Thorns, loose gravel, problems, and things that go bump in the day....But Wait! If you begin to read now, you get another article, FREEE!

   It was about two weeks of being down this time...lots more rain....a couple of power outages...short ones, thankfully....and now I am back again.  The Rio Corona roared back up to nearly where it had been back in August.   Hurricane Karl did send the majority of its remants up along the face of the Sierra Madre Oriental during the period from September 18th through the 21st.  The next State to the South, Vera Cruz, suffered huge rainfall totals, up to 80 inches over a four day period.   This was covered almost the entirety of a fairly large coastal State in east-central most Mexico.

Pico de Orizaba, also known in the Nahuatl language
as Citlaltepetl....which means Star Mountain

     Vera Cruz is unique in the sense that it  is the only State in the Republic that touches the ocean and the highest point in Mexico at the same time.   Its entire eastern boundary is in contact with the Gulf of Mexico, while it also reaches to the heavens by sharing the uttermost pinnacle of the Peak of Orizaba as its boundary with the States of Puebla and Hidalgo.    The peak itself brushes up against the 19,000 foot elevation above sea level, and is one of the three permanent snow capped mountains, and glacial sites in Mexico.

      But, all this aside, Vera Cruz, Oaxaca, Tabasco, and Chiapas States are all being hit by catastrophic flooding, landslides, road closures, and other calamities.  Private, public, and all sorts of spontaneous assistance efforts are being made.   The area from Ciudad Victoria - more or less where we are -  up north through the Monterrey metroplex also was hit, but it was impressive to note that the people seemed resigned to even humerously digesting their losses and inconveniences.   Significant food, water, and clothing drives along with financial collections were being conducted and stuff and money being literally driven down to affected areas.   All of this is going on while the American press carries partially correct stories about organized crime violence and whether or not that violence might spill over into the United States.  (BULLETIN: Mexican organized crime and American organized crime has been joined at the hip for at least seventy years, and the crime "spillover" during this particular set of conditions started in the 1960's and has become worse each year since.)

      Another peculiar twist has hit our little existence at the Quinta Tesoro de la Sierra Madre.   Our back door neighbour, who has a humble but clean and sizable rambling domestic situation at our back door has new people "under the roof".   I use the term "domestic situation" because he has a large, one room adobe and thatched roof structure which serves as a bedroom and family gathering room for our neighbour, his son, and his daughter.   The children are in their late thirties as best I can tell, and have various types of conditions and disorders.   They are all quite pleasant, but their personalities are much more complex than one might think.  The father and the daughter are of normal intelligence, while the son has certain intellectual challenges and a condition involving seizures.

     Very recently, another couple has arrived, with two children, a girl about 12 and a boy aged about 9.   One or other of the adult couple is related to the owner of the compound in a father/child manner.    They are all pleasant enough, but the children can only speak English.  Their Spanish is very weak.  The mother can speak Spanish as can the father, but neither speaks English well at all.   The mother speaks a bit of broken English.   It must make for interesting conversation around the dinner table.
    As it turns out they have all arrived from Arizona, having left because of the fact that the "environment" did not seem conducive to their remaining.   They have taken up residence in the concrete room on the same property, equally spartan, one light bulb, very elementary shelter.

     With another woman on the grounds, things are brushed and swept-up a bit more, and certain improvements have been noticeable.   The children are civilized and trying to adapt to school uniforms and a discipline in class they have never seen or experienced....while trying to learn what is essentially, to them, a foreign language.   The boy seemed happy to find a neighbour who speaks English, but I have decided to remain in Spanish mode, at least for a majority of the time, so that he does not use me as his cultural safe-base.   As the days go by, the Old Gringo will try to learn more about these folks and try to assist in their establishment of a new life.   These are strange times.

     We have received a few inquiries about butterflies and birds.   So that I can be perfectly truthful, we have had quite a few of the Monarchs, but nothing like the "sun-blocking clouds" that are frequently referred to by people who are concerned about such things.  While it really never arrives as such a level, it is true that, at times, it can seem impossible that the air could hold so many flapping beasts at one time and in one place.  So far, this "going down south" season....not so much.  Perhaps there has just been too much rain and the butterflies are just taking their time.  

     As far as birds are concerned there have been a lot of warblers arriving quite suddenly.   Hummingbirds are the main attraction at this time however.    There  has been some disappointment with my Persian Maine Coon female cat because she has reverted to the idea that hummingbirds are some kind of "flying mice", so I have had to maintain my rolled up newspaper "tube" in order to beat the slop out of her as she tries to play "Swat the Flying Mouse".   I left instructions with Alvaro to keep the newspaper handy, as well.

     Finally, my water heater began giving some trouble....the pilot light....and every effort to resurrect the old pilot failed.    So, I went to the Estacion Santa Engracia, located a little hardware store that had a new one available, and went back home.    It was installed....and of course did not work.   I sent for the plumber who had done good work for me on our water pump.   Late in the afternoon, he came, and cleaned all the lines, did this, did that, and still it did not work.  (The gas line did need cleaning out)   Finally he disassembled the new pilot light and we immediately noted that it was outfitted for a natural gas feed....not propane/butane/lpg type gas.

