The White Knuckled Drive Through The Mountains

Kay Cox in her comments about "Sarah" Bernhardt mentioned my drama on the white knuckled drive through the mountains. I had pretty much forgotten this adventure so I think, for a little laughter, I'll share it with you. It's funny now - not so much ten years ago!

Kay and I had traveled quite a bit in Mexico together as her husband was too busy keeping all the astronauts in place at NASA and the Space Station aloft or whatever the heck he was in charge of. He was waaaaay too busy back then to travel to Mexico - so we took off on several trips. Kay was with me here in San Miguel when I finally "got" what San Miguel was about - after three visits - and thought I might enjoy living here. I certainly didn't "get it" before that on other trips.

So, we came down, rented a house for a month, I think, while she took watercolor classes with a well known instructor at Bellas Artes and I did what I do best - nothing but wander the streets and meet people. Locals. You have to get to the "locals" before you can get San Miguel - preferably someone who had been here since the 50's and was very eccentric. My kind of people.

Ah, but I digress. So, when we got ready to head back to Texas I made the silly statement, "Aw heck, let's not go back the way we know, let's try a new route, a little adventure!" YIKES.

So someone, who will remain nameless, assured us that the way back OVER the Sierra Madres going Northeast was as fast as going up through Laredo. LIAR! But, heck what did we know? So off we went in Kay's "hippie van" that had plastic grass and fir trees and nodding heads all glued on the dashboard with fuzzy dice (I think) hanging from the mirror. I KNOW something was hanging from the mirror. Kay driving............

We got near San Luis Potosi and took the exit. It headed toward Ciudad Victoria. Well, that's what the sign said. What it didn't say was that we were going to hit at least 1000 switchbacks (NO I'm not being dramatic) and climb and descend and then climb and descend and at one point have hawks and buzzards flying beneath us.

OK, that wouldn't have been so bad except there was absolutely no shoulder. The bus flying over the cliff and down into the ravine not more then five minutes before we got there didn't help either. Add to that that I needed a bano, bad - really, really bad - and there was no place to pull over.

I don't know how long this went on. It was like a Chinese water torture test. Me squealing as the hippie van took the curves - holding on for dear life to the door handle as Kay drove..........

Of course, on a two lane road, there are zillions of buses and trucks. Not to mention the occasional cart pulled by mules. I needed a bano.

Ah, finally, finally, there was a little expansion of soil and a place to stop. A woman was cooking with a pit. I yelled for Kay to stop and before she could turn the motor off, I was out of the van yelling, "Bano, bano" and obviously, this had happened before because the woman pointed to a curtain............no commode, just a hole..........who cares? Relief.

I came out from behind the curtain and noticed smoke surrounding the van with Kay still in it. A trucker came over and told us it was the brakes cause we didn't know to downshift...........

There are no words to tell you how happy we were when we saw the outskirts of Ciudad Victoria. It was flat land - just about as flat as Flatonia Texas - if not more so. We marveled at the flatness and the shoulder on the road from Ciudad Victoria all the way to the border. Just wonderful boring grass flatlands..........

People tell me there is now a bypass and new cuota through Ciudad Victoria and that it is faster then going up to Laredo. There is no way in this world I'm ever, ever going to believe them. I'll take the same simple nonadventurous drive through the Columbia Bridge exit and never look for "adventure" while driving again. I promise.

Other "adventures" with Kay have come to mind while I was writing this - I'll share them in the future........all hilarious.

"Sarah" Bernhardt

It is interesting when you live alone that you have no one to "mirror" your behavior...........and, let you know when you're over the top or whatever.

So imagine my surprise in this relationship when "The Man" told me I was so dramatic. I 've never thought of myself that way, but, after saying that and listening to myself, I realized it was a "right on" comment. It became a great source of humor as I would describe something or comment on something and rather then say,"Was it really like that?" All he would say is "Sarah" and I would crack up laughing. I guess I do have a flair for the dramatic.........unbeknownst to me.

