Hacienda Hunting and Other Matters of Import

Poor, Poor Deirdre

Yes, yes I know.  It's been a long time since the last blog.  But there is a reason.  I broke my arm which impacted my already fairly horrible typing ability.  I won't bore you with the details (everyone falls in Ajijic) but will say that having your arm in a sling for six weeks is very inconvenient.  I'm free at last and the only remaining downside is my PT which is both boring and painful.  However, while we are on the health front let me tell you about the explosion of medical facilities in Ajijic.

When we moved here there was only the Ajijic Clinic which was not an attractive health provider option. Really not.  Absolutely not.  Basically everyone went into Guadalajara which has world class hospitals etc.  Well, as more and more geriatrics stream into Lakeside the ever rapacious health care industry has recognized market potential and we have moved from one quasi clinic (recently renamed as a hospital) to the construction of three additional hospitals.  While we may be old and decrepit a total of four hospitals for a population of gringos of 20-30,000 seems a bit excessive.  Most Mexicans use the national health system while these new hospitals are all private.

The first new hospital to open was San Antonio Hospital and it was to its Emergency Room that I went when, after sleeping on the broken arm for a night, I came to the inescapable conclusion that I had done something REALLY bad to it.  We had just been to an opening celebration of the hospital so we kind of had the gist going in.  The hospital has MRI, CTI, all kinds of swanky X-ray and sonogram and whatever machines.   It has three operating theaters including one exclusively for ophthalmology-- old people get lots of cataracts.  But it is also very Mexico.  As we were taking the tour we went through a nicely appointed patient room to an adjoining patio.  This, we were informed, would be the place for patients and family to visit and relax and SMOKE!  Being gringos we all looked at each other askance, shrugged our shoulders and moved on hoping to find an in-house tequila bar.

An emergency room bed at the new hospital.

The MRI machine, which has still not been set up over two months later.  But they say 2 more weeks.

A typical room at the hospital.

One of the operating rooms...

and another operating room dedicated to opthalmologic surgery only (what with all the cataract surgeries for us people of a certain age).

OK, so in conclusion, I went to the ER, saw the doc, got x-rays, saw the orthopedic specialist, got fitted out with an elaborate sling thing and the whole bill was about $150 -- for everything. Amazing.
The two other hospitals will be coming on line in the next few months.  I imagine competition will be fierce.

Hacienda Hunting

One of the great parts of living here is that you can almost always find something interesting/unique/bizarre to do.  I was fascinated by a guy who has unearthed over a hundred haciendas in Jalisco (our state) in varying states of disrepair.  Jim (of Jim and Carols Mexican Adventure blog) knows a lot about Mexican history and hacienda life and when the chance came for Michael and I to join the crew on a hunt we were all in.  Doing it with a broken arm and Michael's notoriously poor knees showed a certain lack of judgement but we survived.

Our first stop was at a hacienda where the chapel was still intact and still in use.  Every hacienda had its own chapel and in many cases it is the only building to have been maintained because when the hacienda system ended the town would take control of the chapel.  Well, we were kind of lurking around and some older Mexican women were sweeping the plaza.  Jim inquired about the chapel and hacienda and the women became very animated and said they would take us to the priest who was having breakfast at his uncle' house and he would explain everything.  Every single Mexican person we asked about the haciendas was as open, friendly and helpful as could be.  So we (like 8 of us) tramp over to the uncles house and are ushered in.  Sure enough, the priest is eating his breakfast and is completely unfazed by having 8 unknown gringos milling about in the dining room.  He says he will get dressed and come over to the church and hold forth on the hacienda.

Now this is not your garden variety priest.  First, he is young and quite handsome.  Second, he shows up wearing a black (expensive) cowboy hat, black western shirt with studs, belt with a buckle the size of Dallas, tight jeans and black (expensive) boots.  Hmmm.  He's very gracious and shows us around the entire hacienda -- or what used to be the hacienda.  Now, part of it is his living quarters but the stables, workshops and storage houses have all been repurposed into village housing. His "office" was most interesting and done out as a barn with hay stacks to sit on, paper cut outs hanging from the ceiling, a bar with candy and cookies, a barrel with popcorn and a door which led to a dance floor. We sensed that this was not an everyday parish.

To find former haciendas, first look for the church bells and the church, because each hacienda had its own church on the hacienda grounds.

The clocks on this clock tower couldn't agree on the time.

The interior of the church...

and the next series of photos are of the priest's "office".

The priest showing us a hidden cellar in his "office".

From tiny tazas to bigger tazas, this wall in the priest's house has them all...

along with a display of the good china.

This ornate piece of pottery was for water with the "tazas" attached.

