On a Rainy Saturday Afternoon.

Cloudy with a chance of golf balls, well at least that's what the huge raindrops looked this past Saturday.

Saturday was such a beautiful day, after waking up I had a wonderful breakfast with my sister-in-law to catch up on current events and then I went home and debated whether to clean the cars and the bike or to take a nap. I don't think I need to tell you which of the two options won cause anybody that know me will know that I opted for the nap.

My grandson Juanito turned 3-years old and so I woke up thinking it's time to go to the party. I looked outside and the weather looked beautiful it was about 5:00 p.m. and I actually felt like riding the bike, then I went outside and felt the heat so I changed my mind and decided to drive.

I left Avondale on a sunny Saturday afternoon and didn't drive more than four miles when out of nowhere these huge golf ball size raindrops started to crash with the car making a really loud noise then as if by magic I was in one of the worst downpours I had seen in my life. It was raining so hard you couldn't see more than 12 feet ahead of me and yet looking in the rear view mirror I could see how sunny it was towards my house. A motorcyclist that didn't chicken out to ride in the heat was behind me and drove in the rain for about a mile until he stopped under a bridge. Poor guy must have been soaked from heat to toe. The rain normally feels like needles hitting you while you ride. these time it must have felt more like nails.

This image shows how dark it was towards the east, however if you looked back you could see a hot sunny Saturday afternoon. Monsoons are cool that way. This image is actually deceiving as the lense captured more than our naked eyes were. You really couldn't see more than two cars ahead of you.

Image borrowed from my daughter Nikki.

Thank God, I got to my son's OK, as my family started coming in they all had the same "Oh my God, did you guys drive through that rain?" comment. Some people were not so lucky as at some point during this rain there was a 69 car pile up on I-10 due to the poor visibility created by the rain.

Well, the party went on as planned, the kids had to wait approximately 45minutes until the rain passed and then they all hit the swimming pool and had so much fun as if no rain had ever come.

Monsoons are awesome to look at but dangerous to be caught in one of them, specially if your are driving. I am glad we all made it OK.

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California Bound for Labor Day Weekend

So here we are just a few more days and then long weekend. Oh yes I am really looking forward to it. As it stands right now it looks like I'll spend it in California visiting my sister and in-laws there. I'll be leaving Thursday afternoon right after work so that I can have all Friday, Saturday, and Sunday there and will head back to Phoenix on Monday. The idea is to make it a vacation and to really go places and probably take lots of pictures.

Now I have been without a working camera for a month now as my trusty Panasonic camera finally gave up after almost four years of going everywhere with me and capturing like a zillion images. So I will have to figure something. I do have my new digital camcorder but it does not compete with a regular camera. To me taking pictures is a big part of my going out anywhere so we'll see.

So, the car has a six CD changer and the i-pod shuffle has been refreshed by my daughter Nikki, so with over 300 songs I think the music department is covered, even though I am going solo it should not be a boring drive. What? Plenty of music and a trip in the new Mustang is a recipe for excitement.

Pomona's Antique Row.
As the itinerary builds we are planning on visiting The Buddhist Temple in Hacienda Heights, and Pomona's Antique Row, as well as karaoke on Friday night at Casa Cabral and maybe some sightseeing downtown L.A. The possibilities are many the time is short so we will have to squeeze as many outings and activities as we can.

My sister has been wanting to take me here so we may just go this time.
For sure lots of eating will be involved, as my sister puts it, "zincronisadas" and "bionicos" will probably find their way into our tummies. But to me going to L.A. and not eating tacos would be a travesty. lol So yes, please add tacos to the menu please.

So don't be afraid to throw me some ideas, three full days in L.A. what can I do? Where else can I go? What to eat? Who to see? As I said before so much to do so little time, I will have to use it wisely.

Going to L.A. and not eating some of these would be uncivilized.
This "sincronisadas" were pretty synchronized with the tomato and guacamole.
And for desert, the "bionicos" are the way to go. Ummm que rico!"

