September 29, the feast of St. Michael the Archangel is marked in bold letters in San Miguel's religious calendar. No surprise there: The town is named after that feisty angel.Except for celebrations surrounding Holy Week, it's the biggest event of the year among the faithful, and even among those who score only más o menos …
Tag: san miguel de allende
Yoga redux
When we first arrived at San Miguel five years ago, Stew and I joined a beginner yoga class held three times a week in the solemn setting of a 250-year-old former convent downtown. The room's 20-foot-ceilings, enormously thick walls and huge, creaky door seemed to fit the contemplative, ancient aura that I associate with yoga. …
Murders, he wrote
During the past five weeks two Americans, or maybe three, were found murdered in San Miguel, adding to the smog of bad news and publicity already enveloping the town. In an American or Canadian city of comparable size, two or three homicides coming so close together would have raised public questions or perhaps just one: …
Merry Christmas, Toto
Even after five years in Mexico, I regularly get that "we're not in Kansas anymore" feeling of awe about living here. It's particularly so around Christmas time. A week ago we went to the market to get some vegetables and had to walk several blocks through the center of town, working our way through a …
Hot Springs
It was admittedly a false hope, a burst of groundless enthusiasm that was bound to crash. Following the unusually heavy rains during the two weeks straddling January and February, when we received approximately 10 inches--or approximately half of what we normally receive in an entire year--the ground was covered with a bright-green five o'clock shadow …
The case of the missing gay gene
Among the many stereotypes about gay men, a common one is that we all have fahbulously good taste, particularly in interior design. It's in the genes. It comes naturally.When Stew mentioned to his brother on the phone that we might be hiring an interior designer he heard his sister-in-law jokingly shouting in the background, "You …
Back in the U.S. of A.
Contrary to the dictates of reality and common sense we tried to delay the date of occupancy by the buyers of our old house so that it would more or less coincide with the completion date of our new place. The transition from old to new would flow as smoothly as a waltz. Naturally our …
Some Trees Grow in the Rancho
Looking more like twigs than trees, about 30 saplings sway awkwardly in the arid, dusty and increasingly hot landscape of Rancho Santa Clara. It's not an encouraging sight. These guys, some growing crooked, are practically invisible, scattered over the largely barren 7.5 acres of land. Amazingly, most are sprouting new leaves. At least three are …
Stuck in a hole
And a big hole at that. Cost overruns and delays are inevitable and two months into construction we've already been hit by both, caused by the construction of our extra-large rainwater collection system. Was it actually necessary? Is it worth it? I must confess that I've had my doubts. Stew insists it will pay off …
Gladys the Good Karma Mutt
Nine months or so ago everything connected with the sale of our existing home, and construction of the new one, seemed a tangle of dead-ends. It was about that time that a black-and-brown mutt appeared in the parking lot of our condo complex. Her life was a much bigger mess than ours. A medium-size female, …
El Rancho Santa Clara 