Out into the wild, with worms bought from a machine

BIG FLATS, New York, USA - The Admiral and I were on a return-the-truck-to-Brother-Dan mission Monday when we stopped at filling station to get directions to a local restaurant, where, legend has it, the breakfasts are great.

More on that assessment later.

But when I pulled in, there right near a shiny red Coke machine and neatly wedged near the front door was a vending machine unlike any other I had ever seen.


Put in your money, get a box of worms

The machine offers different sizes and types of the squirming critters. And don't think worms are cheap to purchase. The prices at this stop range from $2 to $4 per box. And just after we pulled up, the owner of machine came by to restock, loading about 100 boxes into the bowels of the equipment - one day's worth of sales, it seemed.

"There's money in worms," he said. "Good fishin' right down the road."


Your choice of worms - and prices

With the chaos of getting the guest house ready - and the incessant rain (more predicted for today, Jaysus!) - I haven't even purchased my fishing license yet, though I hope that as soon as the first renter is safely ensconced and sipping Hazlitt Winery Reisling, I will have more time for such pursuits.

Even the new sailboat sits sadly shoreside, until I can find time to build a new platform, so I don't have to pull it up across the rocks.

That phrase, sits sadly shoreside, reminds me that my amigo Tom Balmer sent me a link to the winners of the 2009 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. The contest is named for the man who penned a lot of bad writing, capped by the famous, "It was a dark and stormy night..."


Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Here's some of entries and winners, best read with a glass of the earlier mentioned Reisling nearby. If you want to read the entire list, follow this link:

It was a dark and stormy night

Contest Results

The Big Winner:

"Folks say that if you listen real close at the height of the full moon, when the wind is blowin' off Nantucket Sound from the nor' east and the dogs are howlin' for no earthly reason, you can hear the awful screams of the crew of the "Ellie May," a sturdy whaler Captained by John McTavish; for it was on just such a night when the rum was flowin' and, Davey Jones be damned, big John brought his men on deck for the first of several screaming contests."

David McKenzie
Federal Way, WA

The winner of 2009 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest is David McKenzie, a 55-year-old Quality Systems consultant and writer from Federal Way, Washington. A contest recidivist, he has formerly won the Western and Children's Literature categories.

David McKenzie is the 27th grand prize winner of the contest that began at San Jose State University in 1982.

An international literary parody contest, the competition honors the memory (if not the reputation) of Victorian novelist Edward George Earl Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873). The goal of the contest is childishly simple: entrants are challenged to submit bad opening sentences to imaginary novels. Although best known for "The Last Days of Pompeii" (1834), which has been made into a movie three times, originating the expression "the pen is mightier than the sword," and phrases like "the great unwashed" and "the almighty dollar," Bulwer-Lytton opened his novel Paul Clifford (1830) with the immortal words that the "Peanuts" beagle Snoopy plagiarized for years, "It was a dark and stormy night."

Most entries are submitted electronically through the Contest's Web site: http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/.

Runner-Up

The wind dry-shaved the cracked earth like a dull razor--the double edge kind from the plastic bag that you shouldn't use more than twice, but you do; but Trevor Earp had to face it as he started the second morning of his hopeless search for Drover, the Irish Wolfhound he had found as a pup near death from a fight with a prairie dog and nursed back to health, stolen by a traveling circus so that the monkey would have something to ride.

Warren Blair
Ashburn, VA

Grand Panjandrum's Special Award

Fleur looked down her nose at Guilliame, something she was accomplished at, being six foot three in her stocking feet, and having one of those long French noses, not pert like Bridget Bardot's, but more like the one that Charles De Gaulle had when he was still alive and President of France and he wore that cap that was shaped like a little hatbox with a bill in the front to offset his nose, but it didn't work.

Marguerite Ahl
Prescott valley, AZ

Winner: Adventure

How best to pluck the exquisite Toothpick of Ramses from between a pair of acrimonious vipers before the demonic Guards of Nicobar returned should have held Indy's full attention, but in the back of his mind he still wondered why all the others who had agreed to take part in his wife's holiday scavenger hunt had been assigned to find stuff like a Phillips screwdriver or blue masking tape.

Joe Wyatt
Amarillo, Texas

Dishonorable Mention

Karen Buffalo, sensing that her 1894 Brassic & Middon .45 calibre revolvers, mounted with mother-of-pearl grips and clasped by ivory buttons carved in the shape of elephants at play, were no match for 'Duke' Bunton's double-barreled shotgun, muttered under her breath "Darn that Parisian gunsmith in the Fourteenth Arrondisement!"

Mark A. Gray
WOKINGHAM
Berks., U.K.

Winner: Detective

She walked into my office on legs as long as one of those long-legged birds that you see in Florida - the pink ones, not the white ones - except that she was standing on both of them, not just one of them, like those birds, the pink ones, and she wasn't wearing pink, but I knew right away that she was trouble, which those birds usually aren't.