Oh man, I don't believe me. Posting all these foods made me hungry, way to torture myself. As you can see, no shortage of planning here, I am leaving it to my sister and nieces to come up with a well rounded itinerary with plenty of things to do and food to eat.

I am sooooooo looking forward to it.

All images in this post borrowed from the Internet.

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Miguel's dilemma

 Eight puppies are swarming all over the yard where our friend Miguel has his workshop and storage rental, the offspring of his guard dog Wendy. It's the one drawback to having a female guard dog, unless she gets neutered, which Miguel is not inclined to do.

Papa might be a German Shepherd, from the looks of some of the pups, or a Rottweiler. They're all males, and will probably be bigger than Mamacita, who's a medium-size longhair with no resemblance to them.

Now Miguel needs to find homes for these little guard-dogs-in-training.  I know, if he kept them all he'd have a formidable army that nobody would want to mess with. They're a month and two days old, and have yet to see a vet, but they are very healthy and bright-eyed, well-cared-for and socialized.

Now if we can just talk Miguel into having Wendy fixed...

Watching out for bad words

One of the things I love about learning Spanish: a whole new world of words. I collect words like a little kid collects shiny new marbles.

But as I delve further into the language in my current classes with Loli and Lolita, I'm more aware of the pitfalls of mispronunciation. Saying a word wrong can bring about reactions from mild amusement to hilarity to disdain to outrage — although outrage is rare since Mexicans are a lot more patient with the Spanish of gringos than North Americans are with the English of latinos.

Two of my favorite sources which present me with a new word each day are Dictionary.com and SpanishDict.com (which I mentioned in a previous post). I like the fact that they both give sample sentences and the roots of the words, which help me remember them. SpanishDict also offers idioms or common Spanish sayings too. (Collecting choice idioms is even more fun than collecting words!)

Today's Spanish word is noctorno, easy because it's a cognate, similar enough to the English word to be recognizable. But yesterday's was a challenge, not because it's long but because it's not easy to pronounce: otorgar which means to grant, to award or bestow. I had a hard time wrapping my tongue around the "r" so I had to exaggerate rolling it and I still can't say it fast (not to speak of three times!) But it's a word I want for my collection because the idiom is one we should all keep in mind: Quien calla otorga, which means "Silence gives consent."

My English word-for-the-day was orthoepy,  the study of pronunciation, which is precisely what I'm trying to do. If I were to study Spanish without a teacher, using only a book as I used to do because I was too cheap to pay a teacher, skipping my orthoepy and learning incorrect pronunciation, I would be guilty of cacoepy, or mispronunciation of words. Cacoepy comes from the Greek kakos (bad) and epos (word). In fact, if I habitually mispronounce words, I could be called a cacoepist.

How's that for an insult?

Whither Frank?

Just as the summer doldrums become almost unbearable, it's time for our annual Storm Vigil. Let's have a big hand for Hurricane Frank.

Three hundred thirty-one miles due south of Cabo San Lucas, Frank is spinning its way north/northwest, creeping along at 10mph, with 90mph winds. Frank, rated Category 1 for now, is bringing havoc to the aptly named Islas Socorro ("Help!"), a group of islands 376 miles west of Barra de Navidad and Melaque, two of our favorite anchorages. The main island in the Socorro chain is inhabited by the Mexican navy, and the rest are uninhabited.

The Capt thinks Frank may be headed our way after barreling through Baja. This map, courtesy of Stormpulse.com, shows Guaymas,  20 minutes from us and 682 miles north of Frank's position. I'm still puzzled how the predictors can say where a storm will be landing a week from now, and they've been wrong before. So far it's only been plotted up to 11am Tuesday morning, when it's expected to make landfall on the Baja coast. I'm wondering if it will affect the other San Carlos, in Magdalena Bay, where Jimena caused so much damage last year, much worse than our San Carlos.

Stormpulse is a useful weather site, with a discussion page that clarifies what you see on the map. Click on any town on the map and you can see how far it is from the storm. History buffs can dig into the Hurricane Archives all the way back to 1851; I could probably find the one that wiped out my great-grandparents in Southeast Texas. The site has been added to the Hurricane Watch list at right.

