Does our cat suffer from "whisker fatigue"?Is that more interesting than politics? With America as troubled as she is, riven by political intrigue and class warfare, and my brain's capacity for bad news almost at the limit, my attention has turned lately to more recondite items in the daily newscycle.For example, did you catch the June …
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.
Ready for their close-up
Félix and Lucy await a possible brush with celebrityI subscribe to a relatively new magazine called Modern Farmer whose editorial focus, I think, is to explore new frontiers in farming and food production, with frequent asides on environmental news and politics. It's very slickly produced, including stunning photography of sometimes exotic farm animals such as Malaysian chickens, and …
The United States just pulled out of the Paris climate change agreement. So what?
Trump's decision is cynical and stupid, but this environmentalist just can't get worked up about it. Last night it rained at the ranch, furiously, but only for an hour. It was hardly enough to officially end the dry season but comforting to hear that the clouds haven't forgotten their function is not just to decorate the sky. The rain came …
Continue reading The United States just pulled out of the Paris climate change agreement. So what?
Where's home, anyway?
After eleven years here, Mexico shouldbe home to us. But it's not that simple. In a recent post, fellow blogger Steve Cotton wondered if his house on Mexico's Pacific Coast was a "home" or merely a "house."For expats that's not a fatuous question. Stew and I vote in Chicago, our last foothold in the U.S.; have …
A Vietnam memory on Memorial Day
How talking to a young servicemanrekindled an old serviceman's prideVietnam may have receded so far in the past that few Americans remember how badly G.I's were treated when they returned home. It's a fading memory, except for us, the veterans of that war. I still remember yard signs in 1967 and 1968 that read "Sailors and …
The elephant in the room stirs again
Security in Mexico worries expats but we don't even want to talk about it. On March 13 a woman friend was kidnapped in broad daylight in downtown San Miguel. She's still missing. The event was confirmed by the U.S. Consular Agent here, who passed on the news to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. But for several days …
When the Succulents come out to play
Despite their often gruff appearance,succulents have a tender, flowery heartSucculents are split-personality plants, scornful and hostile one day, inviting and flirtatious the next. Cacti, a member of the succulent family, in particular sport razor thorns that warn strangers not to come near, but then, maybe the next day, or month or year, will set seductive …
Looking at an alder, early in the morning
Early in the day is not the time to make plansbut rather to contemplate what's around youIt may sound odd, particularly to those still employed, but the freedom to do nothing when one retires brings a certain guilt, not to mention boredom. What should we do to justify our consumption of the earth's oxygen and sunlight …
Stop spreading the news
In today's toxic political climate, not knowing what's going on may be the best way to retain your sanity.By all rights those of us who have retired in Mexico behind the Tortilla Curtain should be spared the political chatter and acrimony that permeates even conversations at strip bars back home.But even here, seven hundred miles south of the …
An early symphony of rain
The rainy season began last night. Maybe. The sis-bam-boom of thunder and lightning, and the crescendo of fat raindrops pounding the skylights, was a welcome spectacle last night, assuming it was the overture to this year's rainy season.The all-night rain ranged from furious to gentle and back again but it never seemed to quit. Our cheapo …
El Rancho Santa Clara 