Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Getting Back To Normal

Well, after dealing with the medical problems of the past month or so, and realizing that it was potentially more serious than I had originally thought, and with Pixie home to keep her eye on my every move, I am finally feeling as though thing as starting to get back to normal. I still have a few symptoms with balance and fatigue, but these are nowhere near what they were before. I go back to the doctor on Monday and will probably schedule another brain scan then to see if they can figure out what was going on and to find out when I can DRIVE again! In the meantime, I have a wonderful, attentive nurse who cooks wonderful meals. Of course I miss cooking, shopping, doing laundry, etc., but this is only temporary. As you can see from the photo above, I am still here and healthy, just walking temporarily with the assistance of a cane.

The neighborhood where we live is called Riberas del Pilar. It is between Ajijic and Chapala, and is what I would call a developing neighborhood. There are many houses here, but also many vacant lots. Slowly, these lots are being sold and homes are being built. There is one of these lots right up the street from our house, so I thought it would be interesting to photograph the house in various stages. The basic structure is there now, so I can show these photos. But I have to tell you, the Mexicans absolutely adore having their pictures taken. They love to show off for the camera. You can see in one they are holding heavy rocks over their heads to show how strong they are. When I walk Maggie, the always ask if I am going to take another photo. The first photo shows the "jefe" or the boss. He wanted his picture taken separately. You can see the progress of the building, totally by hand, which went up to this stage in a ccouple of weeks:

You can see from these photos that the method of house construction is to dig down about five or six feet to build a stone foundation, then build the walls with brick. Once the walls are in place, the brick is covered in cement and painted to form an adobe-looking house. Virtually all the houses here are built this way. Sometimes contractors try to skimp on the foundation which can lead to major cracks when the house settles. A friend of ours actually had to move out of her new house when 3-4 inch cracks appeared all through her walls, and she is in the process of trying to sue the contractor to get her money back. The deep foundations are important to protect against earthquakes. We purposely bought a house that had been lived in awhile so we could see if there were any problems with the house settling. I will post more photos of this house as it nears completion. I'm sure the construction gang won't object!

The weather is warming up now as we approach the hottest part of the year in April and May before the rainy season begins in June. We normally take walks down by the lake at a local park, shown in the photos below. Snowy egrets, like the first photo on the left, are present all year round at Lake Chapala. They are fairly tame since they are used to people walking in the park, so we can see them up close. The photo to its right is a portion of the part that we walk in. As you can see, it's very peaceful and beautiful right next to the lake. There are always lots of fishermen fishing in the lake, as you can see in the example below. Interestingly, they always fish with nets. We see lots of murals and paintings illustrating this practice, so I assume that net fishing has always been the method of chice here. At least they use outboard motors now. In the last photo you can the the pelicans, who are only here for the winter months, hoping to get fish scraps from the fisherman.

As the winter months come to an end, so does the semi-dormant period for plants. During December through mid February, plants tend to become somewhat dormant with fewer blossoms, needing less water, and generally not growing much. I was glad to see this period end, as we welcomed a couple types of Amarillus, generally more blossoms on all plants, and faster growth. Coming from Maine, this really doesn't look too dormant, but it is as close as we get to dormant here. So I am including photos of our newly discovered Amarillus and newly blossomed Copa del Oro which we are using to create shade on our terrace. One of the few things I have been still doing is watering the garden, and I enjoy the flowers so much. I hope you enjoy these images!

Here is a poem I recently wrote about the joys of watering my garden:

The Watering

Standing amid the green

With my red rubber hose

I use my thumb

To fan the water

To soothe the arid soil

And return my restlessness

To this routine

Of water and earth.

And as I feel the comfort

Of warm sun on my neck

And moisture leaking

Into my shoes,

I watch the soil darken

And I imagine

The connection underground

As the wetness tickles the roots

And we all drink in

The fragrance of wet loam.

