ROAD BLOG AHEAD

So now people around here think these gringas are *really* nuts! We rescued a baby mouse yesterday and are nursing it. It’s not a pinkie, it has very fine downy grey fur, but definitely a baby, not yet eyes opened.Probably under a week old.

It fell out of its nest in the terra cotta tiles of the ceiling in the froggy bathroom outside the kitchen. With it’s brother. The nest was probably just too close to the edge. They kept falling out. Twice Lena climbed a ladder and put them back in the nest. Trini thought we were kinda weird for rescuing mice, but indulged us with the ladder. We could hear mama mouse chittering up there and Lena could feel the nest so she popped em back in. The third time however, we found him and his brother on the floor. Bro was stone cold dead - probably from hypothermia, so we did mantra for him and I buried him under the lillies in the courtyard. But the other little guy was pretty lively once he warmed up in my hand. Feisty. So we figured he had enough of a chance and decided to try to save him. Putting him back up a third time didn’t seem like a very good option.

We gave him diluted evap milk and carried him around in the warmth of our hands for several hours and he was still alive. Checked web sites - it sounded iffy since we don’t know how old he is and he seems pretty tiny. But… he did take liquid - I got a dilution of rescue remedy into him right off and then we mixed some homemade electrolyte mixture and he took a few drops of that. And, bingo! he got even livlier and started acting hungry and alert. Right now, in lieu of a heating pad, I’ve turned the receiver box for the satellite internet on Tom’s desk on its side and have him wrapped in a cushy soft dishtowel nest on top of it where it’s slightly warm - not hot, not even real warm, but enough to keep a baby mouse warm. That’s where he spent the night.

We fed him at 2 a.m. and then again at 6 and 10 am and every few hours throughout the day. By this morning he was stronger and even more alert so we’re pretty sure he’s gonna make it if we can keep feeding him for a few days. So I ran around town this afternoon and found a can of puppy milk replacement (which is basically what you use to feed orphaned mammals. I mean, I got the ONLY can in town I think and it’s probably enough to keep every mouse on the planet nursing for the next 2 years, but it’s all there was available. We looked up the chemical formulas for mouse milk and then made the formula of this powder up accordingly.

Seems to be doing the little critter well. He’s obviously grown since last night and is crawling now, trying to walk, but not quite making it, but very mobile and trying to explore his environment.He’s already got us trained - there’s a noise he makes when he wants food, a kind of tiny clicking and he reaches,nuzzles and tries to suck. Like all baby mammals.

He appears to be sleeping, breathing steadily and laying on his side. So we’ll see. That’s today’s drama in the house o’ mommy wizards.

We went to the circus tonight!

I haven’t been to a circus like this since I was a very little kid. Forget Ringling Brothers or even Cirque du Soleil. This was a traveling circus in Mexico with a real tent and tent poles, a single ring and about a dozen or so people who all did everything from rigging to performance to making announcements to hawking toys and candy during the intermission. I doubt any of them were much over 20 years old and most of them were in their mid-teens.

No, it wasn’t fancy - all the ropes and equipment, all the scene changes and all were visible to the audience. The bleachers were rickety as hell and I sincerely doubt if any of the performers were insured against injury. Dirt floor and all.

There were really simple animal acts: a dancing camel, a miniature horse, monkeys, a small bramha bull and others. There were three girls who looked about 13 dressed in modest arabian nights costumes who danced. There were acrobats and high wire acts. One of the high wire performers I really would have loved to take home and put in my swing yummmy. The other was a guy dressed as SpiderMan who did high wire tricks ala superheroes. Clown acts in Spanish. Dancers and tumblers and balancing acts and the really basic, traditional stuff. We had so much fun. It was real, it was honest, it was what a circus IS in my head. I loved it. Lena loved it. We had cotton candy and popcorn for dinner and bought a bag of fresh churros as we were leaving to eat with a glass of milk at home for dessert. Bad girls, but happy little kids!

What made me especially happy was an accident. It really was the old kind of circus tent with opening flaps all around. There was an official exit and most people filed out that way. Except, naturally, Lena just ducked under a flap and vanished as she is so wont to do. I waited a minute and she didn’t reappear so I stuck my head out and called her. Nope. I stepped outside into the cool night air and didn’t see her. But there was movement in the area to my right, under a canopy of tarps in the darkness. So I went over that way. No people there. None at all, I might as well have been out in the middle of the high desert. Except for the animals. An enormous, beautiful, sleek horse was staked in the middle of the enclosure. He looked me over for a minute, gave me a sniff, shrugged and went back to eating. Movement off to my right made me turn.