These next two photos show the priest in his dining room.

During the hacienda period, each hacienda had to function as a completely self sufficient entity.  Most had mills, and many had forges and coopers.  The majority of haciendas were engaged in agriculture (corn, sugar cane, hemp), cattle or mining.  But in each case they had to produce all the food and products that they needed in-house with very occasional trips to a city.

We visited two more haciendas that day.The second most interesting one was one we didn't even know existed.  While trying to find one hacienda in the town, the GPS took us to another -- which was strange since it was only a ruin.  We finally sorted out that it was the same hacienda in that both properties were owned by one family.  The one we found was smaller than the other and adjacent to a rail line so had probably been an offshoot of the first used to hold animals or products coming from or to market.  It was not that unusual for hacienda owners to possess more than one hacienda  --which didn't endear them to the common folk.  If you want to read a really terrific book (novel) that combines a description of hacienda life with Mexican mysticism pick up The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia.

Some haciendas have been long abandoned and allowed to slowly deteriorate.

However this mural has somehow managed to remain largely intact.

Some parts of the old hacienda seem to defy gravity.

This statue was inside of Rangers BBQ, where we stopped for lunch.

The owner had spent a considerable amount of time in Texas & served real Texas BBQ.

The most interesting part of the third hacienda was the church...

with its ornately flowered tribute to the Virgin of Guadalupe.

We were not only given a tour of the church, ...

but also the sacristy where we were shown these antique monstrances.

One of the monstrances was dated 1910, the year of the Mexican Revolution.

Fire On The Mountain

May and early June are the driest of the dry months in Ajijic.  The mountains are brown and combustible and almost everything is covered with a layer of dust.  It is not our most attractive time of year.  Every year there are fires before the start of rainy season in Mid June and, in typical Mexican fashion, they are allowed to burn out unless they threaten people, buildings or livestock. We've never had a fire close to us-- before.  For several days we had been monitoring the fires (multiple) that were nestled between the two sets of mountains in back of our village.  We bought water and supplies for the fire fighters and hoped for the best.  In Mexico, firefighting is not left to the professionals because there aren't enough professionals.  As the fire began to encroach on the village the word went out and hundreds of villagers went up the mountains dragging sand, shovels etc.  Just getting up these mountains is an act of courage -- particularly in the dark.

So, one night Michael and I were watching TV when our buzzer rang.  Michael went to the door and a neighbor yelled that the fire had crested the mountain and was headed towards us.  We gathered the passports, documents etc and were about to leave when our son Alex (who lives about a mile away) called to say that it looked like the villagers had beaten it back.  Our gardener had been up fighting the fire and had badly gashed his hand on razor wire.  He apologized that he wasn't fully functional.  We thanked him for working the fire.  There is no such thing as "not my job" here.  Refreshing.

The helicopter with its bucket flying to the lake to get water.

Where are the Maori?

We read, much to our amazement,  that a contingent of Maori were coming to town.  It was quite unclear WHY Maori were venturing from New Zealand to Ajijic but we have learned to go with the flow here.  It was alleged that we would be treated to a concert by the Maori on the Malecon on Sunday.  Well, having grown fond of the Maori during our time in NZ, we hustled ourselves right down there to partake of this stunning cross cultural event.

Well, there were no Maoris.  At least none that we could identify.  There were many vaguely, and overtly, hippy Mexicans who played lovely songs which all revolved around our/their love for and reverence for the Lake.  Maybe the Maoris came to worship the Lake?

 We'll never know because no one even MENTIONED the Maoris.  Not a word.   However, it was a lovely afternoon and the music was good.  The only distraction was the helicopter that kept swooping down over us to scoop water to pour on the infernos taking place behind us in the mountains. (See above entry)  But, no worries (oh, that's Aussie talk not New Zealandish).

Even though we did not see any Maoris, we did get free entertainment.

We also got a glimpse of some interesting characters.

A delightful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

We also saw some individuals in indigenous dress strolling along the malecon...

and this beautiful tree in full bloom.

So.  That's it for now.  After a quiet (for us) first half of the year things start to rev up now.  Off to Queretaro next weekend to look at kayaks and enjoy the town.  And then  we'll be off to Flagstaff and Sedona in a couple of weeks, on to  Hawaii and Japan in Sept/Oct and to the Copper Canyon in Northern Mexico in November.  So, much grist for the blog mill we hope.   Have a great summer.  Take care.

We thought we would leave you with two pictures of our beautiful green mountains, now that "rainy" season has arrived.

While Deirdre was in the pool, this dragonfly decided to perch on one of our plants near our dragonfly light on the wall.

