Give a moron a match. . . . and a bulldozer?!?

We have a vacant lot accross the street from us filled with mango trees. The other day one of the neighbors or construction personnel down the street light their trash on fire.(As trash burning in Mexico is totally legal still-this is good AND bad in SO many ways)Anyway the fire got out of hand and with the many dropped mango leaves started spreading. It spread to a pile of tires(as many people in Mexico have tires in their yards or disgard them where ever they feel like. The tires started spewing black, black smoke into the air and the fires started moving towards some construction equipment. Well I guess that was all that the construction guys needed to see. One of these magna cum lauda hopped on the nearest front loader and started 'dozing dirt onto the fire. (which would have been OK but he was driving right on the fire-with flames 4-5 feet high. If there had been even one small gas leak in ANY of his hoses-BOOM!!!) You can see the dozer in the photos. The fire department came and watched and took a report.(basically did nothing) It just burned itself out. But now all of the mango leaves that were mulch are now ashes and will go into the soil for nutrients. Ahhh everything returns to dust from which it came. Pics I took from my porch in our front yard. (I wasn't worried about our house. I water quite a bit and we have no dried grass or dead leaves around and our house is of bricks and concrete. )

Bull fight and a few other things.

The other day(as I told you in my last blog session) I got to watch a bull fight. For free. They have these every Wednesday at 5pm and the mechanic I happened to go to was about 1/2 a block away. So I noticed a business building across the street from the bull fighting arena. I went up about 3 flights and went out on the balcony and watched.(As did several others) I must say I was a little bored and disappointed. The way you see bullfights in the movies is always glamourous and fast paced. This was neither. Basically the main bullfighter corals this bull with a cape where he wants him. Anytime the bull would get feisty or not do what he wanted about 5 other bull fighters would come out and coral the animal with their capes.(Galient I did not think any of them were. This is little more than bullying.) While the bull is lured into charging the cape the bull fighter sticks these sharp sticks with metal points in the bull and he loses LOTS of blood. Eventually when the bull has a lot of these in his spinal area the bull fighter gets one that looks thicker(this is the last one he uses) and sticks it higher up on the neck and that immediately made the bull go into convultions and drop to the ground. It was over. I never felt that the bull fighter was in any real danger at all. I think rodeo clowns put their selves on the line in a lot more dangerous way than these bozos. I was glad I did not pay the $35 U.S. to see the fight.
We have a tree frog living in the yard now. He is about 2 inches long and bright green with a white belly. We caught him once and then let him go again. We are not sure where in the yard he is living but he is definetely living here. Photo is one I took of him the other day.
Last night we saw Spiderman3 and Mr. Bean takes a Holiday. Both good movies. Mr. Bean was good for me. If you are not a Mr. Bean fan the movie was a little slow. I thought it was worth the time of watching it though. Spiderman 3 was good but I thought they tried to go too many places with it. It ended up having 3 villians in it. Too many story lines. Great action though.
Lastly, I went to a tequila expo in Vallarta yesterday. They had about 25 different manufacturers of tequila there. (I only tried the best tequilas, the anejo's or the special reserve ones) Still that was about 15 different tequila's that I tried. Needless to say Leti drove home. In my opinion out of all the ones I tried the Fogonero Special reserve is STILL the best. Even better than the one's that sold for $45 per bottle.(Yup they have those here in Mexico too. In the U.S. they must go for over $100.) The Fogonero was S-M-O-O-T-H as silk with just a hint of the smoky wood taste of the barrel it was aged in. The second best one(sorry I can't remember the name right now) was only about 1/2 an hour drive from our house. They have a restaurant, play area, tours and many many activities. We plan to go there soon.(well after the birth when Leti can properly enjoy tequila.)
OK have a great weekend!!!

Auto mechanics must be the same the world over!!!