There, in a too-small enclosure, were a pair of beautiful, glossy, young-looking pumas, large wild cats of the local sort. Literally close enough to touch if I wanted to take the risk. I squatted beside them and we looked at each other. They seemed quite happy actually, like well-fed kittens. Their whole vibe was friendly and not the least bit nervous or defensive. I started talking to them and they came as close as they could get, looking for all the world like oversized pussy cats.

Now, I know better than to try to pet a creature of that sort, no matter how friendly they seemed. I have too much respect for such cats to assume they are anything other than as dangerous as they are beautiful and innocent of malice. I mostly looked and felt to see if they seemed happy and were well groomed and well fed. I picked upp no sense of discontent except they would have preferred more space more of the time. I talked to them softly, telling them how beautiful they were. When I spoke in Spanish and called the most attentive one a beautiful kitten, I kid you not, he made a happy noise and rolled over on his back against the fence in the classic posture of a cat asking to have it’s belly rubbed. Not reaching in and doing just that took willpower, let me tell you. They were just lovely! I couldn’t believe they were simply in these flimsy enclosures, about 10 feet from the road with nobody at all watching them. In the U.S. I can’t imagine that every happening in these days of crazy lawsuits. In Mexico, if someone was stupid enough to reach into a wildcat’s cage and lost a hand, there would be no likelihood of them suing and, if they did, no likelihood of winning. You’re free to act like an idiot - on your own time and nickle.

A nose behind the cats drew me deeper ito the shadows where I met a small black bear, the sort I used to encounter frequently as a child up in the North Woods of Wisconsin while berry picking. Not that they can’t be fierce too, but they aren’t huge and aren’t terribly aggressive and can be downright good humored if they don’t have cubs. I hunkered down again and had a chat with Mr. Bear. He was also somewhat displeased at the lack of freedom to roam about, but otherwise seemed fairly content and relaxed. All the animals appeared to be in great health.

Eventually I wandered out of the enclosure and past some of the rather astonished looking circus people who then became in rather a hurry to usher me out to the front to help me find my missing friend. And there was Lena next to the churro seller. Although we needed more sweets like we needed a dorsal fin, we bought a bag of his fresh churros, something we both love. They are a kind of long, skinny fried donut coated with sugar and, often, cinnamon as well. At 6 for 10 pesos (under $1) how could I possibly resist?

We also spotted an eagle today. We were laying in the pool actually talking about birds and the different kinds we’ve seen in San Miguel. I saw a huge, dark form appear and said, oh look! Definitely an eagle and a huge one. He came in from the southwest direction, circled over us once, dipped low for a second as though waving hello or letting us make a positive identification and then soared away back into the sky and out of sight. This is definitely the kind of thing I am really going to miss back in Berkeley - the four-leggeds and wingeds with whom we share this world. This place is so rich in life and so full of variety. I haven’t seen praying mantises since I was a kid. Today I surprised one sitting on my left breast (or maybe he surprised me more.) All the bugs are colorful, amazingly lovely. The other day, in the pool, I rescued an insect that looked exactly like a ladybug except instead of red, its body was brilliant, shining metallic gold. Just gorgeous.

Okay, I’m nodding so I’d better head to bed. It’s midnight and I have another root canal scheduled for ten am in the morning. Better get myself rested

We just got back from running around all day. First to the organic farm for fantastic veggies - I’m really getting good at knowing the names for everything in Spanish LOL! And how to say things like “two bunches of red chard and two of yellow, plus do you have any of that basil we got last month?” Things they just don’t teach you in high school! She has the best lettuce! Anyway, we met someone there (for the second time) and got to talking. An English gal named Esther who I’d had a good hit on the first time we met. Today I found out why. We were talking about where we live, etc. and we mentioned la Cineguita. When we finally were able to describe to her exactly which house, she exclaimed, “but that’s the house the Buddhist guy bought, isn’t it?” So we explained that yeah, we were here for awhile and Lena has known Tom for 30 years since she lived in the caves. Anyway, Esther is a dharma person - or at least wishes to learn more - and was just about beside herself with excitement to meet us, to possibly get to meet Tom, etc. and make these connections. She’s bought land down here (near the organic farm) and is hoping to build on it, is living there, etc. A fun person, close to our age and seems to have similar attitudes and values. We exchanged numbers and she’ll probably come over on Sunday once all the dental insanity is done. From my perspective, I see good lines on knowing a people down here other than Tom who are permanent residents and those who don’t necessarily live at Tom’s level of wealth - that is, those who are our peers. I want to be able to come back to San Miguel without Tom being our only possibility. Yeah, we may indeed stay or visit here at Casa Lorena, Tom’s a great guy and we love him, but just having those other options changes the dynamics. It opens this whole area up to our possible choices rather than limiting it to his hospitality. And I think that’s a good thing. There are times we might want to visit down here when he has a house full. I’ve got no problem pitching a tent on someone’s back field - I LIKE having a maid, but I don’t NEED one. I enjoy people like Katalina and Akeo next door who are interesting, funky, creative and definitely NOT rich.