The other comment said in humor was that I'm such a "spoiled little princess". Now that really blew me away. I got huffy, sortof, and then he explained. "You have a maid, and a gardener - you don't have to clean, wash, scrub, sweep, pull weeds or any of those things if you don't want to". Wow, I thought, I am! I've spoiled myself after about 40 years of doing those things. I DON'T do those things anymore. It became very, very humorous to me and to him. I laughed out loud the day I pulled out socks to go to the gym and embroidered on them was the word "spoiled". I had bought them for myself as a joke years ago because I've always prided myself on NOT being spoiled - this time I wore them chuckling the whole time I had them on.

You know, you're never too old to learn something new about yourself.

A Man Named Pearl

It truly is his name - it's Pearl Fryar and he lives in Bishopville, South Carolina. I went to see him in May 2007 because he is truly an artist. Oh, not of paintings with a brush and a canvas, but with a chainsaw and topiaries.

I traveled with the Orange Show on my annual Eyeopener Tours to see outsider artists' creations. Although most of our traveling was in the state of North Carolina, we dipped down into South Carolina especially to meet Mr. Pearl.

He lives on a residential street but as we turned onto that street we knew something special was about to happen. You see, every single house on that block had their shrubs in some animal or geometric form. Very different and unique.

We pulled up in front of Mr. Pearl's house and it was a sight to behold. Topiaries for as far as you could see. Acres of waterfalls, fountains, whirly gigs but mostly trimmed plants. Mere words cannot do it justice.

It all started in 1984 when he wanted to win Garden of the Month in his neighborhood. So he went to a local nursery and bought anything that didn't cost more then a dollar or two and started nursing it back to life. The rest is history. He has created an oasis and a thing of beauty.

A soft spoken man, his house is modest but you certainly cannot say that about his masterpieces.
This Sunday night on HGTV, at 8PM/7Central which would be 6 in Central Mexico, there will be a special program called "A Man Named Pearl". I urge you not to miss it.

Any donations Mr. Pearl receives from visitors doesn't go to buy more plants, it goes to pay for education for kids that can't afford it - mostly college education. It's his way of giving back!

I'm thrilled that a man of such kindness and talent is being highlighted on television.

Changing my "looks"

While looking for a totally different photo the other day, I came across this photo of myself at age 2. With my wrinkly nose and propped in my Dad's car, it appears to me that I'm looking down the road toward adventure. That has always been my "m.o." - always looking down the road and always looking for adventure.

Since some of my fellow bloggers have been changing their identity photo on their blogs, maybe I should do the same. I'm not sure why they have chosen photos in their teens. I looked at my teen photos in felt skirts with poofy starched petticoats and others in pedal pushers and decided I actually like myself better at age 2.

So, keep it "as is" or go for the change............Any comments?

Town Criers

Back in the olden days, before my time, there used to be people who would walk through town giving out the news of the day. Well, that custom is no longer valid......or is it?



For instance, I know in this town that there are certain people who, if you tell them something, actually anything, the whole town will know within two days max.



Hence there is a plan afloat to erect a "countdown sign" above the Parroquia to countdown til "The Man" arrives. One MUST have a sense of humor to live here. Good natured razzing has begun after only two or three people knowing - now complete strangers are walking up and asking me when "The Man" is getting to town.



Same thing happened to "him" in San Carlos. He said he KNEW who to tell that he had a "girlfriend" - his words not mine - and by the next day all the available women he knew, knew that he is "taken" - his words not mine.



Maybe it's just that people like to hear good news and live vicariously through other people's lives - it's easier and safer that way!

Jennifer's "Living" Memorial

Five years ago on May 18th, my daughter Jennifer passed. She was a gentle, generous, loving mother, daughter, wife and avid butterfly gardener among other things.

I have been trying to think of an appropriate way to memoralize her and it came to me in the form of the butterflies now migrating north from the sanctuaries of Mexico through my garden.

Jennifer loved gardening and her calling card said "Butterlfy Gardener". She and her little son Christopher watched in awe and amazement every time a butterfly hatched off the host plants, as seen in the first photo. The second photo shows Jen covering the "host" plants with netting so the crysalis could change from catepillars to butterflies.