So I am driving to WalMart and Sam's Club like I do 3 times per week when I notice my engine heat guage is all the way on H. I also notice steam pouring out of my engine hood. Luckily I was AT WalMart's light. So I pull in, open the hood, notice oh no hoses broke but my reserve tank(radiator) the top was forced off and steam is pouring out. Conclusion: Must be my thermostat. So I take it to the closest mechanic and the first thing I tell him. "Can you check my thermostat? My car is overheating." So he goes and opens the hood and does a few things and this "Einstein" concludes it is my fan clutch. I am reluctant at first but he shows me how there is no pull on this one fan.(I am not a mechanic by trade so I don't know of coarse.) I say OK if you are SURE that is it do it. Then I tell him I buy all my parts at a place called Samir because parts for Isuzu's are hard to find in Mexico. He thanks me and starts. I wait and wait. 5 hours later."Well we are having trouble finding the fan clutch." I come back with "Did you call Samir yet?" "Oh no we will try that." I wait and walk around buy 2 or 3 rum and cokes. Come back again 3 hours later.(1/2 hour before closing.) "We still can't find that part. Can you give us the number to that Samir place?" (I'm thinking ARRGGHHHH Idiot!!!) So he calls and WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED?!?!? They had the part. He says oh well we can have it ready for you by 10am tomorrow morning. So I call Leti and arrange a ride with her brother.(Oh and in the meantime I watch a bullfight for free-but that will be in my next blog.) OK FF to the next morning. I get there to pick up the car. THe guy tells me "Oh it wasn't your fan clutch after all, it was just your thermostat stuck closed." At this point I want to pick up something heavy and bludgeon him with it.(Not really but I am raging.) So let me get this straight . . .It was the thing I said for you to check the first 30 seconds I pulled in here? I could have saved a whole day's aggrivation if you would have just DONE WHAT I SAID originally?!?!? WOW, you are ALMOST in the Darwin award's category buddy. And that was my excitement for the past 2 days. One good thing is they WERE honest and did not replace a part that did not need replacing. Oh well, I have my car back. What are ya gonna do?
Bull fight blog next time!!!

The rainy season in coming!!!

June typically(I'm told) is the start of the rainy season here. This is great news as the heat is intensifying here. Usually it comes on in the afternoon and cools things down and consequently raises the humidity.(I don't know how humidity at 100% can be raised but that is what they tell me.) This is the time when the plants really start to grow. Our friends Richard and Lindsey tell us that they had a vine that tripled in size after one of the rainy seasons. They pointed it out to me on a visit we had with them when we first got here. I hope this is the case with a lot of our plants. Our yard will look great with a more mature look to it. I'll keep you posted with photos. Luckily we are a little too far north to have the rainforests here but we are still subtropical so things tend to grow like crazy. Never any danger of a freeze as the lowest it has ever gotten here is in the low 60's(and that is in the middle of the night in February) For a gardener like me it is heaven on earth. This year I plan to grow - bananas, limes, basil, oregano, grapes, thyme and many, many flowers.
I try to stick to the Gardener's motto. .. "I'll get to it next year" OOOOppppsss I mean "Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas."
Always remember kiddie's a flower is just an educated weed. See you soon.

I'm a Mexican????

Well this week I got my FM3 visa that allows me to be a year round resident of Mexico. It only took me about 15 days to get it with one sheet to fill out and getting fingerprints done too. Not AT ALL like the American immigration system. I read in a NY Times article(on line) that one family in NY have been waiting 22 years to get their legal status. That is right they started filling out their immigration paperwork 22 YEARS AGO!!! I don't know about you but I would say that is a broken system that needs an overhaul! Ahhh the American government run businesses/services. I can't immagine anyone in ANY business looking at a situation like that and saying it is OK. Oh but wait I forgot we are fighting a war in Iraq that was supposedly "Mission Completed" a few YEARS ago.
On a lighter note we went to Monteon today to have lunch with Leti's sister and her family. They made a seafood soup/cocktail dish that was delicious. It had Octopus(my first time trying that and liking it) shrimp, fish, and many other vegetables. YUMMMMM.

Day trippers

Today we had to get Leti's original birth certificate so being in Mexico it required a long trip to get it. We drove to Compostela. About a 2 hour drive. Very pretty town with a large church and lots and lots of shoe stores.(Shoes are very cheap there) Leti while waiting in line saw an old acquaintance of hers and they started talking. Why does it seem everywhere we go she knows someone? LOL!!
After Compestela we headed back south to go home and ate lunch in a town called Chacala. I have read a blog of a woman from Chacala for a while so I got the idea to go from that. We ate on the beach at a restaurant called Tres Hermanas. It was very good and a great time was had by all. Oscar played in the sand while Mom and Dad talked and laughed at stories told. The ceviche was AWESOME there!! It gives Leti's ceviche a run for it's money.

Tribute to Mom!

With the pending arrival of Mother's day(in the U.S.) I find myself longing for the sweet ways of my Mother. I wish I could be there to wish her a happy one and give her a proper gift. Distance is such a terrible thief of all. So in tribute I would like to send out this poem to her;

If there is happiness in my heart,
it's because you helped put it there.

If there is gentleness in my beliefs,
it's because you showed me how to care.

If there is understanding in my thinking,
it's because you shared your wisdom.

If there is a rainbow over my shoulder,
it's because of your outlook and your vision.

If there is a knowledge that I can reach out -
and I really can make some dreams come true -
it's because learned from the best teacher of all. . .
. . . I learned from you.

A mother's heart is a special place where children always have a home.

