Even Four Gears Can't Spoil a Magic Morning

Hola! What a beautiful day yesterday here in Alamos. In the morning I set off at dawn on new old bike and headed for the hills. I went out to the archway to test out the new tune job that was done on the bike the previous day. Getting a tune up meant I should be able to get up two hills and out to the archway, in high gear and no time flat.
WRONG.

I still only have four gears and they are all for long hauling, nothing at all for a hill. In fact I had to get off new old bike and foot it several times. I really hate to give up on the bike repair shop, but I think I will look for someone else to fix these gears. By the time I got home I could not even adjust any gears on the right handle.

Complaining is not really what this is about. Most of the Mexicanos do not have any bike gears. I would just really like to pay for a bike tune up and get a bike tune up. I know it is the bike repairman's nature to please and I think he can't fix the gears and does not have the heart to tell me so.

But the morning was almost magical, quiet, secretive. Because I was out and on the move so early, the yellow light filled the sky and it followed me out to the arches where I caught this great view of Mt Cacharamba. I was mezmerized by the color of the forests in the foreground and those just over the crest of some small hills. On my ride back home, the magic intensified as the light was coming on in a different way. Finally the sun had risen in the east and the reflecting light on the montanas to the west was just as brilliant, almost a profusion of chartreuse.
You can see how the deciduous tropical forest has come to life just in these two weeks of rain and it is filled with color.And then, even another lighting change as I rode down into the historic district where the sun had not hit yet in the streets, but the top of the Mirador hillside was beginning to glisten. On Calle Commercio, near the old Black Cat Market, the green parrots came roaring down the street, almost at head level. I could hear their chatter before I saw them and their striking green wings flashed in the sunlight. They swished back up the street and left as quickly as they had come. A bright yellow and black warbler hid on a fig tree branch and watched. A fat green Sonoran frog sat on a doorstep and as soon as I raised my camera to take his photo he hopped under the door and into a place I could not see.

The rain has brought on not only the green tropical forest in the mountains, and scurrying traveling guests, it has caused the jasmine to flower and fill the air with an overwhelmingly wonderful sweetness and it has made the lime and naranjita trees burst with tiny white flowers that emit their fruity scents in the early morning and late evenings. The breeze is steady and the smells drift along from hidden garden to street and back into hiding again. The scents yesterday morning were as notable as the light and on Calle Obregon I rode up and down twice because it smelled so wonderful.

It is a great time of movement, forests going brown to green, creatures in transit, floral scents beckoning from secret places, drifting on the wind, morning skies filled with a light that changes from yellow to pink to chartreuse, afternoon clouds that billow huge white mushrooms only to darken like night just as quickly. A lot of movement, changes and all very magical, of course.

I may only have four gears but they sure got me right where I needed to be yesterday, right smack in the middle of another magical morning in Alamos.

Pancho Villa is Alive and Free and He Rides Again

Buenas tardes. It is a muggy hot one.

The sunrise was beautiful this morning and a slight breeze was coming in.

I almost did not get up for my walk. I took the photo and laid back down for a few minutes, just long enough to remember my dream from last night. A friend and I were riding horses in the arroyo. A storm hit and the water came rushing down the arroyo. But we were very lucky because our horses were special horses. They could fly, so naturally they flew us out of the arroyo and up to the top of Mt. Alamos.

Okay, so I got out of bed wondering where that came from and set out on my walk around five am, but by the time I got down into the centro district I actually started jogging to get out. There is very little wind down there and mornings are getting so humid even at that early hour. I have to continue getting up as early as I can to get in a walk, just need to change my direction back out to the soccer field where the wind is. When I got back home I walked by the mesquite tree and smelled something very faint and sweet. Look what I discovered, hidden among all the bromeliads and asparagus ferns.

The sweet little lily is behind the stacked rocks in the photo below. It reminded me so much of finding the first spring trillium in the woods back in the Northwest. Such a nice surprise.

Off to the side of the fake kitchen is a bathroom. There is a shower stall that only gets cleaned out when KD and Ian are coming so they can use the shower. I tend to store stuff in there and forget about it. I was in the shower stall this morning and smelled a very unpleasant odor, not faint or sweet like the lily. Upon investigation I found a bag of bottles I had picked up in the street about two months ago.