      I assumed, of course, that all was lost and was busy brushing up on various forms of profanity when I noticed that my plumber, Jaime, had gone about disassembling the original old, old, old pilot light and the most recently deceased pilot light, and then the brand new pilot light.   He carefully selected the usable parts from each and assembled Dr. Frankenstein's New and Improved Pilot Light.   After a couple of tries it fired off and everything is pretty much back to normal.   Charge - 100 pesos (about 7.50 in dollars).

There is a lot more later, but as usual....

Thanks for your time and attention to this point...more this afternoon and/or tomorrow.

The Old Gringo
And then, once here, I had forgotten that during the first day of my last return, everything done, everything unloaded, the Old Gringo was watching a news program in order to stay abreast of the "interesting" developments that swirl around us, when there arose quite a clamour.   A particular child (now a teenager) for whom I have no particular liking began shouting for me to come out and quickly.  He was calling for me from the other side of the front gate (as required by custom)...."Hurry, don David! Hurry." 
     "What the devil is going on, son?" I ask.
     "There is a cow in the  river and some becerros (calves)." he responds, with urgency.
      I notice there are other men running down towards the river, with ropes (metates or riatas).  The Rio Corona is at a very high level at these moments with a very fast current.   Apparently a cow from the other side, a cow who has caused problems in the past with reference to her juxtaposition with the river, had fallen in and several calves had followed their mother/aunt into the drink.  As I arrived...after putting on tennis shoes and grabbing my own lariat....it was quickly noticed that the bovines were not floating down the river or drowning.   They were simply standing in a shallow area on the other side of the Rio Corona, but 10 feet below from whence they had fallen and completely surrounded by 8 - 12 foot deep swirling water running at about 20 miles per hour.   They had no way out, and once they became impatient and ventured in any direction, they would quickly be swept away.     Men on the other side had already lassoed the cow and her younger charges, but there was no way to haul them up the steep embankment.   This meant they were stabilized but not retrievable.   Three men from our side were rowing in a very little john-boat, first along the backwash on our side going upstream, and then around in a wide arc in order to make it to the calm pool on the other side, about 150 feet away.
      Several ropes had been tied together to make two different and very, very long lengths.   Each  had one end had been tied to a very large cypress tree on our side.   Then as the men arrived on the other side  they began tieing the calves under the chest, each calf with two ropes.   Once they were certain that the beasts were secure they gave us the "all clear"  to begin hoisting the animals over to our side of the Rio Corona.   All of the men, kibbutzing, "Make sure you know they are going to weigh 10X more!"   "Pull on cadence.  Pull on cadence".    Almost all the men were telling almost all the men what to do.....but strangely it seemed to work.    And, although there were 12 or 14 of us, it was amazing how much a 150 pound calf could weigh when being pulled by such a river current.
      It took us about 3 minutes to bring the first one over, and then immediately turn to the second one.....which took about the same length of time.    Meanwhile, more men were arriving on the other side and our men were taking lariats and tieing the cow under the belly and under the chest with what seemed like 30 different ropes.   (This was done to avoid organ and skin damage from being hoisted with too few ropes taking the weight pressure, and distributing that weight over more contact area).    As "our guys" would loop around each rope, they would throw the end back up to "their guys".    Once done, the calves remaining were secured by the "other guys", while "our guys" repeated their crossing, but in reverse.   They then took our ropes back again to the remaining calves, secured them, and we repeated the hauling process, winding up with four bewildered calves tethered together and immediately driven up to my place to be held for the farmer who would be driving his pick-up around to pick them up.    They seemed to appreciate the change of scenery and the Johnson's grass that we have in abundance right now due to the rains. 
      The cow was hoisted with the thirty ropes, pulled by a score of men and a medium-sized tractor which had been brought into service for the cause.    It went, very anti-climacticly, very uneventfully.   There was the advantage of being able to pull the cow up the same slick slough down which she had slid.
      And then it was over.   The man with the pick-up appeared about 15 minutes later in front of the Quinta, he had two boxes of Corona Beer...(48 bottles)...everyone celebrated breifly....and then everyone went home, men, calves, 48 empty Corona bottles and all.

ONE MORE FREE ARTICLE:
    A family friend from not so long ago asked me for a recipe for the very young cactus leaf sprouts that are a popular delicacy, especially in dryland areas of Northern Mexico.   I prepare them at times when they are available for wild harvest and when I am not feeling too lazy.   Here are some approaches that I use der must be aware that Moses did not bring down any certain instructions from Yahweh concerning the preparation of this mystical, tasty gift from heaven. Please read and, as anything on this blog, feel free to copy, cut, paste, etc.
 Please Note!    We are talking about "choyas"....the earliest sprouting of a new cactus leaf.   We ARE NOT talking about "tunas", what we Gringos call "prickly pear" that is also a delicacy in its own right.