After that we went to the pharmacy to pick up pain meds and then to the dentist who I’ve come to adore. I’ll tell you, the amount we have saved on absolutely necessary dental work by having it done here rather than in the states has paid for our plane tickets down at least twice over. I mean, I’ve had full mouth x-rays, a cleaning and deep-scaling from hell, an hour plus examination, THREE root canals, reconstruction and posts on those 3 teeth and one more saved from a root canal by fancy drilling, filing, filling and prepping for a crown. Total, about $1600 US. Even at cheap rates in SF, that would have come to at least $4000.00 US. Lena’s costs will total about the same here and the savings will be about the same. I’ve got more work to be done and WILL come back when I can, but she’s got all the stuff that could cause me grief while on the road - everything else is a “round to it” kinda work. Nothing has hurt AND she’s cute as hell. Smart, funny, decent enough English that, between her English and my Spanish we are constantly cracking each other up making puns and jokes.

After la dentista we went to this really incredible panaderia we found on San Antonio and then on to Gigante for groceries. Our place to buy decent coffee wasn’t open today so we’re a tad bit desperate! Well, we’re back to Dra. Laura tomorrow for more work so I guess we’ll try again for coffee then. There’s a kind of county fair nearby and, if we have enough energy after dental work and coffee shopping, it would be fun to run through there. We drove by today and it wasn’t open yet. There was a tent with a mesh front in which were displayed relatively healthy and relaxed looking animals - a camel, a bear, a llama and a whole bunch of little brown monkeys. Apparently it’s a cross between a county fair, a livestock show, a circus and a carnival. Tomorrow is the last day though so I’m hoping we make it. The little kid in me would like that.

Came home and was waylaid in the garage by Trini, the houseman, who asked me for a favor. Seems people around here (both the gringos and the young Mexicans) have come to think I know computers and what to do with them and his son’s computer (bought for him by Tom so he can get a hand up in education) was having problems. He couldn’t get anything to print and he needed this paper for school. Would I come try to take a look and fix it? Well, of course I said yes, but inwardly I was groaning since printer problems have always been my bete noir. So I went over and sat down and began trying to decipher spanish computer terminology. Fortunately Windows is Windows and I could take an educated guess at what the menus and pop ups were saying. The error messages were another matter, but my language was surprisingly up to it. And, for whatever reason, Alfredo’s inkjet printer had uninstalled itself. The system simply couldn’t see it. Hardware was fine, connections were fine, all the usual yadda yadda. I figured the driver had gone into the etheric. So the biggest problem was finding the disk with the &)(&%) driver on it! Alfredo kept handing me CDs and saying “is this it?” and no, it was always something utterly different. Finally I spotted an empty CD envelope and went AHA! I betcha… Popped open the CD drive. Nope. Scratched my head. Popped open the DVD player and BINGO! THere, rather uselessly, was the printer driver CD, hiding from us. From that point on it was only a matter of trying to translate the various instructions and questions for reinstallation of printer and driver and aligning the print cartridges. My Spanish is NOT technical. Or rather, it wasn’t, but it’s now getting there - my computer vocabulary doubled this afternoon LOL!

They were very inpressed at the photo quality test pic of a bowl of fruit that came out as part of the alignment and test print. But even happier to see Alfredo’s school paper chugging its way out of the printer! So, between that and having gotten my own laptop system (more or less) functioning again, I seem to be today’s computer guru around here!

