Freshening-up of the Webpage...Quinta Tesoro de la Sierra Madre, Welcome! You have arrived at the end of the road.

It took a bit of a struggle, but I have succeeded in doing a bit of revamping of our website.   It is terribly homespun....but it gives me a bit of pleasure to fiddle with it.   It seems that something can be learned with each conquering of some apparently insurmountable obstacle.

     I have finally decided to firmly enforce the rule of the three night minimum stay.   We are a rural bed & brunch facility and not a motel.  As a tourism operator for two or three hundred years, it is just not in my blood or bearing to just give people a place to sleep and shower out.   It is not rewarding and it is terribly cost-prohibitive.   Plus, since we guard reservations, I have had to refuse my week-long guests because I had made a commitment to someone who had asked for a stay of one or two nights.   It is not fair to the folks who abide by the house rules to be punished by my own failure to enforce my own well-founded rules. 

     So....considering the fact that my people who are coming are wading through all kinds of bad (and frequently misleading) news....I shall renew and deepen my bond with them.

      We are still more than happy to answer the questions that come our way.   We continue to long for the moment when we can establish real-time computer response down at the Quinta.   Until then, Diana will continue to respond to those who have questions that need answering or who have news that needs to be shared.

Once again and as always, thanks for your time and interest.

The Old Gringo

Unwanted Brilliance

     Among my many shortcomings is the ability to gloat about being right.    Hooting and tooting about "shovel ready projects" and budget shortfalls of one administration when compared to the budget Niagara-falls of the next are my specialty.   But analyzing weather developments ahead of the public and private services is my real downfall.   Saint Peter will leave me, at best, in Purgatory.

     In any regard, we are awaiting the further development of a weather system that might or might not have something to do with that which concerns us most at these hours.     All the reservoirs in the Rio Grande's watershed are either full or well beyond capacity.   A tropical low is getting its act together, after crossing over the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, from the Pacific Basin into the Atlantic Basin.   As it crossed it entered into a massive aggregate of moisture at all levels that began as Tropical Depression V almost two weeks ago.   This little system was supposed to further destroy the northcentral Gulf Coast and aggravate the "oil spill problem".    Of course, since George Bush did not have time enough to do nothing about it, both the system and almost all the damage left the area or dissipated.   The remnant of the system has dwelt and/or circulated through Dixie and the Gulf until now encountering a provocateur.....which is this little low from Tehuantepec.

     We literally must be and are awaiting its development and direction of movement.   The winds will not be the problem....but rather its slow movement and amount of potential precipitation.    Rainfall could be torrential.    You all can read about the effects of the last round we had with one Category II hurricane (Alex), and one tropical depression (#4) back in July and August. 

      Before anyone says anything about Glacial Melting and Al Gore...please be aware that many a Spanish galleon was sunk because the captains said.."You know, since that hurricane went by, we're not going to see another one....so let's get this gold and silver to Huelva and head for the saloons in Madrid!".     The period in the 19'teens and the 1890's....as well as the episode of 4 storms landing within 60 miles of the mouth of the Rio Grande in 1933 will disallow any notion that failure to ratify the Kyoto treaty lead to where we are to-day.
Thank you, once again, for your time and interest.
The Old Gringo 

It's an Adventure

     During the past few days things have become increasingly interesting at our place.   As those of you who follow our ramblings know, we are situated in the Municipio de Hidalgo, Tamaulipas.   To review a bit, a municipio in Mexico is equivalent to what we call a county.   It comes complete with boundaries, definition of legal and constitutional responsibilities, and so forth.  It also has officers, elected and appointed.   The head of the municipio is elected and holds the title and office of Presidente Municipal.    Our presidente municipal was assassinated three days ago, probably by Zetas...not far from his home in the county seat in Hidalgo....his ten year old daughter was wounded...but not critically.   

A Bit of Background and Orientation 

     So that the reader will not assume that my area is consumed and totally dedicated to illicit and violent activity, I shall try to give a little better orientation concerning our social and cultural and economic environment. 

