Some days just make you smile
Some days just make you smile, no one special reason, but a hundred reasons.
The day started at midnight of course, what did you think - that our days are any different than yours? Anyway, that's important because there was no crash and boom storm in the middle of the night, typically 3:30am requiring me to stagger out of bed - actually fall out of bed, but that's another story - and close the French doors to keep the driving rain out. That's another thing, could we call them something besides "French" doors, they're actually Mexican doors, so that makes it official from now on I have Mexican doors on my bedroom. So, no rain, no storm, I only woke up once to look at the ceiling and check the time; you mean everyone doesn't have a clock that projects the time on the ceiling above their bed in BIG letters so you can see them without your glasses in the middle of the night? - or having to turn over, face the clock etc., this way you just open your eyes, make a mental note: "sleep 3 more hours" and go back to sleep.
The next great thing was the alarm or actually clock radio awakened me (and Max) at 6am as usual to 40's big band music. Lately with all the power outages, forgetting to set timers etc. I was getting music at 2am and mosquito zappers at noon - so, this was a good thing. It's Thursday and I've achieved all my tasks plus several more in preparation for the owners visit tomorrow, again a smile. Next Pedro the gardener was trimming like crazy and has the place looking super and then the gate bell rang and it was David the maintenance guy with a new bomba, a "grande nuevo bomba" (big new pump) for the pool. The old one which was converted from a bilge pump on one of the original Spanish Gallions of Cortez (I think) was not only failing but expensive to run and doing about one third the work it should - so, BIG smile.
I made a run to the Soriana for some stuff (and don't let them kid you, I never get out of there for less than $30). First of all it's a beautiful mild day and all is well as I bumped along through Chapala on the way to the store you have to appreciate the history of this place which was built long before cars were invented, so horse and wagons were the mode of the day and now it's cars, trucks, scooters, quads and buses and the occasional horse and rider and I'm motoring along enjoying the people, the diversity in culture and sometimes just the sheer irony of me living here in this place so far from where I started, you can't take all that in without a smile, plus the CD playing Leon Redbone's "I Wanna be your Salty Dog", what a hoot.
About a block from the store I stopped at a light next to the Pemex and was first in line in the right lane, just sitting there smiling when about half way through the red light the white pickup in the left lane next to me decides he needs to turn right? - ok, why not, so he pulls out turning in front of me from the left lane on a red light? - hey, go for it, why not this is MX and I smiled and shook my head. I was thinking "only in MX" would I see this, what a trip and about that time the car that was behind him decides he needs to follow his amigo and he turns in front of me on the red light following the first car - why not? - seems perfectly logical to me and now I'm laughing out loud.
Later in the store I'm in the checkout lane and the girl is moving at warp speed - with intermittent delays caused by the abuela's (Grandmothers) bagging groceries and again I smile at the routine that is much older than history, the impatient youth and the patient plodding abuela and I smile and eventually drop a few pesos in the hand of the abuela and thank her and as I pushed my cart back to the car I smiled at the ritual of this life and again shook my head and smiled at the fact I was here.
As I was pulling out of the parking lot a man was crossing in front of me approaching a family holding a baby to my left and he was making funny (grandpa) faces and walking funny to the babies delight with total disregard for the fact I was approaching, I slowed to a stop to give him time to complete their joyous encounter and as I drove by I smiled and nodded my head, you had to see it to love it.
Returning home through Chapala downtown it's impossible to explain the flavor of the people, the traffic, the car washers flagging you into their parking spaces, the cobblestones you are driving over which are hundreds of years old, it's impossible not to experience all of this without smiling.
The day started at midnight of course, what did you think - that our days are any different than yours? Anyway, that's important because there was no crash and boom storm in the middle of the night, typically 3:30am requiring me to stagger out of bed - actually fall out of bed, but that's another story - and close the French doors to keep the driving rain out. That's another thing, could we call them something besides "French" doors, they're actually Mexican doors, so that makes it official from now on I have Mexican doors on my bedroom. So, no rain, no storm, I only woke up once to look at the ceiling and check the time; you mean everyone doesn't have a clock that projects the time on the ceiling above their bed in BIG letters so you can see them without your glasses in the middle of the night? - or having to turn over, face the clock etc., this way you just open your eyes, make a mental note: "sleep 3 more hours" and go back to sleep.
The next great thing was the alarm or actually clock radio awakened me (and Max) at 6am as usual to 40's big band music. Lately with all the power outages, forgetting to set timers etc. I was getting music at 2am and mosquito zappers at noon - so, this was a good thing. It's Thursday and I've achieved all my tasks plus several more in preparation for the owners visit tomorrow, again a smile. Next Pedro the gardener was trimming like crazy and has the place looking super and then the gate bell rang and it was David the maintenance guy with a new bomba, a "grande nuevo bomba" (big new pump) for the pool. The old one which was converted from a bilge pump on one of the original Spanish Gallions of Cortez (I think) was not only failing but expensive to run and doing about one third the work it should - so, BIG smile.
I made a run to the Soriana for some stuff (and don't let them kid you, I never get out of there for less than $30). First of all it's a beautiful mild day and all is well as I bumped along through Chapala on the way to the store you have to appreciate the history of this place which was built long before cars were invented, so horse and wagons were the mode of the day and now it's cars, trucks, scooters, quads and buses and the occasional horse and rider and I'm motoring along enjoying the people, the diversity in culture and sometimes just the sheer irony of me living here in this place so far from where I started, you can't take all that in without a smile, plus the CD playing Leon Redbone's "I Wanna be your Salty Dog", what a hoot.
About a block from the store I stopped at a light next to the Pemex and was first in line in the right lane, just sitting there smiling when about half way through the red light the white pickup in the left lane next to me decides he needs to turn right? - ok, why not, so he pulls out turning in front of me from the left lane on a red light? - hey, go for it, why not this is MX and I smiled and shook my head. I was thinking "only in MX" would I see this, what a trip and about that time the car that was behind him decides he needs to follow his amigo and he turns in front of me on the red light following the first car - why not? - seems perfectly logical to me and now I'm laughing out loud.
Later in the store I'm in the checkout lane and the girl is moving at warp speed - with intermittent delays caused by the abuela's (Grandmothers) bagging groceries and again I smile at the routine that is much older than history, the impatient youth and the patient plodding abuela and I smile and eventually drop a few pesos in the hand of the abuela and thank her and as I pushed my cart back to the car I smiled at the ritual of this life and again shook my head and smiled at the fact I was here.
As I was pulling out of the parking lot a man was crossing in front of me approaching a family holding a baby to my left and he was making funny (grandpa) faces and walking funny to the babies delight with total disregard for the fact I was approaching, I slowed to a stop to give him time to complete their joyous encounter and as I drove by I smiled and nodded my head, you had to see it to love it.
Returning home through Chapala downtown it's impossible to explain the flavor of the people, the traffic, the car washers flagging you into their parking spaces, the cobblestones you are driving over which are hundreds of years old, it's impossible not to experience all of this without smiling.
Comments