This is a good thing because there does NOT appear to be anyone in San Miguel who knows much about hardware. I’m not exactly a hardware whiz (though I have put together systems) on the level of Nyondo or others I know out there. I grok the basics. But, when my system started acting up and I asked around the ppeople who have computers, I got a couple of recommendations. Then I tried to explain the problem and discovered that there are a few software savvy folks but that I was already talking WAAAAAY over everyone’s head when I started discussing swapping out batteries, interchangeable device bays, thumb drives and having a spare operating system on a usb hard drive in an enclosure. Eyes glazed over and eventually it became obvious that there isn’t anyone around here with more tech resources than I already have. Which is how I ended up figuring out Alfredo’s printer problem!

Anyway, came home and made a dinner involving some leftover chicken mole, mushrooms, spaghetti squash and a big green salad. I am really going to miss the organic farm when we go back as well as the fresh eggs from the lady down the road. I’ve also become addicted to a grapefruit drink that I don’t think is available in the US but has turned out to be an excellent source of electrolytes and keeps me from getting too dehydrated in this climate. However, I WILL be glad to get back to the land of lattes on every corner

More dentist tomorrow. And Weds. And Friday. Sigh.

One of those gorgeous, perfect sunny days again. Eighty two degrees F, blue skies, cows grazing contentedly in the fields, little sheepies baa-ing across the way, even the birdies tweeting merrily in the mesquite trees. Much too nice to sit and sulk about menstrual cramps. Between us, we went through our luggage and dug up a single elderly tampon and I spent the afternoon in the (equally perfect) swimming pool.

I remember when we first arrived in San Miguel, I thought it was a really big deal when I first managed 10 laps in the swimming pool. That’s 200 metres, not shabby but, since I wasn’t trying to break any speed records, not exactly a major athletic achievement, not impressive to anyone other than myself the slug whose usual exercise routine consists of pushing the plunger down on the french press and walking back into the other room for a second cuppa. I figured I got enough of a workout during sex that it counted for something.

I love swimming though, love the feel of my arms reaching and pulling me forward through the water. And it’s the only sport I know of where you actually feel cleaner when you’re finished than when you began. I enjoy bicycling a lot too, but hate being all sweaty when I get home. So having a swimming pool in the back yard has been wonderful for me.

For the longest time, my daily goal was 20 consecutive laps. It was a pretty good aerobic workout and, if I did it consistently, I was seeing definite improvements in my body tone and muscle mass.Then a few weeks ago I upped the ante and went for 30. And reached 40. Occasionally I’d spend the afternoon paddling about and, one day I managed 50+ laps, albeit in an extremely desultory fashion over the course of several hours.

The sun is setting earlier and it gets chilly by early evening. Once the breeze kicks up, it’s no longer so pleasant to sit and dry off in the warm air. So I’m having a bit less time every day for swimming and I decided that, if I’m going to increase my exercise levels, it meant increasing my speed so that, not only do I get a more vigorous workout, I can get more laps done in a shorter time. So I’ve been upping the speed of my laps. Today I timed myself and was pleased that my first 20 laps took 12 minutes at my best speed. I also timed a single lap and it came in at 33 seconds for a 20 metre lap at my fastest. I’m pretty pleased with that (not that I’m going to win any competitions.) Remember, I’m fat, fifty and asthmatic and we’re at an altitude of more than a mile above sea level here! Anyway, I broke my own record this afternoon with 70 laps. My math says that’s 1400 metres or 1.4 kilometres! Yay! Feels terrific. Wonder how it’ll feel to get back down to sea level, if doing all the exercise at altitude will make me feel even more energetic when I’m back at my usual place?

I’m thinking of various ways to continue this once I’m back in the Bay Area. I’ve never been good about going to the gym, even when I’ve had memberships. I don’t mind the exercise part, it’s the going back and forth that I never get around to. But just maybe I’ll make that effort this time if there’s one handy. I know that’s unlikely down in Montara where we’ll be staying much of the time. Funny thing, it’s right on the coast. I’ll be a mile from the beach. But we’re talking late October in Northern California. Even the seals don’t go in the surf up there without a wet suit in that season. Brrrrrr!!!!

The other thing is that the coast area is actually really good for riding bikes and my bike is still in storage in the Bay Area. Probably needs a tune up after sitting for 6 months, but other than that, it’s a good Bianchi and I love riding her. Bikes are another excellent form of exercise for someone like me who really needs it but has such awful bad knees that any kind of impact exercise is out of the question. I’m not even a good candidate for replacement since the damage is due to a crushing accident and, while the joints aren’t bad, the tissue around them is mostly scar tissue! Anyway, I think I’ll bring that down to Diana’s with me. If I’m really lucky, there will be a gym close enough to bike to! I sure would LOVE to continue feeling physically fit. I’m going to need this kind of strength and condition if we’re going to be going off to live in the Himalayas and I’d rather get it now, before we leave while I have some options than the hard way, struggling to get around once we’re there. Huh, who knows, maybe one of these days this asthmatic gimp will manage to get a couple thousand metres up Everestt! Would be a fun thing to aim for by my 60th birthday!

