It's Been Two Weeks!

Buen dia.
I guess it has been awhile.
I have been doing this a lot.

We did have a few unseasonably warm days and then bam! Thirty-one this morning at seven am. Now, I do not have a problem living in sunny Mexico and being cold...........for awhile. I love the grey skies of the Northwest and the misty rain and the crunchy snow and I love a good fire in the fireplace. The fireplace above is in the master bedroom-to-be.

Almost two weeks ago we drove north to clear out the storage unit. I promise you, we did do it.

The night before we left I was watering in the dark. I took the same path I have been taking, day or night, for almost a month. There was something new on that pathway, a huge rebar column. I hit it with both legs, did a tumble and took the column with me. So, I had some nasty injuries that I am not going to bore you with.

I was furious because the security light over the stable did not come on and I was sure Umberto had put the column there just that day. Senor was sheepish and a little pale when he looked me over. He swore the column had been there for a few weeks. Short of an argument over that, I demanded all the rebar in the yard be move ASAP and put against the fence and far away from me.

Senor said we should cancel the trip. I thought as long as I had no feeling in my legs that it would be a good time to go ahead and go. We agreed since our medical insurance is here in Mexico, we would go quickly.

Tucson was cold and stormy. Wind, rain, snow. It was beautiful. I sat in the hotel room for much of the time or in the car as I followed Senor around on his errands.

One reason we have been stuck with this unit so long (aside from the couch and love seat we recently bought) is the old flint lock muzzle loaders we have. In Senor's family for over one hundred and fifty years, we have had problems figuring out what to do with them. Bringing them across the border was not an option.

Finely, prior to this trip Senor made a wood box here at home and it did look like we were running guns or carrying a body as we transported it north, but UPS finally agreed to ship them to Ian for us. Even after we paid and the clerk put them on the conveyor belt she commented that she probably should not be doing it. Good grief...................said Senor......they are just old antiques. Nonetheless, she did not like accepting them and tried to tell us we really needed to go through a gun dealer. Still, they went on the belt and have already arrived safely in Seattle, without causing any emergency firearm or device problems.

This is the real deal. Rifles are boxed and ready to go to UPS. Love seat and couch are in the truck.

We are going to take our lock and split the scene.

Up and back in three days.

I rested for quite a few days, did very little around the house and felt like the shins and legs were recovering. But on Saturday, I woke to tomato red shins and we grabbed the medical booklets and headed to the IMSS clinic. It was closed.

I had a tetanus three years ago and was not worried about that, but the redness and sharp pings were really a concern. Senor dropped me at the Farmacia. Fernando took one look at my legs, told me to come behind the counter and sit down. He proceeded to mix concoctions and stinky smelling things.

When Senor came inside, he and Fernando began discussing my condition. They talked as if I was not there. He told Senor when and how I should use the medicine he was mixing.

Senor thought I needed an antibiotic and Fernando agreed. He got out more smelly things and suddenly a long shot needle. I just about lost control, and Senor's eyes were pretty wide by then as well.

Just as I was ready to pass out because I could not imagine him poking me with that, he took it out of the vial from which he had collected the antibiotic and shot it into a small container that he then mixed with more smelly stuff.

I relaxed and he said......you are lucky the clinic is closed.......................i can fix this.

So, I have all kinds of things to put on my wounds. Cookies is attracted to the smells so I have to keep my legs covered whnever he is around. The redness has calmed down, there is less pain and swelling and we will just hope end of that story. Time will tell, I suppose.

Fernando would not take any money. He just said.................if it works you come back and pay me something.

We finally decided to open our Christmas presents. It was somewhat special to wait so long, especially since neither of us even bought a gift for each other until after Christmas.

You know how I love calacas and catrinas. The calacas are very lively skeletons depicted in etchings and lithographs done by Jose Guadelupe Posada (1852-1913). Three years ago, there was a wonderful display of his work in the Palacio.

His work captures bare bone skeletons, turning them into warm and welcoming works of folk art.

One of his most famous characters is the Catrina, the middle class female skeleton who is generally dolled up and carrying or wearing a magnificently decorated hat. You may remember the one I bought over a year ago in El Fuerte which Senor promptly knocked over and broke her arms off. She would not glue back together.

I replaced her with a new one when we were in El Fuerte for Christmas.

But, here is my Christmas present.
Isn't she marvelous? Look at all the detail someone put into her............... her braids! her ribs! her teeth!Look at what she is carrying..................it is a bird cage, filled with little ravens.

And the inricate skulls attached to her dress!!!

She is made entirely of fired clay and one of the prettiest works of clay art I have ever seen. To really understand her beauty you should remember that Mexicans portray their dead in many ways that can be difficult for us to understand. They see such a beauty in death, and they also see many other things, such as humor, honor and admiration.

I am just very excited to have her and already thinking about having Senor knock out a special niche in a wall, so we can put in a small light and display her there.

So outside the day is warming up. Umberto just came and asked me for medicine and a bandaid. I guess he dropped the metal digging pole on his foot. It does not look too bad. He will survive, but it is probably time for me to get back in bed and elevate the legs and see what the afternoon brings...................the tinkling of the wind chimes, the crowing of a rooster, the brushing of the palm fronds in the wind, the warmth of the sun as it moves higher in the sky, the clopping of a horse's hoofs as his rider winds his way up the street, the sound of children laughing in the field..........what another nice day in Alamos.

Que le vaya bien! linda lou