Thanks for EVERYTHING you've done for me all these years Mom. I will always love you!!

Inspired!

Today I read Michael Dickson's blog(hey buddy!) and got inspired to take a look at the beauty around me. It is time to just sit back and look for the simple beauty in the everyday things here. The gorgeous pink and yellow hues of the sunrise. The simple lines of a palm tree in the sun. The sweet smell of fresh cut mint(and taste in my sun brewed iced tea) and fresh cut basil. Beauty in the flower of a hiacynth(which are plentiful here) large and yet delicate. The sweet roundness of my wife's belly that holds the power and beauty of life inside it. (and lots of noise later on) The most beautiful sound in the world-a child laughing uncontrolably.(which Oscar does quite a bit when I am tickling him-thanks for showing me how Dad, from my childhood!)The sweet aroma of the salty sea air when the mist from the surf hits your nose. And finally the awesome hues of fuschia and purple that set the sky ablaze at sunset!! Life is beautiful and WAY too short kiddies, LIVE IT NOW!!!
I have put in a few photos of my garden so you can see where I do my contemplating and see the growth lately too. (Just disregard the toys and banana leaves Oscar was playing with.) Oh and the white things in the shot of the new bed are not rocks but seashells we collect every time we visit the beach. We plan to mulch it with seashells. Cool idea huh?

New Garden addition.

Made a new garden bed this weekend. I put it along the North-east wall facing the street. It has 2 rose bushes Red and lighter red, a bouganvillea, another flowery plant that was a gift and a Madagascar Palm. If you have never seen a Madagascar palm I have included a picture I found on line. It looks like a mini palm but has cactus like spikes on the trunk. Very cool looking plant. Hopefully Oscars playballs will not find it.
Also worth mentioning this weekend I cooked 2 different pasta dishes. One was penne pasta with olive oil, diced tomatoes, black olives(which by the way I have not found a Mexican yet who likes black olives.Leti, Yanet and Oscar picked them out.) shrimp, imitation crab, Parmesan and mozzarella cheese. The other dish consisted of a red sauce(containing olive oil, FRESH picked basil, oregano and a dash of red wine) topped with fresh Parmesan cheese. YUM!!!!
Todays words of wisdom;
A preacher was completing a temperance sermon: with great expression he said, "If I had all the beer in the world, I'd take it and throw it into the river." With even greater emphasis he said, "And if I had all the wine in the world, I'd take it and throw it into the river."
And then finally, he said, "And if I had all the whiskey in the world, I'd take it and throw it into the river."He sat down.

The song leader then stood very cautiously and announced with a smile, "For our closing song, let us sing Hymn # 365: "Shall We Gather at the River."

Pregnancy check up.

Last night we went for our 6 month prenatal(I think that is what they call it) check up. The Doctor said everything is looking good. We go back for an ultrasound Saturday. He asked if we wanted to know the sex of the child. I said no, Leti said yes but he did not have to tell us. I don't want to know what it is til it hits the air.
Tuesday I will be going down to immigration to (hopefully) finalize the process so I can start on my way to citizenship(dual Mexican and U.S.) I will have to wait for 3 years to pass to be a full citizen but that is WAY better than the American immigration system and their waiting times. We know some Mexicans that have been waiting decades to naturalize.
OK have a great day. Words of wisdom for today;

Sometimes women are overly suspicious of their husbands. When Adam stayed out very late for a few nights, Eve became upset. "You're running around with other women," she charged.
"You're being unreasonable," Adam responded. "You're the only woman on earth."
The quarrel continued until Adam fell asleep, only to be awakened by someone poking him in the chest. It was Eve.
"What do you think you're doing?" Adam demanded.
"Counting your ribs," said Eve.

May Day!

Happy May Day all. Although I don't know what one does on May Day, I saw today is the day. I can't believe we are in the 5th month of this year already. Time seems to fly by the older you get. Some things that used to be important to me are now just a joke. Things that I used to think were irrelevant are now some of the most important in life. Funny how age will work on you. Kind of how a jewelers wheel hones the diamond. Things that are now of utter importance to me are ;
Long walks on the beach at sunset with my wife!
Reading the Bible and prayer time each and every morning.
Play time with kids!
Teaching children.(Directly or through example-that is SO needed here in Mexico)
Enjoying a home cooked dinner.(made by me or by my wife)
Reading a good book.

Things that have fallen by the wayside;
How I look everytime I go out.
How much money I have in my wallet at any time.
Being bigger and tougher than all of the other guys out there.
Being up on the latest trends and styles.
Having the fastest and best looking car.
Having designer names on everything.

Life is short, I have learned. Enjoy what is important to you daily. Connect with things that matter to you. Live, laugh, learn, love.