     My municipio is a fusion of small towns and ejidos (a description of 'ejido' can be found on our website) and extended properties known as "parcelas".   Almost the entirety of the Municipio, back in the period before 1920, was essentially the property of two Haciendas.    One was the 500,000 acre Hacienda de Santa Engracia and the other was the Hacienda de la Meza, a ranch of some 700,000 acres.   Together, one could say that two families essentially owned about 1,200 square miles.   The aforenamed ejidos were drawn out of those properties during the Agrarian Reform conducted from the mid-1920's up until nearly 1950 in this area.    Although still rural in many ways, the population of about 100,000 appears rustic, but is actually relatively urbane.
     This municipio is reliant upon intensive farming of jalapenos,  tomatoes, garbanzos, corn, squash & pumpkins, and other such crops.   It is famous for the production of citrus, including Valencia and navel oranges, Persian limes (aka-saloon, Italian, or seedless limes), red and ruby red grapefruit, and of course, corn and sorghum.   Another multi-million dollar industry in this municipio is fish farming....once dedicated to a bit of catfish production...now diversified into catfish, tilapia, and crawdad (crayfish) operations.    In the contiguous municipios of Padilla, Hidalgo, Villa Gran, and Guemez (estimated combined  population - 200,000) these productions amount to about 2,000,000,000 (two billion) pesos per year, in recent years.   This would be equivalent to around 140,000,000 (one hundred and forty million) American dollars.
      The Municipio de Hidalgo has a very important religious site....the Basilica of El Chorrito...which is a very pleasant pilgrimage center where Catholics, other Christians, and other observers come in droves...several hundred thousand per year....to pay homage to the Blessed Virgin Mary and honor her apparition at a spring on the face of the Sierra Madre Oriental.   That, coupled with outdoor tourism, huge counts of bird and butterfly species, and other natural attractions fold into the mix of Hidalgo's economic fabric. 
     All of this activity represents a fairly solid base of income and profit for the locale.....something equivalent to a bit more than 700 dollars per every man, woman, and child in the trade area. Other activity, such as transportation, mechanical repair and maintenance, water and irrigation works, education outlays,  retailing, services, government infrastructural outlays & maintenance (Electrical, gasoline and natural gas sales and transmission), and other activity account for another 4,000,000,000 (four billion) pesos of activity.   This would, obviously, be about 1,400 dollars for every man, woman, and child...roughly....in the four contiguous municipios.
      About 400 men leave annually and return from the United States....principally to places in North Carolina, South Carolina, Wisconsin, and Tennessee.....on long-standing labour contracts.  These fellows are provided transportation to and from their homes and their place of work, and paid between 8.50 to 12.50 per hour....on 30 to 44 hour weeks....usually for a period of 3 to 5 months, depending upon the work issue facing the companies which contract them.    During the rebuilding of New Orleans.....in spite of a significant available labour pool....there is actually a shortage of people willing to work, even at the rate of 13.00 dollars per hour for basic hand labour.   So some of the workers from this area were "re-recruited" for temporary construction and demolition work in the New Orleans area.   There was not so much call for them in the surrounding parishes or Mississippi....almost exclusively in New Orleans.
    Overall, most of these workers are "repeaters" and all have their work permits...so they go and come legally to and from Mexico and the United States.  These fellows send what are called "remesas" which are money orders and bank transfers from their worksites to their homes in the amount of about 2,200,000 American dollars per cycle.  While this income is small compared to the other income generated in the area under concern, it does impact, very significantly, 300 or so families in a profound way.   In this way it also lends to stabilizing the society and allowing for the further sense of a kind of, what I call,  "dull prosperity" in the area.    These fellows who come and go are generally highly regarded in the community.   They are almost always requested by name by the American companies because of their reliability and due to the common characteristic that  mark both Mexican and American....of the social attachment of familiarity and trust which leads to a form of friendship and self-interest bonding. 
      Recruitment is efficiently conducted by the same members of the team who have worked on this contracted basis for various years.     A man is almost always quietly called from "the crowd"...by a friend or relative...only if it is certain that he (1) will not shame the referring party by degenerate behaviour,  (2) learn quickly and work hard, (3) be punctual to arrive at work and not so punctual to leave (4) that he will not become homesick and, (5) he will not drink too much, or become involved in issues requiring police processes.  
     After 3 to 5 months of absence, these folks return via a fancy bus and are received at the plaza like soldiers returning from Baghdad....and then they can lay around for the rest of the year...or drive a harvest truck for the citrus processing plants....or work on a construction project....fix up the old pick-up, put a new room on the house....or whatever.    It's actually a pretty good life, save for being two or three thousand miles from home for a good part of the year. 