Instead of a bench or tree or plaque in one place, it seems to me that anyone who would want to go to a nursery and buy a plant to feed or host butterflies would be keeping her memory alive all over the USA and Mexico. A "Living" tribute. Hopefully, watching the plant and butterflies thrive would bring the same awe and amazement to you that was experienced by Jennifer and Christopher.

There is a website called www.thebutterflysite.com that lists many plants or you can go to your local nursery where someone can make suggestions.

Planting these plants soon would significantly help the migration of these amazing creatures.

Christopher is now ten years old and we talk each time we are together about his butterfly experiences with his Mom. I think it has left an imprint on him for the rest of his life.

The indigenous peoples of Mexico believe that the returning butterflies in October are the return of the departed souls - all the more touching to those of us who are left behind.

To my Blogger friends: The above is being emailed to those people who have played a major part in the life of Jennifer and our family. I wanted to share it with all of you because, without knowing it, you have played an important role in my life for the last few years.........

Tight Jeans

Everyone has them, one pair of jeans, slacks, pants, in the back of the closet that you "save" for the day when you can wear them again - well, at least, I know women do. Probably men too.........

So, just for the heck of it the other day, after being on the cough drop diet for nearly three months, I decided to see if my favorite pair of jeans fit again. I've lost 32 pounds, so here was hoping. Voila - they fit and I didn't even have to lay on the bed to zip them up...........YEE HA.

I love these jeans - they're worn, they're soft, they're old and they fit again. Amazing. I guess going to the gym five days a week, not eating dairy or anything else I shouldn't and walking nearly 4 miles a day has paid off. It's all good.

So, everything has a silver lining, doesn't it?

What's in season?

As I sat at the traffic light this morning in Celaya, I looked over and saw this pickup truck loaded with strawberries. The way the sun was shining on them it looked like a truckload of rubies. I was on my way out of town, back to San Miguel, so I managed to get across a couple of lanes and follow them. All the while I was getting my camera ready and then I just starting taking photos. I'm sure the driver was wondering what the heck I was doing. This is the only shot that didn't come out blurry. As I passed the truck, the driver was really, really looking at me to see why I had been so close behind him.

Ah, but the luscious berries! They were packed in so delicately and so beautifully. I presume they were either going to a roadside stand with a big sign to say "Fresas con cream" - Strawberries with cream - or to San Miguel to be sold in all the little neighborhood tiendas. Can you imagine how long it took to pick and pack this many berries? NOT as long to eat them, for sure.

Farther on down the road was a brocolli truck and farm workers in the fields picking asparagus. Yum. It's that time of year. I love this drive looking at the fields that feed so much of this part of Mexico. Really, really beautiful.

Scourge of the Garden

This would be a funny story, but, if you click on this first photo to see what is carrying this green leaf away, you'll see a "cutter ant" - the" scourge of the garden". In past years I've watched them eat five rosebushes in a matter of days. Now I have extensive gardens so I can't find them all the time. I just know when a bush or shrub is stripped of its leaves or blooms that the gosh darn cutter ants are around. SO, in order to get this photo for you, I was flat on the ground with the camera .........eye ball to eye ball with the ant. There were many of these guys but it only took this one photo to show what I'm up against. A little tiny creature carrying off something two or three times its size. The other day while I was sunbathing, I watched a bourganvilla bloom being carried across the patio. It was so big the ant kept falling over. I just watched in amazement.

I hate to admit it but I now have the ant poison out and I'm ready to do battle to protect the geraniums, kolanchoes, bourganvillas and daisies.........These photos are just from the patio outside my bedroom - a space about 14 x 14 feet.

I have a lot of work to do. Patrolling the garden is a time consuming task - (I'm being funny now). The butterflies and the humming birds bring pleasure and maybe they'll make me forget the "scourge of the garden". When the rains come, the ants go underground not to be seen again until next spring. Happy days.

Lunch in the Country

Last week eight of us met at La Terraza out in the country - about a 30 minute drive from San Miguel. The journey to get there is around potholes and over dusty roads into the middle of nowhere. I mean there is nothing around this place and as you turn in it is as though you have arrived at an oasis. Lunch is served around a man made pond which is inhabited by ducks, geese and whatever else shows up of the flying variety.

