I remembered one more thing that's different here than Guerrero or even Sonora. The music on the radio. This is the first place where we get American rock and roll, or American anything. I had gotten used to only hearing Mexican music unless I used my ipod, which is a mixture of both, and so was a little surprised when we got here and found a station coming from San Diego- and it's oldies rick & rill which is my kinda music! My exercise music is a mix of Mexican zumba and old rock & roll (yeah the rock & roll is for in between the heart pumping cardio of the zumba songs!)
I saw a facebook post from a friend back in Penasco, Sonora who described the weather as "grueling heat", and I remembered how I felt this time last year, and the year before. Last year the heat pushed me down into the ground, I didn't want to do anything but sit in front of the fan that moved searing heat around. The year before we had just arrived in Guerrero, and it was storming, but still hot. So weird, humidity- something I had no experience with, pouring rain, but I'm still wearing a tank top and shorts, going about my business without even an umbrella. When the rain stopped, I got dry quick, and then wet again thanx to my new friend humidity. The first lightning thunder storm had Sam run into the room and jump up on the bed. The bugs still bit me in the rain. Mud poured down our driveway and stacked up against the patio, starting to slop over, so Everardo was up on the street digging a ditch in pouring rain. Ha ha happy new place to live. I guess it was nice to never need hot water....but not nice enough in the end. The bugs were not as bad in Penasco, and here my worst problem is the "so seeums". The tiny flying mites that make a high pitched tone sound in the middle of the nite as they buzz around your head. They bite you and it itches like hell- but if you don't scratch it, it's gone by morning- but try and not scratch in your sleep between your fingers or your neck. For the last week I've been wearing one of Poppi's long sleeved white tshirts, that I still put the bug stuff I discovered in Guerrero on the sleeves and on my hands, neck and hair. Little f%$#$%rs!
So it is not grueling heat right now, and no no no humidty yippee. In fact it's cold at nite, not freezing or anything, but after dark it cools off; I'd wear a pendelton or a light sweatshirt if I went out...maybe even long pants. In downtown Ensenada it can be 10-15 degrees hotter than here, I mean we are right on the beach, around the bay from Ensenada, so if there's fog or clouds, it's cooler here, and there's usually at least a little breeze. But I'm good with it- balance- wow what a concept. Not too hot and not too cold, altho' we've already had a heat wave, so we'll see what the rest of the summer brings us.
So-we had one wall to finish painting the inside of the house. One purple wall. This morning Everardo tells me, well, the guy at the paint store said he can't match it. Can't match it?? I chose it out of their book! I was ready all day to go over there.....but patiently (yes me-patient) waited until he needed it. He used a brush on the last couple of places, including this wall because the roller went into hiding....ha! there was exactly enough to finish the last wall!! The brush doesn't waste as much paint..well that's what he said anyway. Yippee! No more blue walls in this house. Orange, yellow, green and purple, but no blue. In retrospect I shoulda chose red for one wall....but never mind. This makes 4 houses my wonderfully patient (ooh maybe that's where I'm learning it), hubby has painted for me! 3 in Mexico. I think I better to agree to stay put for at least a couple of years cause I think the brush has probably run down the same get away path as the roller.
I'm just really happy with it because this little trailer is really old and run down. From the outside...well "ouch" comes to mind. Except of course for Everardo's vegetable garden; small but his first attempt here, and the ground is pretty crappy, mostly sand, but he drove up in the hills and came back with the truck bed filled with better dirt...I'm thinkin' some Miracle Grow couldn't hurt, right?
Small, old, beat up- ha ha there's no place like home, and this place feels like it. We don't know alot of people here; Everardo has been going to the Spanish speaking AA and meeting a few people, I mostly go to the English meetings, and except for our friend with the dog Iggy, I/we don't really socialize with any of them. But we did get invited last weekend to a birthday party for a lady turning 44 I think, from the Spanish AA group. It was a nice party...got cold kinda quick and the "younger generation" put on some really loud rap type music after the food, so as soon as another couple Everardo knows got up to go (she was freezing- no jacket), we also took off.
Silly dog news: so when we were taking our nitely after dinner walk- the last 2 nites we saw a rabbit come out of the bushes and speed down a path. Both our goofball dogs missed it both times! Sam has been looking for a bunny rabbit ever since he saw one, and Hazel jumps and dives thru the bushes the whole walk- every time! ha ha. They missed that darn rabbit and it was a surprise to see him again the next nite. I'm starting to think that maybe "he" is a "she" and she's coming out to lead us away from her babies? I mean we have been walking out there almost every nite-well me for weeks but Eevrardo for months...and we had only seen a rabbit once- but we didn't see her last nite so- hmm notice I'm now calling her "her"? ha ha. They love it out there, and it's so pretty. Hazel runs all over the place the entire time; Sam, he hangs with us unless he thinks he spies a rabbit or thinks we're going to let him go down to the water. That dog would trade his soul to go in the water...but it gets cool here at nite so we usually don't let him go in....
......... Oh- the other day Everardo wasn't home, but it was becoming evening and they were waiting for their walk so I took them...but because of the Baja 500 I didn't want to walk near the estuary like we usually do because there were guys riding atvs and driving dune buggys all over the place. Yeah the Baja 500 is a big deal here, and lots of houses in our camp, and I'm sure the neighboring camps were rented out all last week for the race last Saturday. That meant lots of loud roaring motos all week, and in the evenings, lots of guys out drinking beer and then hot rodding around. So I was being extra careful... I thought. Nothing happened with the race cars, but my poor little Hazel. She was running in the bushes and doing her jumps straight up in the air- she looks like an atenlope ha ha. And suddenly I hear nothing- so I look around and I see her. She's so still, and just looking at me, one paw held up. I rush over to her. Sam is looking very concerned, and sniffing at her. She has a HUGE round cactus sticker thing in her paw, and when I get closer I see another in her side, and one in her back leg, above her paw. CRAP!! I gently pull on the one in her paw and to my surprise it does NOT come out. I pulled on the other two, and they came out, kinda popped, like the spines had a little hook at the end...She just watched me, and sat very still. I tried again on the one in her paw and it wouldn't come out, and it was like the other end, the end I was pulling on, was gunning for me. They kept stick me in the top of my fingers and drawing blood. So luckily I was wearing a light sweatshirt over my tank top, so I pulled it off and tried to use it like a glove, but the spines went thru it in a second and stuck me again. The more I tried to wrap the sweatshirt around it, the more it stuck, and pushed farther into her, poor baby. I kneeling on the ground in the dirt, Sam is hovering, but it seemed like he was telling her it was gonna be ok. I figured Everardo was on his way home and probably had something thicker in the car, so I called, and he was about 5 minutes away. Then I just picked her up and held her like a baby and started walking. Poppi drove up a minute later, and did have a thick cloth- plucked that sucker right out. I was so upset and felt responsible but then he told me it wasn't the first or even the second time. Oh. But she and I bonded over that- she and I are much more huggy than we were- Sam always gets jealous and Everardo is super huggy with her, so I always hug him...but how silly eh? I can be huggy with both. Anyway last nite I saw the small cactus plant that grows those evil round pieces of hell. It grows low and out. These burrs are round on the plant, and when they fall off, they stick to whatever comes by. Hazel is right back to jumping all over the place, but I am keeping my eyes peeled.
Over all us and our dogs...well our lives are pretty damn good...exercise, beach, sun, fresh air, naps, good books, yeah....it's alllll good. viva
