Bueno!

I miss blogging, it is not easy to connect to the internet here…..you guessed that.

First I apologize for my bad grammar last entry,
Nostros nuevo casa, should have been Nostra casa nuevo.
Thanks Paul.

So much has happened, I don’t know where to start.

Ariel and Monaco, with little Angel, were here for a few days at Thanksgiving, we had carne asada, as we have no oven for a turkey. Ariel brought a pumpkin pie and real whipped cream so we felt very fortunate.

We went up to Laguna la Maria for the day to see the volcano. It never creases to amaze me that we can get so close. When we first came to Cuyutlan we camped for a while at Laguna la Maria and we would drive up toward the volcun and sit outside the truck in lawn chairs and watch the occasional lave flow down, it was like firworks when it hit a rock.

It is hard to see but can you make out the volcun?

The lake is beautiful and the caldron of another ancient volcano, the air is very fresh and it is so peaceful there.

From December 1 to the 12th are the Dias de Guadalupe. Wow, fireworks at dawn everyday (5:30 AM), parades and dancing every night in the street in front of the church. A live band played, “La Guadalupana” over and over. This is a photo a friend took of our virgen that hangs on the outside of our building next to the door, thanks Susan. She has lights that flash and looks great at night!



The last night is the best though, with young men where bamboo bulls on there back made of fireworks, they run through the crowd, showering fire and sparks! Everyone screams and runs but goes right back for more. The highlight of the night is the Castillo, a huge tower of bamboo that supports many fireworks. This is constructed in the building next to the back of the church. Willie and I were just walking to the beach and saw they were making the pieces a few days before. Que bonita!

After this is set up in front of the church, one of the fuses is lit, circles of color and sparks fly from a wheel, rockets shoot upward and the crowd goes wild. For the finale, the posters of the virgin of Guadalupa, spin around and rockets shoot them off, we think they landed on the Hotel Morelos. An amazing site!!

Hopefully our photos of the castillo came out and I will try and post them soon.

Nostros nuveo casa

in the land of the coconut.

Our new home is actually our tent in the yard while we have the casita worked on.

We had a new floor poured in the casita to bring it up to the door, too funky to step down into the bedroom. The red is a final skim coat with white cement and the color, it has dried to a deep terra cotta, I love it. We will be in the tent awhile though as it needs to cure, have sealer put on and we are going to paint all the walls. We are also having the screens replaced and shutters made. It is quite lovely sleeping in the tent under the palms and stars.

The crew did an awesome job and now we are like everyone else in the village with a pile of sand and a pile of gravel outside out front door.


Our lovely young neighbors came over while they waited for their dad, he takes care of our place when we are not here and we gave him our old refridgerator,

we were surprised to see him load it in a wheelbarrow and take it accross the street!

As sweat is pouring off me here in the local internet, I will say adios and write soon. I want to show you some of the wonderful wildflowers that are blooming everywhere, as this is the end of the rainy season, on the next post.

Beth's cool drawings

of Emily and her Pop Pop.

We think they are so adorable that we want her to do more and make a children's book with them.

What do you think?

Our wisteria continues to delight

with its vibrant yellow leaves. I thought I could never love it more than in the spring with the lovely purple cascades of flowers but I find it is delightful every season.

The apples trees are also giving us their last beauty for the season, the ground looks like gold. And it is gold, I have been raking them up and putting them on the garden, they make great mulch and a good organic additive for the soil.

The plum tree is all aglow too.

Happy fall.

Now I have hope again,

and now I can go to bed.

Sweet dreams America

happy halloween

I bought this mask in the airport in Puerto Vallarta about 25 years ago. I have been having fun with it ever since. Just before dark the local kids trick or treated downtown, we walked downtown, sat on a bench and watched all the clever ghosts and goblins (and princesses and spidermen), go by. I had the mask on the whole time and I wish I had been able to record their faces as they saw me, adults kind of smiled but kids did a double take, it was fun. Some of the kids thought we were giving out candy and when they said, trick or treat, we said trick.

right on!

Thanks Susan, I laughed till I cried.

beads, beads, beads

We had a great outing yesterday, a bead sale at a friend's. Not just any bead sale, John's father spent the last 30 years of his life buying, selling and trading rare and interesting beads.

These were the oldest, from Persia, ( now Iran). Some of these are from the 800 AD. These were not for sale.

These were the crystal beads, too bad I could not get how they sparkled on my camera.

I thought this necklace especially lovely. Hand carved glass beads and the small red beds with the blue lapis was a great combination - and very patriotic in this election time!

These are very old venetian beads. John pointed, notice the bead on the top, it must have been worn on a string many, many years to have worn away like that, he said. These are called Chevrons.

They were arranged by color and kind. These are the black and white.

This was my take home favorite from the sale, a Euro Padre stand of beads. I loved the color.

These beads are from the middle to late 1800's. They are Chinese glass beads that the Padres (Father's of the church) brought to the new world to trade with the Indians. See even then people were buying Chinese goods!

I bought a few of these too. These are the Chevrons. The old ones are from Venice, Italy and quite expensive. Mine are copies from - where else - China.