A family from Mexico City built Casa Aves, an environmentally sensitive boutique resort along with the restaurant. They always greet us as though we are long lost relatives. The clientele is 50-50 - Mexicans and expats. I love to go there because it is a "place in time" where you don't care that you sit around, eat and talk for about 3 hours. Lovely. Time is irrelevant, as it should be.

The chef has been at many great resorts and hotels in Mexico and we know some of the same people. He is very talented. It's always a delight when he comes to the table to make suggestions. This time it was a special trout dish - yum........and his arrachera is the best on earth, I promise. Oh and before you think this is a "hoity-toity" high price place, my entire meal was about $14 US. Go figure.

As the group strolled back to where our cars were parked, we noticed the first greening of the trees and all said, "Aah, spring is coming". Life is good.

Sea of Cortez

I think it's ironic that I wanted so much to get to the beach this year and had given up hope after two failed attempts............and now it appears, that I'll be heading to San Carlos and the Sea of Cortez for the month of April. Life works in mysterious ways, to put it mildly.

So, about four or five months ago I saw a small article on the World Heritage designation of that area and the magnificent wildlife and plant life. I didn't save the article, darn. BUT I have read as much as I could find on the net, which isn't much, and I'm blown away at what I have read.
Who knew? Probably all of you and not me, ha. The multiple species of whale that spend time in that area and the size of the sea - over 800 miles long and over 100 miles wide is all mind boggling.

There are two books by Steinbeck that I went to the library (bibiliotecha) to see if they had - Sea of Cortez, A Literary Journal and The Log from the Sea of Cortez. Well they didn't have them so I went on Amazon and one of the books used is over $800US! Yikes - guess I won't be reading those books. Actually I didn't find very many books dedicated to the area, surprisingly.

So, another adventure will begin.........I'll report back and if you have explored that area, let me know all about it. First hand accounts are always THE BEST.

Butterflies - In the Air - In my Stomach and Heading North

I've noticed a few stragglers heading North in the garden the last few days. I always put little ponds of water out this time of the year so the monarchs can stop and nourish themselves before their legendary journeys. Journeys they won't live to tell about upon the return when their decendents make the trip. The above photo was taken at Chinqua Reserve a few years ago at about 10,000 feet when the air and the ground and all the fir trees were covered, literally, with butterflies. It was an awesome sight. One I'll never forget. I continually ask myself how can something so delicate head off, without a road map, a sandwich or a blanket from Mom - on a formidable journey - and does it know it will never see those forests again? Wow that notion would give you "butterflies in your stomach" wouldn't it?



And that brings me to the "butterflies in my stomach" as the time approaches for "the" visit from 'THE MAN". Yes, the romance is still ongoing - the cellular phone lines are burning - over 60 hours of silly, giddy, informative conversation. Luckily these conversations have NOT been recorded for posterity............BUT they have been fun. And the emails, oh yes, I've kept copies because "The Man" has an incredible sense of humor and most of the emails make me laugh out loud. Something that has been lacking for a while. I LOVE laughing out loud.



In fact, in my profile for a potential partner, one of my prerequisites was someone who laughs daily. Way more important to me then a stock portfolio - now THAT ought to make you laugh in this day and time! . Other prerequisites - a love of travel; a love of "the" water - either on it or near it; and a few other things.



So, "We'll See" is my response every time the butterflies take over - both in the garden and in my stomach. And as the butterflies head north, I too will head to the Sea of Cortez for April - if the "we'll see" turns into "YES".

Josefina and Javier

They come three times a week. Always smiling, always kind and happy to see me. I too, am always happy to see them. They make my life so easy - no cleaning, no ironing, no sweeping, no watering. Good grief who ever imagined such a life? I get to do only those things I want to do after many, many years of doing all those things I didn't want to do but had to do.

I love them. I revel in the growth of their children. I enjoy the fact that the littlest child of Josefina's, Cesar, is now almost three. And that the TV I gave to Javier's son, Rafael, is thrilling him so much. I know Josefina's whole family. I see them on the street from time to time and all always, no matter what, stop to talk to me. Josefina remarried in November and much to my dismay, I wasn't here for the big wedding. But, I certainly received a beautiful invitation!

