The "Escapade" at Midnight

Minding my own business the other night, never thinking of danger or creatures, I got ready to go to bed, But, first, a stop in the bathroom and as I turned on the light............OH MY GOSH, the biggest, black scorpion I have ever seen..............close to four inches long.........did I mention it was black?

OK, I'm not afraid of snakes - red and yellow kills a fellow - or other creatures, not even tarantulas but those creepy, sneaky scorpions raise my blood pressure and vocal expressions.

I left the light on, I slammed the door (hoping to scare him out of the house) and went and sat on the bed in contemplation. I probably sat there for thirty minutes thinking about how to ignore this creature in the bathroom. My options were: (1) barricade the door with multiple towels and rugs. That was ok, unless I needed the bathroom in the middle of the night and the odds were I would. (2) Where would it be when I DID want to find it? Oh yikes, maybe it would slither under the door anyway and come into my bed. (3) Deal with it! So I went up, got the fly swatter and my trusty can of spray starch. Put my shoes back on, along with a heavy robe just in case it flew at me (I don't know if they fly or jump or what) and went in for battle. If I had had goggles I probably would have secured those too - just kidding.

The scorpion had slithered down amongst the stack of towels that I keep in a nicho next to the shower. So, one by one, I shook and threw each towel into the shower. And, of course, it wasn't til I lifted one of the last towels that THERE HE WAS. It was NOT a pretty sight. I started smacking him with the fly swatter and spraying him with spray starch (that stiffens them I think) and quietly screaming as I decapitated it from the fly swatter.

Whew, it was over! I triumphed over a 4 inch creature, that to me was as big as tyrannosauros rex. The plight of a single woman living in Mexico!

The Florence of Mexico

This blog was going to be entitled, "Escapade at Midnight" or "Wild Kingdom" but, that can wait.

I saw this beautiful video today and HAD to share with all.

This is the video that was submitted, along with much documentation to UNESCO for the World Heritage designation for San Miguel. I think it is poetic in its selection of the many sights of San Miguel and the beautiful Mexican people.

Go to http://www.terrazassanmiguel.com/ Then click on the left on the video, "Heart of Mexico". Hopefully, those who continually "slam" San Miguel will be hushed..............
Enjoy!

Learning Something New Every Day

I LOVE all things Mexican. I read anything I can get on the Mexican culture, history, art, folkart, ANYTHING. I recently read Aztec by Jennings and wow even though it was a historical novel, I do believe some of it was facts. I certainly could follow where he was when he was wandering! That surprised me. I guess I've been more places then I realize sometime.

So, yesterday I got an email from www.mexicokid.blogspot.com asking about a cowboy pilgrimage in January to Guanajuato WHAT? I thought, I've never heard about that. Could it be? So I looked on some Guanajuato sites and nothing.....then........I typed in on Google, "Cowboy Pilgrimage to Guanajuato" and I'll be darned if all kinds of stuff came up. A great National Geographic article about this "pilgrimage" in January every year............who knew?

Then today, www.mexicowoods.com wrote about the salt flats near Manzanillo with photos of how they harvest the sea salt and where it is, etc.etc.etc. Geez, I realize that the more I know about Mexico the more I don't know about Mexico!

I swear I'm going to have to live til at least 100 to see all that I haven't seen or read all that I haven't read! Mexico is enthralling..................don't you agree?

Disoriented by Life

Do you ever feel that way? It's just been so much "stuff" the last couple of weeks - first, sick in bed for six days; then the hurricane; then my friends losing everything; then the financial b-s crisis; and it just seems disorienting to try to figure out what shoe is going to fall next.

So, I've kinda dropped out and been doing some "quiet" things - like reading and gardening and putzing around the house. It has helped.

The last, but not least, disorienting thing has been "trying" to get photos downloaded ( I was using the wrong cord) and finding out I need an "external hard drive". Geez louise, I'll be so glad when I can share these @#$%^ photos with ya'll - there are 249 - whoa, I'm NOT sharing all of those but there are a few. I feel somewhat autistic not being able to share photos. Like part of my descriptive voice has been silenced. The "computer diva" is coming on Thursday and keep your fingers crossed that I'll have this part of my life back in order.