Eric Rice
Sun Prairie, WI

Cruising the far reaches of Podunk in search of treasures

MECKLENBURG, New York, USA - The Admiral and I headed out Saturday morning in search of treasures to help furnish and decorate our guest cottage before our first renters arrive this week. After years of talking about it, we decided that the property taxes have gotten just high enough that we need to seek some extra revenue by renting the space out.

Two years ago, our amigo Brad Phillips (with his faithful dog Arnold) stayed there, painting the entire place inside and out, making it the shiny place it remains today.

Below is a link to some photos we posted to show what the joint looks like.

Valois guest house

The logical place to buy such treasures to make the inside look neat was at garage sales and auctions that are a great source of local entertainment here every weekend.

And in our travels out and about we ran across the road of all roads.


Left or right to Podunk?

It turns out there is a burg called Podunk (I am not making this up) not too far from our Valois house, but we didn't actually discover that fine town in our travels. We did run across several yards sales which were 'podunk' in their relative significance and an auction that was loud and well underway when we stopped by.

The auction looks like it is a monthly affair, with a professional auctioneer hawking goods and entire families in attendance to buy or simply watch the fun. I saw tools, fishing gear, furniture, car parts and an occasional book.

Tables were set up for potential buyers to see what was for sale and several people were busy cooking hamburgers and hot dogs and offering soft drinks for sale.

No beer was available, though. :-(


Sign offering Hambergers for sale


Need a gun for some hunting?

The morning and early afternoon actitivity capped off a week of frantic activity to get the guest house ready for our first renters. After only four days of being listed on Craig's List, we have the place booked solid for the summer - with more people wanting to rent it well into September.

But the Admiral and I expect we will be back in California in the classroom by then, unless the California budget continues its dismal freefall to insolvency and our university decides it can get along with do fewer professors.

In that case, the guest house might stay open, and we might check out a few more auctions like the one we saw today. We could even have a few items to offer for sale ourselves.

Cardboard boat races - soggy fun for almost everybody

WATKINS GLEN, New York, USA - The day dawned like most have in the last few days, soggy, rainy and cold. Damn cold. But it didn't dampen any spirits of the would-be-cardboard boat racers or fans at the 15th annual cardboard boat race here today.

It did keep the Admiral and I home until shortly before the race. We opted to skip the parade and pre-race festivities in the downpour that has area creeks running fast and waterfalls impressive enough that tourists are stopping traffic to grab snapshots.

But once at the race, we joined more than a thousand other rain-gear clad fans to watch nearly 100 cardboard craft attempt to navigate a 300-yard race course - without sinking.

Quite a few didn't make it much past the start line with crews forced to swam back in 55-degree water. There were plenty of safety people around to help out, but still, that water is cold.

Prior to the race, the parking lot was full of racers and well-wishers and we ran into a dozen amigos lubricating their boats (and crews) to get ready for the race. Budweiser seemed to be a favorite lube, though many plastic glasses were in evidence filled with clear liquids and what smelled like Fingerlakes wines.


Admiral Fox with Kristin VanHorn


Rolled over at the start line

The shore of the Village Marina Harbor and breakwater were crammed with viewers - despite a steady drizzle of rain that sometimes turned to downpours. I imagined what the event must be like on a hot sunny June day - a rarity, I was told, but still possible. We retreated to our dry car before the final heats, with wet shoes and an appreciation for how cold the wet racers must have been feeling. The races ran in three-boat heats and with all the sinking and mayhem, took more than three hours.

This was the 15th annual event, part of a two-day waterfront festival that keeps growing year after year and is an informal kickoff for summer. Next week, the forecast is for a warming trend and an end to the incessant rain.

And already the Admiral has asked about us building a cardboat for next year's race. We certainly are adept at working with duct tape to fix things.

Why not a boat? The good ship Arroyo Seco?

Here's a few photos - and a 6-minute video of today's action.


One boat becomes two at start line


Remains of a boat that didn't make the cut


A boat called 'Bedpan'

Waiting patiently - sort of - for summer 2009 to arrive

VALOIS, New York, USA - The weather has not been bad, exactly, but summer isn't quite here. Sunday, the Admiral and I attended a party just down the lake (traveling by boat to get there, of course) and had a lovely couple of hours in relatively warm weather on a deck overlooking the lake.

We stopped at Cousin Roger's to pick up he and his wife Nancy for the short voyage and had a great time at the party - kind of a summer-is-almost-here celebration. The party followed a huge breakfast at the Hector Volunteer Fire Department firehouse, a monthly event held to raise money for the department.

But when we powered back to our dock, just after dark, the 75-degree temperatures had given way to 60 degrees. An hour later, it was 55 and I almost lit a fire in the fireplace.