Letter F (La F de Feo)

ABC Wednesday

This week is for letter "F".

Here a some F's that I like and love.

Friendship!
Family.
Fun Fords Forever.
Fun Fast & Furious Ford.

"F" is also for the FIVE hottest cities in the country according to Forbes.

1. Louisville, KY
2. Memphis, TN
3. Atlanta, GA
4. Raleigh, NC
5. New Orleans, LA

I for sure though I would see Phoenix here but I guess our desert is not the in the hottest spots. It could have fooled me.

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Night moves

Last night the Capt spotted a couple of coatimundis racing through the parking lot, and my first reaction was a resolution not to let the dogs out at night without a chaperone anymore. I've seen skunks here a few times at night, but these coatis are, from what I've heard, more of a danger to small dogs that attempt to chase them. They're members of the raccoon family and inherited that fierce sense of self-protection that could lead them to attack our girls, who have had almost no exposure to wildlife and would probably mistake one for a cat.

I've never had a close encounter with a coati, only running away at a distance, but I looked them up this morning and learned that they can be adopted as pets, though they're likely to tear up a home if left to their own devices. Very hyper and vocal, according to one web page, http://6thgradeanimalresearch.pbworks.com/Coatimundi

Poodle del día

Kristin at San Carlos Canine Center, affectionately known as Wagmore, has collected yet another foundling dog looking for a good home. This one's a white French poodle, a very small full-grown female with a shy but sweet disposition, though protective of her food (no surprise since she was starving when she was found).

She'd probably be happiest in a one-dog household. She has been groomed and was given the full treatment at the vet. Now she just needs some one-on-one time with a human who loves her. Could that be you?

The Young Ones

Laila and Ramon Jose.
Laila.
Atali.

How fast they change, how soon they grow, how often the cry, how much they eat, how much love can be inspired from such tiny little persons. These are my three youngest grand babies and I have fun just looking at the tons of pictures posted by my daughters. I am seeing them change in front of my very own eyes.

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A touch of cabin fever

...or maybe it's the full moon.

In summertime, our world tends to shrink down to four walls. It's the busiest season for our publishing business, and much of August and September we'll be bonded to our computers and the telephone, not all that eager to go outside anyway, when the heat feels life-threatening.

But now and then I hear from a friend whose adventures stir up my urge to go roving. Russ and Phyllis, intrepid world travelers who spend most of their time vagabonding in style, have been beguiling me with daily reports of their exploits. Just back from a round-the-world tour, now they've outfitted an RV they call "IVan" and started across the Midwest with their grandson, visiting some places I'd never have thought of as vacation destinations (Ypsilanti? Sandusky?) but they seem to be having a wonderful time. Phyllis has hinted that she'll be starting a blog, but so far she's been too busy living her life to blog about it.

 Russ and Phyllis stopped last week in Cedar Breaks, Ohio, which is famous for its roller coasters

And now I'm in touch with Isabelle, a Frenchwoman I first met when she was here in Mexico a couple of years ago. Currently she's in France, soon to return to her boat, a 32-foot Swedish ketch, in Portugal. A mutual friend stopped off at the library and gave me Isabelle's email, and when I wrote yesterday she immediately responded with her blog address. Now I can armchair-travel my way through Europe! Join me, by visiting Isabelle's blog, Nomad's Dream.

Fishing harbor at Le Croisic, France, from Isabelle's blog, Nomad's Dream

We'll publish in less than six weeks, and then we wait three weeks for our annual antique guide to come off the press. I'm daydreaming up a jaunt of some kind, maybe a road trip with the Capt and my son if he can finally get down here. So much of Mexico is waiting to be explored.

But for now, back to work.

Bugs and Blue Flashes

I was up at 4:15 this morning, reading the New York Times, cooking lentils and white bean soup. This time of year, when skies are overcast and hinting at rain, there's a fleeting moment before dawn when the whole world outside turns an intense lapis blue, and I was trying to capture it with my camera. You could call it the Blue Flash, it changes so quickly. I spied it through the window, grabbed the camera, and by the time I got outside the blue had faded into gray. Oh, well, maybe tomorrow morning.