Josefina in her kind, gentle way brings me a gift each Mother's Day! And asks about Matilda and if she is walking yet and always ends each comment with "Muy precioso" referring to the new baby in Colorado.

I can't imagine my life without them. Not because they do the work, but because they enrich my life.

Snippets from the Day

The Doc decided that I needed a stress test so I headed off to do that yesterday - convinced of course, since I'm a Drama Queen, (sometimes), that I would die on the machine or end up having a quadruple bypass as others have had happen. Well, it was a zip - and he told me I have the stamina and heart of a 40 year old! I, of course, begged to differ with him. I also told him I had lived in a perpetual "stress test" for the last ten years so that was why I passed with flying colors. A little inside joke.

But the cool thing that happened was when I went downstairs at the clinic to pay. I assumed that I could pay with a credit card or American check - no, not possible. So the receptionist called the Dr. upstairs and this is what he said "Oh just bring the money buy when it is convenient for you". Would or could that happen in the USA? I don't think so. Don't you just love it?

Then I went to my favorite little funky place to eat a Texas brisket sandwich and coleslaw. YUM. When I came out, my car was blocked by a BIG truck unloading at the OXXO store. I couldn't even begin to imagine that I could get out without the big truck being moved. The truck driver came over and offered to move my car for me! He did! He was so good at maneuvering my car out of that tiny little spot - all with a sunny smile. Would that happen in the USA? I don't think so. Don't you just love it?

Oh, and then this morning on the way to the gym I sideswiped a parked panel truck - no one got excited, not even me and I just went on cause I didn't hurt the truck - just a little scratch on my Pathfinder. Well, I'm not going to say...........Don't you just love it.......but I did realize that I could care less about those little scratches. A BIG step for me.

An "unplanned" Adventure

I was minding my own business at the gym the other day and THEN my friend Deb said "Let's go out to the ranch so you can see where I live." Ok, that sounded great - I did remember that I had a committment to be at a friend's house at 4Pm but heck it was 11AM - no problema. I wanted to take my car but she said "No ride with me". She did NOT say, "Ride with me and four dogs who have shed 392 pounds of dog hair all over my car"! But, being the adventurer that I am, I swallowed my fastidious nature and jumped in. It also turned out that it wasn't a direct shot to the ranch because multiple stops had to be made before we got there...........I am surreptiously watching my watch.............and the dogs. It seemed to me that I MUST be in all of their favorite place to sit because they were surrounding me.

Note the edge of me in the photo below trying to give them their space. YUK. Deb is trying to hold them back while she talks on her cell phone, counts out money to pay the guy who is putting horseshoes on the horses at the ranch, and probably three or four other things. All of this while we are careening around the libramento at breakneck speed.

Well we got there - alive - after fording a creek (which I've done before many times). As we arrived the horses, multiple ones, and the burros and the dogs all started letting us know that they knew that we were there. Good grief it was really a symphony of sounds. (I'm being polite). Just so I could get a closer glimpse, I presume, Deb let the burros out. How cute............

The black one delighted in coming up behind me when I didn't expect it and butting me from behind. Deb thought it was hysterical - I, not so much. I realized in a few short minutes that I am NOT a cowgirl, a horsewoman or even a country girl. Lordy, you learn something new every day, don't you?

It was fun to go to the country but it was a long, long trip back............... Needless to say, I did NOT get to my 4 PM appointment.

The F---- Word

I was 43 before I ever used that word. I remember the circumstance as though it were yesterday. I was in the dressing room of a Palais Royal store in Clear Lake, Tx. and I broke a fingernail.

As the word came out of my mouth I was dumbfounded. I looked around to make sure that my mother wasn't going to strike me dead from the grave. I was raised to believe that people who used foul language were not using their brain power or the vocabulary that parents worked so hard to teach us.

Fast forward to last night. I had just written what I thought was a pretty funny blog with photos. It was coming through on Picasa and the whole darn thing disappeared. Gosh I was irritated and I said out loud, "F--- it!" and turned out the light and went to bed.

Whereupon I started laughing at myself for using that word for something so ridiculous. BUT to be honest, it sure felt good.