This year, the vernal equinox, the official beginning of spring, fell on March 19. And by an odd coincidence, on the same day the mayor of San Miguel announced a sweeping lockdown of the municipality, to go into effect the next day, that banned most public activities indefinitely, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.And if …
Continue reading Covid-19 forecast for San Miguel: Hopeful but with a chance of storms still ahead
We haven't had any significant rain here for months, and that, in addition to a heat wave for the past couple of weeks, is making me doubt my own propaganda about San Miguel having the "perfect climate."It's been pretty miserable indeed, temperatures up in the low 90s. Not Baton Rouge, Houston or Phoenix miserable, mind …
Continue reading What is this? Summer, spring, early rains or what?
Several people had asked me when my next blog post would appear, and I wasn't sure. But after Trump's Thursday night press briefing, in which he suggested people could shoot bleach or disinfectants as a cure for the coronavirus, a blog topic fell on my lap: L'affaire Clorox.Torrents of words have been written by newspaper and …
Not the most felicitous or inviting headline, I'll grant you, but that's how I'm feeling right now.Since this self-quarantine—house arrest, social distancing, or whatever you want to call it—began, when? 21 days ago?, I've tried really hard to convince myself that our situation here at a small ranch in Mexico could be worse.Yea, much worse, …
Continue reading The quarantine is depressing the hell out of me
Despite stringent, almost draconian, directives by the municipality, for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, substantial sectors of the population seem to be carrying on business as usual. More worrisome still is that those seemingly oblivious to the lockdown are poorer sectors of the populace most likely to be affected by the epidemic if, or when, …
Judging by the increase in Facebook postings, most pretty lame, and in the number of newspaper advice articles on how to cope with "self-isolation," the coronavirus prevention campaigns may be driving people batty.Folks complain of insomnia; being unable to focus and grieving; excessive drinking leading to domestic violence. Some couples are even talking about marital problems. Other people fear a …
I subscribe to a weekly newsletter from the Center for Contemplation and Action, an ecumenical think-tank (or prayer-tank?) in Albuquerque, founded by Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest and well-known author and celebrity in Christian circles.His daily messages focus on different meditation topics, many of which go zinging by six or more feet over my head. …
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 …
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
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 …
El Rancho Santa Clara 