I had not realized there was garbage with the bottles. So I took out the bottles and threw away the garbage. Made in Mexico, these are bottled drinks made of vodka and citrus. I have not had one, it doesn't really sound tasty to me, but the bottles are beautiful. Deep, cobalt blue.

I have never had to scrub so hard to get labels off a bottle, but it was well worth it. I am now on a Skyy bottle hunt because I would like to see how the glass would turn out after being fired in the kiln. For now, these four help make a pretty table setting.

Senor has a new old bottle, too.

Soneone rang the bell this morning and Senor went to answer. I will translate into English for you the following conversation:

At the gate, Senor found four little ninos about seven or eight selling antiquities.......................very old, they said................what is it, asked senor.......this bottle belonged to pancho villa, they said.......................really, said senor...............really, said the ninos...............

.................and we have the chain that he was tied up in, too, they said.................. Two of them held up what looked like an old bike chain that had a broken link in it......................this is how strong pancho villa is, they said, he broke this chain in two pieces and then he escaped from jail and rode his horse into the hills where he is right now....................really, said senor....................really, said the ninos..................well, i will take his bottle, said senor, but not his chain, that looks too expensive.................

Fifteen pesos later, Senor gave me the story and the bottle. Where else in the world could a person buy a real bottle used by Pancho Villa for fifteen pesos. What a wonderful little town. What a wonderful life.

I am listening to thunder. And this is what is rolling in across the sky. Wait, someone is honking their horn non stop outside in the street. I will be right back.

The asparagus man came by. Today he is too expensive. Forty pesos for a bunch of asparagus. Good grief, I would buy a real antique bottle that belonged to Pancho Villa for forty pesos before I will pay that for a single bunch of asparagus.

Okay, I have to get ready to go out. Senor is playing bridge and when he returns we are going to a friend's for dinner. I think the wind, rain, thunder, and lightning are going to follow us over there and back. We will have to cross the arroyo.

Through the pouring rain, I will be looking for Pancho Villa, riding his black stallion across the arroyo. The wind will ruffle his silver studded cape behind him and the raindrops will glisten on his heavy mustache. In the flash of lightning I can see he is draped in a broken rusted bicycle chain. With one hand he holds tight to the reins as the water swirls around the stallion's hooves and in the other hand, he is carrying a little bottle. As we drive by him, he will throw the bottle to me and I will quickly catch it in one hand. Que le vaya bien!.............he will yell as he heads for the hills.

Wow, where else but Mexico can you get that?

Three More Inches make Nine Total

Hola, Buen dia to a lovely sunny and bright morning here in Alamos. Everything smells fresh and clean except the fake kitchen where Senor fixed himself a sauerkraut hot dog 2 days ago.

The mountains are already greening up a little and both the Chalaton and Escondido arroyos are running.

I went at daybreak this morning because I knew at least one arroyo was running and I wanted to get photos. I found two running arroyos, both the Chalaton and Escondido, but the largest, the de la Aduana which runs on the norther side of the shops across from the Alameda, was dry.

Yesterday's storm began in the afternoon and by 6, our power was out and the bedroom was flooded. Rain continued to pour in under the door. We were due at 6:30pm at an Americano 4th of July celebration and we decided we did not want to miss it. So we threw down as many towels as we could, made sure we had the lantern accessible for our return in the dark, locked the cat in and ran for the car. The rain was blowing sideways, we could see the arroyo running, and we knew many of the party guests would not be able to cross. About a dozen of us celebrated, and we feasted on a typical July 4th meal of hot dogs, potato salad, cole slaw, and ambrosia salad, along with slow cooked pulled pork and guacamole and chips. We stayed nice and dry under the hostess's enormous portal as we watched the rain pour.

Back home, as I held an umbrella with one hand, over Senor's head, and a flashlight with the other, he fumbled with inserting wet keys into wet locks and click! the power came on.

Inside the bedroom we discovered the towels had done a fairly decent job and while they were sopping wet, the furniture was pretty dry.

