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.

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.