San Miguel de Allende & Mexico City

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Like the swallows to Capistrano, we seem to find ourselves always returning to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. For the past decade and more, it has been a happy place for us–blue skies and mild temperatures; the nicest people you can imagine; and lots to see, do. More often than not, we are joined by Mart & Bob Larson. (The picture above is of a 3D mural of the town in one of our favorite restaurants in SMA: Il Castello. Great pizza and other Italian dishes.)

For the first time longtime friends, Patrick and Lenore, joined us. Sharing San Miguel with them made it all the more fun. We three couples–Mart & Bob; Lenore & Patrick & us–first met in a cooperative preschool in Alexandria, VA, more than 40 years ago. Believe it or not, from our first reunion in SMA, it felt like we were taking up a conversation that we had just had just left off the day before.

Of course, much of what we saw and did involved eating & drinking, and we seemed to end up with a surfeit of photos of us arranged around one table or another–talking, laughing, and eating.

If we are lucky, a visit to San Miguel also means getting to hear and enjoy one of our favorite bands–Media Luna, which we have followed over the last ten years. This video features them performing Volare or Nel blu dipinto di blu.

The band is lead by the Cabrera brothers, Caleb & Jair; usually when we arrive, Caleb welcomes Sue with a smile and hug, calling her his abuelita (grandmother). Of course, being the consumate showman he his, he has a number of abuelitas, but it always lightens Sue’s heart to see and hear him once again, especially when the group plays Tears of Joy.

On one of our last evenings in town, we were invited to dine with our Spanish teacher and now good friend, Mario, and his partner, Carlos, at their apartment just outside of town. While visiting with them this time, it dawned on me that Mario has been doing his best for the last ten years to teach me Spanish.

The best that can be said is that I am now somewhat conversant, an accomplishment, but still far from fluent. The photo below is of all of us at La Jamaica, a restaurant in the neighborhood of Los Frailes, not far from their home. So much of life in SMA happens en aire libre.

This year Sue and I decided to finish up our Mexican sojourn with a week’s stay in Mexico City. If you haven’t been to Mexico City, you owe it to yourself to see and experience this world class city. With over 22 million inhabitants and nightmare inducing traffic, it can be daunting, but it is well worth the time and effort of a prolonged visit.

Of course, we are fortunate in having our friend, Carole Reedy, as our host and guide whenever we do visit the city. Even though she has shown off the city to many, many friends and visitors and hosted us any number of times, she never seems to tire of visitors or of showing off her adopted hometown.

This year she joined us for:

A three hour “turibus” of the city: a good introduction to the history and cultural highlights of Mexico City, although you can get ensnarled in the city’s legendary traffic!

A visit to the newly created “Museo Vivo de Muralismo, featuring Diego Rivera’s Story of the Mexican Revolution in murals:

(Did you notice that the model for the young woman handing out guns to the poor is Frieda Kahlo? I didn’t.)

The National Anthropology Museum:

Just outside of the Museum you can witness an amazing Voladores show by indigenous people from the state of Vera Cruz.

Mexico over the last two millennia has witnessed the florescence and decline of many extraordinary empires and city states including the Maya, the Olmec, the Aztecs, and many, many more.

The museum in its many halls and exhibitions provide a glimpse of the wonders of their arts and cultures. It would take days if not weeks to see them all. This visit we concentrated on the Teotihuacan sala and a traveling exhibition, Amazonia.

On past visits, we have often stayed with Carole, but as we were staying for a week (fish and friends smell after three days), we rented an apartment in the Roma Sur neighborhood on Cibeles Circle. Cibeles was a Roman goddess of fertility who is usually depicted in her chariot pulled by two lions. The Cibeles sculpture in our neighborhood is a replica of one in Madrid, Spain and was a 1980 gift from Spanish citizens living in Mexico.

This time of the year, Cibeles circle, like much of the city, is full of blooming Jacaranda Trees! And what a delightful area in which to stay, with its variety of shops and restaurants, yet blissfully quiet and peaceful. So peaceful, in fact, that every night we were able to sleep with our apartment windows wide open. The panoramic view from our 11th floor studio was ever changing and mesmerizing. We particularly enjoyed watching the steady traffic of planes taking off and landing at the MC International airport.