Together,

For a moment,

I am this garden.

And now everything

Which has existed

And lived and died

Has emerged at this place

And at this time

To bring me into this

Circle of mud and fragrance,

Into this timeless instant

When my life has emerged

In the water, in the soil,

In the fertile orgasm

Which spawns green and blossom

So perfectly. And I

Understand, at last

That my perfection stands among

A perfection

I will never understand.

Yet, In this now,

I absorb it all

Through my face

And through my shoes.

Finally, I thought you might enjoy reading some recent remarks by Janet Nepolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security on the alarming US news media reports about Mexico becoming a failed state, which seems to be a preposterous assertion:

March 19, 2009 5:12 PM

Napolitano: Mexico Not A Narco-State "At This Point"

Posted by Bob Orr

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says Mexico is “not at this point” in danger of becoming a failed narco-state. But she says the ongoing drug cartel related violence is a threat to both Mexico and the United States.

Napolitano will be traveling to Mexico City April 1-3 to meet with her security counterparts and attend a conference on arms trafficking. Attorney General Eric Holder will also be there.

Napolitano says the Obama administration is very focused on Mexico and is in the process of increasing security efforts along the border. Additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol officers are being deployed, and the administration is still working on a broader plan to deal with potential “spillover violence,” though details are not yet available.

Most of the violence involves “cartel on cartel” fighting. So far, Napolitano says, U.S. officials do not see any evidence that cartels are targeting law enforcement or border officials on this side of the border. There has been an increase in the number of kidnappings in the Southwest U.S., but Napolitano says they largely seem to involve drug gangs targeting other drug gangs.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials are bolstering efforts to choke off the flow of weapons heading to Mexico. Various sensors, scales, and license plate readers are being used to identify suspicious vehicles, with some success. For example, 997 firearms were confiscated in one week this month.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

My Illness

About two weeks ago, I had just returned from my weekly trek to the market and was having some lunch and enjoying some down time before I wnt to teach my English class at 3:30. Pixie was back in Muncie, Indiana, tending her sick mother, and everything seemed normal here. I suddenly developed an rather painful headache and corresponding vertigo when I tried to move much or even look around. I ended up cancelling my class and relaxing for the next day and a half, hoping to nip this problem in the bid.

Since I had been talking to Pixie every day, I told her about the symptoms on Thursday morning. She was understandably concerned and wanted me to visit our doctor, Dr. Leon, that day. I wanted to see if it would resolve itself overnight, so I agred to go the next morning. By Friday, it was no better, so I went to visit the doctor. After examining me, he concluded I had some type of infection, either viral or bacterial, which was manifesting itself in this way. He gave me some medicine, and asked me to call him in the morning. The next morning showed little if any improvement, I was barely functioning. Simply getting up to cook a meak or answer the door was a major trial. I mostly lay on the sofa and tried to eat enough and drink enough fluids to stay hydrated and fortified, whichwas difficult because I had no appetite and could keep little down. He asked that I call again later on Saturday to report my progress: none. He then suggested I come into the Ajijic Clininc, a small hospital in town, to get some IV nutrition.

When I got to the hospital ( my neighbor drove me; I was too dizzy to drive) he hooked me up to the IV. I thought I'd be there for a few hours, so I brought no toiletries, eyeglasses, etc. Turns out he kep me for two days, till Monday. Thank God my friend Trudy was kind enough to bring me some lip glass and toohbrush and paste. It was very tedious, but by Monday I was beginning to feel better with the medicines and extra fluids.

Once I got home, I want back to my old medicines, but my progress was very slow, and I still had most of the symptoms. My friend, Fred's family was visiting. His son is a physician and dropped by at Fred's request to check me out. He was of the immediate opinion that I needed a brain scan to find out why I still had a bone-crushing headache. He got together with my other friends to call Pixie and let her know how worried they were about me too. They finally hijacked me and took me to another doctor, who ordered a brain scan right away. Well, three brain scans later, they determined that I had hemorrhaging in my brain, NOT caused by a tumor or aneurism but probably by a bump on the head. (I did remember an egg on the head abour two weeks before these symptoms started).

