steps up.

Tonight is Nochebuena (Christmas Eve). Several of our (Gringo) neighbors have left for points Norte visiting family, and the others that are here are off at parties tonight. This evening is huge in Mexico. There is tradition related to the Holiday that says that in order to ward off evil spirits for the coming year you must stay up until sunrise - if you sleep you risk being taken. I don't think it is related to the Catholic Church... Much of what is done during what we call the Christmas season is a mish-mash here of various traditions that incorporate Catholicism and practices that date back to Mayan customs. But, enough about that - we have been invited to come to the Mexican Posada here on the grounds of Rancho el Rosario! For years I have read about how generous the Mexicans are in sharing their celebrations with Gringos. One of the problems with this is that everything they do starts way later than our parties do. I think that comida (dinner) is at 9pm - we finished eating at 7:30 - so we can't really show up to party until an hour later. That's our bedtime normally, but if it's gonna get loud at that point, we might as well join them, right? I am determined to make a brief showing and hopefully get some photos. We have commitments tomorrow so we can't overdo tonight...

This photo is of a tree decorated with dried citrus slices in a restaurant lobby - fabulous! And the two other photos, above and below, are of our neighbors' decorations. I have to covet theirs as I have none this year. As I'm finishing this post up it is Christmas day and we did go to the posada last night and drank a few shots of Tequila. They had a big bonfire which is always part of the party on Nochebuena. Unfortunately, it made it too hard to get decent photos with the bonfire overpowering any chance of getting detail of the peoples' faces, etc. We were generously introduced to the extended family that was there including one young man who is studying to be a veterinarian in Guadalajara. He was a younger brother of one of the staff - very proud to let us know he has only one year of study left! The party was quite low key, as there were a bunch of little kids there. Today was spent at a wonderful brunch for several hours and followed by a long Skype conversation with our kids and their partners back home.

More about life at Rancho el Rosario. First photo is our new Best Friend. Her name is Leika, and she is loosely owned by a couple of the families (staff) who live within the walls in apartments at the rear of the compound. She is an unexpected delight here. We used to breed and show dogs, and although this one probably doesn't have a pedigree, she is really healthy and a nice representation of her breed - and she has a great temperament. It will be hard to leave her behind when we return to Oregon next Spring. Dogs in this area are revered above all other animals and they are everywhere. Many people have 2 or 3. Here at "the ranch" they have about 7... The other side of this is that many wander homeless and abandoned and end up in the myriad of adoption shelters.

In addition to the dogs, we have a "family" of chickens. Here's the king of the roost. The dogs do act as security, however they also get worked up over who knows what, and carry on at night - which has been the hardest thing to adjust to. Everywhere we have stayed there have been trade-offs. On the grounds here there are citrus trees - at least three different varieties of oranges, limes and a Meyer lemon tree. What a treat that's been!

Outside of the ranch, life goes on. Many things are surprisingly like the way we do them up North. For example, they are trying out a new DUI program with checkpoints, breathalizer tests (higher % tolerated here), detention, fines and confiscating vehicles. It has been deemed so effective that the restaurant and bar owners have said they've suffered a 40% loss in business as a result. Parking meters recently added to parts of Chapala have had nothing but controversy since they were installed. The 15 yr (!) contract was arranged by the previous administration, and the current admin is completely opposed to them and refuses to collect fines or prosecute for late payments. Meanwhile, local opposition to the meters has resulted in some vandalizing of the equipment and removing of tickets from vehicles. And ... recently a new social experiment will eventually allow students from 561 primary and 73 secondary schools in Guadalajara to have a say in how municipal funds should be allocated in three general areas: infrastructure, maintenance and public works. This will be accomplished by taking 200

voting machines around to the various schools. Great idea, but remember that Guadalajara is a huge city and this little town has only about 15,000 people.

To the right is a picture of some of the wonderful citrus from our trees!

Our first 3 wks here have been extremely full starting with the Dia de los Muertos celebration (10/31-11/2). For (yet another) look into how seriously people party here, I have a true story: In the middle of the day on Sat. I was waiting outside the bank on a busy street in Chapala. There was a big line-up of cars waiting for the light to change. Finally, 2 or 3 cars were able to get through the intersection and the next car didn't move. Car trouble, right? No. People were honking loudly, and continuously. No response. Closer look at the 20 something driver, alone in the car, shows his head thrown back and eyes closed. My first thought was that he had been shot, but we would've heard that. The local policia came to the window (after someone had actually rammed the guy's car!) and began banging on the window. He suddenly sat up and looked around. He had passed out in the middle of traffic!! The photo in the upper right is a beautiful altar set up to honor a storekeeper's mother who had passed away the weekend before the holiday.

The next photo is an amazing example of the weather we've experienced since we got here. That is a huge rain cloud that gathered above the lake in just that one spot. Hope you can see the column of water in the middle...Within minutes it was over us and dumping torrents of rain which lasted for an hour or so. This was the second time we'd had serious rain so far. It's statistically unheard of here to have measurable rain this late in the year. Although we have a pool here, it just hasn't been warm enough to use it much of the time. We also have get-togethers with our neighbors, weather permitting, for our version of "happy hour". Great group of people here. More about that later, as there are lots of stories to give you insight into living in Ajijic.

We also volunteered at the Feria Maestros del Arte again this year. It too was plagued with heavy rain one of the three days. I/we were so busy during our volunteer stint that I didn't get photos of the amazing artwork and craftsmanship that was there representing all parts of Mexico. Please look at their website in the absence of my photos, at mexicoartshow.com. I also reconnected with my wonderful and talented group of jewelry making friends and "competed" in a challenge called "Opposites Attract" where we were given a few guidelines and limited to two colors usually not paired with each other. The 11 pieces were all very different from each other. Lots of good-natured fun, and it was good being "challenged" to get back into producing jewelry again. Below is another wonderful sunset just the other day as seen from our veranda. This is what it is supposed to be like every day here on Lake Chapala, as the story goes ...

This began to bloom in our backyard in Mexico just before we had to leave to return North for the summer. In Oregon these flowers can only be raised as "hot house" orchids - never outdoors. How beautiful, and they grow so easily there. It is so hard to make the adjustment when we return NOB. During our drive home, we enjoyed upper 80's to low 90's. When we passed into the Mt. Shasta area (northern CA) it began to rain and temps dropped to 60's. In Oregon it was 50 degrees the day we got home.

We knew that we had many responsibilities to take care of right away when we got back, but we had no idea of the unexpected/unplanned events that we were in store for. The largest was a plumbing crisis that ended up costing over $700. The good news is that it could have been thousands if flooring and drywall had to be torn out and replaced along with some pipes. Another random thing that occurred: the  key to our '04 VW Touareg failed about a week after the beginning of the plumbing debacle. Reprogramming and getting a second key: $250. Not having it fail while on the road returning to Oregon: Priceless! For comparison purposes, below is what is growing in our front yard at home. Lovely, but very different!

Gregg is back into his fishing pastime here, and I am trying to secure garden space in our neighborhood. Today, and for the next couple of days, we are at the beach for some clamming. When we get home it is supposed to be 80 degrees for a couple of days! Excellent weather for Oregon this time of year. Unusual, but not unheard of.