Giardia lamblia under the microscope, at Wikipedia

The soup is for a friend who has been sick for weeks. Yesterday her lab tests came back positive for giardia, so I was Googling for information. I already knew it was a waterborne parasite, but wanted to know more, for her sake and my own. Giardia is a tough little bug, able to survive in cold water or hot spas and even after it's been treated, usually with metrodanyzol (flagyl), gut discomfort can go on for a long time. Dogs also get giardia, and I'm thinking of having us all tested.

We're not the only ones contemplating menacing bugs. The NY Times reports there's a huge infestation of bedbugs in Manhattan that is causing a social schism between those who have them and those who want to avoid them. A Times Square movie theater had to shut down while their seats were treated, and a Victoria's Secret store was shunned by customers scared of shedding their clothes in suspect dressing rooms. Bedbugs are by no means limited to New York, but are chomping on humans "almost everywhere" according to the CDC.

It's enough to give you insomnia. On the other hand, if you're in the business of selling new mattress sets, you're probably having a record quarter.

I Just Realized

So, the other day I was surfing the Internet and I came across a post from Mustang site I'm a fan of on Facebook. In it they were letting us know that a Mustang GTR prototype had just been sold and that it fetched a cool $110,000.00 in the process. Upon really looking at the image on the page I noticed I recognized that Mustang from somewhere, and then all of a sudden it just hit me, and all I had to do was scroll my blog up, up, up, all the way up to where my banner is.

Nikki picked this image which has been gracing my blog for a little over two years now and I am still very happy with it although I am thinking I am ready to have my page redone already. In any case, back to the Mustang take a look at the following image and let me know if you recognize it.

Mustang GTR - Prototype.

Then last night as I embarked in a long project I was searching for certain images I needed so I started going through all my old blog posts, and all of a sudden what popped right in front of me? Well, here it is, again just take a look at it and let me know if you even remember this post from three years ago.

Click Here for my story on this back on April 1st of 2007

Yep, not once I realized that the car on my banner has been with me for a while.

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Lolita and Loli*

One of the high points of my week is the Tuesday Spanish conversation class with Lolita. It can only be called a class because she gently corrects us if we stray from proper grammar, and fills in the gaps when we can't come up with the proper word. (Whenever a new word pops into our chat, I quickly scribble it down in my notebook and show it to her to check the spelling.) It also differs from the usual conversation in that at 4:30 the guests dip into their handbags and come up with fifty pesos, which we place discreetly on the coffee table. Somehow it seems gauche to discuss the financial part of the arrangement. But after a couple of years of meeting like this, it feels like a get-together with old friends, very comfortable and sometimes hilarious. In summer, it's only Brenda, myself and Lolita, but in winter three snowbirds from Washington and Canada join us.


What do we talk about for a whole hour? Yesterday Lolita and Brenda talked about how they got together with their mates. I missed some of Lolita's story, since she talks faster when she gets animated, and sometimes I have to confess, "You lost me." But what I took from it was that she met him when she was 12 and he kept her supplied with comic books and chewing gum. (Brenda, you may have more details.) Later on, when they began to show an interest in each other, one of her older sisters was assigned to chaperone.


Brenda's story was that she suggested a seafood restaurant for their first date, after he assured her he liked fish. It wasn't until years later he finally owned up to the fact he didn't like fish at all!


Then I shared una historia muy triste, about the armed takeover of Tenacatita, formerly an ejido on one of the most beautiful beaches on the southern coast,  now in the possession of a corporation planning to build a golf course resort. Brenda pointed out that such land grabs are not unheard-of in the US and Canada, too. When a rich man (or city) wants a choice piece of property, nothing can stop him.

I just stumbled on a blog by a gringa writer learning Spanish in Argentina. Her all-female group's approach was to read and write love poetry and letters under the tutelage of a sexy male tutor, hence the name Sexy Spanish Club.  Sometimes we just need a little extra motivation...