     So, as one might note, 99.999% of our time in the area is boring.   There is a lot of hard work.   Pleasures are fairly simple.   Too many of the men hang around the beer depositos (usually Corona, but Carta Blanca has its share) and drink beer too much, especially on weekends.  Too many of the women gossip too much....but only on weekdays and weekends.    At least they only gossip on Christmas Day when it falls in December, (old local joke).

     And....oddly enough....I have communicated with a few  new Gringos who have moved into the general area in the last two months....semi-retired and retired gentlemen....moving into rural environments with magnificent geographical backdrops, good basic  public services, and inexpensive to reasonable living expenses.     That is after about a year of no such contacts with new people.     So...go figure.
     When Hillary Rodham sends me my new passport (the old one expired), I shall have to be travelling back down...with and other supplies and goodies.... and to deal with my public and clients.   And, yes, I actually look forward to it.   

Once Again...thank you for your time and interest
The Old Gringo          

Because You Have Asked....musings on a Sunday morning going down

     We are asked at times about the condition of my father-in-law, so I have decided to include a bit of an email which was sent to my wife's family and my children, who are all of the Clan of Garza, and authorized its dispersion to further members of the extended family.   This done, I shall share major portions of that communication with you, since you were kind enough to be concerned.This mailing is to closest family members, who will receive the information first, as is appropriate. Later it will be published in slightly amended form for those who have inquired via our blog and email connections.      Now, you know.    We are getting ready to start thinking about going down for a prolonged stay at the Quinta.    This involves buying cat & dog food, groceries, and odds & ends.   This time, I need to buy a couple of those silly night-lights for the bathrooms.   My old ones finally gave up the ghost....we think because of a recent nearby lightning strike.

                                                                                                                                                                                       

Family,

      (Our Patriarch) has substantially restored himself to a point that none of us could have imagined just two weeks ago. I have followed his advance from a near distance and my objectivity serves, I hope, to assess on his way down as well as on his way up. He can ambulate here and there, he has much better control of metabolic processes, he feeds himself in large part, and he is "plugged in" intellectually. He greets, responds, and engages socially. We can celebrate these improvements, and I wanted to share my impressions with each of you so that you could think...,"David has been super-realistic about this whole thing, so if he is saying this now, then (Our Patriarch) really is better". If you believe this, then I have succeeded in this message to you all.

     This said, he is still extremely delicate and frail. He eats well, but little, and his stamina is much reduced from times....say...six months ago. (Our Matriarch) has to be either nearly adjacent or extremely close by at all times. When she must leave (IE. dentist, church), then Diana or, to a much lesser extent, your humble servant need to be in the house with (Our Patriarch). Finally, he sleeps a great deal, perhaps 20 hours per day....sometimes more. So while we must continue to be realistic, let us give thanks that because of the efforts of each Garza you have all brought our Patriarch to a level of comfort and to our Matriarch a bit of respite during these times. This is a credit to your parents (grandparents) and to each of you.

DCN 

                                                                                                                                                                 

 Back to the Quinta Tesoro de la Sierra Madre:
     As an oddity, during the recent inclemency, there were huge variations in the voltages as well as significant power failures (I hasten to add that the same or less storm level in Texas caused the same effects, a year or two ag0).   These conditions resulted in many  of the older model televisions (like mine) being "burned out".   I learned that this is not a disaster for the "po' folks", because they could be seen, here and there, during the following days, with a television in a wheel-barrow, walking down to the place that fixes archaic electronic devices.    Alvaro had done this for me about four years ago, so I am an "Old Pro" and quite understanding of the whole process.   I hasten to add that Alvaro always unplugs everything at the merest sound of thunder.  This includes refrigerators, air-conditioners, lamps, radios, televisions, etc. 

     It makes considerable sense, because if your television is still otherwise serviceable, the "maestro" at the "taller electrico" will check out its reception, bypassing the off-on switch.....check the switch....and if all is well except the switch....he will either replace (70 pesos) or reset (30 pesos) the off-on control switch.    You need to bring your own handheld control zombo to check if the switch is fully functioning.   Once done, the televisions go back into their wheel-barrows for the return trip home.     So...everybody wins....the old, predictable, serviceable television receives a pardon from Fate and a bit of a city tour complete with fresh air and new views....the folks get to keep an old friend of the family in the house, they pay very little, while the "maestro" , after repairing 50 or so on-off switches, makes a good sum.

     And, yes Virginia, it does look a bit odd to see a line of people standing in front of a little home in Nowhere, Tamaulipas, Mexico with various types of wheel-barrows laden with various types of televisions....patiently waiting their turn to see the television doctor.     And in eight years, George Bush did nothing about this.  Not even for the children.  