Spirit of Louise at the Wolf's dock


Rowboat heads down lake

Cold or hot, my thoughts frequently wander to the Pink Flamingo and I wonder what's happening back in Arroyo Seco. Our amigos Chena and Chon did email once to say that the rain hasn't started and life continues as normal there - with normal meaning that temperatures and humidity have shot up. We found out today that our palapa roof restoration project has not been started, apparently, even though the contractor promised it would be done by this Friday.

Oh, Mexico...

But on a foray to the neighboring city of Penn Yan a week ago, we ran across some perfect decorations for the Pink Flamingo, though I am not sure how we would get them into our suitcases. I suspect I can show them to an ironworker-welder-artist we heard of in Mexico who will be able to duplicate them quite nicely.


Pink Flamingos in Penn Yan, New York

While we were in Penn Yan I also ran across yet another boat that I coveted on sight. In fact, if the price tag had been a tad more reasonable, we might have added the boat to the fleet.

(A tad by the way is slightly larger than a scoch, but smaller than a wee bit.)

The boat is a sister ship to one a high school amigo piloted around Chautauqua Lake in the mid 1960s. This unit is totally restored (the sales paperwork claims, anyway).

It would certainly look nice zipping up and down Seneca Lake.


Century powerboat


Century price and spec sheet

The rest of this week is dedicated to putting the finishing touches on getting the house, the guest house and the dock and waterfront ready for friends and guests. After Saturday's memorial service in Hewlett for my late brother-in-law, Bill Kearney, we hatched plans with family members for lots of visits to Valois, as well as at least one trip by myself and the Admiral back to the New York City environs.

This was the summer I had vowed to get Bill to visit us here, even if I had to truss him up and drag him. Once here, we knew he would love the countryside.

And he would have thought that purchasing that Century powerboat made perfect sense - for me.

The final pieces of the summer puzzle are falling into place

VALOIS, New York, USA - Two years ago - when we sold our 48-foot cruising sailboat, Sabbatical - for a brief moment (emphasis on brief), I thought my days of worrying about maintenance and operations and keeping things running were almost over.

What was I smoking?

In the last week here in Valois, I have been dealing with all kinds of house and garden systems and subsystems, getting a turn-of-the-century cottage running at full speed. (That's turn of the 20th century, not 21st century). And full speed for a cottage this old is a relative term.

Yesterday the water pressure pump in the cellar started acting up, giving us pressure only when it felt like it. And it felt like it, oh, some of the time. One of those times, the Admiral was in shower.

Not good for morale. The Admiral's or mine.


Water pressure pump in cellar


Water pump pressure gauge

My strategy for fixing that problem is simple: Wait for my brother-in-law Dan to come back from an out-of-town a trip. He's a refrigeration-plumbing-mechanical guru and probably installed the system many years ago when his mother (my late mother-in-law Louise) lived in the house.

Already, he fixed the leaky water heater in the cellar and gave me the parts so I can tackle a plumbing problem in the guest house. That guest-house-project is likely to take up most of today, unless I get lucky and my working-with-PVC skills aren't as rusty as I think they are.

That's unlikely. I think the last time I worked with PVC, I lived in Grass Valley. Hmm... that was 30 years ago.


Yard set up for summer fun

Beyond maintenance, however, we have made great strides at getting the casa ready for summer. All boats are launched and ready for service. This week we added a new barbecue, popped up the First Up shade cover and set up the side yard for barbecues and socialization. The flowers are all planted and the tomatoes are in - this year in pots to avoid the rabbits that seem to favor the tender young plants. We have a bumper crop of young bunnies about the property, all of whom seem to love the tops of the flowers. I wish they would chew on the grass so I didn't have to mow it again.

And the weather is almost cooperating with temperatures in the low 70s most days, though the gray overcast hangs low, threatening rain. Today the forecast is for thunderstorms and rain. Not much of a boating day, though sometimes the storms blow through quickly, leaving the lake without a ripple.

We had hoped our Mexico amigos Mario and Sharon from Tenacatita, Mexico would visit this week, but they had to cancel at the last minute. Had they seen how nice the water was on Seneca Lake last night, while the Admiral and I scooted on The Spirit of Louise, they would be regretting the decision to stay away.


Spirit of Louise at the launch ramp - ready to go

And the last piece of the open-up-for-the-season puzzle fell into place Wednesday with our summer car - a 1999 Jeep. We picked the Jeep up Tuesday from the dealer, then took it back in Wednesday for some adjustments: new tires, new front brakes, some electronic fixes and other assorted minor repairs.

The good news is that the unit seems to be in good running shape - now - and should be a solid car for the summer to bomb around in. The bad news is that it does not have a sun roof like last summer's Jeep, a feature the Admiral dearly loved.

