Busy, Spinning Wheels, Working a lot…or a little

_____________________

     We have been "off the saddle" for a bit…lots of details, large and small…things that need attention…things that want attention.  It all makes life interesting.  We can start from the end and work backwards…I am substantially left-handed…

     During the past few weeks, we have gone and come back to-and-from our place in NoWhere, Mexico three or four times.   The normal stay is usually nine to sixteen days, each time.   Since our little adobe hut is a structure that is either a small, huge place or a huge small place all projects are either meticulously detailed, or something that requires substantial effort.

     A medium-sized cypress branch fell from about 120 feet up, down by the river's bank and rendered a glancing blow, off the crown of my head.  It struck the very crown of my bald dome.   Everything seemed to be fine, although my dog, "Prieto" (Blackie) kept looking at me strangely as we returned from our little constitutional amongst the towering cypresses, and I thought he was concerned about something, or perhaps he wanted a treat for being a good dog.

Noble "Prieto"
______________

     Coming in, I noticed in one of the window panes of our corridor that my right shoulder and right side of my head were covered with someone's blood…and it turned out to be mine, of course. The stuff was moist still, so I hosed myself down, rinsed the white T-shirt so as to be white again, and then patched up the substantial, but minor, wound.  Prieto stayed with me, close by,  the rest of the day.

     As as aside, I allow Prieto inside the house while, when our majordomo is en campus, he would not, will not, never, never allow Prieto or any other dog into the house.   Since I (and my boss…my wife) am only the owner, it is necessary to defer to the majordomo's orders.     
    
    In any regard, a couple of weeks later, while lugging firewood into the house, a trio of hard to grasp and control logs decided to jump out of my grasp.   One medium-sized, 18-inch long and 8-inch thick log decided to fall on the tip of my big toe of the left foot.  Once again, time and effort was dedicated to cleaning up blood and, in a very gingerly manner, bandaging up the end of my big toe.
     These attempts at self-destruction have self-cured, and nothing of similar nature has occurred since.

_________________

The Cordilleras of the
land of the Pena Nevada
________________

     The Winter was fairly tough on the area.  Not far from our place, we could take note of three separate snow events in the mountains…just three or four miles to the west of our little mud house. Such events are not that rare…nor are they that common.   One thing that was certain until the last two nights before the writing of these words…precipitation had been quite a rare commodity, whether rain or the little snow dustings.

     The image to the left is an example of our view to the west…it is what my clients see, and what my adjacent neighbour - the owner of the Hacienda de la Vega and I see every day…and sometimes during the light of the full moon, even at night.

     We always like this image because it shows the massive, silver and gold laden mountains…impenetrable in their 90 per cent…ranging at their crests from 4,000 fasl all the way up to over 13,000 fasl.   The mountains' complexity is enhanced by the fact that there are essentially six parallel cordilleras running north and south that developed these various ridge by ridge increases…each increasing in height from east to west.   The length of the cordilleras range from 40 to 100 miles.
     The highest peak is the Cerro de la Pena Nevada (Snowy Peak), and it lies about 30 miles due west of our place and the compound that is the Hacienda de la Vega, our neighbours.  To make the trip by a relative straight line, even by motor vehicle, it would take a minimum of a week.   On a round-about approach, one can make the drive of a circuitous distance amounting to about ninety miles in a little less than two hours.

     The orchard in front of the mountains is a result of a planting less than three and more than two years ago.   The lime orchard pictured replaced an 80 year old Valencia Orange orchard that produced well for those times, but finally began to give up the ghost.   Our neighbour determined that it would be better to take advantage of the burgeoning lime demand, especially with the improved quality of the limes and the increasing demand from Europe and the United States and Canada…and to a degree, Japan.  So, the old Valencias were literally bulldozed out, and a new "Super Lime" arrived to start a new dawning in the Mexican citrus industry. 
     The trees pictured above are between 10 and 12 feet high now, showing a precociousness that surprised everyone, except perhaps Don Rafael and your humble servant.   Below we are including the infant plant that genuinely was planted right at 30 months ago.

This little squirt is the same one seen  in the

photo above closest to the camera's view.  From

a foot and a half to 12 feet seemingly overnight.

   Notice the underground irrigation leads, just

 installed 30 months ago.

     

   We cannot even estimate what the value of the crops will be when the entire green carpet of these newfangled sour wonders are well into the galloping pace of the Lone Ranger's horse, Trigger.

This particular topic will be continued to-morrow.

El Gringo Viejo

_____________________________________