More Later....

The Old Gringo    

Consequences....Intended and Unintended

     We have just returned from the Quinta.     It has been very hot.    There continues to be activity provoked by the need to recover from the heavy rains.   While I was up here last, the Quinta received another 10 inches of rain and the mountains had picked up more as usual.   The Rio Corona continues to run at above normal levels....but this is the time it should be running at above normal levels....a little early, perhaps, but still August, September, and October does constitute the second rainy season for our region there.

     There is not a lot of heavy physical damage....but medium to large tree limbs will be being sawn and stacked for the next three months or so.    Our losses were things like the blooming season for the flamboyans...so it's one year lost for that.   Also, our big avocado tree just gave up waiting for a dry spate so it could set its fruiting blossoms.   So that will be a season of avocado production down the drain.   As well, our bouganvillas do not seem to be coming back with any great aggressiveness.   Sometimes they are slower to recover, so I shall wait on them.

      For those who inquire, my father-in-law actually seems a bit restored since I left and returned.   He is still very much in need of constant supervision, but he has returned to walking a little....20 or 30 feet...and eating a little better.   He still prefers, for some odd reason, for me to prepare things and bring them over to his table.   He still eats very, very little....but he seems to enjoy what little I contribute to his diet and his day's activities.   I told my daughter that it is something like "Meals on Wheels"  meets Marie Osman's diet plan.   Maybe we can set up a reality show for overnight television and have it sponsored by some kind of shouting sales-nut "But wait....we'll give you two more Bass and Carp Pulverizers ...ABSOLUTELY FREE!".....That way we can help the Red Chinese make even more useless junk that doesn't work to send over to us.     On second thought...maybe I'll just let my father-in-law take his long siestas.

     Our flooding situation has calmed  considerably.    The main danger now lies in weakened dams all throughout the drainage basin, and in the fact that all reservoirs are between 100% and 150% of capacity.   So, the dams that are built to protect us from floods, provide prosperity through irrigation and adequate water for home and industry, and even allow for wonderful recreation sites.....also become sources for catastrophe.

More later.

The Old Gringo         

Getting Ready to Think About Preparing to Go Back Down

     It is about time to go back down to the Quinta.   It is still necessary that I remain up here, but there is really no way that we can just keep Alvaro stuck in the ground down there....30 hours a day....9 days per week.    So I shall head back and see what work needs to be done and wait for people to drive by and ask to take pictures of the Quinta.   We have some folks who have indicated that they might be coming down before school starts....but no one has sent payment.    It is best that all know that we must, morally, permit the client who pays first the first right of access to the dates requested by that client.    We know of no other way to address this problem, considering the difficulty in communication at times, and the stocking of supply requirements that we have.    Please forgive this advisory....I'm not really being grumpy....it's just a matter of Natural Law, like gravity....and I know no way around it.

     We are probably going to invest in a chain saw finally, becasue according to Alvaro, there is massive amounts of mesquite and orange wood that simply must be reduced to firewood.   When I was  down last, about 2 weeks ago, it was evident that there was enough firewood available to stock our barbie and fireplace for three years....easily.   The damage from Hurricane Alex and, more especially , the "little tropical depression"....is not severe, but it is extensive.   Branches and old major limbs from many, many old trees abound in all directions.    There is so much that Alvaro thinks that he could even cut up a bit to sell to the "city people" from Victoria.     And yes, Vrginia, whatever Alvaro cuts up and sells...he gets to keep the money....and it could be 200 or 300 dollars worth....quite a bit for the area where we are.

     It should be stated again that we have been very fortunate at our Quinta.   There was little or no damage to the house itself, and the trees and shrubs are already acting brave, as if nothing happened.   We had a little damage to our new fence....about four of the concrete posts tilted due to the water pushing against them and pushing chaff and limbs up against them....but the posts have since been restored to their original vertical precision.    Our neighbour, adjacent to the downstream side, lost his entire 14 foot high concrete wall fence to the force of the flood.   We advised him that we thought he might want to use a more rustic, lower wall....but he wanted to make certain that the locals could not look inside of his compound.     Now his wall is one with the Cosmos...somewhere between here and the Gulf of Mexico.    All of our loose-stacked, non-mortared stone fences are still standing.

     In any regard, preparations begin and I should be gone sometime between Thursday and Monday next. 

More later,
The Old Gringo