The symptoms I was having were most likely caused by brain swelling as a result of the brain bleed. I am being treated for the swelling by steroids, dieuretics, rest, and pain meds. Hopefully, in another week, the swelling symptoms will be gone. I will need to take anti-convulsive meds (Dytlanin) for about six months, because as the blood is reabsorbed into the brin, it can leave scarring and cause convulsions, so I can't drive for about a month. Pixie arrived home Sunday and has been taking excellent care of me and feeding me, since I've lost 12 pounds through all this.

SO... I am on the mend, and glad to be reunited with Pixie. This experience is humbling for several reasons. First, I did think, when they read the first scan, that I was looking at a brain tumor! UGH. Second, I don't remember hitting my head, but it must have been very hard. Surely, we cannot take our fragile lives for granted.

Thanks for all your emails. I have been inundated, and I hope this will answer more of your questions. I have so many who love and care for me.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Cost of Living (Continued)

I am putting this photo of our pink bouganbilia bush as the first photo on this entry because I am so proud of it. Our bouganbilia had been healthy but without many blossoms. Shortly before Pixie left she suggested that our problem might be that they were getting too much water. Since she's been gone, I've been abandoning my "if a little water is good, more is better" philosophy, especially with the bouganbilia. You can see the results! Here are some other photos of the garden as it looks today:

The winter months of December and January are somewhat dormant, but now, in late February, I am seeing that the plants are growing more and blooming. A big project we've been working on is to plant a vine wall of "copa del oro" in the space on the west side of our terrace to block the setting sun which can make it too hot to sit out on the terrace during the late afternoon. Our plan is to have the vines block the sun with an attractive wall of plants. I was hoping to have it ready for the hottest months of April and May, but it looks as though it may take a bit longer:

In my last post, I discussed food shopping. Today I will explore some other costs of living here, using specific dollar amounts, as estimated from the peso conversion. Keep in mind that the conversion was 10:1 and is now aobut 14.5:1, so we are getting about 40% more pesos for the dollar. I don't know how long this will continue, but for now, it give us more buying power.

The cost of owning a home here is very inexpensive compared to our house in Maine. This year's property taxes were 950 pesos ($64) and our yearly water bill 2400 pesos ($163). We have no heating system, and our electric bill, if we keep it under 500 kwh per two month period, we get a cheap rate. We've converted to fluorescent bulbs, unplug our microwave and TV at night, and generally try to conserve. We've been doing well. Our last bill showed a usage of 366 kwh for November and December, so the bill was 547 pesos or ($37). Our latest telephone bill, which includes calling here in Mexico plus our DSL internet connection (to which our Vonage phone is connected) was 479 pesos ($35.50). We pay our monthlyVonage bill ($30) via our credit card which gives us unlimited calling to the United States. We generally fill our propane tank (dryer, stove, and hot water) once every 2.5-3 months for 1200 pesos ($81). We change our water filters for the purification system every six weeks at a cost of 360 pesos ($25). So as you can see, the utilities are not expensive. Of course, those who have bigger houses, with pools, pay a much higher rate for electricity, as much as $250-300USD per month.

Maintenance on homes is required and usually consists of sealing the roof every 2-3 years, periodic repair of salitrate (a salt decay) on the walls and subsequent repainting. Labor is not expensive, so maintenance is not a big expense. We have a maid come about 4 hours, one day a week, and we pay her 200 pesos ($14) plus bus fare (12 pesos). Our gardener comes for a couple of hours just to weed and cut the grass for 100 pesos ($7).

