Some days the mind wanders, one thing leads to another. I originally started to write a response to a forum topic and it became a bit lengthily and I decided it was better here than there. Someone had asked about bringing in a rental trailer and the general answer is no, but of course there are always ways around the rules and I posted the following:

When you cross the bridge in Laredo, or wherever, you cross an international border, but you actually enter and exit a wormhole into a whole other universe, a whole other existence where you live by their laws, their rules and by their interpretation of those (which means if they don't know the laws or rules, or they're not convenient, they make up their own version - but by-darn, you will live by them). American companies simply don't need the hassle of trying to rent and trust equipment in MX. Example: if you come here and want to rent a car, be prepared to have them insist on selling you very expensive insurance, no, they won't recognize American Express coverage and if you decline all but liability they will tag your credit card for the full replacement value of the car should it not be returned for whatever reason.

The Mexican experience is great, wonderful (most of the time) but you must accept it is a whole other country that is fully justified in playing by their rules and American rental companies don't need the business - so, you want to come here, those are the rules.

On further reflection this morning I continued:

My comments and observations are, at times, caustic or perceived to be. They sound like complaints, but a complaint is something issued in hope of causing change and in Mexico that isn't going to happen because one or two gringos are unhappy. If there is a complaint, it's that, at times, I don't accept the obvious, primarily that it is the way it is and I'm not going to cause much change and of course that's not why I'm here.

The Mexican people are magnificent children, proud adolescents in almost all they do. If you view them through that prism you will understand, and when you begin to understand you will begin to accept and develop the patience and tolerance necessary to make this experience rewarding - no, not all the time, but often enough to enjoy the years you spend here.

In many ways life here isn't all that different, we eat, we sleep we enjoy our lives much as we did wherever we lived before. The weather is more pleasant but varies from season to season. Inside my walls the technology is familiar, XM Radio plays, Canadian satellite TV will bring me NASCAR this afternoon. The appliances and gringo comforts of home are the same as my life NOB. This morning the weather site is having problems so I picked up the phone and talked to a person in Iowa just as if I were I still in Texas. Down the block I hear a barking dog and in the distance a crowing rooster, neither of which would have been in TX, but you get used to it and don't notice unless you stop and think of it.

Every place I've ever lived has been different, sometimes pleasantly different, sometimes unpleasantly different, but always driven by the people living there, when you know the people, you know the place. I lived in Louisiana in 1965, right after civil rights, we were a large contingent from California who invaded the area. The black and white folks didn't get along, but both sides disliked us? -it seems life's great experience is a learning exercise in being a chameleon and blending in, not being the nail sticking up that needs to be pounded down.

On another forum recently I told the story of how one blue flower started. I said the in my younger years I was proud to "stand out", but now I'm quietly trying to "blend in" - my my my, how life and the years has changed us.