That’s not really a rhetorical question. Some days I really feel my shit (whatever that means) is together (whatever THAT means too) and other days it seems like things are unraveling. The last couple of days have been relatively “together” I think. At least I’m feeling pretty optimistic and plans and stuff seem to be falling into place.

First there’s the whole back to the Bay Area thing which was looking like a mess. Well, Lena’s cousin in Montara (below Pacifica along the coast) e-mailed to say that we’re welcome to stay there, no problem and to have the room that belongs to her son who just this week left for London for grad school. She was concerned about what to do about his small bed. Well, we have the queen sized inflatable which is portable, comfy, etc., so that solves that problem.

Then too, Lena has work at the clinic she was at before Lama came to town and the manure hit the whirleygig. They need her to take over the entire center for the first week we’re back (after her exam) then she’s got her old hours back (Tues & Weds) as well as other hours if she wants them. She can work right up to when we expect to be going up to Vancouver and then, when returning late Nov., is welcome to those hours also as the boss needs a vacation! So that’s perfect - income for her (I already have clients clamoring to see me) so we won’t have to live off savings while we’re there!

Then, today, we talked to the friend in Marin we stayed with when we fled our house with lama. Her life has just exploded and she’s having to rent out that big house and move to her little vacation house - in Hawaii. Yup. The place we stayed in in Puna. So she needed some help on stuff from us and we were able to give it. Now she has a problem sorta. She’ll be in Puna for 3 weeks and then back for 1, in Puna for 3, back for 1… and no place really to keep her car while she’s away. Oh dear. And we were wondering how the hell Lena was going to get to work from Montara… Guess we’ve got a loaner Volvo sedan . Plus, Lena was requested to come teach on the Big Island sometime in November or December for a weekend. Just when our friend will be there and would LOVE some company! So there’s a reasonable chance that the centerwill have Lena to fly over there (it’s in Hawi, only a couple of hours from Puna by car - this is the tip of the island owned by the Campbell’s soup heir guy if anyone remembers that story) Which means that we could spend a week or two with our friend in Puna in late November or December. Then we’d be back in time for Lena’s family’s holiday get togethers (usually Hannukah and Solstice get celebrated) and then up to Portland to spend the rest of the holidays with our daughter and grandson (who are moving to a biiiig house outside of Salem.) Or there’s the possibility of going to Hawaii AFTER the holidays and simply flying from Hawaii to Bangkok, staying in Bangkok a month or so and then from there to Kathmandu. In any case, there’s definitely a Pacific Northwest road trip (or hopefully two) from SF to Portland to Seattle to Vancouver and back. I’ve half got my eye on trying to land in Seattle for a conference the second week of January, but we’ll see - may have to leave town by then.

Thing is, we’ve got plenty of potentials to choose from all of a sudden. I really do rather like the notion of popping over to Hawaii on the way to Thailand and making the transition in stages (well, actually in airplanes, stages don’t handle ocean voyages too well…) Some of it will depend on whether we can locate our friends in Paris who may have tickets to Thailand and see if that’s still good and if we could get them either from or through either Kona or Hilo. The wardrobe thing for that bit is gonna be pretty strange tho: Heading through serious tropics in order to get to the Himalayas in the dead of winter. Um… layers I guess.

We’ve been planning and web surfing picking up odds and ends of things we need for traveling, replacing outdated stuff, etc. etc. Nyondo is receiving them at work. The kinds of stuff I’ve been ordering to be waiting for us back in the US is:
* new luggage for Lena (I got mine already)
* silk sleeping bag liners (we have the bags in storage)
* a really good shade type hat for me
* silk long johns for layering (my old ones are shredded)
* pajamas for us both that pack light
* wrinkle-resistant, stretch khaki’s and new jeans for both of us with lots of pockets.
* A new fold up walking cane (old one got lost during my travels)
* quick drying underwear
* extremely good walking shoes for moi
* a knee brace for moi
* ultra portable computer bits (a new fancy PDA with keyboard that will fit in a pocket so I have a backup if my laptop keeps acting up, a wet suit for Lena’s laptop, etc.)