Eating out at restaurants is very reasonable. Breakfast is very cheap, usually costing about 60 pesos for a full breakfast ($4). Dinner entrees at most restaurants range from 70 pesos ($4.70) to 120 pesos ($8.00). Beer is about $1.5o while wine can be $2.50 a glass, and margaritas are cheap at about $3.00 or less (all in USD). People tip between 10 and 15%. I like to buy roasted chickens, which are very popular here. For about 80 pesos ($5.40) you can get a delicious roasted chicken including tortillas, salsa, and roasted potatoes. Here is where we buy roasted chicken. It's called the happy chicken, although I doubt that's true!

Transportation is not expensive. Most people in Mexico cannot afford cars, and buses are readily available. I can stand on the main drag, about a block from our house, and take a bus just about anywhere. It costs 6 pesos to ride into Ajijic or Chapala, and 35 pesos into Guadalajara. Here is a typical commuter bus.

Driving is similar in expense to the US. Gas, which is sold only through Pemex stations, the national oil company, has remained steady at about 72 pesos per litre (about $1.90) per gallon. There is no self-serve here. Attendants fill your tank and sometimes wash your windows for a tip. Here is what all Pemex station look like:

Tires are expensive here, with a large tire for our RAV-4 costing at least $100USD each. Mechanical work is fairly reasonable, although it costs me about $50USD for an oil change because the 5w20 oil is rare here and needs to be imported from the US. There is a Toyota dealer in Guadalajara, and I've heard prices are similar to the US. We have a small problem with the rear end of our Toyota, and I'll wait till we go to the US this summer and get it looked at by a US Toyota dealer, since the warranty is not honored here.

Here are some other places we frequent: (Clockwise, from top left) the Mexican post office where we get our mail, la pescaderia (seafood store), OXXO (equivalent to a 7-11), and a hardware store.

In general, you can live on very little or spend a lot here. Medical care can be expensive, but much cheaper than the US. The difference here is that we usually pay out of pocket for everything. Some drugs are generic and cheap, others very expensive. Pixie had surgery which cost about $2500 total. We are cancelling our private major medical coverage which costs us $3300 a year (with a $2000USD deductable, per event), but the cost is skyrocketing, and we will rely, for serious problems, on IMSS, the Medical Social Service medical coverage which cost us about $500USD per year and includes everything. We've heard both good and bad things about IMSS, but it is what we can afford. Electronic items, like computers, are more expensive here. And, of course, many items we would have no trouble finding, may not be avaialble here. (recent examples: magnifying glass, turkey baster). We live easily on a modest pension here, and we manage to save money for travel back to the states. But we have to watch our money carefully sometimes near the end of the month. We could live cheaper if we had to, and lots of our friends live in more luxurious style. Many also live on much less.

Finally, a word about the drug violence in Mexico. Several of my friends and family members have expressed concern about US media reports of a huge increase in drug violence here. This is true, but misleading. There were thousands murdered in Mexico last year, and the trend is continuing this year. The vast majority are drug reprisal killings against rival drug gangs, police, journalists, and politicians. President Calderon has declared war on the drug gangs, and the spike in violence is a direct result of his efforts. Most of the violence is in the three northern Mexico states, but there have been some killings in Jalisco (the state we live in) and in Michoacan (the next state). I reported a few weeks ago that there was a drug killing in Riberas where we live, but that turned out to be a jealous boyfriend killing. As far as I know there has been no drug violence in this area. People here feel safe and secure. We do not drive much at night, and we take security seriously, as you would in many areas of the US, but we do not feel in any danger. Living in a foreign country, particularly one with problems like Mexico, is always a risk. But, to those of us here, at this point at least, the advantages far outweigh the risks. I suppose it could change. I think the Mexican people were willing to give Calderon a chance, but many here are alarmed at the increase in violence. The PRI may take a different tack if they are elected. The REAL problem, of course, is drug demand in the US. To me, we may be at the point where we need to look at the problem like we did prohibition and legalize drugs. I doubt enforcement efforts will ever work when there is so much profit to be made. We'll see. But don't worry about us; we're safe.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Cost of Living

Maggie found a squirrel in our small woodpile and spent the rest of the day trying to dig and root in the woodpile to try to find it. She ended up with this dirty face. Just when I think she is starting to have human emotions, I am disabused of the notion by her very "dog" behavior!

