Feeling as if we're drowning in a wave of depressing news from the U.S., for the past few months Stew and I have drastically trimmed our daily consumption of current events.According to some reports, symptoms of current-events overload—insomnia, anger and anxiety, among others—are widespread and affecting partisans on both sides of the political crevasse that …
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Is it tequila-brewing time? Nah.
Quiotes are us: The huge stalks of thetequila agaves appear suddenly, andjust as quickly shrivel up and vanish. Succulents do weird things, particularly when they decide to flower and set fruit, and none is weirder—or more impressive—than the display of the tequila agave or Agave tequilana, if you want to get botanical about it. It starts …
A conflicted Fourth of July in Mexico
On this Fourth of July morning I went to our flagpole and raised the Mexican flag first and the Stars and Stripes right below it.This quiet ceremony was my way of celebrating America's Independence Day. I also tried taking a picture of the two flags, side by side, so to speak, but neither they nor …
Dirty Rotten (Republican) Scoundrels!
Two days ago I noticed a tiny blue sticker, about one-and-a-half inches long by three-quarters-of- an-inch high, on the right end of the rear bumper of our old Nissan Frontier pickup. On closer inspection I discovered it was a "Trump Make America Great Again" sticker. Before my cataract surgery a year ago, I probably wouldn't …
Life in a state of corruption
Mexico will elect a new president on July 1. I confess to following the campaign about as closely as I'm following the general election in Turkey on June 24, which is not too closely.Even so, I've been impressed how the leading candidate, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has lit up a populist brush fire by vowing …
Into South Africa (Part 3, The animals)
A few of my more suspicious friends have asked me if the animals we photographed, which seemed so cooperative, were cooped up in a special area for tourists to see; sedated so they wouldn't eat people; or so used to seeing tourists with cameras that they'd become essentially tame.None of the above. Kruger National Park is …
Into South Africa (Part 2, Getting there)
There are all sorts of safari packages available in Botswana, Namibia, Kenya, South Africa and other countries. Ours was organized by the Rotary Club of Polokwane, a town on the northeastern corner of South Africa, as a fundraiser for a local school for blind children.The link between the Polokwane Rotarians and San Miguel de Allende …
Into South Africa (Part I, Photos)
Stew and I spent two weeks in South Africa a month ago, the first in Cape Town, the second on a safari at Kruger National Park and at adjacent game reserve. We came back with a batch of photographs that, if I may say so myself, were really nice. Along with the compliments, I've also been …
Alcoholism may have contributed to Bourdain's suicide. As a final tribute, we ought to find out.
Since his suicide in France two days ago, at age 61, there's been a torrent of well deserved tributes and retrospectives exploring Anthony Bourdain's amazing life and career except for one question: Did alcoholism contribute to his mental torments and untimely death?My husband and I became charter viewers of "Parts Unknown" since it premiered in …
Roseanne or Samantha? I pick neither
Just got back from a couple of weeks in South Africa, a vacation whose most relaxing aspect was being largely disconnected from the endless political skirmishes, conspiracies and name-calling back home. Most of the places we stayed at didn't even have working Wi-Fi. You just kept looking for zebras or leopards instead, which proved to …
El Rancho Santa Clara 