Deirdre called to me and the dragonfly hung around to pose for his picture while I got my camera.

What Ever Happened to the Searles?

We are still alive.  That is the big news.  Basically, not a lot has happened in the last four months or so.  That is largely because we have been chained to the house as an endless succession of workmen toil to expand, enhance or repair the abode.  This project began in November (just about when we fell off the blogging wagon) with promises that it would "wrap" by Christmas.  Perhaps Christmas of 2019.  Perhaps.  As I type, the painter is hard at work (exterior and some interior), the all purpose guys are tiling the couch.  Okay.  I'll stop there since it sounds weird.  In Mexico some couches have a concrete base and you put cushions on them.  We discovered that the couch, being below ground level in the casita, suffers from moisture weeping upwards (where is gravity when you need it?) thus ruining the cushions.  After consulting numerous professionals the only solution we are told is tiling the top of the bottom of the couch.  Oh, we'll just put in a picture.  Beyond these folks, the aluminum man is due to bring the dog door to fit in the screens of the newly enclosed sunroom.  Chico (Alex's dog) had previously created his own dog door by merely careening through the screen.  Then the electrician is due.  Then the plumber.  So, you get it.  All of this construction joy is further enhanced by the highly flexible attitude towards time displayed by our local craftsmen.  Oh, I think I forgot the termites in the kitchen cabinets.  So, I bet you are feeling pretty good about your place now.

The newly finished back of the house. Still missing the water wall to the far right of the outdoor terrace and a second fountain on the lower level.

Our newly tiled casita couch...

with the newly covered cushions installed.  
There are cushions for the back -- just not on there yet.

Our new indoor, enclosed sunroom with its view of the lake and the mountains.

A Quick Recap of the Holidays

Thanksgiving:

My... it has been a long time since we blogged. For Thanksgiving we fled construction and went to Cuyatlan on the Coast.  At some point the town must have been a thriving destination.  First they had the salt industry but that went under.  Then it appears that it had a heyday (quite a few days ago) as a beach destination. Currently it looks like a wild west ghost town except with Mexican architecture and endless fish shacks on the beach. And a rather bereft Turtle sanctuary.  By my description you might infer that we were disappointed with derelict Cuyatlan but au contraire! It was so much better than slogging our way through zillions of Norte Americanos who have flown into Puerta Vallarta or Cancun fighting and scrabbling for their square meter of sand.   In Cuyatlan we were an exotic breed and a source of genuine glee as the citizens celebrated that Gringos had come to their quiet oasis. True, the house was a little worse for wear (the ocean takes it's toll) but it was right on the Black Sand Beach and had a beautiful pool and excellent outdoor living space.  And best of all, you could throw open the gates to the beach and see...... no one.  It's not that we are misanthropes but...OK,
maybe we are.

The Pacific is not very pacific at Cuyutlan & thus not conducive to swimming in the ocean. 

Chico Rico exploring the black sand beach on his first trip to the ocean.

One of the many outdoor restaurants lining the beach at Cuyutlan.

The Cacophony of Christmas and Assorted Other Holidays of Winter

There is no Silent Night in Mexico.  Oh, the song exists but I mean it literally.  After our return from the Cuyatlan not a night passed without a variety of extraordinarily loud events.  We  "enjoyed" a nine day and night celebration of the village's patron St. Andres. Actually it went a little longer this year since there was a hurricane off the Coast that dumped a bunch of rain impacting the revelries. Life is such here that rather than saying:  "Oh well, tough luck.  Back to work," they just extended the festival until they were tired out.  On the heels of this extended fiesta it was time for the day of veneration of the Virgin of Guadalupe  (Dec. 12th) with cajotes, fireworks and castillos of exploding who knows what.  Then came the period of the Posadas in which Jesus and Mary (kids) ride a burro around the village seeking shelter.  This was mercifully low key and the kids are very cute as they all follow M&J around singing carols. We were very disappointed to find out that they have discontinued the live Nativity Scenes at the Church due to growing general disillusionment and bad blood between the curates and populace.  Justin flew in from LA and a good visit was had by all.

Let's Move into Spring

We have devoted a fair amount of time to monitoring and acting on our incipient decrepitude.  Not to bore you but: 1) trip to Dallas to find new knees for Michael; 2) Crown for Deirdre; 3) Cataract Surgery for Michael; 4) CT Scan and Stress Test and Echo Stress Test for Deirdre; 5) Tooth extraction for Michael..  I mean what else is there to amuse you during construction? Short form, we are both fine however it does appear that maintenance demands increase at a steady rate.

While in Dallas we had an opportunity to visit the Dallas Botanical Gardens.