I receved some feedback from people suggesting that the everyday activities were sufficiently interesting for many of you who do not live in Mexico that more detail on this subject is warranted. So I thought I'd discuss shopping for food, etc. today. One of the appeals of living here is obviously the cost of living. I highly doubt we'd have been able to retire at our ages, and not have to work, if we'd stayed in the United States. Right now, because of the worldwide economic crisis, the Mexican peso has slipped from about 10 pesos to the dollar to about 14.5 pesos to the US dollar. This obviously helps us, for the time being, but seriously hurts Mexico, a country which is reliant on imports from the US which are now more expensive. This is triggering inflation here, and I suspect it will continue.

Shopping for food in the Lake Chapala area offers many choices. If you want to get the same products you were used to buying in the US, there is Super Lake, a grocery store which specializes in importing goods for the gringos. We buy a few luxuries there, including good tea, but we usually buy Mexican products for much cheaper:

One good thing about Super Lake is that it is a hangout for Americans and Canadians, and they provide a bulletin board where you can find rentals, items for sale, Spanish lessons, or just about anything else:

At the other end of the spectrum, we have the weekly outdoor market, or Tianguis (Monday in Chapala, Wednesday in Ajijic, and Thursday in Jocotepec) which features just about everything from produce, to street food, to medicinal herbs, fresh yogurt, flowers, pirated films, clothing, crafts, bread, fish, meat, plants, electronic parts, and much more. We always buy our produce, yogurt, honey, flowers, and movies at the tianguis. We have our favorite vendors, of course, who treat us well. Here are some photos:

We also have the opportunity to shop at large department-style stores, Wal Mart or Soriana, which are very Mexican and do not cater to foreigners. So what you might normally think you'd easily find at Wal Mart in the US, you will not likely find at this one. I do not prefer shopping at these stores.

Neighborhoods all have small stores, or tiendas, which sell Abarrotes, which means supplies. Here you can buy one egg, or one cigarette, or beer, or produce, soap, etc. They are like mom and pop stores, and the family generally lives in the back. I frequent the one about a block from our house, where I generally buy milk, charcoal, eggs, soap, bottled water, and other household goods. Here's a photo:

Now, how much do things cost? Here is a list of some sample prices. I have converted them to pounds (from kilos) and to dollars (from pesos):

Milk $1.50 2 liters

Eggs $1.20 / doz

Yogurt $1.40/liter

Chicken (whole) $.90/ lb.

Pork Chops $1.80/ lb

Steak, tenderloin $3.50/ lb

Tomatoes $.25/ lb

Bananas $ .10/lb

Avacados $ 1.05/ lb.

Carrots $ .30/lb

Limes $.50/lb

Oranges $.25/lb

Strawberries (now, in season) $.45/lb

Fresh corn tortillas $.30/ lb

Beans (precooked) $.40/ lb

Sugar $.60/lb

Dish soap (Mexican brand) $.25

Dish Soap (US brand) $1.50

Charcoal (small bag, enough for four grillings) $1.50

Tea (Mexican, not good) $1.20/80 bags

Coffee (Veracruz, from street vendor) $1.35/ lb

Good British tea ($4.00/ 80 bags...but worth it!)

Tequila...ranges from $3.00-$120 per liter. Good, aged reposado is about $14

Wine...Chilean table wine $3.50-7.00

Beer...Corona 6-pack $3.50

Dog food (Pedigree) 5lb bag..$2.20

Beggin strips, Maggie's favorite treat (imported) $4.00

Pixie is still in the US with her family. Maggie and I are eating very cheaply.

