They do shed their colorful blossoms
Friday, May 8, 2020
Jacaranda trees
Jacarandas are my favorite tree, and San Miguel is full of them. The purple color is spectacular. Here are some iPhone shots from a walk into Centro in March.
Monday, May 4, 2020
Quality time in the bathroom
I've been spending a lot of time in the bathroom lately. No, it is not Montezuma's revenge. I converted the bathroom next to my office into a sewing room, and I've been stitching masks to donate to healthcare workers and poor people.
Sandy dust in my house
I anticipated various problems before we moved to San Miguel, but high winds and sand in my house were not among them. We are on a low mesa on the outskirts of town and the wind can be amazingly strong here. Some of the cushions from the furniture on our rooftop terrace kept ending up down in the empty lot next door, and the furniture itself gets blown across the roof. One of the tall cacti we have up there was knocked over and the pot broken.
But the thing that really bothers me is the "dust" from the three housing construction zones next to us. All of the vegetation from the three projects has been removed leaving the bare, sandy soil to blow about in the wind. Sometimes the dust in the air is so think it looks as if it is raining, and nothing we do seems to keep it out of the house. Every surface - furniture, floors, rugs - gets covered with white, gritty sand, and it accumulates so quickly I can't keep up with it. I'm not a picky housekeeper, but this is getting me down. Here is the top of the buffet about four days after it was thoroughly dusted.
But the thing that really bothers me is the "dust" from the three housing construction zones next to us. All of the vegetation from the three projects has been removed leaving the bare, sandy soil to blow about in the wind. Sometimes the dust in the air is so think it looks as if it is raining, and nothing we do seems to keep it out of the house. Every surface - furniture, floors, rugs - gets covered with white, gritty sand, and it accumulates so quickly I can't keep up with it. I'm not a picky housekeeper, but this is getting me down. Here is the top of the buffet about four days after it was thoroughly dusted.
Thursday, April 9, 2020
The passing of an important gay rights activist
Back when I lived in San Francisco, I was involved with the Commission on the Status of Women and other political groups advancing equality for women. As part of that work, I got to meet Dianne Feinstein and also a very sweet lesbian couple named Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. They had been together since 1950, and when Gavin Newsom, mayor of San Francisco, legalized gay marriage, they were the first couple to be married in 2004. The California Supreme Court voided that marriage, but in 2008 they got married for the second time, again as the first couple to do so, when the California Supreme Court ruled it was legal. Newsom officiated both times. Phyllis passed away today and was preceded by Del in 2008 shortly after their marriage.
The Wikipedia article mentions the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club, a gay political organization in SF. One day a friend of mine, I'll call her J, and I went to a reception at Dianne Feinstein’s house. It was sponsored by the Alice B. Toklas organization. My friend J was from Kansas and had been a bit sheltered in some ways, so I broke up laughing when she came over to me half-way through the meeting and whispered, “I think there are lesbians here!!!” She had never heard of the Toklas group, and it took her a while to notice that some of the ladies were incredibly obvious about their orientation - motorcycle leathers, huge key rings, burr haircuts, etc.
Anyway, I really liked Del and Phyllis and I’m sorry they are gone.
Phyllis Del
Sunday, February 23, 2020
A visit to the Monarch Butterflies
Erich and I just spend two wonderful days viewing butterflies at two sanctuaries on the border of Michoacán and State of Mexico, a bit over a 4-hour drive from San Miguel de Allende. We arranged for a custom tour with Follow Me Tours who provided us with a fabulous driver and guide named Aldo who spoke perfect English and was extremely knowledgable and fun to talk with.
We were making good time on the highways until traffic came to a total halt because the Mexico City taxi drivers blocked the highways to protest Uber. That same day, 140 highways across Mexico were blocked due to a variety of protests. When our driver found out that our exit was also blocked, he made a U-turn, and tried to cross the median, an effort which took 5 or 6 tries as we kept bottoming out. We finally made it onto the highway going in the opposite direction, and he managed to find an open route to the other sanctuary we were planning to visit.
(You can click on the photos for larger versions)
Our first visit was to the Sierra Chincua sanctuary which is very close to the better known El Rosario sanctuary. The entire protected biosphere is 56,259 hectares (139,000 acres) but the butterflies roost in much smaller areas between about 9,000 to 12,000 feet in altitude. After using the clean facilities at the entrance, we mounted horses for the uphill trek to where the butterflies were located. The owners of the horses lead them along the trail, so no riding skill was required. After 20 minutes or so, we dismounted and carried on up a gentle grade with a wide path to the "quiet zone" where the butterflies had massed. It was a warm, sunny, glorious day and the butterflies were quite active especially because February is mating season. They certainly weren't shy and we saw numerous amorous couples.
The forest here was beautiful with many tall, straight oyamel trees which are favored by the Monarchs. There were also many pine trees and lovely open spaces filled with wildflowers and milkweed, the butterflies' favorite food. Even if we hadn't seen butterflies, it would have been a delightful trip into the mountains. We spent a good hour watching the butterflies flutter by, then descended on horseback.
Next we drove to the small resort town of Valle de Bravo situated on a pretty lake. The town is a weekend escape for residents of Mexico City. On a weekday evening it was very busy with local people, and we had a nice dinner at one of the restaurants. Our hotel, Casa Dorada, was right on the charming central square and we enjoyed walking around the next morning looking at the market and the church.