Today I'm going to enroll in an intensive new Spanish class along with a few friends, all of us hoping to polish our Spanish conversation skills. Loli, the teacher is widely known to be one of the best in this area, and she has developed some new techniques we're all curious to learn about. Will she use flashcards? Videos? Will she put us to sleep and play tapes to train our subconscious? 

Tune in tomorrow... 
*Lolita and Loli are both apodos or nicknames for the name Dolores.

"E" Is For...

ABC Wednesday -- Letter "E"

Wow, so I seat here going through my photo files and I can't find anything for ABC Wednesday. It's like today "E" is for EMPTY. But I am not giving up yet. I will continue to search my files until I find something, even it only one image. So... bare with me, I'll be right back.

OK, I'm back. I found one, "E" is for:

Entertained while watching my friend play Wii.
Elefant.
Event.
Love Ride
Glendale, California
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Happy Birthday Mom!

Just a quick not to wish my mom a Happy Birthday today. This is her, mother of five, grandma of many, and great grandma of a few more. My mom is a fighter, an economist, an entrepreneur, a cook, a gardener, a counselor, a friend, and many other wonderful things. Keeps us on edge, and still kicks our butts when needed. Me, I try to walk the right path before doing something I know she won't like, although I have done a few of those too.

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In the early morning rain

We've been having biblical skies this weekend, promising a good drenching, but not really delivering much. A couple of cloudbursts, some sprinkles. We're waiting with fingers crossed for the first real deluge, since the bricklayer who did the work on the new roof did a poor job of joining with the existing roof, leaving cracks that allow water into the new room. The Capt did his best to repair it, but now we can only wait and see. He also replaced a rotted section of the front door frame, where water seeped in with every rain.

I love the atmosphere of impending rain, when the breeze freshens and there's a bit of a charge in the air, so energizing after weeks of relentless sunshine. Too much of anything is not a good thing. And the same will be true if we have another tropical storm like last year, when Jimena caused so much damage here in 36 hours of unending rain and wind. We have done quite a lot of construction in hopes of fending off a flood, but we won't know whether all the expense and effort was worth it until it's tested by a good downpour. So we hope for the best, and buy flood insurance.

"But that's a dame, they're all the same"

 Vintage ad from Pop Massive

Last week the Capt was learning to play a new song, with a catchy tune and contagious syncopated rhythm.  "Girl Talk" (from the 1965 movie "Harlow") was one of the hits  that made Tony Bennett famous. I was intrigued, thinking it would be fun to sing, until he handed me the lyrics. "It's a bit...um...sexist," he remarked."Sexist" isn't even a word that was around in 1965. "Misogynist" might almost fit...it's a song for a man who chooses women for a particular combination of looks, immaturity and lack of intellect and then runs them down for their superficial interests. The last verse—the icing on the cake—turns it into a love song. Humph! I'm thinking of rewriting the whole thing. I may have no choice, can't get the tune out of my head!

They like to chat about the dresses
   they will wear tonight
They chew the fat about their tresses
   and the neighbours' fight
Inconsequential things that men
   don't really care to know
Become essential things that
   women find so apropos

But that's a dame
They're all the same
It's just a game
They call it girl talk, girl talk

They all me-ow about the ups and
   downs of all their friends
The who, the how, the why,
   they dish the dirt, it never ends
The weaker sex, the speaker sex,
   we mortal males behold
But though we joke, we wouldn't
   trade you for a ton of gold

So baby stay, and gab away
But hear me say
That after girl talk
Talk to me...

GIRL TALK
From the film "Harlow" (1965)
(Neal Hefti / Bobby Troup)

A bookworm looks at going digital

Don't get me wrong. I'm bonded with my computer, and not only because I make my living on it. I love the fact that I can Google facts and keep track of my friends and family. The output of my camera is dedicated solely to the Internet; I haven't printed a photo in months. But with the coming of the cyber age I will miss some things, such as bookstores.


