Well, I haven't got out of here yet...and the waves just keep on waving. By the time you read this, I really will have waved farewell to San Pancho for the summer. And summer in San Pancho has made itself felt the last few days, with some drizzle in town and a bit of actual rain out in the jungle, with temperatures and humidity creeping higher daily. My housesitters are here and ready to move in...and they prove once again that everything is all right in the end, and if it's not yet all right, it's not the end. They... Continue reading

My, how things can change in a week. With a mecca lecca hi, mecca hiney ho, several abracadabras, a twitch of the nose (and a whole bunch of practical magic, read "work"), all is transformed. I have in place terrific housesitters for the entire summer. I have two bags nearly packed, a cleanish house, myriad lists nearly all crossed off, errands run; repairs, preparations, and briefings nearly accomplished. Poof! And all that done with no electricity yesterday, as CFE is changing all the wires in town, which requires rotating power outages around the village. Our neighborhood (and many others) had... Continue reading

Things have been a little topsy-turvy around here lately. A couple of incidents led me to the idea of this particular post. The first was a change of plans precipitated by someone who is not me, which threw me for a loop for a day or so. Nothing a woman of intention and determination can't handle, of course, just a brief inversion in the order which I'm handling with help from my amazing and resourceful friends here in San Pancho. The second came about because of a situation I wrote about in my previous post, Armchair Wanderlust. It had to... Continue reading

You know that big hook they used in vaudeville to pull people off the stage? I need someone to come right away with one and pull me away from this computer. Okay, it's true I'm not cloistered in a stuffy room with only a flickering fluorescent bulb and the monitor to suggest the memory of daylight. My computer desk is the giant table on the veranda where I'm surrounded by one of the world's best views and caressed by the gentlest of sea breezes which keeps the ceiling fan and palm trees in soft motion. But I'm obsessed. I've lost... Continue reading

There are these moments in Mexico, one of which erupted at 1:17 this morning, just as I had truly and soundly fallen asleep after a very long and full day. I was awakened by a squeal, a bang, a crash, an explosion of sound that nearly lifted me from the mattress. No, it wasn't a gas truck smashing into my front gate. It was the banda, our local "musicians", appearing at 1:17 in the morning to perform for someone's birthday a half block away. You can't imagine how loud was this cacophony. They may as well have been under my... Continue reading

Last Friday, Carol and Canela and I finally made it to Sayulita's weekly market, just in time to catch the last one of the season. We lingered and wandered, visited with people we had or hadn't seen lately, and generally enjoyed the scene, which included, naturally, a belly dancer. I bought chimichurri from this friendly fellow who made the chopped herb and olive oil concoction himself. I served it Sunday night with pulled pork piled high on fresh baked rolls. I didn't buy a cigar, even though this man was rolling them by hand in the ancient time-honored manner...while his... Continue reading

I saw a good little movie the other night with Carol and Canela. It’s called The New Best Marigold Hotel. Have you seen it? Most of it takes place in India at an eccentric and ramshackle tourist hotel which especially welcomes people in their third age. It’s about change and risk and not growing old. It had some good lines in it, mostly from the young man whose dream it was to resurrect the hotel into the glorious haven it had never really been. One of my favorites was this one: Everything always turns out right in the end, and... Continue reading

Carol Lee and I decided to take a walk this morning out to the new polo fields, which are under construction around the river in the jungle just outside the village. I took my camera along as my way of taking you along. We met this guy and his little pals right on the corner of my street. This cocky fellow was playing King of the Mountain in the next lot. Around the corner came a vegetable truck, announcing its colorful wares through a loudspeaker, as usual. Just down the block, another colorful sight. In another block or so, we... Continue reading

Here at San Pancho Vida, we just had another contest. Don't feel bad if you didn't know about it. Neither did I. The idea for it came to me while I was in Los Angeles visiting my son for his birthday, which trip was a delight as always. He was kind enough to pick me up at the airport last Thursday and drive me to my hotel in West Hollywood during LA rush hour traffic. That's okay, we had time to talk. But for several days, while he worked, I was on my own and had reason to ride in... Continue reading

