Adding to my confusion about the seasons in San Miguel, this morning I discovered our first asparagus spear popping up tentatively eight or so inches above the ground. In Chicago asparagus emerges in early spring, around April, as the plants awaken from a long winter slumber. San Miguel's winter, which this year came with a …
Continue reading Early or late, a surprise arrival in the garden
Though people ceaselessly praise the loyalty, intelligence and friendship of dogs no one really knows what goes on in those little canine brains. Sure, you'll hear some owners gravely aver that their little Poopadoodle peed on the rug "because she wants to get back at me" or was angry at something that happened two days …
A tantarria perched on Félix' finger.Tantarrias gathered on a mesquite.The redoubtable Félix, our gardener and fountain of information on all things Mexico, two days ago showed me these gorgeous bugs which had just appeared on our scraggly blackberry bush. They looked a bit like cockroaches except for the precise and intricate markings that resembled some …
We get our hair cut by Juan, a young, soft-spoken guy with a luxuriant bundle of dreadlocks that hangs down his back, halfway down to his tail bone. Last time we were in for a haircut I brought a newspaper photo of one of Osama bin Laden's sons who looks scarily like Juan. Juan's wife …
February in Chicago is cold, damp and most of all dreary. Daylight hours have shrunk; it's dark outside going to work and likely the same when coming home. Wistfully scanning seed catalogs doesn't seem to help. At Starbucks, sales of the Sumatran Vente Molto Loco blend have increased dramatically, which makes people bug-eyed but hardly …
I've received several e-mails from readers complaining that they are unable to post comments or that their comments are "rejected." In order to post comments you have to sign up as a "Follower", by clicking "Follow" on the upper left-hand corner above the blogs and then selecting whether you want to be identified on the …
Because we rely on solar panels for our electricity, we're conscious, though less so each day, about appliances, lights and other gadgets that suck up juice, and curious about new ways to conserve energy. So we were glad to find our local hardware store stocking LED lights that seem almost too good an idea. We …
Last night we were having dinner and Stew remarked that it felt so good to eat food that had come mostly from our own land. We had beets, which were really good and about the size of tennis balls, a salad and a strip steak, the latter from Costco. We're not about to start our …
When it comes to advice about retirement, particularly by AARP publications, about 60 percent of it has to do with making sure you pile up enough money and the other 40 percent with health-related issues. So if you have as much money as Donald Trump, presumably without his comb-over or oxygen-depleting ego, and the body …
In the beginning--as when the Spaniards arrived in this area during the 16th Century--the hills around San Miguel supposedly were densely wooded, including oaks, ash, walnuts, mesquites and other hard woods. But then, between the Spaniards cutting down trees to use as fuel in silver mines and Mexicans collecting wood to make charcoal, the hills …
El Rancho Santa Clara 