Que lastima.


The new cottage car for 2009

One week into summer and the boats are already set to go

VALOIS, New York, USA - Except for the cold weather, it was a very soft landing coming from subtropical Arroyo Seco, Jalisco, Mexico to here one week ago today. The house was clean, virtually everything worked okay, and already we have three boats ready to go.

Three boats?

Yes, three boats. We already had the Spirit of Louise pontoon boat, the Bud Boat (a gift from Mike Schamel several years ago. And two days ago we added a 16-foot fiberglass sailboat of which I am co-owner (and which is nameless, right now). The other owner is Jennifer Marshall, an amiga from Arizona who comes to Seneca Lake summers and who last year told me she wanted to learn how to sail but needed to buy a boat and find someone to teach her and ...

Somehow, that all translated into us purchasing a boat together, and voila, we now have a boat.


Sailing in to shore under jib alone

I took the ship on a quick trip today to shake down everything. I think we may have purchased a very fast boat. The wind was almost non-existent and yet the boat scooted along at 5 mph. I checked the hull thoroughly for poltergeists, but it seems clean.



Since my last cranky blog post from the Philadelphia Airport, I have to admit that we have had nothing but good experiences - even with various officialdom sorts of persons. In one instance, we had to go to the Schuyler County clerk's office to look up some information and one of the workers dropped everything to help us for nearly and hour.

And on private side, our amigo Bill Tague sold us a car and has been laboring mightily for several days to fix every little thing. It's another Jeep, though not nearly as nice as last year's version. Still, it will get us through the summer and someone here is likely to get a heck of a deal on it when we sell it in August.

The hot tub is full (and hot) the wine locker full (and cold) and the rest of things seem to be falling into place before the first of several waves of amigo visitors arrives in a few days.

And we now have three boats to choose from for voyaging, if the weather cooperates and we get more summer days.

New rules and navigating the Philadelphia airport

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, USA - I re-entered the U.S. without incident last night in Phoenix, not even raising any eyebrows from either immigration or customs. I am usually not that lucky.

At immigration, I stayed and chatted with the officer for about 5 minutes (an eternity at passport control) because the amiable fellow wanted lots of details about living in Mexico and, he asked, did I think it would be a good place for him to retire?

But early this morning, here in the City of Brotherly Love, the Admiral and I ran head-on into the rules.

Rules?

Yes, rules. You know them, the stand-behind-the-yellow-line kind of stuff that doesn't seem to exist in Mexico.

We headed from our Phoenix-to-Philly flight to a shuttle bus, a bus we have taken at least a dozen times over the past few years. But today we ran afoul of two new rules - and some serious bad attitudes on the part of the enforcers.

The first rule was that in order to board the bus, passengers have to wait in a tiny holding pen - an unmarked holding pen where passengers must stand until a very self-important person, wearing an orange vest, says it is permissible to board the bus.

The Admiral and I, not seeing the invisible signs (Damn these old eyes!), simply stepped out the door to the waiting bus, only to be turned back rudely to the pen by Ms. Orange Vest.

Moments later we were freed and allowed to board.

Then we got to our destination - three terminals away - and ran into New Rule Two.

New Rule Two is that although the bus has three very large automatic doors, (front, back and middle) all passengers need to traverse to the front door of the bus to disembark - even if they have gotten on at the rear door with all their luggage.

No signage on that either, but the bellowing of the driver (directed at another passenger who dared to attempt to dart out the middle door) made it clear that this is serious stuff, taken seriously, at least by this bus driver who goes back and forth from C Terminal to F Terminal all day, one trip every fifteen minutes.

One last flight awaits us, from Philly to Elmira, on which I intend to buckle my seat belt right away and get my tray table folded up.

Those rules I know about, though no doubt in the six months we have been living in Mexico there are other new rules lurking to ensnare.

Back in the USSA after more than six months in Mexico

PHOENIX, Arizona, USA - I touched down on American soil a few hours ago after more than six months in Arroyo Seco, Mexico and its environs.

A stopover in Puerto Vallarta last night gave me a chance to say goodbye to Dustin, Cami, and, of course, granddaughter Sasha. Sasha is turning into a real character.


Sasha loves corn - on the cob



As I write this, the Admiral and I are waiting to board a US Airways jet for next leg of the trip to Philadelphia - a red-eye flight that leaves at about 11 p.m., local time.

Yawn.

But the upside is the Admiral used some frequent flier miles to upgrade this leg to first class for both of us. First class - you know, the big seats, the free drinks and perhaps even enough room to stretch out and sleep.

A vodka tonic, por favor, er, I mean, please...

Shutting down for the season, just ahead of the heat

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - The weather has gone from balmy and breezy to humid and hot. Really hot. Really humid.