Semana Santa weekend ended on a calm Sunday, many of San Pancho's visitors having packed up early and skedaddled to go back to work on Monday. I spent much of the day at the beach. Jeremy brought kites from his kite shop San Pancho Aire. They took to the skies instantly, rising higher and higher, dancing in the good stiff breeze from the south. The frigate birds were fascinated and came to investigate these new colorful rivals in the sky. An imposter arrived on the scene in the guise of a pirate ship. It launched with a great deal of... Continue reading

In the States, we have Easter bunnies and Easter baskets, Easter bonnets and Easter lilies and Easter mass...or services, depending. We have Easter brunch and Easter dinner and Easter eggs. In Mexico, we have Semana Santa. Holy Week, the week before Easter (Pascua), is a big holiday in this country. Workers have time off, students are on vacation from school, and people flock to the beach. Buses and taxi vans maneuver between parked cars, backing full blocks when necessary. New vendors are in town. New booths and mini-restaurants and hot dog stands are popping up like bunnies from their holes.... Continue reading

I have had a houseful of guests lately. You know Allen and Travis and Rafi were here for their spring fling at the beach. Unfortunately, we all (except Rafi) took turns being under the weather while they were here. In between, though, we had our usual excellent visit. Rafi knows how to make himself at home at Aunt Candice's. He loved seeing my sister, his Aunt Denise, who timed her visit perfectly to overlap with her own dog's brother's visit. Oh, and she wanted to see Allen and Travis, too. Rafi fell in love with Denise and followed her all... Continue reading

They were packing the limo. Tracy had seen this happen before. It usually meant that her housemates and jailers, Trubridge and Alfonse (or something like that) were leaving her to rot in the downstairs bedroom while they took their stupid dog to a dog show in Colima or possibly Ipanema. She was so not going to let this happen again. While Alfonse was busy gathering the interminable paraphenalia that animal required, Tracy wiggled off the dresser and hid in a box of Cheerios and brown sugar that had been put there so the dog didn't eat it before it got... Continue reading

Our wonderful weeks of work culminated in the big night at entreamigos: Gracias a la Vida, the annual auction benefit. I've told you about the child artists who helped me with my own projects. Now I want to show you what we did...and what I bought. Here, in a corner of my studio, are the completed pieces. This is the Friendship Desk, created from a pine table made by volunteers Jack and Rick, painted and decorated by me and Antü Santiago Coss, age 10. The beads I added spell out phrases in English and Spanish: write to me/escribeme, thinking of... Continue reading

Last Thursday was the first night of the big event for entreamigos, which hosted a reception for the children and adults who had contributed their collaborative artwork for the subasta (auction) to raise funds for the organization. The children's parents and siblings were also invited to celebrate and see the pieces the artists had created around this year's theme: the things I am grateful for in life. The gallery of children's art opened to rave reviews as the young artists showed their work to their families. After the parents had taken a thorough tour of the art displayed throughout the... Continue reading

Whew, what a week in San Pancho! February and early March are always busy in our little pueblito and the activities of past three weeks and upcoming weekend are why. Last weekend we were treated to the San Pancho Music Festival, which, for you music lovers, is one to put on the calendar if you haven't already. It just keeps getting better. Imagine, if you will, sitting in the newly refurbished town plaza sipping an icy cold beer from a vendor or a glass of wine from the bottle you brought along. You are probably in your own chair, as... Continue reading

I received an email yesterday from someone whose name I did not recognize. It looked legitimate, though, so I opened it. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a long and lovely note from Suzanne at About.com informing me that this very blog that you are reading has been chosen as one of the five Finalists in the About.com 2013 Readers Choice Awards! You could better imagine my surprise if I told you I had no idea there was any such thing, which is unforgivable, I'm sure, under the circumstances. It turns out there is, and, according to... Continue reading