A New York Times article last Wednesday demonstrates how prevalent the e-book has become in the States. I've been out of touch, since there are no English-language bookstores here. Since the Capt and I agreed to limit our trips to the US, my access to books has dwindled to our local library, where I volunteer Friday mornings. But when I lived in California, one of my favorite pleasures was browsing bookstores such as Barnes and Noble and Crown. Not that I could afford to buy many volumes, other than an occasional markdown from the sale tables. I went the book club route for a while, finding I couldn't keep up with it and books started coming to me that I didn't want. Later on I bought my share of books from Amazon.com.


But I liked browsing stores that sold used books, and libraries, accepting the fact that the hot new novel wouldn't reach me for three or four years. I stopped going to movie theaters, too, and settled for movies on TV, or DVD rentals. I'm not bothered by being a half-decade behind the times.


So when I first heard of the Kindle e-reader, I wasn't keen on buying it. Now I'm on the fence. What I like about it is the portability (perfect for boat people, road-trippers and frequent fliers) and the ability to store thousands of books in such a small space. But I'm so used to free and cheap used books, the idea of spending $25 or more on a new novel seems ludicrous to me.

Yesterday at our exchange library a discussion came up about the Kindle e-reader. Bob, one of our patrons,  was asking Barbara, a staff member who bought one as a gift a couple of years ago, whether the Kindle was worth the investment. Barbara paid $300 for hers, but the price has gone down and the Kindle is starting to look like a good deal. That the newest unit ($189 at Amazon) now comes with wifi and even 3-G wireless so you can order a book online without your computer makes the $300 unit obsolete already. The newest model will work as an audio book, too. And it holds a vast library of 3,600 books, more than I'd ever find room for in my house. There's a waiting list for the new Kindle, by the way, just to give you an idea of the unexpected demand.


Barnes & Noble bowed to the inevitable and came out with their own e-reader, called the Nook, which is $259 but has space for a million books. All the reading devices on the market are compared here.


The big drawback for me is the expense factor, with e-books even on Amazon going for at least $10. There's no market for used e-books because they can't be resold. Too bad for readers like me, who never reread a novel while there are so many more out there to discover. (I do have a reference collection that I'll probably always keep.) I'd probably delve into free e-books available through services such as the Baen Free Library and Project Gutenberg, if I had a Kindle.  Googling "free e-books" yields page after page of sources, not that you'll find Nora Roberts or John Grisham there.


Meanwhile, our little exchange library flourishes, with more used books coming in every week. Our space is limited so we put any duplicates on our sale table, at a peso apiece, to help pay our ongoing expenses. We have a chatty group of patrons, and when the subject of e-books and e-readers comes up, most people say they still like to browse, hold volumes in their hands. And of course, the free trade aspect of coming in with five books and walking out with five we've never read is irresistible. So is the fact that we can freely pass on books to friends we think would enjoy them. It looks like, for the foreseeable future at least, the Kindle and its ilk won't put us out of business.


The huge brick-and-mortar bookstore chains, and the smaller stores that carry predominantly new printed books? It looks like their days are numbered.

A Quick Reflection

Life throws you curves and gives you lemons, you just have to be a good driver and know how to make some nice cold lemonade and you'll be fine. Our choir director put an inspirational CD out and in it a priest talks about different topics. One of them touches on how God doesn't want us to be perfect but to just be the very best that we can be. I took that to heart and I try to apply it to my daily life, no I don't want to be the best, but I do want to be the best that I can be. I like thanking God for the new day and tackle it with as much love and enthusiasm as I can. I really don't want to waste my time not being happy or not doing things I love so it is in my power to put the effort towards that goal, then at night when I go to bed I can honestly say I tried and hopefully have no regrets.

To say my life has changed since last December is an understatement. It's been a challenge to deal and cope with these changes but as you all know the support group behind me is too huge and too great and I have taken advantage of it a hundred percent. It is a fact that losing "mi chica" suddenly showed me the fragility of life. The term "We live on borrowed time" makes total sense and I now perceive it with a whole new outlook. Every wasted day will never come back, so I say "Live Every Day As If It's Your Last".