But it has its charms, like getting up and being able to water the grass and plants before dawn - standing in a bathing suit. Already the sun is high enough to make it as steamy as a novel set in a South American jungle and work has moved from outside to inside - or in the shade.

The Admiral and I made a quick trip to Puerto Vallarta Sunday to drop off amigos Randy and Karin at the airport and then a muy rapido overnight with Dustin, Cami and Sasha before heading back here to El Rancho Arroyo Seco. In about one week, the Admiral and I will head out to New York, via Phoenix and Philadelphia, just ahead of the rains that start here in June and go until November.

Last night, the forecast said chance of thunderstorms and it looked it.


Dustin's new puppy

Dustin's puppy from an Arroyo Seco litter, which he picked up a week ago, is doing great. At only four weeks old, the pooch is already eating solid food (mixed with milk) and has become part of the Dustin-Cami-Sasha-Max household.

Max? Max is a labrador-mix dog who doubles as a watchdog and pet for the house. Max is quite perplexed by the fact that this puppy gets to go inside the house while Max is banished to the outside.

It helps to be cute, I guess.

Also cute, of course, is granddaughter Sasha who is learning to play catch - sort of.



We are already making plans for this afternoon - which probably will include a quick trip (or long trip) over to Playa Chica for swimming (and possibly some cerveza imbibing for hydrating). When we arrived home late afternoon from Puerto Vallarta yesterday, we barely dropped off the bags before we headed out to the beach.

And on the beach we saw our vecinos (neighbors) Luis and Nena exercising their pooches. The brief movie below says Puerto Vallarta - a definite gaffe on the part of the cinematographer. It's Playa Chica, for sure.

The only other person around was a fisherman on the rocks, waiting for that big dorado to grab his line.




Sitting on the rock by the bay

Tenacatita boogie boarding and a croc attack in Boca de Iguanas

TENACATITA BEACH, Jalisco, Mexico - After days of sampling the city life in La Manzanilla, we returned to Arroyo Seco Sunday to get ready for a trip to Puerto Vallarta, where we will be dropping off our amigos Randy and Karin at the airport. But on the way from La Manzanilla we diverted to Tenacatita Beach for some swimming, seafood, and - of course - some boogie boarding action.

The waves were down appreciably from a week ago when the southerly swell was driving huge breakers on the swimming beach.

But they were big enough today for plenty of interesting rides.


Intrepid surfers head out for adventure


Randy rides right to shore

Before leaving La Manzanilla, we discovered that the sailboat that had washed ashore a couple of days ago was reportedly owned by some people in La Manzanilla who had taken it out to Tenacatita to scuttle the vessel.

The vessel had other ideas and despite the gaping holes in it, stayed afloat. Sunday town workers used a backhoe and other implements of destruction to break up the boat and haul it off in a dump truck.

We were told that the boat was taken out and sunk in an effort to make it a marine habitat. Unfortunately, now it will become part of the landfill instead and the owners will likely get stuck with a bill to pay the guys who took it away.


Picking up the chunks of the smashed boat

In the meantime, the La Manzanilla message board has several postings today about a crocodile incident in the lagoon by Boca de Iguanas.

A labrador retriever was killed (and presumably eaten) right in front of a family.

Here's a link to the posting:

Croc attack in Boca

Tourists last year, getting up close and personal

Taking a 'vacation' from retirement

LA MANZANILLA, Jalisco, Mexico - The Admiral and I are taking a vacation from retirement.

I know, I know.

But if you have been following our saga this winter and spring you know that retirement has not meant golf, shuffle board and rocking chairs (hammocks maybe). Between all of the construction, then landscaping and most recently all of the 'save-the-dogs' efforts, we seem to have been running full-tilt, far busier than teaching in Sacramento.

Far busier. (OK, we have squeezed in a lot of fun, too. But still...)

For the past couple of days - and one more tomorrow - we have been doing some serious lounging (Is than an oxymoron?) at a house in La Manzanilla, without fixing anything, or chasing (and bathing) a single street pooch. (Oh crap, I hear a hound barking on the street. Somebody grab the Admiral, quick.)


Pre-vacation warmup in Arroyo Seco last week

The days off have been made more fun by having U.S. amigos Randy and Karin in town. They arrived a couple of days ago, getting off the plane in Manzanillo and immediately shifting from their native cold, mountain air (they live near Sanders and Pat Lamont in the California mountains) to the stifling humidity that has suddenly arrived in the last week.

That humidity was quite apparent went they stepped off the plane and made their way across the 90 degree tarmac to the terminal. Their flight was probably carrying 50 people - on a plane designed for 300.



But Randy and Karen conquered the humidity the way we all do down here (if you live close to the beach). They grabbed their bathing suits and we all traveled to the La Manzanilla beach for swimming - and a little shade from our umbrella.