Yesterday, Umberto and Senor spent the entire morning impermeabling, waterproofing, the roof again. Upon a thorough investigation, it looked like it did dry in time and there were no leaks in the laundry room and only a couple in the entire West Wing. So we will just continue with the permeabling. Yesterday's storm gave us another 3 inches. That is a total of 9 inches since Friday night. That is really amazing. I am glad to see that there is not much damage around town, other than lots and lots of dirt, much of which is in front of the Palacio, after having washed down from the Volantin Barrio. Fortunately, all the homes up there are good and solid and dirt is all we expect to ever see.

Umberto dropped a note by for us this morning saying he could not work today because all of his roofs are leaking and he did not get any sleep because his wife kept him up all night. Then we could not understand the rest, either he is going to repair his goteos, leaks, or he is going to sleep all day.

Senor is out working on extending the copper tubing from the propane tank to the area of the casa where it will eventually go over the roof and to the oven. That means he is using a blow torch.............

I am on my way to pay the water bill which is around $7 USD since we got very little water last month. Then I will go to the IMSS clinic. I have learned that here in Mexico, you do not get your blood pressure medication for any extended period of time. You get it for a month and then you have to see the doctor in order to get more. So I have an appointment at 9.

After that I will return home and begin a cleaning and drying out process. All the towels are laying out in the sun, getting nice and dry and warm. I will not be washing them, there is no point, they will just all go back down on the floor when the next rain comes. Senor says that will not be today. But when I was out on new old bike this morning, every Mexicano I talked with said the rain would come again this afternoon, I asked them.......what time? Justino said 4pm, Maria said 5. Antonio said 4pm and Chuyita said 5. Trini, or Candy Joe, as he is known, said 5 and Chayo, who speakes English, said 6:15. I wanted to ask all of them to be more specific and give me seconds in addition to the minutes, but Chayo laughed and said......what! are you having a contest or something!

I will leave you with a couple of videos. Que tengas buen dia! linda lou

Good Sweet Rain

Buenas Tardes. We really got the rain yesterday. Friday was nice but the rain began again yesterday and the rain gauge was at 3 1/2 this morning. The mountains were fogged over and the breeze was still good this morning and we had a steady mist.

Last night's rain told us that we are not prepared for monsoon season. During yesterday's morning rain, I forgot to get out the towels that we always put on the insides of the doorways of the fake kitchen and the bedroom to keep the rain from flooding those two rooms. I forgot to have an umbrella under the portal and Cookies and I were stuck out there for over an hour while everything around us flooded. I forgot to wear my flip flops and my good leather sandals became covered in mud when I stepped out from under the portal and sank into the mud. The wind blew apart our white plastic table and I had to run out in the rain to get the legs.

I forgot and left out two magazines. The roof leaked in the laundry room and water logged a lot of boxes. And the power went out. Right at dusk.

We had to search in the dark for our flashlights which were not where they were supposed to be. Had to find new batteries for the two lamps we have. Had to rush out into the rain and dark and over into the West Wing for candles and matches. While I tried to decide how to finish dinner up without electricity, Senor rushed up the street to an elderly neighbor's house to make sure she was okay in the dark storm. He rushed back only to say she had her candles and flashlights blazing and was sitting nice and cozy, drinking a glass of whiskey. What is our problem, I kept thinking..............

But this morning things were fresh and lovely and the plumeria filled the air with vanilla and cinnamon. We walked up to the Chalaton Arroyo to see how much water might be flowing there.

This is how much there was................nada droplet. So as the day progresses and I see clouds billowing on the horizon and the wind picks up, I am asking myself, did I do today what I said yesterday I would do today.......................did I get more candles, did I situate the furniture so we will not trip over it as we scamble from place to place in the dark...............did I dry out last night's towels to go inside the doors tonight................did I get all the flashlights back in their right places...................did I put an umbrella out under the portal, move the white table, get all the magazines inside, get some buckets out for the laundry room...........

I will be honest. No, I did not do a thing. But, we watched a lot of soccer online today! We love this business of watching the Womens' World Cup, the U17 Boys World Cup, the Copa America, the Sunday MLS games. It's good that games are short.