We are now back home, weary but safe and sound in Denver. How fortunate are we that we have had the time, resources, and health to experience this trip and the many others we have enjoyed over the years, but it will take us a while to rest and recuperate–as they say, “we are not as young as we used to be.”

Taking a Break from Winter

We are so happy we moved to Denver, now more than a decade ago. We had our careers in the DC area and our children were born and grew up there, but now Denver is the town that we are happy to call home. We enjoy Denver and Colorado in all seasons of the year, but the winters do seem to be long at times and you need a break.

This year, with my skiing buddy, Erin, out of the country on assignment with the State Department, the season might seem longer than usual since I most likely won’t be hitting the slopes. Below are some pictures of one of our ski trips to Copper Mountain last year, when our nephew Rob Roschy joined us. We had a great time and conditions were perfect, with a reasonable number of skiers on the slopes and lifts.

As many of you know, we have enjoyed visiting Mexico during the winter, usually contenting ourselves with stays in San Miguel de Allende and Mexico City. This year we decided to add on a 10 day beach trip. Our longtime travel buddies, Bob & Mart Larson, are always up for an adventure, so together we booked some time at very nice condo development in Sayulita, a small but bustling town on the Pacific Coast not far from Puerto Vallarta.

We were very pleased with the condo development and enjoyed our entire stay there. Our rental unit was large and quite lovely with a balcony in front overlooking the pools (one of the them thankfully heated) and a patio in the rear for breakfasts al fresco. We enjoyed some spectacular sunsets and occasional visitors (the birds on the balcony railing are chacalacas, and they have the most ear piercing of calls.) The swimmer in the pool pictured below is Sue; she always loves time in the water, and this warm pool was particularly relaxing for all of us.

We last visited Sayulita some ten years ago; since then it has done nothing but grow and expand–except for the streets–many are still unpaved and others are full of ruts and potholes, but that adds to its charm. We drove to the city in a rental car, but for the most part kept it in the garage and got around town on a rented golf cart, like most of the tourists and residents.

The town is full of tourists from the U.S. and Canada this time of year. The humidity is low with temps in the 70’s and low 80’s. We just dipped our toes into the ocean; it was still a little chilly for this wuss and some of the beaches have formidable undertows, but there were many who chose to plunge into the waves or surf.

Seafood was plentiful and good; we dined daily on freshly caught shrimp, oysters and red snapper at a number of the beachside restaurants. One day while walking along the beach, we ran into a couple of enterprising young fishermen who were happy to show off their dorados or sea bass. it must have been fun to reel them in! They claimed that they weighed five or six kilos–15 pounds?

We made a couple of short road trips up the coastal highway (Mexico 200) in search of a more tranquil scene. Our first stop was the town of Don Francisco, affectionally nicknamed Don Pancho; quite interesting, but almost as busy and tourist laden as Sayulita. The second, Lo de Marcos, about 15 miles further north of us, was much quieter, although not undiscovered. No matter the beach, there were always the vendors–men, women and children walking up and down the beach, weaving amongst the sunbathers or diners, hawking their wares. You can’t always resist–in the end, we bought a light blanket, a small carving, and some other trinkets.

In Lo de Marcos, we were treated to this aerial display.

Our most frequent activity wherever we found ourselves was sitting at a beach side restaurant, sipping margaritas or Micheladas (beer & Clamato juice, over ice–you have to try it to appreciate it), and talking and laughing with Bob & Mart. After some forty years, we share a lot of wonderful memories, and it’s always a lot of fun to reflect and reminisce.

It’s good to get away. At home we sit in front of the TV far too much, absorbing all the political happenings, too often getting and angry and stressed, Here, not so much, but we still catch a podcast or read an online paper, so we do know what’s happening, just not always as it’s happening.

Some of you reading this blog might not share our distress. I hope that we are wrong about the current administration, but at this moment we are afraid and fearful. I am a retired government employee; I am proud of the service I gave and appreciative of the retirement pension I receive. The people I worked with in the US government were hard working and honest, giving their best for the US citizens we served, and I know that tradition continues.