In the meantime, DO know that I'm thinking of ya'll and reading your blogs, but not especially commenting much..........weird huh? Still waters run deep.

An "Adventure" in the Bedroom

Ok, don't get your hopes up - this is NOT that kind of adventure..............but it is funny if I can portray a mental image for you.

I moved from a house with lots of closets to a house with ONE closet - I'm closet deprived! A woman DOES NEED closets. But, being creative, I have four plastic storage boxes on wheels under the bed. I have six plastic storage bins in one storage area above the closet. These bins are filled with the opposite season's clothes, shoes, jackets, etc................

Twice a year I switch them out and herein lies the "adventure"! Everything currently in the closet has to be removed from the hangars, folded and made ready to go in the plastic bins. BUT I must leave one spot for the bins as I take them from under the beds or down from the high area. It is a symphony of movement. Not so much with the stuff UNDER the bed, but when it comes to the bins above the closet it necessitates a step ladder, strong arms and a flat head.
Yes, you read that right - a flat head...........like the women in the market have when they carry flowers, fruit, food or whatever. I HAVE to put these bins on my head so I can hold onto the stepladder handles as I go down the ladder. It is a sight I CANNOT witness myself, but it must look pretty darn funny. A Carmen Miranda act...........without the fruit or music.

The whole "lateral transfer of parts" takes about 3 hours. I'm sweating by the time I have gone up and down, because, of course you understand all the newly folded stuff that is now put in the bins has to go UP the step ladder.

I completed this task yesterday............I definitely have a "sense of accomplishment". Today I wore fall clothes and was darn glad I "did" the switch............(I did keep the swimsuit, and summer clothes under the bed however for the trip to the beach in January which I'll be more then ready for by then).

And then people wonder what I do with my time all day? Ha...........IF they only could see!

YIKES IKE!

I left Houston and living at one point on Clear Lake in order NOT to go through another hurricane. BUT, after the last few days I feel like I HAVE gone through another one. Checking on family, checking on friends, eyes glued to the Weather Channel (and any other station giving information) and today following up on my friend in the high rise and family north of Houston and elsewhere. Geez, I'm stressed. Little sleep last night as I watched and listened to the latest report.

My dear friends, Vandy and Sue are here from Galveston The three of us went out to dinner last night to hear Doc Severinsen play at Bella Italia and to get our minds off the storm. We were all subdued. Midway through the meal I said, "I feel like I'm dining on the Titanic waiting for the ship to go down!" With that we paid the bill, came home, and watched for any little idea of how and where our friends and family live was being affected.

Lots of memories have flooded back from when the kids and I, in 1983, went through Hurricane Alicia on August 18, 1983. NO we didn't stay but what we returned to was a lot of devastation.
I've mentioned before, I think, that the sound of a chain saw reminds me of all the trees and limbs that had to be cut down for weeks and weeks.

It appears, at this early stage, that Ike didn't bring the storm surge and the tornadoes that were feared. That's a good thing. My heart goes out to those who will go home to devastation.

So, I now realize that even though I'll never "live through" another hurricane in person, I DO live through them vicariously.

Gods of Tiempo

This truly happened and I still chuckle about WHEN it happened........

The Saturday that the "group" was going to Guanajuato was going to be a really tight day, schedule wise. I look at my watch a lot on days when I'm doing "bidness" as we say in Texas.......
So, as I put my watch on that Saturday morning and looked down, NO TIME! The battery was dead. I couldn't believe my own eyes. BUT not to worry, I went to the old jewelry box where I have many equally, inexpensive watches and THEN I really couldn't believe my eyes. NOT A ONE WAS WORKING!

I actually smiled as I realized the gods were telling me to "chill"! I threw my travel clock in my purse and off I went. It all worked out.

On the following Monday, before I left to go to Xilitla, I walked down the hill to the jewelry store to have batteries changed in all these watches - it wasn't opened and had a sign that it wouldn't be open for several days - it's NEVER closed.

So, I haven't worn a watch since the 30th of September - I'm kinda liking NOT worrying about it. Sooner..........or maybe later, I'll get them fixed! Don't you just love life in Mexico?

