There aren't many sure shots in life.Medical care in Mexico is not among them. The constant chatter among San Miguel expats about medical care reminds me of the fleet of old American cars cautiously sputtering, wheezing and farting along the streets of Havana.Invariably there is something wrong with one of them and opinions abound, expressed with much …
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Why is Mexico Mexico and Iceland Iceland?
The differences are legion, but respect forthe rule of law may be the most telling Whenever Stew and I travel to a so-called First World country, returning to Mexico, our home for almost 12 years, is invariably a shock. The taxi ride from the Mexico City North bus station to the airport, or vice-versa, is an …
Amateur forestry thrives at the ranch
"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.The second best time is now." (Sent to me by Anita, a friend in San Antonio)When we bought the ranch nine years ago, the first thing Stew and I did was put a fence around it. We'd been warned …
When the lights went out and peace came in
Our solar electric system went on the fritz andthat brought us some unexpected blessings Our house is "off the grid"—the only external input is a refill of propane gas every two or three months—and the system worked well until last Friday afternoon when our solar electricity rig crashed, taking down with it all appliances and electronic …
Why do you go to church anyway?
Is it cynical to attend churchmainly to meet other people?While in the U.S. church attendance continues to decline, during our eleven years in San Miguel we've noticed that English-speaking churches here seem to be growing almost as fast as restaurants and art galleries.No doubt previous religious affiliations point some expats to certain denominations, but I …
Forget emails. Just call.
"Now they tell me!" saidDonald J. Trump, Jr. During the past few days I've soured on that modern addiction to e-mails, a communication medium that frequently creates confusion and misunderstanding and can even get one of your mammaries in the wringer. Yesterday I called my friend Barbara to find out how she was doing after a …
Elon Musk's Tesla pulls into San Miguel
Electric vehicles are headed for San Miguel.That surprised the hell out of me.Sometime last week, with as little fanfare as organ cacti popping up in the countryside, six shiny Tesla electric car chargers appeared in the parking lot of the Luciérnaga shopping center in San Miguel, by the Office Depot store. We of course had …
Waking up to Donald Trump
These days perusing the headlines first thing in the morning often is like taking that first sip of coffee and discovering someone has laced it with Tabasco sauce. You gag. You spit. You say "What the hell?" or worse.Wednesday and Thursday were Tabasco days. Via one of his early morning tweets, which have come to …
Victory! Vinyl LPs live!
Comments on my blog yesterday, about whether I should keep my collection of vinyl LPs, leaned in favor of keeping it with an outlier voice from Pátzcuaro grumbling that I should toss it.Stew and three of our highly-trained dogslooking under the stereo cabinet toassess the nature of the problem. Vox populi won and Stew and I …
Is it time to toss my vinyl LP recordings?
I don't need my old LPs butsomehow I can't let them go.In the beginning there was the vinyl LP recording, and the LP became high-fidelity, stereophonic, quadraphonic, "360 Stereo" and more, with a detour for tape cassettes, compact discs and most recently MP3 files. Except for cassette tapes, I still have most of these media …
El Rancho Santa Clara 