In addition, we are so very proud of Erin and her service in the U.S State Department; we pray each day that she doesn’t lose her job because some over zealous non-elected reformer thinks the State Department is wasting American dollars. We don’t think the government should be dismantled. It certainly can be reformed, but there are procedures and laws to be followed and obeyed. Congress seems to have given up its control over the purse and spending.

Let us pray for calm and order; where is conversation and the exchange of ideas–and as my Granny might have said, let us not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Our democracy is too important to lose.

Winter

Monday, January 20, Inaugural Day, was a cold winter’s day in Denver…and for our country an even colder and bleaker winter’s day.

As any of you who know Sue and me, we are dyed in the wool Democrats who were very disappointed in the outcome of the November election. America elected Donald Trump and returned him to the White House; it wasn’t a mandate, but it was decisive.

We had hoped that, despite the often divisive language in the campaign, that we would all be invited to work together to move this country forward in peace and prosperity, building an inclusive and more equitable future.

But we don’t feel invited or wanted. We hear no outreach or inclusion. The Episcopal Bishop of Washington speaks for us: “Have mercy on those who feel afraid.” All the immigrants who care for the young, old and sick or who cultivate and harvest our food or build and repair our homes and roads. All LGBT people. All people who believe that we can and should find a way to power our homes and cars, without destroying our natural world. Where is the outstretched hand for support and comfort? Is there room in America today of us? I despair but continue to hope.

As John Lennon said, “it’s time to love each other right now.”

Peace and love!

Advent or getting ready for Christmas

I have always enjoyed the time leading up to Christmas. I like to see all of the decorations and lights of the season. Denver is an especially beautiful city on a winter’s eve which makes us even happier that we decided to move here a decade ago.

As a child I can remember poring over the Spiegel catalog for hours, sometimes with my siblings, but often on my own, looking at the toys and clothes being offered and marking the pages to show my parents exactly what Santa should bring, since the Spiegel catalog was what Santa used to let children and their parents know exactly what was available.

Christmas must have been very stressful for my folks, since they had very little money to spend on the holiday–thus the Spiegel catalog. I found out much later that they could buy things on credit, long before the ubiquity of credit cards we know today, and then make monthly payments.

It takes us days to decorate the apartment and trim the tree–not because we have that much to put up, but because we need to take lots of breaks to finish the task. We especially like the homemade ornaments that Bryn, Erin, and, more recently,Charlie have made as well as those that friends and family have crocheted, sewn, knitted, drawn, carved, and molded and gifted us through the years.

I used to be a snob about having a real tree; and when the children were little I insisted we search out a live tree and lug it home. Then invariably, we kept it up until all of the needles began to fall off, creating a cleaning disaster. Now I am quite content to pull out the artificial tree, complete with its own lights, from its box. This year I discovered that some of the lights weren’t working. Fortunately, a quick run to the Ace Hardware around the block remedied that.

I am also very partial to the nacimientos we have collected over the years.

Of course the best part of any season is the time we get to spend with our family, and especially Charlie, who is growing up all too fast. On most Tuesdays, we pick him up (more often than not with his bestie Dylan). Recently, with the arrival of winter, the city has re-opened the downtown ice rink just a couple of blocks from us.

The boys love the opportunity to race around the rink. Sue and I just enjoy watching them and how much they revel in being with one another. A couple of weeks ago, the rink was open with only a few other skaters, and the weather was so mild that the guys skated in short sleeves.

Charlie and Dylan skating; what they lack in form, they make up with energy, enjoyment and bravado.

Being with the boys, helps us focus on the important things in life rather than our crazy political mess. How lucky can we be.

Hope your holiday season is filled with love and good times!

Happy Thanksgiving

We have so much for which to be thankful–family, health, and quality of life. We are learning to live with the results of the past election and working hard to move on and focus on the “things we can change and to know the things we can’t.” But it’s hard with every news source telling us what’s happening in the transition and what’s going to happen in the new administration. It’s not what we voted for, nor what we think should be happening, but there is nothing we can do, but work on our equilibrium.

Bryn and Joel invited us to their home for Thanksgiving; Joel loves to cook, and the feast was delicious and ample. It is strange not to be responsible for the Thanksgiving feast, nor determining the menu, but it is quite nice to show up, be fed and entertained, and then return home, leaving our hosts to deal with the leftovers and the mess. For that we can be truly thankful.