There are 3 hours till sundown. I think I can get us prepared for another good sweet rain while Senor puts a nice big turkey thigh on the grill.

While Cookies and I were stranded under the portal I watched all the wildlife come out, the birds, the lizards, the frogs. Oh, they were everywhere, having a good old time in all the rain. So, below is a little video for you to see.

Now I am off to prepare in case anything happens tonight. Enjoy the video! linda lou

Rain

Buen dia!

We got our rain. The clouds burst around eight last night, with a lot of thunder, lightning and rain. This morning's gauge told us we got one quarter of an inch. That may not sound like much but when you have not had rain in over eight months, anything is good. Because it started so late in the evening we were up until almost midnight under the portal enjoying the sights and sounds and the coolness that came with it.

The lovely pendant was won by Paula M. of Fall City, Washington, who guessed the rain would come yesterday at five-thirty pm. She was pretty darn close. There were over sixty entries in the contest. Thanks to everyone who entered, either here on the blog or in one of the other venues. Maybe we will have another contest soon. I will have to think of a reason!


This afternoon the clouds are rolling back in and there is thunder. We look surrounded by dark clouds but no rain yet. In the photo below you can see the clouds are thickening to the south. You can also see something else. Here is one more photo. Do you see it?
It is the beam. After thirty days of sitting up there, curing away in its wooden form, the form has been removed. This beam is huge. Soon Umberto will begin taking down the wall beneath it and I think we will all have a better perspective on how this area will look.Senor says I better get off this computer and shut it down because he sees lightning to the north and it is starting to rain. Okie dokie. But, first, more fountains.
The one below is at the new sports complex. There are two of them actually.

These fountains which are big enough to swim in are on either side of the walkway here as you go down into the complex.

Below is the new one at the hospital. There are about six stone columns surrounding this fountain, not sure what they are for, but they are very pretty.

Okay, okay, gotta run before this hits. New old bike is sitting out there and I do not need it to get all wet and rusty and lose the three gears I have. The wind chimes are singing. The palms are leaning sideways. Cookies is meowing non stop. Senor is snoozing. Thunder is getting closer...............adios, linda lou

New Waters in Town

Hola. No water on the official day that begins the rainy season, not a single drop. To fool the palms and reassure them that yes there will be rain, I treated them all to a good drenching with the spray nozzle on the hose. They seemed real perky after that and slept well through the night.

We are still getting water in the mornings and Senor cleverly installed a couple of float valves in the eljibe, so we no longer have to turn the water on or off from the city. The valves take care of all of that for us, so no chance that 'one of us' can leave the hose on and accidentally over run the cistern and waste water.

Just to show you how lush the watered, shaded things are, here is the planting area around the mesquite. If you recall, this was thick with beautiful trailing nasturtiums from October to May. Of course, then it got too hot for them to stick around. There is now a lot of asparagus fern, little areca palms, succulents, marigolds and mothers in law tongues among other things. Most of these were in other places in the yard and because of the water shortage I tried to consolidate them into one area. The water shortage remains a mystery to many people. Four casas up the street from us there is no water coming in. The homes on the hillside leading to the mirador are still not receiving water. There are few homes on Loma Guadalupe that are not receiving water. No one has any idea what determines who has it and who doesn't. But most people would probably agree that the situation is much, much better than several months ago.

Which brings me to an observation. In the past few months three new fountains have been erected locally and they all have running water. So there are certainly funds available for fountains and city beautification. It also makes me think that the city may have been, and still is, just drastically conserving water in certain areas out of real neccessity and not because water lines were missing or pumps were stolen. Because if those scenarios had been true then surely the city would have spent funds on new pipes and pumps instead of the fountains. Okay, that makes sense to me, but maybe not in Mexico...............

I am excited about these new fountains. These fountains are absolutely gorgeous and this beautification of Alamos project, whatever it may actually be, is wonderful. Alamos is becoming more and more popular, especially with the Telenovella planning to continue filming its series here indefinitely. School is out. Summer is here, and soon, Alamos will be filled with Mexican summer tourists who all want to see the historical places where the filming has occurred. Town will look gorgeous to them because it is.


Below is the new fountain at the airport............... beautiful.

