-
midnight rambler
It’s election time again in Mexico, lots of loudspeakers blaring all the good reasons to vote for one candidate or the other. One of the candidates for governor had a pretty nice pitch. He offered a free outdoor movie with equally free popcorn and soft drinks. I’d vote for him if I could. We’re busy getting ready…
-
This evening’s pickings…
Sweet and succulent homegrown tomatoes… I like eating them right off the vine. It’s been a long, cool growing season since we planted vegetables last November and nary a bug or drop of rain. There are different challenges growing organically in the tropics. ach year we refine what vegetable varieties will work and what is too…
-
The season of palms…
One of my favorite Mexican traditions is the celebration of Palm Sunday. Each year San Blas artisans weave a variety of Christian symbols woven from palm fronds and grasses and sell them in front of the church. Some of the weavings are embellished with glitter and plastic flowers, or sprays of chamomile and rosemary. Beyond the bling…
-
Alive
Today I heard an interview with a man from Japan who had been trapped in his car by the tsunami. He nearly died. As the interview went on I learned that he’d lost everything. There were no details about what “everything” was but I think it may well have been every thing he owned.…
-
Elves and Owls and other things
During the day we share our farm with familiar creatures but when night falls the cast of characters change. I was putting the chickens to bed for the night when my headlamp picked up a flurry of activity. A small bird had gotten into one of the pens and was in a frenzy to get…
-
Valentines grow anywhere…
Heart-shaped leaves are everywhere on our farm. It always amazes me how many plants have leaves in this shape: large and small, new-green, or purple, veins like the palm of a hand, some carrying flowers and some with roots like feet that scoot across the rocky terrain. Hearts take root and abound in unexpected places…
-
From deluge to delight…
While Wally was delirious with dengue, I was with my mother in Tucson. The rains at home were so heavy that the rivers swelled into the area villages taking out bridges and breaking up the roads. There were several big mud slides too. I worried about Wally, but it wasn’t possible to get home. Others tried to get…
-
Soaking up the sunshine.
Well hello again. The rainy season has passed and we’re still here. I got Dengue fever and Salmonella in the middle of it and was out of commission for a month or so. All the while the living green universe that surrounds us kept growing and growing. I’d walk outside and stare in amazement wondering how I was ever…
-
It’s been a month since we last blogged. If you’ve wondered what happened, it’s because it’s the rainy season, as usual. We haven’t had good phone or dial-up internet so connection with the outside is spotty and unreliable. At best we can check our email but it is a long process of multi-tasking. Generally, I…
-
A very, very, very fine house…
Outside it’s raining and thunder is rumbling. Wally is finishing installing a gate in the chicken yard. He’s mixing cement in a wheel barrow, pouring an upright post and threshold. Wally has painted the gate a lovely lavender and despite the overcast afternoon and the rain the gate looks cheerful. The chickens always enjoy Wally’s…