Category: Initial post

We were walking through Perote the other day, and, as luck would have it, I happened to look across the street, and was graced with this.

These are video cameras made to look like dragons, or gargoyles. Are they not the most amazing things to see on a small street? Some of the folks here had not noticed them either. What a treasure.

Then, there is this; something else I had never seen. Jesús and Liz are having a half bath built under their stairs, and, as the living room is not finished, and it is raining continuously outside, the guys are mixing the cement for the blocks, on the living room floor. Why not? It works.

After about a half an hour, this is what they have accomplished. In the next few days, the guys will be back to do the finishing work; sealing the edges of the blocks, then plastering the walls.

Should not be long, then we will be able to use this bathroom, and not have to do go all of the way down one and a half flights of steps, and across the bedroom area that Jesús’s mother and father occupy. They say it is no bother; it is the only bathroom in the whole house, at the moment. It feels like a huge imposition.

I think that is all I need to tell you for today. Please, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

I am sure you will be as pleased, as I am, to know, the exercising is coming along without a hitch, and that I remain faithful to this blog post.

Having started this exercising business last week, I have added a bit of resistance band stretching to my workouts, as well as the all elusive crunches, and continue with the myofascial stretching. That last one, as a stand alone, is worth the fifteen dollars I paid for it.

I try to do the myofascial stretching just before going to bed. My legs get so jumpy if I turn off of my back, onto either side if I do not stretch. It is not only very uncomfortable, not stretching, it gets painful. So, just do it.

Slowly, I am noticing a difference, not only in how my clothes fit, but also, the flexibility I have regained over time. Before stretching, I could just touch my fingertips to the floor; now, after almost two weeks, I can curl my fingers towards me, and touch the second knuckles to the floor. That is an increase of almost two inches. Side to side, not so much, though I can reach, probably, one inch more, down the side of my legs. Not bad.

Well, I just got back from climbing the stairs, so I am going to have a cup of coffee, and relax. See you tomorrow.

Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

We are trying to get to LA, but have been sitting on the highway for almost an hour. Why? There has been a landslide up ahead. Seriously.

There has been a landslide up ahead of us, and has, according to a passerby, captured a few vehicles in its path. We do not know about the people in those vehicles, but are hoping they are ok. (Yes, we do, now. No one injured, only trapped vehicles. The landslide was thick, but not moving so quickly as to sweep vehicles, or people away.)

I am going to try to video anything I can but it is after nine o’clock and quite dark. There are plenty of vehicles so they might be able to give me sufficient light. We will have to wait and see.

Nope. I was unable to video anything, but I can tell you that the highway is a mess, both sides. In this part of the highway, they are, with two lanes moving in each direction, on different levels.

Our lanes are going Northeast, and, are twenty plus feet higher up than the lanes going Southwest. All of the mud, and sand washed over our two lanes, and across the other two lanes as well. What a mess.

I took the above photo about an hour before we were stopped in our journey. Jesús was able to drive about fifty miles per hour still, then, within the next hour, as I said, we came to a complete stand still. The sign, below, which is on both sides of the road, was unseen by us for about forty minutes. It made us all laugh. Duh!

I believe that I need to mention here, that this is the site of a huge mining operation, and has had, in the past, obviously, prior washouts. Hence the road signs.

Here, in México, they have such beautiful highway’s (no snow, ice, or salt to buckle the asphalt), but have zero, zip, nada when it comes to overhead lights. Yikes. People, for the most part, are smart enough to drive at a safe speed and keep a safe distance from each other, thankfully.

Another interesting tidbit it that when the sun goes down, that is it for light. There are no big cities to reflect any light, and, as I said a moment ago, there is no lighting overhead. There are a bazillion stars, but they are just a ways off, and only look pretty when they can be seen. Not tonight, however.

Tonight, it is cloudy, and has rained the entire way from CDMX to LA. Bummer. Fortunately, for us, Jesús is an excellent driver. Plus, he enjoys driving the BMW. Perk.

Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Read your highway road signs. 😉

I do believe that the process of climate acclimation for the two of us is complete. We are freezing. To think, it took only two years. A record.

It is sixty one degrees here, and we both have thermal shirts on, over the top of at least a tee shirt. Over that will go a light weight jacket, and that is here, in the house. Beats being the only ones sweating.

It is eleven thirty in the morning, and we are just getting up. Life in this LA (Los Altos), is so different, and relaxing, than any other place we have ever been. You can go to bed when you want, get up when you want, eat whatever is available, whenever you want.

It is as if time is completely unimportant here. And, for the most part, it is. There are very few things ever scheduled, unless it is a doctor or dental visit. Everything else is pretty much at your leisure. “Going into town”, Perote, is pretty much when everyone is up, has had coffee and something to eat, and then, off we go.

Structureless. I hope that is a word. My spell check did not go crazy so I assume it is. There is very little structured time here. The only ones who really are on a schedule are the children. When they are up and about, everyone gets up and going. Even they, however, do not get up with the sun. Thank Jesus.

Gonna go. My fingers are complaining about the cold, and I have to go to the bathroom. For this visit, at least, it is still downstairs. It is another soon-to-be-started project in the building of a forever home for Jesús, Liz, and Gabi. Things are moving along quite nicely.

Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Last week, we had a “cable guy”, who happened to be in the building, helping someone else, come up to our apartment, and change the cable box from the Juan’s bedroom to the Garcia’s bedroom.

Little did he know that he was in for an education. Ivan spent about fifteen minutes teaching the guy the difference between the workings of a modem, and a router. The guy was definitely appreciative, by the responses he made.

Ivan was in his element. Not much does he enjoy more than teaching someone about something. He can talk with profound intelligence on such topics as computers, politics, and governments, both here, and abroad. Really, I have never spoken with anyone that knows as much about so many different subjects as he does.

It used to intimidate me, but now, after fifty years, he just continues to amaze me, and, make me proud.

Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

I just found myself, having walked, hurriedly, into the pantry, seemingly unaware of why I needed to be there. What was so important that I needed to come here, and so quickly?

No doubt some of you experience this same phenomenon, on occasion. It can be quite frustrating, depending on the importance of the need.

I stood there, hands on hips, just staring at the metal shelving, holding our pots, and pans, and whatnot; you have probably seen a photo. Then, I started turning, giving the area a full sweep of my vision; praying that something would spark recognition.

Ah, yes. Milk. I needed a couple of cartons of milk; one for the bowls of cereal I was going to make for the two of us, (Cheerios with banana), and two for the fridge. There. I remembered.

As I started walking through the laundry area, (the pantry is adjacent to, but beyond, said laundry area), I noticed that the washing machine had its little light on, signaling that the load was finished, and, therefore, needed to be put in the dryer.

Do I finish with making the bowls of cereal, or stop, and put the quilt in the dryer? I still have to cut up the bananas, add a Splenda to Ivan’s, then pour the milk, and deliver the prepared fare.

Or, do I stop, put the quilt in the dryer first, and get that started, then do the cereal?

There is also the vacuuming, and mopping that I have to get started. I have so many things to do, in what order should I do them?

Why am I standing in the laundry area? And, with three boxes of milk?

Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Oh. Right. The cereal.

There are SEVEN flights of steps here, not five, not six; SEVEN. Damn shame someone cannot count.

I forgot there were two fights of parking garage, not one. That means it is somewhere between one hundred twelve, and one hundred nineteen steps. WTH?

Suddenly, I am so much more tired, knowing, now, that I actually went up an extra flight!!! Ugh.

Until tomorrow. I have to go lie down, and rest; for the rest of the day. Probably.

Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Exhausted. 😉

First off, let me say that we must not ever forget today in our history’s recent past. I remember today even when I see 9/11 on the analog clocks we have. Onward.

Here is a quick photo of what I am so excited about. I see three new plants coming by spring.