The Super Bloom and  Other Fun Stuff

Found a good deal on Volaris so we decided to go visit #1 son in Los Angeles for a few weeks in March.  Since he works all week, we take mid-week trips out of LA and then head back to spend weekends with him.  This time it was San Diego and Palm Springs.  What we hadn't counted on was that inadvertently (and fortuitously) we had booked the weeks when the Super Bloom was happening all over Southern California.  It's amazing what a ten year drought followed by excessive rain can do for frustrated wild flowers.  After years of poor conditions they had been marshaling their strength for an all-out bloom fest.

In San Diego, we went to the Glider Port and then to Balboa Park which we had not thoroughly explored on our first trip.  You may remember that I was disappointed that I didn't get to see the cannibal exhibit last time as it was closed for a private party (that's creepy).  Well, the exhibit was still there! After numerous trips to countries that "explained" their cannibal-prone pasts, I couldn't wait to hear what politically correct and ridiculous excuses the esteemed Museum of Man would fabricate to justify eating your fellow man (woman or child as well).  They went to great lengths to point out that:  1) Europeans like to be cannibals as much as Pacific Islanders; 2)  It can be a very religious thing; 3) It can be a very warrior thing; 4) Sometimes you just want a little elbow or thigh to munch on.  The only explanation that made sense (at least to me) was when: 1)You suffered a disaster (plane crash/shipwreck); 2) there were dead folk anyway; 3) You decided rationally that it was the only way to survive and; 4) You felt bad about it.  You might want to have a lively debate on the ethics of cannibalism at dinner this evening.  On to cheerier topics!

You can see the mist rising from the water below at Torrey Pines.

Another black sand beach below Torrey Pines.  Yes, Kent.  It is the elusive beach.

A paraglider at Torrey Pines.

On top of the Super Bloom it was Cherry Blossom season at the Japanese Garden in the Park.  It was beautiful but we had failed to note that entrance to the Garden is free to San Diego residents on the fourth Tuesday of each month.  As the photos will attest, the glamour of the cherry blossoms was somewhat diminished by having to thrash your way through innumerable strollers, walkers and selfie-takers.  But still impressive.

This will give you an idea of the number of people in the Japanese Garden.

The cherry blossoms were magnificent...

as well as the other flowers in bloom...

and the koi in the pond.

No Japanese garden is complete without bonsai.

These pictures of the cherry blossoms speak for themselves.

Across from Balboa Park is another magnificent area.

To The Desert!

We were still in San Diego but the forecast said rain so Michael sagely suggested that we head to the desert -- specifically the Anza Borrego desert.  He had his heart set on hiking a slot canyon there.  I made it about 3/4 of the way into the slot when slipping on scree became unappealing to me and I retreated.  Michael did the whole thing and loved it. Little did we know that Anza Borrego was the epicenter of the Super Bloom.  This will be a long blog, so I'm relying on the pictures to demonstrate what we are talking about.

A picture from above looking at the slot canyon.

Even here the flowers were blooming.

The water running through the slot canyon during rainstorms carves out the rock creating interesting formations.

These next two photos will give you an idea of the narrowness of the slot canyon. There were portions which required going sideways to slip through the narrow slot.

More wildflowers.

This arch was formed when the one rock collapsed onto the other rock face of the canyon.

Another narrow passageway with an interesting formation on the right.

After the Slot Canyon we visited the Anza Borrego visitors center where the cactus were in bloom.

Lake Elsinore

We didn't go there even though the poppy bloom was phenomenal.  We didn't go because on NPR they had the Mayor of the town (almost in tears) begging people to stay away.  Here's a rough approximation of what he said: "Please, I beg you -- don't come.  We can't bus all of you and the cars are grid-locked.  People are lying in the fields taking selfies and ruining all the flowers.  We can't get more food into town for the restaurants.  Please, don't come."  What I love about California is that even a beautiful expression of nature's bounty can turn into a disaster.  Michael will insert a photo of some poppies we did see -- but nothing like Lake Elsinore.

A Strange, Great Coincidence

Several weeks before our trip I was talking to my good friend Betsy from Boston and we were comparing upcoming events.  "Oh, we're going to Palm Springs to see my brother," said Betsy.
"That's funny," I said. "We're going there too."  Turned out we were going on exactly the same dates and neither of us had any prior idea what the other was doing.

We had never spent time in Palm Springs so wanted to do it full Mid-Century Modern.  Thus we stayed at the Ocotillo Lodge which has a giant pool shaped like a champagne cork.  Quirky.  We did all the drive around looking at Rat Pack and Elvis mid-century getaways, but once again we were awed by the profusion of wildflowers.  In vacant lots, parking lots, meadows -- just everywhere.

