Easter Decorations Are Up (or "Oh Shit! That's a Ranger Pick Up like mine!)

One thing I love about our corner of Mexico is the lack of commercialization. I think I mentioned at Christmas I saw one Santa Claus. One. At Easter we'll have several passion plays, but no bunnies,  no Peeps, nobody crying because of the paucity of eggs in their basket. Without fail, though, every Pemex in my municipality will have a wrecked car in it's lot to warn against drunk driving during Semana Santa and Semana Pascua. 

We took a field trip to Bosque Primavera, north and west of Guadalajara. In said bosque, runs the Rio Caliente.  Let's keep in mind, folks, that I haven't steeped in hot water for over a year. As I approached the river, Ev bent down to feel it and said, "man, that IS hot". Before the words were past his lips I had shimmied out of my clothing and was laying in it. One one hand, we Americans can thank President Roosevelt for founding the national parks system, for organized and maintained parks, for shiny brochures and informative internet sites. On the other hand, we expats can thank our lucky stars that places like this exist where you will not see another soul and can enjoy your soak and picnic in private. You just have to be able to find the darn place.

These long needled pine trees are what local baskets are woven out of.

Berry season is back-I'm stocking up for upcoming visitors.

 Last week we drove south with the intention of climbing Nevada Colima (shown below) so we could peer over her shoulder at her brother Volcan Colima. We were hoping to catch him burping. Once again, nothing is marked in the tour book, there is no signage on the roads and Google Maps doesn't match the reality of the roadside. Whatever. Ev was in a good mood and promised to tolerate being lost graciously AND I had meatloaf sandwiches in the cooler.

This was as close as we could get to the peak and we never glimpsed the Volcan but the sunshine was warm and the air was crisp and clean. Once again, we were all alone. It was a beautiful day.

Update: Evdad rode his motorcycle around the area yesterday. Nevada Colima is on the right and you can see Volcan Colima burping on the left. 

Isn't she a doll? She squats all day in front of the grocery store and embroiders those squares.

Vino Blanco, a resident donkey at one of the restaurants we favor for their salad bar.

I had to have a word about this with our Presidente. This is our special ed school near our home. Been painted like this since we arrived over a year ago.

  Aaron, an English student in the class I share with Margaret Larson, put together a picnic for our class on the shore of Lake Chapala as a goodbye before our two week break for Semana Santa y Semana Pascua. I was fussing in class today: Who's bringing plates, why didn't you email me and tell me what to bring, will there be enough chorizo because Ev can eat a kilo of that by himself, what do I need to stop and get? Margaret lightly put her hand on my shoulder and whispered in my ear, "Isn't this fun? It's the Mexican way to leave all the details to the end and it always works out.  Americans always want to pin down every last detail." Thank you Margarita for that gentle reminder to shut the fuck up. We had a great time and it was all perfect except I don't have one picture of Aaron. 

So many good things.

The evening of January 12, I was on my way home from the hospital after having Lasik. My phone was blowing up, but I couldn't see well enough to read what was happening. When I got home, Evdad said, "The baby is coming early."

I ran into the bedroom, packed a shitcase and was on a plane less than ten hours later. Little Everest Harvey surprised
us in the best possible way.



He went from teensy to big boy pretty darn quickly. He's a great eater and easily comforted.  Watching the love fest going on in his family has been my greatest delight.

Watching Tata with him has been pretty fun, too.




Sharing the joy with friends magnifies it in a way impossible to understand.

 We're home now. Spring happened while we were gone. English class  continued without me. The house down the street is causing a little dome envy in Casa Sewell.

We had dinner and a show last night and spent a lot of time talking about possibilities.
Thanks, friends, for being patient during the long intervals.