Firsts

The first sight of the sparkling blue Pacific Ocean.
The first sight of my house. Brought a lump to my throat and a tear to my eye. Yes, I am a tender little one.
The first scorpion, found in the garage. Huge. A “Bambi Meets Godzilla” scene; the Patient played the Godzilla role.
First sighting of Fernando and Chuy. Both looking splendid. They had set up the house for us. Bed made, sofa put together, furniture all arranged. After all these years they know where everything belongs.
The first Indio of the season, drunk on Jack’s terrazzo in the late afternoon on Thursday.
The first night in the house with the soft, warm breeze rustling the palms.
The first morning, while it was still dark, listening to the surf pounding on the beach just a block away.
The first trip to the fish market in Armeria. $2.50 for two big filetes for last night’s dinner.
The first trip to La Bodega in Tecoman for the basics to stock the house; tequila, rum, wine, salsa casera, olive oil, vinegar, dish soap. The rest we can live without for a few days until we take our first trip up to Colima.
First avocado, selling for 20¢ each, to go with the first bag of tostadas. Delicious.

The trip down was absolutely without incident ~ except perhaps for the momentary pause at the border so the agent could look at the box of pillows.

Best sight between Cuidad Jiminez and Zacatecas, besides the glorious sun rise: the farmer tilling his field behind a horse-drawn plow churning up the rich, dark river bottom soil. In the next field was another farmer leading a horse-drawn cart piled high with dried corn stalks. Five hundred yards from these bucolic sights was a big billboard advertising the glories of high speed internet via Telmex. You gotta love this place.

The hotel in Zacatecas was all tarted up with Christmas decorations. We had a very comfy room, ate dinner early and slept soundly, despite the trains roaring past in the night. We were up and out by 6 AM and had an easy drive. This route is one of two main "highways" between mid-country and Guadalajara. It is a 2-lane truck route, among other thingsm with speed limits betrween 30 and 50 MPH. It goes over and through two mountain passes. If you happen to get behind a slow-moving heavy-laden truck you can get stuck for hours. But the traffic was very light and we had no slow-downs. We made it to Guadalajara by 11:30 and rolled up to our front door at 2 PM. Exhausted, yes of course. Five long days of driving will do that. We don't have to even contemplate that again for five months.

Most of the usual suspects have returned or will be here within the next 10 days. It's good to be back.

Today is the 20th birthday of our adored grandson, Andrew. Feliz Cumpleaños, chico!

44 days until 1/20/2009: End of an Error