Winter is definitely settling in for us; the sun sets earlier each day–yesterday, I heard the TV weatherperson say sunset was at 4:39pm. By 5:15 it is completely dark. One pre-Christmas treat here in Denver is the nightly drone show at 7:00pm. Our balcony window offers a ringside seat for viewing the show. It only lasts about 12 minutes, but is fun and very entertaining. Trying to figure out what tableau is coming together as we watch is a big part of the fun.

Winter, more than any other season, makes me think of curling up with a good book. Unfortunately, I don’t seem to be able to read as readily as I once did. As a teenager and young adult, I could and often would read for hours at a time and never wanted to be without a book by my bedside. These days I am much more likely to listen to a book, most of which I borrow from the Denver Public Library, and listen to on my daily walks.

I am currently on a binge listening to a, new to me, series by Daniel Silva featuring his protagonist, Gabriel Allon, an art restorer and Israeli spy. Each book has been suspenseful and entertaining. The narrators, and there have been several, bring the books alive with their repertoire of voices and accents, making the book seem like a stage presentation. I started with A Death in Cornwall, which is the 24th in the series. I haven’t been able to read or listen the books in order, but the author puts the characters and previous actions in an historical context. I recommend giving them a try!

Hope your Thanksgiving was a lovely as ours!

Unexpected pleasures

The day before the election, we received a call from Erin in Cuba–seems that Hurricane Rafael was bearing down upon the island, and the US Embassy decided to evacuate much of the non-essential staff. Fortunately she and John came under that classification, and they arrived in DC on November 5th. We immediately made plans to meet them.

John and Bonnie are always willing to put us up, so we arranged to fly into Dulles on Sunday, November 10th, where we rented a car and drove to the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Being on the Chesapeake Bay, you have to order crab, and the Primo Crab Cake at Fisherman’s Inn was great, as was being with much of Sue’s extended family.

The following day, Veteran’s Day, some of us met up with Erin and John at the Inn and Perry Cabin in St. Michael, a lovely setting, although we were somewhat disappointed with their kitchen.

Picture above: Larry, Sue, Erin, John, Hannah, John & Bonnie.

John & Bonnie’s farm, Anchor Rest, is a lovely setting in late autumn, but we enjoy visiting them in all seasons, and they always greet us with open arms and generous hospitality. This visit was no exception. Throughout are three days with them, we commiserated about the election and shared our concerns for the future of our country. We can only hope our fears are unfounded.

After a few days at the Farm, we moved onto Northern Virginia for a quick visit with a number of friends. First, it was lunch with Barby & Howard in Arlington; I worked with Barby at the Library of Congress during the 1980s, and we have stayed friends since then.

Then it was on to our long-time friend, Angie Godfrey, for an overnight visit at her apartment in the West End of Alexandria. We first met Angie when our kids were in the same pre-school, more than 40 years ago. Angie, and the entire Godfrey family, have been the dearest of friends to our entire family.

On Thursday, after our overnight visit with Angie, we met another set of Library of Congress friends at the Carlyle Cafe in Shirlington–Tori Hill, Cheryl Adams and Kathy Woodrell. Unfortunately, no phots, but fun was had by all. The cafe proved a great place for conversation and laughter, accompanied by delicious entrees from the restaurant’s menu. Three hours literally flew by.

After lunch, we joined John & Erin in the Dupont area of the District, where we had more time to catch up with them and hear about their stay in Cuba, where they have been since last July. Cuba is a beautiful island, and the people are welcoming and kind, but the economic situation is very dire, with food & energy shortages (thus the need for them to evacuate). They think they will be going back by the first of December, but not sure how much longer they will be staying, once the Trump administration takes charge. We will see.

Friday, while Erin went into the State Department for work and John was taking care of personal business, we met Belinda Acre, another longtime friend for lunch, followed by a delightful couple of hours at the National Gallery of Art. While there, we were able to take in their new exhibition, Paris in 1874, which features 150 French paintings from that year which saw the emergence of the Impressionists. You can easily see the show in an hour, but it does give the visitor a good introduction to that incredible period in the history of art. It was great fun to share the experience with Belinda.