"Gypsy Kids" Update

Sadly no photos to share - although I have asked but it seems that John, Lisa, Matilda and Dusty have been busy setting up housekeeping in Ft. Collins, Colorado.

They love the town, the people they've met, and they love all the outdoor activities including the hiking and biking.

Matilda is "known" on the trails, it appears, according to Lisa. People hiking have heard about her in her papoose and holler, "Hi Matilda". It just makes them all laugh. I could hear her in the background on the phone the other evening. Her first word, "Mama" being repeated over and over. What joy for John and Lisa.

John is interviewing with companies in Ft. Collins and other places in the Northwest but if they can stay where they are they would be REALLY happy, they say.

So, of course, I've been checking airfares from Leon to Denver and gritting my teeth, not at the cost of the airfare, because I can fly roundtrip for $525, but the thought of going when the weather is COLD!

It has to be true love for me to go in the winter.............

A Fabulous Folkart Piece

Imagine my surprise at the last evening's dinner of the "group", when at the conclusion a big black garbage bag was presented to me............knowing many of these people personally, I was somewhat hesitant to open it! Who Knew what I would find? But, much to my delight, a WONDERFUL gift - a fabulous folkart piece selected by some of the participants............Good taste they have.................THANKS SO MUCH!

They chuckled when I said I couldn't wait to go home and try to figure out where I would hang it and also wondered out loud how many things I would move around coming to a conclusion.

Life is good - surprises are nice.

A "sinking" ship, NO a "sinking" bus!

One of the funny things that happened while the tour group was here was that the bus that took us out to Galleria Atotonilco sank in the muck from the receding Rio Laja.......... I NEVER use buses for my tours because as small as the streets are of San Miguel and the remote areas we travel to, vans are the way to go. But on Sunday we were traveling with the Bibliotecha on their Home and Garden Tour to see two magnificent homes of folkart.....thanks to Jennifer Hamilton, who organizes the weekly tours and her graciousness to work with me when I have a group in town.

As we arrived at this home in the country I marveled at how close it was to the Rio Laja and someone commented that yes, the water had been almost up to the house. Not thinking anything of it, we all went in to see the collections and when we came out to get on the busses (there were four) - this was the sight. One bus trying to pull another bus out with a rope.
A nearly toothless man came out of a shed with a shovel and a bag of lime and some wood. He and some other men shoveled mud out from under the front tires of the back bus, put the wood under, then threw lime under the tires of the front bus. He then stood back and grinned! It worked after about five or six attempts..........of course, many of the Americans wanted to give directions and instructions and I just said, "They know what they're doing" and they did!

The humor of it to me is that I work to cover ALL the bases and think of all scenarios to prevent something from going wrong and I see now that something going wrong ADDS to the memories!

Germs Talking

"Hey, SHE needs to slow down and rest, let's give her a one-two punch!" "Yeah", says Germ 2......AND THEY DID!
"Let's start by having her wake up Saturday morning and sneeze her way through a box of Kleenex" "Yeah" says Germ 2..........AND THEY DID!
"Let's kick it up a notch in the evening while she's at a dinner party and add an earache, a sore throat and a cough" "Yeah!", says Germ 2.............AND THEY DID!
"That oughtta keep her in bed all day - not wanting anything to eat, nothing to read and not even music to hear" "Yeah" says Germ 2. AND IT WORKED!

I'm down for the count today and hoping to be up and feeling better tomorrow. The only other symptom is this sexy, deep sultry voice, but heck the only person to try it out on is Velcro the cat and she is bored beyond anything

I'll blog again when I'm feeling better....................gotta get RID of those darn germs.

The "tents" have been folded....and all is over!

The "tour" is over - it was very successful - everyone had a great time and saw "eyeopening" things.

If you would like a pictorial tour here are both Larry and Tom's Flickr photos of the events.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23280022@N08/collections/72157607110872524/
and,

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomlafaver/collections/72157607110094087/
There are many fabulous photos that you will see. And places that are not open to the public, that you too can now enjoy!
After the group left on Monday I gathered my wits (what was left) and headed out Tuesday for the rainforest and biosphere area known as the Sierra Gorda. It was a rapturous experience as always and I will write more about it manana. I took lots of photos and one or two look spectacular because of the light. We'll see...........



More later - glad to be home!