The other day, I got to reading about succulent propagation, and decided to give it a shot. It cannot hurt to have more of the little beauties. Call them “backup”, if you want.

So, I took a few leaves from a couple of different succulents that I purchased recently, and placed them on a piece of cardboard. As there are several different ways to propagate succulent leaves, this one appeared to be the easiest way, (and safest), to my thinking, because it required no watering. (We all know how I do with that.)

In just three days time, there are small roots already forming on the ones harvested from this little beauty. As it is so small, it is difficult to identify. My app, however, calls it a Pachyphytum Compactum; such a large name for such a tiny plant. Personally, I think, if it is the PC, it should be a bit more compact; I will attempt to re-identify it when it gets a bit bigger.

There are other leaves, in varying degrees of dead, or dying, that I was trying to reproduce, but, alas, most of them are going to be compost. I will, however, continue to try.

As always, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones. Delta variant does not care who you are; it just knows that it wants you.

Voy a subir las escaleras. Regresa mañana. 😉

I have a couple more interesting plants to show you, if you have the time.

This one is…. I was going to say it is one of my favorites, but they are all my favorites. Each one is a unique form of succulent that has my imagination reeling. It is called an Anacampseros retusa. Quite the mouthful for such a small plant. It, too, looks as if it is going to bloom, with three buds on the left stem, and one on the right. I will keep you updated.

We have several different varieties of this species, Anacampseros, but each is a different subspecies, if my research is correct. The ones we bought in LA are so small, it is difficult to determine exactly which subspecies they are. It appears that I have selected interesting ones, just in a very immature forms, at present. As they mature, I will continue to research what they are.

That is my story anyway.

Lastly, for today, is the Crassula ovata, circled in blue, in the above photo. This one is called Gollum, after the creature from the book “The Hobbit”, the prelude to the book, “The Lord of the Rings”, by J. R. R. Tolkien. Gollum ended up with small suction cups at the ends of his fingers, after his complete transformation, from the Hobbit called Sméagol, to the creature called Gollum. (Just a bit of trivia. I am good for something.)

Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, wash your hands, again, and protect your loved ones.

As earthquakes go, that was a doozy.

We were just getting Jesús, Liz, and Gabi settled in their room for the night, when they jumped up, off of the bed, and, said we were having an earthquake. (They could hear the dogs barking, and the people out front of the building. Their bedroom window faces the front of the building, with the laundry room window right next to theirs. Our bedroom faces the back of the building, so we hear nothing.)

Personally, I felt nothing; for about thirty second. Then, for the first time, we had to actually leave the building. Jesús had just finished saying that we needed to do the very thing. Not us, brave couple from the North! I asked why? This is no big deal. Well,

Seconds later, I was on my way to the laundry room, where we have our “earthquake alarm” wind chimes, and, sure enough, they were going crazy. We could not hear them because the sliding door to the laundry area was shut. As I tried to open the door, the whole building was trying to get out from under my feet, and trying to knock me to the floor. This one was so much stronger than the last one, it was incredible. We could actually see the walls of the building moving.

Of course, we lost electricity within the first few seconds, but, even without lights, we could see everything moving.

One begins, at about this point, to hope that this is going to stop, like right now. Alas, it did not. In fact, it went on for probably three or four more minutes. The building was still shifting as we were making our way down the steps. It was raining when we got outside, of course; nothing much, but enough that we were all wet within minutes.

We ended up making a few trips back into the building, for charging blocks, water, phones, flashlights, jackets, etc.; those important things you should have at the ready, but do not.

I am very happy to report that there were no casualties, human, canine, or feline, from our building. (All of the dogs were outside with their humans, carrying on something fierce. Another great earthquake detection system. No batteries needed)

I am also happy to say that we did not have a single thing break; none of the jars in the pantry, nothing from the living room, nothing in the bedrooms. Nothing. Period.

This building really was meant for us to inhabit. It is amazingly strong, and well built.

We are going to try to get some rest now. Hahaha. Right. Anyway, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hand, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

And, leave the building when you are told to; before Elvis.