I talked to one of the workers this morning and he said the water works and will be turned on permanently next week. He also told me that he is doing three other new fountains in town, but I didn't understand where they were going to be. I don't believe he makes these stone fountains, just installs them.

Here is the new fountain at the old 'Black Cat Market'. This is right across the street from the IMSS (medical clinic).

Many years ago, the two arroyos, La Aduana and Escondido met in front of this old place. It was the commercial center of town and the mercado was here. The iron black cat sculpture is above the second story door.

The fountain below and courtyard are several kilometers outside of Alamos, but when coming in by bus or car, you would certainly see it. Built by the Municipio of Alamos, it is in a small town called Minas Nuevas.


When I was here, the workers had just turned off the water to make an adjustment. I went by there the other day and the two fountains are gushing beautiful cool water and the cottonwoods planted nearby are already offering shade to this beautiful new park. It is much greener and prettier now than in the photo.

Again, I don't know where the other fountains will be, but I would love to see the fountain in the Alameda working again. Fountains in the Plaza would be wonderful.

Okay time for me to get busy. We watched the U17 Boys World Cup soccer match on the computer yesterday, and Mexico beat Netherlands. The Cup is being played in Mexico, and this game was at the huge stadium in Monterrey. Today the U17 US team plays and we hope to pull that up on the computer as well around two or three pm. So lots to get done before that......got to feed the cat.

Que tengas buen dia!

Old Friends

Buen dia. It is a wonderful breezy day here and we are hoping for a good storm. If you entered the 'Big Rain' Contest, I can report, we have not had it. However, we had a little chipichipi, which is a light rain, on both Wednesday and Thursday, late in the evening. We may have received around fifty raindrops at our house. It is the start of something big and that is what we are waiting for. Not to minimize the chipichipi, but the contest is about the big stuff.

Today is the twenty fourth, the official day the rains begin in the state of Sonora. It is known as Dia de San Juan Bautista.
Below is a photo of last night's brilliant sunset. When the horizon starts to get cloudy, the sunsets are remarkable.

We woke to a cool and cloudy morning. I am still going out early in the mornings. Day is breaking a little later, around four forty-five and I am usually out on the road by five. There's a place I like to go. The street is heavily cobblestoned and hard on new old bike so I usually make it part of my walking route. Two old friends. One on one side of the cobbles and one on the other side. They are like bookends that have been there for over a hundred years, separated only by a narrow cobblestone street.

Looking into the front door of Number 23, I can see the old vigas, the wood beams that are still remaining, varro blanco in horizontal patterns between the rotting wood.

Old iron scroll work and ladrillos, unfired bricks, still cover and outline the open windows.

A large overgrown yard backs up to the casa where the ladrillos have caved in after years of exposure to the elements and graffiti has covered what is intact.

Across the street, the friend sits still and quiet.

On the outside wall, triangles offer small glimpses into the casa and looking inside the wood framed window, there is evidence of this being a fine casa at one time. Lovely arched doorways lead from room to room and while the vigas have since fallen or rotted, their square openings can still be seen.



It is surrounded by crumbling walls. Its jardin, or garden, is filled with tall palms and mesquite trees and flowering bouganvillea.

Back inside, a newer brick wall was erected at some time.

When I stand near each of the casas I can feel the old energy, and I have my own story. Maybe these two little casas were once part of the the large hacienda next door. I think maybe ranch casa, like ours which was once a ranch house for the old tequila factory.

Two sisters and their large families. Children playing together in the cobblestone street, chasing dogs and chickens, tossing rocks and cans. The smell of wood smoke coming from the old ladrillo asador, the cooking grill, in the back yard of twenty-three. Young girls grinding corn and chopping onions, old grandmothers, in flowered aprons, frying tortillas on a comal, the griddle. Fathers and grandfathers coming home from working on the hacienda, training horses, feeding livestock, gathering water from the main well at the alameda.

Can you see it?

I love this walk, love standing in the street beween the two casas, letting my imagination go. Alamos is old, and it is full of stories and secrets. It just opens itself to imagination.

I still have time for a little siesta and maybe a nice dream about those two casas and what it might have been like long ago.

So, que le vaya bien, linda lou