View the video in full screen by clicking on the little square then hit escape to come back to the blog.
On Wednesday we headed to the Piedra Herrada sanctuary where we were greeted by thousands of butterflies that had come down to the lower elevations and were flying all around the highway. All the cars were driving very slowly so as not to injure the little creatures. Once at the sanctuary, we mounted horses for the much steeper climb up the mountain. This was a longer ride, at least 30 minutes, but we were glad we didn't have to do that hike uphill. The butterflies were flying all around us as we rode up. We got off the horses and continued uphill on a very narrow path through the trees with some treacherous footing in the soft dirt.
The viewing at Piedra Herrada was even better because we were able to get closer to the trees where they were clustered. At the end of the trail, we stayed for a long time enjoying the amazing sight of millions of butterflies and the quiet of the wind rustling the trees and the birds singing. Although the butterflies are very light, the clusters of them are heavy enough to make the tree branches sag.
A truly delightful experience and highly recommended.
We were making good time on the highways until traffic came to a total halt because the Mexico City taxi drivers blocked the highways to protest Uber. That same day, 140 highways across Mexico were blocked due to a variety of protests. When our driver found out that our exit was also blocked, he made a U-turn, and tried to cross the median, an effort which took 5 or 6 tries as we kept bottoming out. We finally made it onto the highway going in the opposite direction, and he managed to find an open route to the other sanctuary we were planning to visit.
(You can click on the photos for larger versions)
Our first visit was to the Sierra Chincua sanctuary which is very close to the better known El Rosario sanctuary. The entire protected biosphere is 56,259 hectares (139,000 acres) but the butterflies roost in much smaller areas between about 9,000 to 12,000 feet in altitude. After using the clean facilities at the entrance, we mounted horses for the uphill trek to where the butterflies were located. The owners of the horses lead them along the trail, so no riding skill was required. After 20 minutes or so, we dismounted and carried on up a gentle grade with a wide path to the "quiet zone" where the butterflies had massed. It was a warm, sunny, glorious day and the butterflies were quite active especially because February is mating season. They certainly weren't shy and we saw numerous amorous couples.
The forest here was beautiful with many tall, straight oyamel trees which are favored by the Monarchs. There were also many pine trees and lovely open spaces filled with wildflowers and milkweed, the butterflies' favorite food. Even if we hadn't seen butterflies, it would have been a delightful trip into the mountains. We spent a good hour watching the butterflies flutter by, then descended on horseback.
Next we drove to the small resort town of Valle de Bravo situated on a pretty lake. The town is a weekend escape for residents of Mexico City. On a weekday evening it was very busy with local people, and we had a nice dinner at one of the restaurants. Our hotel, Casa Dorada, was right on the charming central square and we enjoyed walking around the next morning looking at the market and the church.
View the video in full screen by clicking on the little square then hit escape to come back to the blog.
The viewing at Piedra Herrada was even better because we were able to get closer to the trees where they were clustered. At the end of the trail, we stayed for a long time enjoying the amazing sight of millions of butterflies and the quiet of the wind rustling the trees and the birds singing. Although the butterflies are very light, the clusters of them are heavy enough to make the tree branches sag.
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Our Minds are Blown
OMG. We just had the most astonishing experience at the San Miguel International Writers’ Conference. This is a week-long conference for writers and readers now in its 15th year. Madeleine Thein, the keynote speaker for the evening and a Canadian author of Chinese ethnicity, gave the most incredible speech we have ever heard. I can’t even begin to describe it. It was a literary work in itself. Poetry in a way. She got thunderous and sustained applause when she finished, but then everyone sat there completely stunned and it took a long time before anyone could come up with a question for the Q and A session. This woman has the most amazing mind - I have never had a thought even one tenth as deep as hers. I have not read any of her books, but I will now for sure.
Ms. Thein has won every Canadian literary award that exists and her books have been widely translated. She has a short story collection called Simple Recipes and three novels: Certainty, Dogs at the Perimeter and her latest Do Not Say We Have Nothing. This last book is about China from 1949 to 1989, Mao’s revolution to Tiananmen Square.
I really would not want to be tomorrow night’s keynote speaker having to follow her. I think I would call in sick.
Thursday, January 2, 2020
A Mighty Wind
No, I'm not talking about flatulence although that has been a problem for both of us from time to time since moving here. 😀 The wind outside has been incredibly strong yesterday and today. I went up on the roof terrace yesterday to check on our outdoor furniture and all seemed well, but I went up again today because the wind is even stronger and discovered that the furniture had been blown up against the wall and two of our cushions had blown away. Fortunately they blew down in the empty lot next door and we were able to retrieve them with only a few nasty burrs to pluck out. The wind was so strong that it was hard for me to walk against it, so our plans to walk into Centro today have been postponed.
The other problem caused by the wind is the dust. There are three major construction projects going on next to us and the dust is unbelievable. Even with all the windows and doors closed, the dust in sifting into the house because there are gaps around the doors and sliding glass doors. Apparently nobody uses weather stripping here, so we will be installing our own soon.
The other problem caused by the wind is the dust. There are three major construction projects going on next to us and the dust is unbelievable. Even with all the windows and doors closed, the dust in sifting into the house because there are gaps around the doors and sliding glass doors. Apparently nobody uses weather stripping here, so we will be installing our own soon.
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