From Wikipedia -

Chevron beads are special glass beads, the first specimens of this type were created by glass bead makers in Venice and Murano, Italy, towards the end of the 15th century. They may also be referred to as Rosetta, or star beads. The term rosetta first appeared in the inventory of the Barovier Glass works in Murano, in 1496, in context with beads as well as with other glass objects.
Venetian chevron beads are drawn beads, made from glass canes which are created in specifically constructed star moulds. The first chevron beads were made towards the end of the 15th century, consisting of 7 layers of alternating colours. They usually have 6 facets. Unlike their later counterparts they were not always made with the standard 12-point star mould. By the beginning of the 20th century, 4 and 6-layer chevron beads appear on various sample cards. According to records kept at the Societa Veneziana Conterie of Murano, they stopped making chevron canes during the 1950s. Chevron beads are still being made in Venice today, albeit in very small quantities only.

This one is an old Venetian Chevron Bead.

These are first Chevron copies made in India.

These are the Chevron beads made in China.

From the end you can see that the Chinese Chevron is not nearly as perfect as the Venetian. But I enjoy them just the same.

These are just simply awesome beads.

My first real foray into the world of beads. Beads have been found that are over 80,000 years old. People have been into beads for a very long time, what a great thread of humanity.

How Racism Works...

What if John McCain were a former president of the Harvard Law Review?
What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain had only married once and Obama was a divorcee?
What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?

What if McCain were still married to the first woman he said 'I do' to?
What if Obama were the candidate who left his first wife after she no longer measured up to his standards?

What if Michelle Obama were a wife who not only became addicted to pain killers, but acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?
What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama were a member of the Keating-5? (Five US senators accused of corruption in 1989 igniting a major political scandal as part of the savings and loan scandal in the late 1980's and early 1990's)

What if Obama couldn't read from a teleprompter.
What if McCain were a charismatic,eloquent speaker?

What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes?
What if Obama was the one who was known to publicly display a serious anger management problem?

What if Michele Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?

What if things were switched around?
Would the country's collective point of view be different?

What if Obama had 6 houses and McCain 1?

What if the Obama had paraded five children across the stage following the debate including a 3 month old infant and an uwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

Could racism be the culprit??? [This most certainly must be a rhetorical question!]

If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.

You are The Boss... which team would you hire?With America facing historic debt, two wars, stumbling health care, a weakened dollar, all-time high prison population, mortgage crises, bank foreclosures, etc.

Educational Background:
Obama: Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations. Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude
Biden: University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science. Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)
McCain: United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899
Palin: Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study University of Idaho - 2 semesters - Journalism Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

Education isn't everything, but this is about the two highest offices in the land as well as our standing in the world. Now, which team are you going to hire ?

I just mailed my ballot in today, I'm for the kids from Harvard.

yuck is right

I didn't watch the debates, I know who I am going to vote for, the democrats.

I am shocked that anyone would vote for the republican party. Look at how bad things have become in the last 8 years for this country, for the environment, the economy, an impossible and expensive war, do I need to go on?

So here's the thing - how could anyone, except someone heavily vested in Haliburton Stock, vote republican?


Look at this guy with his tongue hanging out - yuck is right

kinetic kraziness

Willie and I went up to Port Townsend for the 26th Annual Kinetic Sculpture Race. It had been a favorite of ours when we lived there and William's college, Harvey Mudd, wrote and asked if as alum he wanted to come and judge for the race. What fun, Emily was a judge too.

The theme of the race this year was "Party, Party", with the coming elections in mind. Each sculpture had a party and a candidate and they each had an opportunity to stump for their candidate. My favorite was the Koctail Party, with my friend, "Jack Daniels". Running for president on their ticket was "Wild Turkey"..... The Chicken Party promised to cut taxes on all beef products.

Some sculptures were small, like this Gossamer Slug entry.

Others were large and took several people to pedal. The whole thing about kinetic races is that everything is human powered. They must be able to follow a race kourse, go through the water and later the mud....
The Magic Bus negotiated the water really well. It was an awesome sculpture built by the Port Townsend Parent Teacher Association! They were the Peace Party.


The Blues Mobile didn't look like it was going to make it.


Yea, someone finally towed them!

Next came the mud bog, where we were giving the Mudd Excellence Award.

Like the water, some sculptures needed a lot of help through the mud.

Some just powered through.

The Kinetic Kween, Bubblelisous, on the right, goes in the mud to help her man on the I Scream for Ice Cream sculpture.

We liked the Magic Bus, Stop War, right on!

Thanks to Karen (ruffle skirt, tie dye leggings, sunglasses) for getting the Mudd Alumni together! See you next year!

A change in the weather.

I took one last photo of my sunflowers, cut a bunch to take into the house and put the umbrella over them last night. I expected to find them dead in the morning but most of them weathered the first freeze pretty well.

Of course even covered, the squash, tomatoes, basil and peppers were hard hit. The zinnas are gone and I am glad I got one last photo of them too.

I guess the seasons are good lessons in letting go. The silver lining of fall is that it is time to get ready to head south. Where the palm trees never freeze...