Saturday, December 03, 2016

Pastoral Street Scenes in San Miguel

Often, as I'm leaving the house and going up the hill to pick up mail or go to get gas or go to the grocery store, I drive on Prolongacia Cuesta de San Jose, which is part of the Royal Road.  Yes, that Royal Road
which meanders all the way to New Mexico!

Almost every time there is something to see, but, either there is traffic or I'm in a hurry or for some reason, I
don't stop and take photos.

This past week, the little flimsy wood table where the man sets up cast iron skillets, sewing machines, clothes
along with the MOST important item, russet potatoes for 20 pesos each to sell.  Big russet potatoes!  The USA can not export russet potatoes into Mexico because of the lobbying by the Mexican potato growers to prevent their crops of white potatoes to be decimated by the US's preferred russet potatoes.   Therefore,
the stacked russet potatoes on this table are contraband, except they sell so fast to passing people that
it would be hard to catch the guy with potatoes.  I'm sorry I have not photographed this.  I promise the next time I see a stack of potatoes on his table.  It always makes me smile at his ingenuity.

Also, this past week, on Tuesday, an elderly man was walking on Cuesta de San Jose toward the direction of my house.  From a distance I could not tell what he was carrying.  It was a big stack of something.  Much taller then him.  As I got closer I realized it was TEN birdcages stacked one on top of the other with song birds.  I presume he was going to go door to door to sell them.  I've never seen him before and chances
are I won't again.  I'm so sorry I did not get a photo.

Today, when I saw the sheep though, I pulled over and stopped.  I've watched these sheep for years and
years.  There is a little Mexican ranch nearby where a shepherdess watches over her flock.  Sometimes this tiny woman is out there in her apron with a rod to keep them nearby.  Not today.  No sign of the lady.

Never have I seen the sheep this far down the street.  They are standing in front of two connected buildings.   One is a one story residence and the other is the Croquet Club of San Miguel.  Ahh yes, Croquet is big in
Mexico and people travel all over the world for matches.  But I digress.  As I pulled over to take the photos,
I noticed that two of the sheep looked down the road with their heads raised.  So I looked back to see what
they were looking at.  I expected to see the old woman heading after them, but no, it was a dog that was coming to herd them back home.  Amazing.(As you know, you can always click on the photos to enlarge them)

Truly, I NEVER know what to expect when I leave the house.  Heck, sometimes I don't know what to expect when I'm at home............and, that will lead me to the next post about a black bird.  Stay tuned.

Who needs TV or news when you live in San Miguel?


5 comments:

Retired Teacher said...

Interesting to see that rural life still exists in San Miguel. That takes me back to my student days (long. long ago) in Cholula when one might see a burro on the street.

Cheryl said...

That is right behind my house! I have never seen the sheep there, but the cast iron skillet guy is a regular.

Babs said...

Bill, the burros are here weekly! In the summer, the men and burros walk for 9 hours from the mountains to bring bags of great volcanic enriched soil for the gardens.
In the winter, they bring firewood from the pine forests up on the mountainside.

They cannot go back up the mountains until all is sold because of the weight! It is
a sight I treasure each time they knock on my gate to see if I want dirt or wood.


Babs said...

Cheryl, indeed it is very near to your house. At Thanksgiving time this year, he had canned cranberry sauce for sale! I also get a chuckle out of what he has to sell.

I truly enjoy being in the country, sorta, and then going down the hill to all the hustle and bustle of the town.

The best of all worlds, IMHO

Rick said...

I agree that no TV news can be heavenly bliss.
Don't need to wallow in the rest of the worlds problems especially when a herd of sheep are walking by:-)