I’ve got all sorts of other travel gadgets back home in storage: mini camp stove, kit with binoculars, compass, multitool, etc., water filter bottles, first aid kit and a really good Willis and Geiger photographer’s vest with mesh vents and about a gajillion pockets to put all the little stuff into so I can carry more onto the airplane without it being counted as luggage. I have learned, over the years, that one of those vests with pockets everywhere, hooks, snaps, etc. is one of the best possible things for traveling. It’s like a wearable suitcase only better organized! I once spent a couple of weeks wandering around Europe with only one of those vests and a day pack for luggage and it worked. So the pocket vest is a must. One of those, plus the silk undershirt (warm warm) a couple pair of pants, a few t-shirts, one sweater, underwear and socks, something to sleep in and a sarong for bathing and that’s enough to keep a person going for weeks. Now, for Nepal I’ll probably want to take my down vest too and it’s always good to have one nice set of clothes for occasions (as Lena says, dinner with the King, going to replace a lost passport, giving a lecture, etc.)But those are the essentials and a lot of what I listed (hat, cane, walking shoes, knee brace and vest) are constant wearables. Course, I try to wear all of it at once and put all the little stuff in my pockets and I really do end up looking like the Michelin Man!

I’m just glad that I’m starting to get excited about the next adventure. Means that I’ve gotten enough rest here in Mexico to have my enthusiasm back and to be ready to move on again. There’s still lots and lots of details to be worked out (how to pay for some of this stuff comes to mind first) but I’m generally optimistic that solutions are all around us.

It must be the pain meds. I really like this woman, Dra. Laura. She’s cute, she’s funny and she has great hands. And her broken English and my broken Spanish are a perfect match - Lena says we appear to be talking in our own language which nobody else quite follows but which we understand completely - we joke, we laugh, we sing. So anyway, it’s a good thing we like each other, cuz I’m seeing more of her these days than I usually do of someone I’m seriously dating! Three times this week and then three more times next week and I should have everything in good enough shape that I can safely go traveling in the middle of nowhere without the likelihood of anything flaring up unexpectedly. Which is the whole reason for doing this now. Besides, where in the US could I get three root canals plus complete reconstruction, a full set of x-rays, a 2 hour examination, deep scaling/cleaning and a bad cavity filled for something like $1500.00? While staring at a pretty woman? Who doesn’t hurt me (well, not the way I don’t like to be hurt…) So the nice doctor and I are getting to be good chums and neither Lena nor I have bit her yet!

Don’t know if I posted the photo of what constitutes a local “traffic jam” so I’ll do that here:

Today we headed for la dentista, pleased to find that the plaza at the end of the block wasn’t blocked off by a large impromptu farmer’s market (as it was yesterday) only to get down the road a fair piece and discover that the road is closed at a crucial point and the only detour available is something that can barely be dignified as a dirt track. The picture of the traffic jam above was taken a few weeks ago at an intersection on the best and widest stretch of that “track” as we were headed for the organic farm. The good news is that, having gone to the organic farm a few times, I’m familiar with that road and knew where it was leading me. So we made it to the dentist in time. More tale to come, but first…

We had a couple of hours to kill between my dental work and Lena’s cleaning at 5 pm so we went cruising around. Remember, the vehicle we’ve got use of here is this big ass Ford Explorer SUV. Great in many ways with all sorts of amenities (I like the AC, but you’ve GOT to be kidding about a video screen and VCR for the kiddies in the back seat!!!) So when I say we cruised, we really cruised! Went and found a lunch stand place and had carnitas and nopales and pickled vegetables with tortillas and then drove around some more and found an amazing little bakery with the best bread I’ve seen since coming to Mexico. Big, crusty, chewy loaves, little chewy loaves with many seeds, real croissants… we bought too much, particularly since it was lovely chewy bread and we both had dental work today, but oh well… That was supper - bread, good butter and a cup of soup. Mmmm…. Found another market that’s less enormous and overwhelming than Gigante Supermercado where we usually do our shopping and bought some much-needed groceries before heading back to the dentist’s neighborhood. Lena keeps saying that she is SOOOOO glad I’m the one driving around here as the old cobblestone streets are incredibly narrow and most corners are blind ones so you enter intersections at your own risk. If two cars need to pass, the one nearest a wide spot pulls over as far as possible to let the other go by. Which sometimes entails backing up a block. Tricky when you’re heading up or down a steep hill! I get a BIG kick out of that kind of driving. I’ve always enjoyed driving under challenging conditions: off-road tracks, twisty mountain roads or narrow cobblestone streets 300 years old. For me, it’s a weird kind of pleasure (but then I’m weird in a lot of ways doncha know?)