Next time I will continue to discuss other aspects of the cost of living here. In the meantime, Happy Valentine's Day! In Mexico this day is called Dia de Amor y Amistad, Day of Love and Friendship, a bit more broad-based.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

The Truth About Mexico

Here is our friend Teo, the only Mexican member of our Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. He is the weaver who makes beautiful tapetas, or tapestries, which I have highlighted on this blog before. He is a very sweet, gentle and kind man who represents, to me, what I love most about Mexico: its people. Teo lived and worked as an agricultural worker in California for many years, traveling back and forth between Ajijic and California each year. The work was back breaking and sometimes humiliating. Once he found his life partner, Janice Kimball, an expat artist from Detroit, she convinced Teo that he could make a living with his amazing weavings. They now live in Ajijic and own a joint Aztec Studio, where Janice sells her paintings, they sell tapetas designed by Janice and made by Teo, and now Teo's son, Francisco, also makes more modern tapetas which he sells as well. They are a beautiful family making their living with their art and add so much to this Mexican-Gringo community. This photo of Teo was taken a couple of weeks ago when Pixie and I hosted a pot luck lunch for our Fellowship in our back yard.

Pixie left for Maine yesterday and arrived safely in Gray, Maine at the home of her sister, Liana. She reports that she had to pay $8.00 for a lousy sandwich on Delta Airlines and arrived to mucho snow in Maine, but moderate temperatures in the 30's. She will be in Maine for an indeterminite period, and I will be fending for myself for awhile.

The title of this entry came from my reaction to some very bad publicity Mexico has been receiving the last few weeks, which I believe is unwarranted. The LA Times

reported a week or two ago that Drug Czar Barry McAfferty, among others, has warned that Mexico may become a failed state, similar to Afghanistan and Pakistan. This analyis is based on three trends. The Narco Gangs are proliferating, especially in the northern Mexican states near the US border, and over 5000 people were murdered last year in drug-related violence. Although President Calderon hascommited Mexican troops and federal police to fight this problem, these efforts seem to be increasing the violence. Second, the oil reserves owned here by Pemex, the national oil company, are diminishing which, combined with lower oil prices, will decrease revenue substantially for Mexico in the next decade. Finally, the economic recession in the US is drastically dimishing remittances from the US, a significant source of Mexican income. All this is true. Nevertheless, Mexico remains a vibrant democracy which demonstrated in 2006 that it could handle a close presidential election without violence. I see evidence of government efforts to fight corruption and rebuild Mexico's infrastructure every day. I am now able to read, with reasonable accuracy, Mexican newspapers which report political and cultural events regularly. Mexico has problems; there is violence; and the future will be economically challenging. Nevertheless, those of us who are living here by choice, as foreign nationals feel safe and secure here. The US certainly struggles with violence and economic insecurity as well. But in this culture, where people are used to surviving, despite long odds, there is an expectation that they will survive this too. The peso is falling (as of today, 14.2 pesos to the dollar down from about 10.00), trade with the US is diminishing, and NAFTA continues to raise the prices of tortillas and other corn and bean products here. But the people are resiliant. The less you have, the less problem is caused by an economic downturn.

I received an email from one of the readers of this blog about a comment I made suggesting that I feel as though I may be running out of things to write about. He suggested that I should continue to write about what it's like to simply live here, even something as simple as a trip to the grocery store, which, he said, would be interesting to him, because he does not live here. Well, it may be a bit repetitive, but I will try to follow his advice. So, in coming posts, I will revisit things like prices, availability of products, and healthcare here in Jalisco. I just read in the local newspaper that Jalisco has the most number of scorpion stings in all of Mexico; the good news is I have yet to become a statistic!

