Following is a poem written by Kathleen O'Mara in 1869, and reprinted during the 1918 pandemic. It was posted by Pepper Romo on her Facebook page on April 3.It seemed to me as relevant today as it was then, right down to the homemade face masks.And people stayed at homeAnd read booksAnd listenedAnd they restedAnd …
Author: Alfredo Lanier
My husband and I live on an off-the-grid ranch outside San Miguel, along with the challenging but dear company of four off-the-street dogs and three cats. My interests lie in politics, writing, photography and sundry forms of spirituality.
And now, let's pause for a moment of gratitude
I've been trying to write a post about the COVID-19 virus for three or four days, only to cave in and quit, under the weight of so much bad news. And who can blame me? The last news bit I read yesterday was that Chicago, our hometown, has plans to turn its huge convention center …
Continue reading And now, let's pause for a moment of gratitude
Looking for solace amid the quarantine
I've always thought—and I hope this doesn't sound sacrilegious—that one the principal functions of churches is not just to point the road to heaven or hell, or remind us of our moral failings. Rather, churches or religious spaces also provide us with both, a place to meet like-minded people, and also a quiet, private time …
San Miguel's thumping response to the Coronavirus pandemic now awaits enforcement
Pardon my cynicism, but I half expected city officials in San Miguel de Allende to remain silent or lapse into denial with respect to the Coronavirus pandemic that has shut down much of the United States and several European countries. National and international tourism is practically the town's only business, so the city is, understandably, …
Continue reading San Miguel's thumping response to the Coronavirus pandemic now awaits enforcement
Letter from Coronavirus Penitentiary
Yesterday, or the day before, we received an email from a friend in St. Petersburg, Fla., who said public alarm in the U.S. over the coronavirus pandemic is approaching the batshit-crazy level. "I don't know what to say or do." Among rank-and-file Mexicans, here in normally somnolent San Miguel, not so much. There's a general awareness …
When the peas come rolling in
I suffer from a lifelong aversion to vegetables that I blame on my parents. My father was a very picky eater, and my mother couldn't, or wouldn't, cook much beyond black beans and rice, staples of the Cuban diet, to accompany a pork dish of some sort. Ever since setting up shop at this ranch, about …
The coronavirus epidemic: Should we lock ourselves in our homes?
Without even stepping outside the ranch, Stew and I have been pelted mercilessly with reports about the spread of the coronavirus, as lack of information and hysteria slowly push aside prudence and even common sense.The local Episcopal church has installed jugs of hand disinfectant by the doors and advised congregants to avoid any touching during …
Continue reading The coronavirus epidemic: Should we lock ourselves in our homes?
Here's hoping for a better honey season this year
Mexican bees wake up promptly as the sun pokes over the horizon, but the Mexican vendor in Aguascalientes, who sells us bees and other supplies for making honey, is not much of an early riser. Felix, in his new beekeeper costume, checking our four hives. The drive from San Miguel to Aguascalientes Tuesday afternoon was tedious, curvy …
Continue reading Here's hoping for a better honey season this year
The poor will always be with us, but not here
As soon as you set foot in this sanctuary of privilege, you know this is no public park where the hoi-polloi would gather on a hot Sunday afternoon, to spread old blankets on the grass, drink Coronas and cook ribs on a beat-up Weber grill.At the end of a five- or six-kilometer dirt road, you …
Continue reading The poor will always be with us, but not here
An old easy rider rides again
Once upon a time, maybe 15 years ago, in a place far away, Chicago, I used to be an avid cyclist. I would ride to work and back, about five or six miles each way, and most astonishingly, I would do so every morning, regardless of the weather, with a tenacity bordering on insanity.There were …
El Rancho Santa Clara 