San Pancho is all a-bustle preparing for the upcoming 5th annual fundraiser for entreamigos, our thriving community center which is the heart of the pueblo. I spent yesterday afternoon working in my studio with 7-year-old Angy, who gleefully painted hearts and suns and the ocean and a moonlit sky on one of the pieces we will submit for the auction. She and I share a certain exuberance, emerging from the studio smiling and paint-spattered. "Art is my life," she says solemnly. Yeah, I get it, chica, I reply as we climb the stairs to meet her mama. This morning, I... Continue reading

...reader Jackson McGee from Alberta! Turns out he has solved the mystery of the medieval structure in last week's post! I am pleased to announce that Jackson receives the award for Best Online Researcher of Obscure Castle-like Structures in Odd Locations Involving Elephants and Sheep. We did have others vying for the award, but Jackson found the key. Here's how it happened. He found an odd little video on YouTube and sent me the link. Odd Little Video It was enough of a clue to pursue...and sure enough, using "Mina de los Elefantes" as my search, I came across these... Continue reading

Last post, I mentioned the former "ghost town" of Mineral de la Luz with promises of more. It's not that there's yet a lot of there there, to paraphrase Gertrude Stein. They have hopes: Endeavour, the Canadian mining company we ran across in the little towns near San Sebastián del Oeste, is operating in the Guanajuato area too. New homogenous signs label most of the businesses in town, few of which were open. The few residents we met, most of whom were mothers walking their children home from school, seemed flat out amazed to see us and welcomed us with... Continue reading

We're back in San Pancho after more than a month of travels and treasure hunts. We have unpacked and covered a table with goodies: objects bought, found, and gifted, some special, some useful, some entirely whimsical. Treasures being in the eyes and hearts of the beholders, we find our conversation turning many times to the small and smaller pueblitos we found on our drives, each a treasure in its own way, and to the connections we made with the people we met out in the middle of Mexico. We visited Los Reyes, Jalisco, half an hour or more from anywhere,... Continue reading

Greetings and Feliz Año Nuevo from San Miguel de Allende in the state of Guanajuato. Richard and I are staying in a lovely house out in the countryside yet a mere ten minutes from Mega. From the patio, we can see fields and mountains, spiny cacti, big fluffy trees and gnarled mesquites. A bright red bird, a Vermilion Flycatcher, visits daily. Just below the house runs a busy Kansas City Southern railroad track. Being fans of trains, we have been relishing the sound of the whistles in the distance heralding the approach of the long freight trains, which rumble past... Continue reading

I'm writing this from San Miguel de Allende, where Richard and I are spending Christmas in a country house with views over farms, mountains, and tiny pueblos. Although the days are warm and sunny, it's cold here at night, in the thirties...but we came prepared and are enjoying the nip of winter this holiday season. Sending holday wishes to all for a joyous Christmas. I'll publish reports and photos soon. ¡Feliz Navidad! xo C Continue reading

I've just returned from a marvelous trip high into the mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental to revisit San Sebastián del Oeste and explore (for the first time) the surrounding area. I was accompanied by Richard, my excellent partner in exploration. Our style of travel is the same: we are always willing to do a 180 in our itinerary if an interesting opportunity arises. Which it did...several times. The first night, sitting beside the plaza having a beer or so, we were at first dismayed at the return of a newish white pickup truck that had been parked there earlier,... Continue reading

That's a question one hears a lot in Mexico, as well one should, this being mostly a Spanish speaking country. You already know how I feel about making a serious attempt to learn the language. Without it, one misses a lot, not the least of which is the opportunity for real communication and friendship with the nationals. That said, I am a lazy learner. Often, I fall back on phrases I learned years ago instead of refining them into something beyond second-grade Spanish. I go through spurts where I'll take a class or study like crazy, after which I seem... Continue reading