It's tough not being at least a bit depressed these days, pelted every day as we are, with news about the Covid pandemic and the paralysis of our national government. To cope I've developed what I call "The Ostrich Solution," to filter out potentially upsetting news and focus instead on the more whimsical, bizarre or …
Continue reading The medieval cookie cure for your pandemic blues
Tuesday was the autumnal equinox, the official beginning of fall in the northern hemisphere or if you live in San Miguel, the peak of a colorful season that rather feels like spring, with cool temperatures and a cornucopia of wildflowers. Up north, by Chicago, New York or Toronto, people eagerly await the leaves taking on their …
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 …
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
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. …
Continue reading There was never an easy way out of Afghanistan
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 …
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 …
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 …
Continue reading The heartbreak of chewy, tasteless sweet corn
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 …
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 …
El Rancho Santa Clara 