Yesterday Stew ran up the Stars and Stripes up the flagpole at the ranch, as we usually do on the Fourth of July, along with the Mexican flag, but it didn't feel much like a holiday, with the United States under siege by a tragic trifecta of a pandemic still out of control, a sputtering …
Continue reading In battle against Covid-19, it's Germany 1, U.S. zero
According to our recently installed rooftop weather station, during the past two weeks we've received exactly four and a half inches of rain, an auspicious kick-off for our rainy season, which, if all goes well, should bring us about 25 inches of precipitation when it ends four months from now.The total could vary, of course, …
Last week was a stormy one in the U.S., marred by political and racial strife, while the Covid-19 pandemic continued to spread in large sections of the country. Except for two days, when Stew and I felt a welcome respite from all the gloom. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that "[a]n …
Continue reading Thoughts on a joyful two days, amid the bad news
Some forty years ago, while staying with friends in Minnesota, I was served soybean "bacon" strips, prepared in a microwave by the hostess, who has long pursued a healthy diet, including a reduction in the consumption of meats and other animal-based products.The fake bacon strips, sporting whitish stripes meant to resemble the layers of fat …
Continue reading It looks, cooks and tastes like a burger, but…
Sick and tired of reading, hearing and writing about the Covid-19 pandemic, and now the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, and the ensuing street protests, I'm going to turn my attention to something that's been bothering me for awhile: The silliness of "Latinx", a neologism that's gained traction over the past few …
Continue reading The politically correct silliness of 'Latinx'
Yesterday Stew and I went to Querétaro for a doctor's appointment and a quickie visit to Costco. In the pre-virus era, we might have combined a Costco raid with a movie and dinner at the Antea shopping center, coffee at a Starbucks, or a walk-through one of the department stores. In other words, a somewhat …
Continue reading Is the smoke clearing regarding the Covid-19 lockdown?
One unexpected, and welcome, outcome of the Covid-19 lockdown, under which we've been living for almost three months, is that it's given me time, and permission, to do some uninterrupted reading, and also let my mind wander, to fantasize even. And so, two weeks ago I finished Erik Larson's "The Splendid and the Vile," a 500-plus-page tome …
Fear is one of the principal threads running through the story of the coronavirus pandemic, and so is the reluctance of many of us to articulate and deal with our fears. Fear induced by the pandemic engulfs the mighty and the lowly, from President Trump down to the working-class John and Jane Does.One suspects that the president's frequently …
Twenty years ago, when I worked for the Chicago Tribune, I maintained contacts with a few genuine Cuban communists, in particular a comely young couple who fervently believed everything Castro had ever said, thought or done. Any attempt at debate with them was about as pointless as arguing with one of Trump's disciples today.Once they …
Continue reading May 20, 1902: Cuba's unresolved independence
We've been in shutdown mode for almost two months, and recently I was reminded of how this weird situation might be getting to me: I couldn't remember which day of the week it was.Being confined at home, except for a few outings to the grocery store and a restaurant once a week, hasn't been terribly …
El Rancho Santa Clara 