Going on vacation while you're retired may sound like an oxymoron to those still driven by the nine-to-five workaday life. Not so much, though, I've found: Even in retirement one quickly gets entangled in schedules, routines, things that need attention, that eat away at the time every day that should be reserved for imagining and even …
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My denial runs thin about crime in San Miguel
In this morning's Civil List, the internet bulletin board shared by expats in San Miguel, there was a post about the escalating security problem. In addition to alarm, I felt curiosity about what tune the usual chorus of civic boosters, particularly the municipal authorities, would intone this time, to downplay bad news about a town …
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When the Three Kings ran into Santa Claus
I realize it's a very uneven match, but this Christmas we decided to do our share to beat back the onslaught of U.S. marketing and cultural influence that threaten to undermine traditional Mexican traditions.We wanted to give Christmas presents to Félix's three kids, Alondra, 11; Edgar, 8 and Jessica 4, but didn't want to participate …
Spring makes a welcome surprise appearance
Contrary to the wistful notions we brought down with us, San Miguel de Allende does have a winter cold, gray and windy enough, to send us rummaging through the coat closet for one of those heavier jackets we'd thought we'd never need again.And for three days last week, winter really stretched it claws here.Sparrows and …
President Trump's greatest "achievements" so far
Fellow blogger Felipe Zapata, headquartered at a remote mountaintop near Pátzcuaro, published a post yesterday celebrating the top ten achievements of the Trump administration. This morning when I reread the jeremiad I had written in response, I enjoyed my own words so much I decided to republish them here, with minor changes: Ah, Felipe, you’re much …
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The Christmas story: Bah! Humbug? Not at all.
I have a conflicted relationship with Christmas. While I enjoy the gift-giving, the family get-togethers, the decorations, and the memories, I can't quite embrace the elaborate religious packaging, or even a portion of it.So I winced last Sunday in church, as I listened to the gospel reading, Matthew 1:18-25, which purported to explain the strange circumstances …
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What to do in a gloomy winter day?
Wednesday awakened every bit as cold, gloomy and clammy as it was in Chicago when we visited over Thanksgiving, about 35 degrees and windy. I cancelled plans to putz around the garden as soon as I stepped outside. Then we discovered our internet connection, and along with it, the internet radio stations that provide background …
Growing old alongside our pal Lucy Mae
While volunteering at the reception desk of a local animal shelter, shortly after arriving in San Miguel, a woman came in with a battered birdcage holding a pitiful white puppy inside, with a bloated pink belly and soulful eyes. She had found a cardboard box containing three or four puppies, a few weeks old, by …
My kind of town, Chicago still is
When we arrived in Chicago, two days before Thanksgiving, the reception was neither warm nor surprising: The weather was gray and cold, and a steady breeze drove the freezing drizzle at a thirty-degree angle that felt on the bare skin like pinpricks. The 25-minute wait for an Uber taxi felt more like an hour. But …
A mid-rise condo for your collection of succulents
This blog doesn't often stray into the arts-and-crafts area, but Félix and I last week built this clay brick "condo" for our succulent collection that we're both really pleased with, and feel it deserves some celebration.We needed an attractive, and space-efficient way to display the burgeoning collection of succulents we've collected over the past three …
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El Rancho Santa Clara 