This was Elvis Presley's mid-century modern house in Palm Springs.

Another mid-century modern house on our tour of Palm Springs.

Cabot's Pueblo Museum

Thanks to Atlas Obscura, we ended up at Cabot's Pueblo Museum.  Absolutely fascinating -- the man and museum.  I'm a sucker for those early 1900 adventurers/travelers/renaissance people and Cabot Yerxa fit the mold. A distant Cabot (i.e. Boston) relative, he started working in his father's grocery store at six and was managing it at 15.  At 16, he announced that he wanted to go to Alaska but his father convinced him to wait until he was 17.  Using his savings, he bought cigars at 5 cents and sold them to Gold Miners for $5 each.  During this period, he stayed with the Inuits learning to hunt and survive as they did.  He learned their language and published the first dictionary of Inuit.  He returned to his family and the family moved to Cuba when he was 19.  They thought that the U.S. would end up with Cuba...but no.  So they went to California and started a citrus grove and expanded it.  The freeze of 1913 ended that.  The next year he obtained a homestead in the desert that he had to live on for four years.  But then Europe beckoned and he studied painting and traveled.  And then, in 1930 he returned to the desert, discovered Desert Hot Springs and began building his Pueblo totally with material he found in the desert.  His wife left.  Little wonder.  OK. Enough.  Now for pictures.

This 35 room pueblo hand built by Cabot Yerxa definitely pre-dated the mid-century modern era.

This carved statue on the property was amazing...

particularly the detail you can see in the eyes in this close up shot.

The pueblo and out buildings defined rustic.

This graces the entrance to the pueblo.

This statue carved by a Native American depicts his view of the "white man".

We didn't see any but Deirdre was ever vigilant (phobia #2)....but also brave.

The Babies

These were weird -- and delightful.  Our friends Barbara and Allan had seen them in Prague where the Babies were climbing up a 719 foot TV tower.  They were just playing in a sandbox in Palm Springs.  They are fenced off because their little fiberglass bodies can give you quite a burn in the desert sun. Each one weighs over 200 pounds and, if you can see it, their faces are all barcodes. Which, I'm sure has some relevance to our all being commodities but I was drinking a Bloody Mary and was not inclined to ponder it deeply.

The babies in their sandbox...

with this one on the wall.

A close up of the face showing the bar code.

We had a great time in Palm Springs.  Lots of good talk, good food and good times with Betsy and Fred.  Walks through the wildflowers at Joshua Tree Park.  A day soaking in the Hot Springs.  Palm Springs is a bit like the Mexican coast.  A gorgeous place from December to March-ish but a towering inferno the rest of the year.

Wild flowers around Palm Springs and in Joshua Tree.

Our Los Angeles Adventures

As I mentioned, weekends were spent with Justin in the LA area.  One day we drove to the Angeles Forest about 60 miles outside of the city.  We walked in snow for the first time in seven years (longer for Justin).  Yep, it's still snow. Feels the same -- cold.   They had so much snow that there were still roads closed.

Justin always finds new and fascinating places in LA to take us. This is The Last Bookstore.

In addition to all of the books, it has amazing displays.

The space was previously a bank...

and the bank vaults are still put to good use.

Wall art is alive & well in downtown LA.

Justin also showed us this quirky little alley in downtown LA.

We finally went to the Griffith Observatory.  We had tried numerous times but it is virtually impossible to park without having to walk uphill for a LONG way.  We solved that by going at 8AM.  It is quite foggy and overcast at 8AM diminishing the view to about 200 feet. Live and learn.  Not going back.

If you are up for an invigorating hike, you can hike up to the Observatory.

We also went to the Skirball Center to see a photo exhibit.  I, of course, got the date wrong and there was no photo exhibit.  But the Center was impressive and gave a very in-depth look at Jewish life in America over the centuries.  At many points, the exhibits pointed out the tolerance and equality that Jews had found in America.  Recent events make me worry that we have not yet reached the end of anti-semitism.  No politics Deirdre.  They have an  exhibit called Noah's Ark which is an absolute must see for any kid under the age of 12.  Naturally, the three of us loved it as it hit our mental ages quite accurately.  Just look at the photos.

Some of the exhibits in the Skirbal were photo worthy.

However the Noah's Ark exhibit proved more intriguing.

The whole Ark is interactive and kids are climbing and pulling levers that move things and sliding down shutes.  So picture all of these animals moving.

Once again Justin managed to find the quirkiest vintage clothing store designed to attract your attention.

Au Revoir for Now

I know  I've skipped stuff but this is REALLY long.  We promise to be more timely (and concise). Happy Spring to you all.  Take care.