So find my way back through town (at rush hour) to the dentist’s neighborhood, stop for coffee and then take Lena in to see her. All goes well. I fell in love with the music being played in the office - a singer named Tania Libertad whom I will have to check out further.

So… back home. And, yup, the detour is still there (probably will be for awhile) and so we head down the funky, muddy track. It’s about wide enough for a VW bug to go easily. We pass a big honking dump truck that pulled over too far and fell in the ditch and is up to its axle in mud. The driver and a rural cop are shaking their heads at it. About 40 yards on ahead the road really narrows further. And now there is oncoming traffic. LOTS of it. I pull over as far as I can, considering the road is edged with first a mound of dirt a foot high which dips immediately into a muddy culvert out of which springs a mass of barbed wire fence, brambles and cactus. The other driver shakes his head to indicate he can’t get by me (well, I could in his place, but then…) He waves at me to back up, not realizing that the nearest place that’s wider is the same patch of road where the truck has gone into the ditch. AND there’s now a car behind me. Finally, after much gesturing on everyone’s part, HE gets it and backs up. I start backing up. He stops, I stop, the waving starts again, he backs up, I back up, etc. etc. etc. until, finally, we’re near the disabled truck and it’s marginally wider. So the other guy goes around me (and the guy behind me) as does the rest of the oncoming traffic, maybe a dozen cars. Cool. Put the SUV in drive and go forward. To exactly the narrow spot I last met oncoming traffic. And… yup… more oncoming traffic. So we go through the game again.

Now, I might have gotten stubborn at that point and let THEM do the backing up except that the second vehicle in the line is… a bus. Yup. Full-sized municipal bus. I’ve always marveled at how they manage these roads single file. Now I get to play chicken with one. So yeah, I (and guy behind me) back up again. I pull over so far that Lena is doing mantra under her breath as we rise up onto the mound of earth designed to keep us from the ditch. She rolls up her window as the better part of a cactus and the flowers from a stand of Jerusalem artichokes attempt to crawl into her lap.

The truck goes past. Now… the bus. I can see there’s just room for the two of us. My concern is the side mirrors. If they are at the same level, we’re doomed as, with the mirrors, my vehicle and the bus are wider than the road. slowly, slowly and, with about a centimetre to spare, the mirrors pass each other. I can see the pores on the driver’s nose as he flashes me a grin and a victory sign. After that, the cars behind him are nothing. They pass and, the INSTANT they’re past, Lena yells “GO!” and I gun her and charge down that road as fast as I dare until I can see the next wide place. Now it’s someone else’s turn to wait for me there as I go by. He glares at the gringa who dares to take priority on his road, but by then I don’t give a shit. I’m more worried about not hitting the stupid dogs that come charging out of a yard into my path. Manage to miss them and finally see the orange tape that signals a return to the “road”. Whee!!!! After that, the mostly paved two lane road seems positively luxurious, I can do it in my sleep by now.

Oooo, sleep! That sounds like a really, really good thing. Maybe I’ll go get myself some of that after an action packed day. There’s thunder in the distance, but Lena and I have promised each other that we’re going to spend the afternoon in the pool come hell, high water or tropical storms

Well, I survived two root canal surgeries and enough novocaine that it feels weird when I try to shut my eyes. NOT an experience I want to repeat even though the endodontist was really good and quite gentle. Now that feeling is starting to return, one side feels completely normal and okay, but the other side (where they had to actually trim some bone) aches like hell. And this is just the first half. At least two more like this, plus the reconstructions, etc. etc.

Added to it all, we woke up this morning to discover that there was some kind of mercado and fiesta taking place in the plaza. The plaza that is our ONLY entrance and exit from here! So we left in a hurry thinking we might not get out if we waited. Wasn’t too awful, but we figured it would be worse coming back so we arranged with a neighbor on the other side of the plaza to leave the car there until this shindig is over. Except, when we got close, we found that the route is NOT blocked anymore. It was a mess this morning while everyone was setting up but, now that it’s set and the stalls are full and lined up, it’s possible to drive (albeit slowly and carefully to avoid children, dogs and stray vegetables) through the center of the mercado and up to our little bit of road.