DO NOT waste opportunities as they present themselves to you and learn to rely on that support group because like everything else in life, if wasted it will disappear and you'll regret it later.

It is better to set goals and fail at them than to not have anything to strive for. So... Why am I writing all this? Simply it was triggered while I visited another blog. I am happy within my sadness and happily invite my past to show me the way towards my future. My past I can't change not that I would want to but I still hope and strive for a full and happy future.


















Image captured by: Chely

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Let's you and him fight

This time of year the Capt and I are often up long before dawn. At five a.m. this morning, it's still relatively cool outside, and I feel more energetic, eager to get things done in the garden. Sofia and Chica have things to do outside, too, so we file out the front door, into a world of bugs. The air is so full of them, I avoid opening my mouth, and keep a hand near my face to fan them out of my eyes. Flying bugs,  clumsy bugs that seem to be spinning in circles at my feet, and millions of crickets. with their wall of sound.

Wikipedia says crickets sing by rubbing their wings together, not their legs, and only the males can sing. They have a quiet little courting song to attract the silent females, and a loud one for warning off other males. Their "ears" are located in an odd place, just below their knees. This time of year, with so many of them about, they're all very occupied with warning each other off, thus the wall of sound. And with such a population explosion, I shouldn't be surprised that quite a few of them end up inside my house. If it's true what they say in Barbados, that a cricket in the house brings money, we should be sitting pretty. But then again, crickets have been known to eat clothing, so a cricket in the closet might not be a good thing.


I discriminate when I choose what bugs to kill and what bugs to rescue and relocate outside the house. Without remorse, I'll mash a cockroach or a scorpion, but crickets get a free ride. I use a clear plastic container and a dustpan, and try to avoid damaging their legs or antennae when I scoop them up and carry them out. 

Something I didn't know: Wikipedia says crickets can bite, and inflict pain if they chomp on a tender place like, for instance, the webbing between fingers. 

In some parts of Southeast Asia and Mexico cricket fighting is popular, with betting, champion breeding and even mafia efforts to control the outcome of fights. I watched a Chinese cricket fight on YouTube, and it seemed to me most of it involved the owners goading the  crickets with long, thin sticks to put them in a fighting mood. It's said that good fighting cricket can cost as much as a cow in some parts of China, which seems extravagant considering crickets only live 100 days.

D's

ABC Wednesday.

OK I am still not playing but just for the heck of it here are some awesome "D's".

"Ducky"
Monday was Ducky's first day of school and he was ready for it. Doesn't he look handsome in his school uniform. Growing in Mexico we always wore uniforms and I loved it, I am glad they have to wear them here too.

Damage.
How can I forget this, I still remember the day "mi chica" called me crying and said she had been hit by a bit semi-truck. In the end, damaged as the van was we drove it home with the officer's blessing.

Drawing.
My dear friend ChrisJ of Flamblogger did this drawing for me about a year ago. Not only did she drawing thinking I would like the Mustang, which I did, but she also send me the original drawing along with three other miniature drawings she had done based on pictures I took during my Mexican vacation.


Dad.
Here's a painting of my dad done by my dear friend Tara of Soul Blessings. One day I said I wanted a painting done by her, I did not tell her what to paint. The very next day she posted this on FaceBook and tagged me with it. Needless to say I was beyond words when I saw it. I am still thanking her for it and I am not done yet.

Oh yes, the canvas made it's way to my house. I had it framed and now proudly hangs on my wall.

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One mind at a time

In the five years I've lived in Mexico, I've always suspected that sooner or later I was sure to find myself into a situation in which I would need to, or want to, teach English to someone. I've wondered how I'd go about it, how I could make it interesting, how we would wade through the myriad complexities of my native tongue. But somehow I always thought I'd be working with an adult. What I wasn't expecting was that I'd take on a whole family.