The water has warmed up remarkably in the past two weeks, bringing with it some fear that sting rays might also be wanting to enjoying the waters. And on the La Manzanilla beach, the water is usually clouded with sand when the surf comes up, making visibility a problem.

No sting rays showed up, but midway through the afternoon we rubbed our eyes as we watched an overturned sailboat drift up on shore. For a captain, this is stuff nightmares are made of.


Sailboat drifting in

It was hard to say how long the boat had been drifting, but there wasn't any green algae growth on the underwater parts so I would guess that the boat was in the water for less than a week, maybe even just a few days.

Randy and checked out the boat pretty thoroughly - no name, hailing port or rigging at all. It did have plenty of bottom paint which was sloughing off quickly onto any of the young Mexican children who climbed on the boat to get a peek in through one of the major holes in the hull.

Because I have gotten quite sick from getting that paint on me in years past, I convinced most of the kids that the blue paint was peligroso (dangerous) and malo (bad).

Most of the children washed the paint off right away in the saltwater, probably enough prevention.



An added La Manzanilla treat was getting to attend a very small family birthday party for our God-daughter Devani two days ago. Her mother and grandmother and grandfather have moved to a much smaller house as the economic downtown - and H1N1, the malady formerly known as swine flu - battered the economy of this village so much that they lost their jobs.

No tourists, no money, no jobs for the family. They hope their two-table restaurant will keep them afloat for awhile. But we're not sure. No tourists probably means no customers. Except for us, perhaps.

The Mexicans we talk with are completely baffled by the fear many Americans seem to have of Mexico. Like folks in the U.S., they understand there are parts of their country to be more careful in. In Mexico, that's border towns and the big cities. In the U.S., it's border towns and the big cities.

Hmm...


Devani sits on her birthday present

Mexico's schools are closed again - but will be clean for the students

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - The huge puddles of water in the street this morning were the giveaway that some major cleaning project - or maybe a broken waterline - was near us. The first proved to be true. The school was being scrubbed from top to bottom and then back up to the top by parents.

The state of Jalisco had originally said schools should reopen today (in the wake of H1N1, the malady-formerly-known-as-swine-flu). But later officials said the schools should remain closed one more week, just to be safe, and to give schools time to clean, everything.

And so today the parents of Arroyo Seco picked up the bottles of the all-purpose Fabuloso cleaner, powerful bleaches, mops, brooms and other implements of cleaning and then scrubbed the elementary school a hundred yards from our front gate.


Scrubbing the school


Moving everything out to clean

What was particularly striking, was that this was a group of parents doing all the work - not some hired custodians on overtime. And although they were working very hard, they were also obviously enjoying each other's company and the conversations were fast and furious. It was as social as some of the fiestas yesterday for Mother's Day.

It was also hard not to think what a U.S. response to the same situation might look like. (Or does look like right now!)

Most likely, school officials would have to check with the school's insurance carrier to ensure that it was OK for parents to pick up a mop, then negotiate with several unions to allow the volunteer help. Eventually these same officials would need to file a book's worth of documents with the Environmental Protection Agency about how they would dispose of waste water, the sponges used and exactly what kind of protective gear (READ $$$$$) the parents needed.

Oh, and state and city permits. Lots of permits. Lots of fees. Lots of inspectors and inspections.

In other words, the school would not get cleaned without it costing a boodle of money, even if parent volunteers were allowed to help. (A boodle is more than a lot, but less than a gazillion...)

One thing is certain. The elementary school in Arroyo Seco looks spotless to me right now. But then, I'm not an EPA-trained inspector.

North to Puerto Vallarta to visit family and get finance advice

PUERTO VALLARTA, Jalisco, Mexico - We left the safe confines of Arroyo Seco for a trip to the big city over the weekend, visiting with Dustin, Cami and Sasha at their palatial home in Nuevo Vallarta. Our projects had reached a point of stasis in the rancho and so we wanted to get in a good visit with the family before we go up for our final trip at the end of the month.

After that, we catapult to upstate New York where our pontoon boat, the Spirit of Louise, will be launched within days of our arrival.

Of course, in our haste to leave last minute for Vallarta, we forgot all the paperwork we needed to do various things in Puerto Vallarta - like register my motorcyle for the highway - and so it turns out we will zip up the highway again next weekend anyway.

Quelle dommage! (French)
Que lastima! (Spanish)
Oh! Crap! (American English)


Sasha with Grandma Sylvia

As part of our hiatus in Puerto Vallarta, we went for lunch at the famous Vallarta Yacht Club in the Paradise Village Marina, the same marina where we docked Sabbatical for several years..

OK, it's not really famous, but they have a great deck overlooking the channel and the food is very good. We were greeted by the same staff that has worked there almost since it opened and in some ways, it's kind of like going home when we visit there.

