writer's blocks

I'm not sure why this happens ~ I just can't seem to concentrate on getting anything written here. I have thought about it; lots has happened. But are you really interested? Or am I really interested in writing about it? I guess not. However, I am responding to a couple of inquiries ~ "Is your computer broken?" and "Is everything OK?" No, my computer is not broken; in fact, I now have internet at home (thank you Jordan Nelson) and yes, everything is fine. So here's a brief recap of life in our little Mexican village, 2500 miles away from "home."

Wednesday Fernando almost finished with painting the living room. The kitchen, which he finished on Tuesday, looked awfully pink at first, but once the paint dried it, too, had a lovely candlelight glow.


He also finished the living room, about which I had the same reaction: Yikes! Too pink! But after a couple of days of drying and seasoning, it looks lovely. We have finally unpacked all our books and other goodies that remained sealed up all last season because of the floor work. Looks quite civilized.

Also on Wednesday, Neighbor Nelson's son came over to figure out why the WiFi set up wasn't working. He got everything on his end set up just fine; we couldn't receive the signal. Turns out a cable was not plugged in securely. Once that was take care of, the world was ours!

And to top it off on Wednesday, the electrician showed up to fix several things that were not working; lights in our bathroom, outside the bedroom, half-bath off the terazzo (all on the same circuit), light on the front balcony, two other lights on the upstairs breezeway. He was here about 3 hours, along with his gorgeous son, and charged us 250 pesos ($20 at the current rate) and will be back after the first of January to install two new fans and to change the chains that hold the various hanging outdoor lamps. This gentleman, Gustavo by name (his son is Gustavo Numero Dos) speaks a little English, has a degree in Electrical Engineering, is retired and does this sort of as a hobby. What a find! We need to get everything done before he is discovered by the other gringos who have been relying on Elias, who is good but terminally unavailable.

Thursday morning Fernando arrived early to finish painting the living room and start on the bedroom. We decided to take care of a raft of errands in Tecoman and Colima. First stop: Bancomer in Tecoman to pay our feidecomisario, the bank trust that allows us to live here. Every year we do this we run into a bank employee who has never done this before. Bingo again this time. This bank now has computer networking with all branches; the one in Puerto Vallerta takes care of these trusts. We never did figure out what the hang-up was. But two hours-plus later we emerged from the bank and decided to do only one more thing and then go home and recuperate from the experience. We stopped at the paint store to try again for a color for the exterior of the house. The first one I chose was the color of a baby's diaper who had been fed too much spinach. The second color I tried is much better, more of a tan than a khaki. I am contemplating painting all "exterior-exterior" walls a darker color; the "interior-exterior" walls the "Sahara Tan" paint I chose. This may not make any sense to you readers and it's too difficult to explain. You'll just have to come down and see for yourselves.

By the time we got home Fernando had slapped one coat on the bedroom. I was horrified when I saw the color; it looked like every seedy Mexican motel room I'd ever stayed in. Plus he ran out of paint so we had to go back into Tecoman and buy one more litre of paint. But by the time he had finished and it had seasoned for a few hours it looks lovely; sort of like being in a recently cleaned aquarium.

Yesterday, Friday, we went up to Colima to do what we could not do on Wednesday. We went to Office Depot and bought a good desk chair on wheels; we had been using a plastic chair that was much too low and was giving me an aching shoulder. (Perhaps that is part of my writer's block?) Then we picked up some things we had dropped off to be framed; they did a good job on 3 of the 6 things. The other three have to be taken back after the 1st for reworking. Then to the local Wal-Mart for some heavy-duty shopping, then home. And last night was the first night of La Posada. The local kids came by about 7 PM, serenaded us, got their donation, and moved off.


The younger children ~ boys and girls ~ from the village sing the request from Joseph for a room for his wife, "soon to be delivered." The older girls play the "innkeepers," a hard-boiled lot who tell Mary and Joseph to move on. (The little girl in profile is Rosie, Fernando and Chuy's daughter.) They collect money for a Christmas party on January 6 for all the kids. I can remember vividly the posada when I was in boarding school. The Spanish Club put it on a few nights before we were all to go home for Christmas vacation. Someone brought a burro to school and "Mary" would sit side-saddle as the hapless animal was led from door to door . Joseph would knock on various doors and they would be opened by students singing their assigned parts. It is not until the third knock that they are given shelter, and this happened at the chapel. All those in the procession would be carrying candles, and as the group snaked around the quad it was really very beautiful.

Which brings us to Saturday. We worked at getting things in order, listened to the opera, Thais" by Massenet with Rene Flemming and Thomas Hampon. Absolutely splendid! Next week is "The Magic Flute," don't miss it. Then off to Jack's for a swim ~ full immersion this time. Only 82º so a bit invigorating.

As so here we are at a lovely Saturday evening. Cecilia Bartolli is on the stereo, the breeze is soft and warm, dinner is going to be a thawed version of something I made last week ~ birria, I think. Basically all is right with the world. The painting is done, the weather is gorgeous, Obama won the election. What more could I ask for?

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