Well, not a whole family at once. I'm starting with O, a 7-year old boy and M, his 10-year-old sister. (If I'm successful, I might tackle their 6-year-old twin sisters.) Both have had some exposure to English and since their parents are educators they've been expected to work harder than the average kid. But neither is what you'd call a natural-born scholar, so they need motivation. And it turns out that M, the 10-year-old, has recently gotten a major dose of motivation: her pride is at stake. She's been invited to visit family in El Paso. Cousins who have spoken English all their lives. So in order to not completely humiliate herself, M. is actually asking me for English lessons. I never thought of myself as a schoolmarm, but still...

For one thing, other than raising my son, I have had little experience with children. No grandchildren, nieces, nephews or stepchildren, only one younger sister who seemed to have turned adult when she was about seven. Until I got acquainted with M, I hadn't been all that interested in spending time with niños...not because they especially annoyed me (as they do the Capt) but because I was a little put off by their restless energy and short attention spans. But M and I have an affinity for each other, even with our language difference, that has changed my whole outlook where kids are concerned. And her sensitive, appealing little brother O touches my heart the way my own boy did at that age.


So yesterday we made a start, M and I, using a book from the series called The Babysitters' Club. (We originally tried reading The Swiss Family Robinson, but I think it's a little too difficult for now.) I asked her to keep a notebook of English words she needs to have explained. Yesterday's reading took us into the topic of extended families and we had a discussion about step-siblings, step-parents, and half-siblings. My dictionary says you add astro to the nouns hijo (hijastro), padre (padrastro), madre(madrastra), hermano (hermanastro) to convert them to "stepchild," "stepfather," "stepmother," or "stepbrother." So I'm learning a little Spanish too. Next session, I'll take my dictionary with me, and make my own notes.


My greatest resource is the library, where I volunteer every Friday. We recently received a large donation of children's books and today I'm going to see what I can find for O's age group.


 I'm hoping a couple of my friends who've had more experience teaching English can provide some tips on coaching M and O. Conversation sessions may end up being our main focus, but I'm hoping the reading will help develop their vocabulary. When I was O's age I was just beginning a lifelong love affair with books, and by the time I was M's age, I was a full-blown closet reader, fending off parents and teachers who constantly annoyed me by coaxing me to go outside and play.  M and O seem fairly typical in that they don't seem to like books very much. I'm hoping I can change their minds, because I believe my lifetime of reading has done more to educate me than any teacher ever did.


Games using language, too, would be useful. I can see I'll be spending a lot of time Googling.


I'd love to hear any ideas or experiences that might help me with this project.

View envy

I treated myself to a visit with my friend Jan on this lazy Sunday afternoon. She's just returned from a trip to Arizona, where she obtained a couple of items at Trader Joe's for me. It's a treat not only because we get to indulge in some girl talk, but I get kisses from the world's friendliest dog, Teddy, and I can stand and gape at her breathtaking view of the anchorage. Looming over it all are the Tetas, our most famous landmark, magically covered with green after the recent rains. They're called Las Tetas de Cabra because they're said to look like the teats of a goat. To me, the vertical rock on the taller peak looks like a thumbs-up signal.

Today has been one of the hottest of the year, and we're all lying low with the AC cranked on full blast. Here's Teddy, with his rubber chicken, spread out flat on the cool tile floor. Isn't he gorgeous?

Random Posts

Yes, it's that time of the year when one moment the sun is out and shinning in all it's glory and in a matter of minutes this happens:

This is how the sky looked before the monsoon hit.
And this is how it looked afterwards, rainbow and all.

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Celibacy can be a choice in life, or a condition imposed by unforeseen circumstances. While attending a Marriage Weekend, my wife and I listened to the instructor declare. "It is essential that husbands and wives know the things that are important to each other..." He then address the men. "Can you name and describe your wife's favorite flower? I leaned over, touch my wife gently, and whispered. "Gold Medal-All Purpose, isn't it? And thus began my life of celebacy.

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I was watching the movie Kick-Ass being totally entertained by the unexpected action and violence in it (Ithought this was a kids movie) when all of a sudden the character Red Mist brought out his awesome ride. Ja, ja, of course I had to highlight it here in my blog because Red Mist's car was BAD ASS.




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