Across the channel, we watched a couple of fishermen throwing nets, after bait fish we figured. Given the number of boats that dump their toilets directly overboard into the marina, we hope they were after baitfish anyway. (NOTE TO CAPTAIN: Do not eat the fish sandwich special at the Vallarta Yacht Club - ever.)


Wading in the channel - with the crocs

We did watch one intrepid fisherman casting his net while knee deep in the water, right next to the sign that warns about crocodiles in the water.

Normally I would be skeptical about such signs, except that some amigos at the yacht club - dining at the next table - said they had seen about a 12-foot croc lounging on the rocks about a half-hour before the fisherman showed up and started throwing their nets.

No croc action during our lunch - but then we didn't stay all that long.


Sasha chows down some breakfast

After breakfast Friday, I decided to chat with Sasha about economics, how long she thinks the current recession will last and when we can expect an economic recovery.

Ok, she is only 8 months old, but her opinion might be as valid as the Council of Economic Advisers. I have been asking everybody and no one seems to have very good answers.

The Council

Here's a short video of what she told me.

Forget H1,N1 virus, how about a dog with 'ehrlichia'?

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - While the H1N1 virus was all the rage, (the malady-formerly-known-as-swine-flu), we were battling our own disease issues with El Capitan, the dog the Admiral and I have been trying to nurse back to health for several weeks.

Sunday, as the world was coming to the conclusion that just maybe it had gotten a little carried away with the potential danges of H1N1, Capitan was projectile-sneezing bloody clots across the palapa and causing a cleanliness crisis.

But three shots from Rocio the vet later, plus other medicines and, of course, a little dinero for various treatments, and we thought El Capitan had a chance to beat a very bad disease called ehrlichia.

We're not so sure today.


A very tired Capitan

Yesterday afternoon, the nosebleeds started again, and with the assistance of Chon, we were able to get an anti-bleeding shot into the Capitan. He wasn't very happy about the shot (Capitan, not Chon), and the various antibiotics don't seem to agree with him as much as other medicines have.

Then last night and all day today, Capitan made a kind of a gurgling sound and seemed to have some problems swallowing.

And then the top of his head erupted with its own bleeding patch - without even being touched.


Capitan's cut, up close


Capitan's bloody nose

The bleeding on El Capitan's head is from a wound that suddenly appeared while the Admiral had Capitan out for a stroll. It has already started to heal, but the spontaneous 'bleeding out' has us worried that El Capitan is going into a serious relapse. He was near to bleeding out when we first treated him three weeks ago. His entire body was covered with barely healing scabs.

Serious relapse of not, El Capitan trotted off the property earlier this evening in the company of his owner who had come by with some fruit for us as a present. He seemed happy to go home with her, despite the good food and drink we provide him here at the Pink Flamingo.

If he comes back here tonight to sleep right outside our bedroom door - which he might - we will be ready for another evening of listening for his gurgling sounds.

And, I suppose, waking up with a sense of dread if the gurgling suddenly stops.

Buying a lot in Mexico? Buy the fencing to enclose it, too

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - One of the most important things a new landowner needs to do in Mexico is build a stout fence as soon as they take possession. As in right away. As in yesterday, if possible.

It's the fences that let the rest of the community see that someone is staking claim. And if you don't stake claim, it's entirely possible someone else will come along, put up a little fencing of their own, and then say the property (or a part of it) is theirs.

And so just a few weeks before we had back to upstate New York, we are tackling our beach lot to get it in shape for fencing - something we should have done last May before we left. And yes, a neighbor has been making noises about encroachment.

No mas!

Thirteen dump trucks later, plus several dozen posts and barbed wire (the wire will go up in the next few days) and we will have made our statement. Four strands of it, with damned sharp points.

We are not sure what we will do on the lot - maybe build a little beach palapa. But it's a great getaway spot and about 150 yards from surf in which to boogie-board.


Facing the ocean - access to La Playa is on the left


Admiral Fox surveys the fill application

The Admiral and I have two other undeveloped lots in town, one is fenced quite nicely, the other will get the fence treatment in the next few weeks before we leave. The unfenced piece is a small lot on the top of the ridge near the Pink Flamingo and is my favorite. It has views of the ocean in two directions, gets a fresh breeze almost always, and is very, very quiet. It has the added attraction of not having a road to it yet, so a trip to check it out makes my cardiologist very happy.

Next year, tal vez (perhaps), we might build a palapa - or even a small casita on that ridge. Next year...


Luis, Nena and one of their pooches

While we stood around watching neighbors Chon and Nino do all the work on the beach lot, the Admiral and I chatted with Jim and Vickie (who hail from Texas). The couple is going to live in their beach house across the street year round from now on, after using the house for a few months per year.