I’m relieved because we have to go back to the dentist tomorrow for more work. Me for the post-root canal reconstruction and Lena for something I don’t remmeber at the moment. All day…

I think maybe it’s time to go lay down now…

So my computer really is sidelined at the moment. Definitely a hardware problem - won’t even start up, though the fan comes on when I hit the power button. Debating whether to try to find someone local to look at it (I’ve got a referral from a guy who depends on his computer for his business and says his tech is really good) or to wait until I return to the Bay Area. Either way, I’m using Lena’s laptop for the moment. It’s okay but I don’t have access to a lot of stuff and we have to coordinate timing. So, until mine is up and running, I may be a lot less present online and I KNOW I owe a bunch of people e-mails - which are on the other computer. Grrrr…

One thing about not spending my days geeking is that I’ve spent a lot of time swimming. When I first got to San Miguel, I thought I was doing good to do 4 or 5 laps of the pool in an afternoon. Then I got up to 20 and that has been my baseline, my minimum daily exercise. Now that feels desultory. Day before yesterday, I was restless and bored and the weather was hot and perfect and I ended up doing 64 laps before I wore out! Doubt if I’ll do that every day, but it’s nice to know I can. It’s one thing I’m going to miss tremendously when we leave - my daily swim. I figure when we get back, I’ll pull my bicycle out of storage and get back into riding that every day, but much as I enjoy biking, it’s not as much fun as being in the water for hours. OTOH, it’ll be good for my leg muscles. Swimming is working my upper body muscles more. If I bike for awhile, maybe I’ll get the whole body toned up.

I didn’t swim today however, I went to the dentist. Again. Ick. Ick. Ick. Major cleaning, deep scaling, examination and probing at all the places and reviewed my x-rays. Two hours of torture and now I get to go back on Weds. for… 2 fucking root canals!!! One I thought had been done in the past actually hasn’t and is a disaster waiting to happen. The other isn’t giving me problems at the moment but, looking at the x-rays (I know how to read dental xrays) I’d rather get it done now than wait until I’m somewhere in the Himalayas and it decides it’s had it. And, since we only have a few more weeks, I need to get it all done right away. At least all the urgent bits that could flare up at bad moments.

Have I mentioned that I’m phobic about dentists? Probably so and probably about a million times. I am sooo surprised that I didn’t find today more difficult that I did. And I don’t even want to *think* about Weds. Of course 20 milligrams of valium did help, but oddly, by the time the work was over, I was stone cold sober again. Sober enough that I did dare wander off with Lena in search of some lunch and didn’t break an ankle on the cobblestone streets of San Miguel. It was actually fun exploring some of the neighborhoods around the dentist’s office that we hadn’t been in before.

Then I came home and fell over. Seriously. I must have slept for 4 hours, deep and hard. I felt utterly and totally exhausted. Partly the trauma, partly (maybe) the residual from the valium and partly that I didn’t sleep at all last night I was so nervous. And now I’m already feeling sleepy again. Don’t think I’ll have any trouble nodding off tonight. Tomorrow night will be another story, knowing I have to be up for those root canals Weds. morning. So, like, why DO we have teeth if they’re so much trouble?

My Thinkpad is sick. I’ve fixed it once or twice but this time it’s insisting on being troublesome so it’ll have to go in for some kind of brain surgery. I’ll be back when I’m able!

This won’t be a long post - typing is not fun right now. Yesterday I was making flan for Lena (who is addicted to the stuff) and managed to burn myself. As I was carmelizing the sugar syrup that goes in the bottom of the baking dish, a big glop escaped and landed on my right hand. Specifically, all along the inside of my index finger (naturally the most-used and necessary finger for a right-handed person!) I got the boiling syrup off instantly, before it could stick and pull skin off with it and burn deeper, which is good. However I’ve still got pretty severe second degree burns and a blister the size of Rhode Island covering most of the underside of that finger, making it impossible to flex or bend it. We did all the right first aid and, fortunately, there’s a big, mature aloe vera plant near the kitchen door, so it’s in as good a condition as possible given the circumstances and should heal fine. But it hurts like hell (I mean HELL) and I’m still pretty shocky/shakey from it, can’t do much and am taking pretty big doses of pain meds. Writing this has taken much longer than it should and fixing many typos. So I guess I read rather than write for a few days. Forget knitting. Forget anything that requires dexterity. I couldn’t even drive this morning - Trini had to take Lena to her dentist appointment and to the grocery store (so we had soemthing to eat besides flan.) I can’t grip the steering wheel right now and am too loopy from the meds anyway.

The flan, however, survived and is excellent.