We have sent for our South Dakota license plates. Why, you may ask, did I do such a thing? Because...our Maine plates have long ago expired. We cannot register our car here becuase we did not buy it here. (Don't ask, I do not know why.) The only state which, apparently, will grant auto registration to non-residents is South Dakota. (When we first got here I was astounded at how many people had migrated here from South Dakota,of all places!) So, since we are planning a road trip back to Maine next summer, we have sent for our SD plates. The total cost: only $63 USD. Beats Maine! So soon we'll be sporting Mount Rushmore on our car.

I've been invited over for dinner tonight by our next door neighbors from Montreal, Ron and Pat. They are great friends and the best neighbors. They have a key to our house and keep an eye on things when we are gone. Ron taught me how to spray for scorpions and chlorinate the ajibe (undergrouond water tank). Here's a photo of Ron and his dog, and Maggie's friend, Layla:

I'll end this post with a photo I recently took of a marvelous mural painted of the goddess of the lake byJesus Lopez Vega, a local artist, at the Ajijic Cultural Center:

Friday, January 16, 2009

Taking the Bad with the Good

(Photo by our friend, Carol Bowman)

As I write this, Pixie is preparing to return to Maine at the end of January to be with her mother who is ill. She will be staying with her sister in Gray. We don't know how long she'll be there, but I will be staying in Mexico. Not ideal, but as Pixie says, "You gotta do what you gotta do."

I lost a friend on New Year's Eve. His name was Terry Hogan. He was an interesting man who I met in the Ajijic Writers' Group. He was Irish. He's been a fisherman, a woodsman, a car mechanic, and he lived on a Greek Island for awhile. He lived around the other side of the lake and loved Mexico. He was very kind and encouraged me with my poetry. We gathered in Jocotepec for a celebration of his life last week, and I was able to learn more about the rich life he had led. It was sad, but I was glad to have known him. I wrote a poem about the fact that I am meeting interesting people here, but towards the end of their lives. I find myself wondering what they were like when they were younger. Here it is:

Meeting You at Twilight

I am glad to have come across you

Even as the sun sets over the western shore

For you are a beacon to light my way

As I head into my dusk.

Where I feel unsure, you step deliberately

Where I am new, you show me your scars.

You are not like those I do not want to become

Who die slowly every day.

You live in the sun and bask in the heat.

How did you get to this twilight today?

What were you like at noon?

I can only guess.

Were you always walking in front?

Were you like me?

What have you lost in the dark afternoon?

Would that I could walk with you

For just one day in the sun

To look into your face

To see what you feared

And see what you loved

When the sun cast no shadows

On your fresh life.

For now I do not have

Long hours to walk with you,

I know as the sun drops over the trees

That darkness will descend

For you, and for me,

And I am glad to have

Seen you smile and heard your voice

In the evening light.

We visited a friend's home last week, and she has decorated it with beautiful Mexican art. I thought I'd post some photos. Her name is Bebe. She is from California, has liv ed in Mexico for almost 20 years, and has become a Mexican citizen. She poses below with her life-sized Katrna:

Here are some photos I took around her very Mexican home:

Lakeside is more crowded these days as the snowbirds have arrived, mostly from Canada, to escape the cold and snow. Walmart is open and busy, new businesses are opening, and the peso is still weak against the American dollar. The drug wars, which are mostly up around the border, touched lakeside last week when a couple of young Mexican men were shot and killed on the Carreterra, the main road through all the north shore towns, a couple of blocks from our house, in the middle of the night, a likely drug-related execution. But, of course, this kind of thing happens all the time in American cities. But, sadly, it can happen here too.

We are all awaiting the historic inauguration of Barack Obama on Tuesday. Mexicans and Canadians alike are intrigued at the prospect of this new kind of American president. I'll end this entry with a poem I wrote about Obama which appears in this month's Ojo del Lago:

Barack

(Upon Your Election, November 2008)

Barack

You have reached

Deep into the

Unspeakable shame

Of a people

And pulled out the strands

Which transcend hate.

And now you stand

Above the raw wound

Grasping the fragile tissue