Our all too short visit with Erin and John ended with a get together with Angie and her daughter and son-in-law, Sarah and Harold, at Matt & Tony’s, a new restaurant in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria. Again another wonderful opportunity to catch up, laugh and talk. It really was a wonderful culmination to a wonderful week of reminiscences and old friends, made all the better by being able to spend some time with Erin & John, whom we have missed these last several months.

Photo: Erin, John, Angie, Larry, Sue, Sarah & Harold

Sue’s 80th Birthday Celebration

This past Wednesday, October the 2nd, was Sue’s 80th birthday. Bryn wanted to plan a nice party for her Mama–boy howdy, did she. We all gathered at the nearby Holy Moley Restaurant to eat, drink, and play putt-putt.

Among others the party included our good longtime friends, Bob & Mart Larson; Charlie & his best friend, Dylan; me & Sue; new friends Ping, Emma & Reid Hawk, and Joel and Bryn. We have to be real and say the food was just so and so, but everyone enjoyed the opportunity to play miniature golf. Some of us were more successful than others.

People were asked not to bring presents, but as often happens, some ignored Sue’s request–the Hawk family presented Sue with a beautiful White Jade Disk, symbolizing their wishes for happiness, love and a long life. Joel & Bryn gave her a Native American clay pot–both items are now on display in our home.

The final act featured a magic show by our friend Scott Haney that had everyone, children and adults alike, mesmerized and confounded. It was Scott’s first public performance, but we don’t think it will be the last.

We first met Scott when he waited on us at our favorite breakfast place, The Corner Office, which is just next door to our condo building. On Wednesdays, we habitually go there for breakfast, usually with Ping & Reid. Over these last three years Scott has been studying magic and trying out his tricks on us. We are so impressed with Scott’s skill,s Sue invited him to entertain all of us at her Birthday Party–it was a great idea!

Thanks Brynie for bringing us all together–it was a great party full of fun and love.

Fish hatcheries and spawning salmon

Have you ever visited a fish hatchery? If you haven’t, you should.

Here in the western part of the country, you often see information signs along the highways directing you to a nearby fish hatchery. A few years ago, when Sue and I were visiting Yosemite National Park in California, we took a detour to a fish hatchery. It was a lovely day and we had time on our hands, as we didn’t really enjoy our visit to Yosemite and didn’t want to spend another day there, dealing with the large crowds attracted to the area. So we decided to take a couple of hours to visit the hatchery. What an interesting surprise, and since then we have visited a number of others.

On our last day in Seattle, Steve and Jennifer offered to show us the locks at Lake Washington and then a fish hatchery. The locks connect Lake Washington to Puget Sound and when they were constructed, fish ladders were part of the project–to enable spawning salmon to make their way back to the stream where they were first hatched. It seems that salmon spend the first part of their life in a fresh water stream or river and then swim to the ocean where they spend three or four years feeding and growing–sometimes reaching three or more feet in length.

Then some instinct tells them to return to their spawning grounds, but many of the rivers have been damned to generate electricity and control flooding and water distribution. These dams do however present a problem to the returning salmon, but the ladders facilitate, at least in part, the salmon on their return visit.

Both at the locks and at the fish hatcher, we saw an incredible number of salmon fighting with others of their species to make their way back to the spawning grounds. Each year many tourists and local residents visit the locks and the hatcheries to witness this struggle. It was a fascinating way to spend a couple of hours, and in truth, a once in a lifetime opportunity that we thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks again Jennifer & Steve for the outing and for hosting everyone on a wonderful Pacific Northwest adventure.

Victoria, British Columbia

After our visit to the Olympic Peninsula, we caught a ferry for a short ride to Victoria, British Columbia. The city has the most temperate climate of any city in Canada and is a treat for eye and palate. The Butchart Gardens, just outside of town, is a must see sight, and we spent our first afternoon on Vancouver Island rambling around the garden. The entire town of Victoria, though, seems to be in bloom, including around our hotel and the Provincial Capital grounds.

On our second day, we treated ourselves to a carriage ride around Old Town and a great meal at Finn’s Restaurant, a local favorite where we sampled local oysters and Dungeness crab. Unfortunately, two days are not enough, but there was more to see and do back in Seattle, so back we went.

What a delightful place!