I realize many folks don't like to read whiny blogs, but whining a bit is just what I feel I need to do right now, and since this blog is my baby, why not?Or to paraphrase the lyrics of the late Lesley Gore's semi-memorable1964 pop hit, "It's my blog and I'll whine if I want …
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Hasta la vista, Félix. Bienvenido, Guadalupe
Though his attempt about three months ago to cross the border to get work in the U.S. ended disastrously, somehow I sensed it would not be long before Félix, who's worked for us for 12 years, would make another run soon to the Golden North. When you've lived most of your life in a poverty-stricken …
Continue reading Hasta la vista, Félix. Bienvenido, Guadalupe
There was never an easy way out of Afghanistan
To help readers understand America's chaotic exit from Afghanistan, I've drawn up the following imaginary, yet too real, scenarios: You're hosting a dinner party at your home, for six or eight of your closest friends. After the dessert course, you hear Attila and a gang of Huns banging insistently at the door. Your reaction would be:a. …
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Try saying a little prayer for yourself
A few weeks ago I returned to a daily habit I'd once embraced for several months, but later abandoned, which is to begin each day with some form of meditation. It doesn't have to be of the wu-wu variety. No bells, incense or tambourines required. Some times I follow some conventional prayer format, others I practice …
End Cuba's endless tragedy
A month ago, spontaneous and angry demonstrations erupted along the entire length of Cuba, as people took to the streets to protest the lack of food and basic medicines, daily blackouts and other miseries that have beset the island for over 60 years, and have been recently aggravated by a rampant Covid-19 pandemic. If the extent …
The heartbreak of chewy, tasteless sweet corn
One fond memory of living in the Midwest is the taste of freshly harvested sweet corn, from the field to a pot of boiling water, as the saying goes. I've tried to replicate that here several times, with mediocre to lousy results. One year we got a great harvest of corn smut, which in Mexico …
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The Russians did it!
On Wednesday night, as Stew and I settled in for another dose of the serial Occupied, a terrific thriller on Netflix, something very odd happened. The critically acclaimed Norwegian-produced show that by now had us hooked, disappeared from the Netflix streaming menu with no warning or explanation. Fans of the show are already flapping their …
What or who is killing San Miguel's trees?
Though the landscape now is a brilliant Irish green, thanks to about 14 or 15 inches of rain so far this season, there are dozens, probably hundreds of white cedars and certain types of pines all over San Miguel and in our ranch that are turning up dead, as if struck by lightning. Hey, has anyone …
Mao says "Let a thousand (wild) flowers bloom!"
During the past three weeks vegetation around the ranch has gone through a startling yin-yang cycle, swinging from somber brown to a myriad shades of emerald. Trees and bushes have leafed out, and hundreds of wildflowers appeared everywhere, each a unique celebration of the near-constant rain we've had. In years before I have tried to triage the …
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Wondering about the inevitable: Who's going to take care of us when we can't?
While on a cruise to Antarctica in 2007, we had the good fortune to befriend a woman from San Miguel with whom we have remained close even as our life situations have changed. It's those kinds of friendships that make San Miguel a special place. Sadly, about three years ago she had a stroke that initially …
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El Rancho Santa Clara 