And while we were chatting with them, our in-town neighors Luis and Nena roared up on Luis' quad, taking their four dogs on their daily exercise run. With Luis and Nena was their tiny Chihuahua. (Is saying tiny Chihuahua like saying jumbo shrimp?). The small dog runs the four large dogs around like a boot camp instructor.

And the tiny Chihuahua exhibited some other alpha dog characteristics while we had our conversations, as demonstrated in the video below.

A dog day ends up with dinner at a seaside hotel

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - Sunday was another veterinary mini-clinic with the major patients being El Capitan and Leona. Leona has some problem similar to cancer and is getting a shot per week (which she does not like). El Capitan is showing signs of a disease spread by ticks and when he breathes, he sounds like a pig with a bad cold.

A really bad cold.

Both dogs were treated by our amiga and veterinarian Rocio on Sunday, with El Capitan getting three shots, several boxes of pills (all for this week) and a lot of sympathy. Most problematic is his runny nose. A runny nose with mucus that is mostly blood.

Stand way back when El Capitan sneezes.

Leona - for the first time - didn't squirm like Jack Nicholson in a straight jacket when we put a muzzle on her and gave her an intravenous injection. It was a great relief.


Capitan's bloody nose -a symptom of his illness


Leona gets her third injection

After cleaning up the palapa floor - largely from blood splatters - the Admiral and I headed off to Careyes, where amigas own condos at the swank hotel there. Careyes is only a few miles up the highway from Arroyo Seco, but light years away in terms of opulence and money.

We were waved through the gate by the guards when we dropped the names of our amigas, then found out we had missed our friends by an hour. (Merde!)

But because we were inside the resort, we opted to spend some time gawking at the rich and, perhaps, famous. Some time stretched to about four hours which included swimming in the pool, cocktails and dinner. (NOTE TO DINERS: The Cuba Libres served at Palapa Joe's are better than the Cuba Libres served at the Hotel Careyes, though the hotel's pack a wallop, too...)


Admiral Fox at Careyes


Relaxing poolside

The Careyes' anchorage is famous with cruisers who travel the coast from Mazatlan to Zihuatenejo. We had seen it eight years ago from shoreside when we used our journalist credentials to get by the gate. But while cruising on the 48-foot Sabbatical, we passed it up when traveling back and forth. The anchorage looks great on the charts, but when you see it up close and personal from the deck of a sailboat, the rocks get very big and the swell very intense.

When we arrived at the hotel and pool - and checked out the anchoring spots Sunday - our earlier decisions to skip Careyes as a waystation seemed like we made good choices. And the very calm safe waters of Tenacatita Bay are only a few miles further south.


Careyes channel - pretty from the shore

Today The Admiral is off helping with a vet clinic in La Manzanilla while my job is to go out and check on progress at our other three lots in Arroyo Seco. Two in-town lots are being cleared and some extra fencing put in place. Our beach lot is getting cleared and filled so we can start yet-another project out there.

Yet another project?

Why not? We don't leave for Seneca Lake in New York for oh, about three weeks.

Not all restaurants pay attention to the governor of Jalisco

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - The Admiral and I have dined out for the past few nights - right here in the village - as most of the local restaurateurs seem to have decided that economic survival outweighs any chance of contracting H1N1, the malady-formerly-known-as-swine-flu. The governor of the State of Jalisco had issued an edict several days ago, closing down all public gatherings - including restaurants.

But the two and three-table restaurants of Arroyo Seco were a pale reflection of what we found at Tenacatita Beach.

We went out to the area to check on the property of Canadian amigos Doug and Lynn and spotted tour buses parked all over the place (I counted 14. There might have been more down the beach).


Tenacatita Beach, May 2, 2009

I think there were fewer people on that beach and eating at the restaurants during the Semana Santa holiday season. And we didn't hear a single sneeze, though the surf was noisy and crashing a lot.

Up in Puerto Vallarta, most public places are closed, but across the state line, in the state of Nayarit, there are no restrictions on gatherings and restaurants and bars have pulled in many of the tourists from downtown. The tourists that haven't already bailed out.


Samba hitches a ride back to downtown Arroyo Seco

Closer to home, the Admiral and I have been doing home health care for dogs, giving baths and injections in what was originally supposed to be a simple vet clinic once a week - with our professional vet and amiga Rocio doing all the heavy lifting.

However, after Rocio leaves each week, there is a laundry list of things to do for the various animals under her care.

And several - including el Capitan and Samba - have decided that they would really prefer to live with us, instead of their owners. Samba chases the quad wherever we go. Saturday, we took pity on her and gave her a lift back to the Pink Flamingo.

Capitan came calling yesterday, howling (the Admiral said talking) at the screen door. My dog-talk is as rusty as my Spanish, but I think he said feed me. I'm not sure I was telling him in response, but he did stick around for food.

And then he left after taking a siesta on the new grass.