CHOYAS, aka "pitayas"

   This is a Choya, known by many names throughout Mexico
and Central America

     Some folks prefer one type of Nopal cactus over another, although the reality is that any decent nopal will do. Some people prefer the rougher, ugly nopal that blooms so beautifully after a rain...others prefer the more elegant and almost spineless (no thorns, almost) type...I have used both. Just so long as they are the pad, nopal-type cactus, the choyas will be good. They can be twisted off fairly easily, although old-timers seem to want to use an easy to handle, sharp knife. This is due to the fact that some of the elderly "choyas" may have already started to develop a bit of thorn (spine, or in Spanish, "espinas").

This note: If the thorn development is not advanced very far, the preserving solution that follows in this often will soften any stiffness or "pique'" that the spine might have had.     Still, I try to select just the ones that are obviously not at that stage yet.


     Once I have a desired number.....and a quart of them can be quite a morning's work.....they go into a cold water bath....I even put a bit of ice....and even use Brita or distilled water. Just my quirk. After three or four vigourous rinsings, they need to be dried and kept in chill....not frozen....so the vegetable crisper in any good refrigerator will do.
      My approach is the one that does and does not include a quick grilling. If you choose to do a quick grilling, use a good cooking-grade olive oil at medium high heat....and, before the oil begins to smoke....throw enough "choyas'' to cover the bottom of the skillet. You can add some finely diced shallot and a small amount (one tooth) of finely diced garlic....not much is necessary. Freshly ground salt and pepper right at the finish point...to your taste. Not much salt and pepper is needed because the "choyas" are going to be heading for a trip to the spa anyway.
       You should turn the skillet off just at the point of the olive oil beginning to think about smoking. This will not take long because you really should not "pool" any oil....just put enough to make the pan shiny, and then another drop or two...

And then-
Old Dave's "smokeless" system:
      You harvest, clean, and chill your "choyas" as described above. It seems best to let them rest for a day in the crisper in any case.....and have your jar(s) ready. The ones I like to use are the ones that the spaghetti sauces come in....they seal nicely and tightly. You really do not need any FDA approved container, but make sure they are absolutely clean before filling.
      After I have my "choyas" rinsed a final time, I put one / half teaspoon of ground salt and a pinch of freshly ground pepper....not too much. IF YOU WANT "CHOYA PICANTE", YOU CAN ONLY PUT CHILE PIQUIN....THE LITTLE TINY ONES....AND ONLY TEN FOR A PINT-SIZED JAR....NO MORE. If you put these little chiles in, you should "squash" them with a spoon, seeds and all, and throw them in with the other above ingredients. I like the "choyas" all ways, grilled with/without chile, or only "envinegrado" the way we are talking about right now.
     Once you have done these easy steps, you can put in no more than two tablespoons of lime juice (I prefer the Persian limes - the larger football-shaped, green ones). Then you can fill your jar with "choyas" about 85% full. Then, fill your jar with a decent white (crystal clear) vinegar...I prefer Heinz or the Mexican Herdez, but any vinegar you are comfortable with will do. Fill it up so that all your "choyas'' are covered...and then to almost full....and then screw the cap on.

IN BOTH CASES....GRILLED AND UN-GRILLED: It is probably best that you let the "choyas" rest for an absolute minimum of 3 days......quite frankly three months is better. You should keep them in the refrigerator and turn them upside down for a day and then back right-side-up for a day, for as frequently as you think about it or that you can put up with the annoyance.


      This is a base-approach. With your intelligence and willingness to innovate, you can modify this good, basic approach to your liking. After a hundred years or so of fiddling however, this is the way I do it now, and to seemingly good effect. Good in salads, mixed with mushrooms, great as "martini olives", and a thousand other applications. The reader must be aware that Moses did not bring down any certain instructions from Yahweh concerning the preparation of this mystical, tasty gift from heaven.

Bits and Pieces

     Time has come to start packing up for another trip down to our little mud house.   There were some questions about things in previous posts that I need to answer.....along with a couple of points that needed to be fleshed-out a bit.

My comadre (once again, she is the mother of my son-in-law) in her excellent reportage of the stunning rainfall event that hit Central Texas last week made some reference to her mother and father's place....quite a high end retirement area not far from all concerned.     She lives about 14 miles from her parents and about 12 miles from my son-in-law & daughter & granddaughters.    Her father is nearing 90, and like her mother, is quite active and alert.   I would like to point out that her father was one of the "young guns" so to speak of World War II .... piloting  a B-17 over Europe....Germany in particular....to deliver preliminary foreign aid to the human race by helping in the eradication of a particularly objectionable type of socialism. 

An unlikely bunch hiding out on the patio of my

compadre's balcony-patio, overlooking a magnificent

view of the Texas Hill Country.    We are (l to r) my

compadre, my son, my son-in-law, and the Old Gringo.



      Because of his efforts, along with 59,000 pilots and crewmembers of American bombers who died trying, the German Workers' National Socialist Party came to an end in 1945....and the world (along with Germany) has been better off .   My compadre (his son is my son-in-law) could not serve in the real military, so he was honorably discharged from the Navy....I am honorably discharged from the real military, so I was in the Army.   My son is honorably discharged from USCoast Guard....which I guess is good enough because they are the only service that is at war at all times....(He was in Baltimore during the 11 September 2001 situation...imagine).



     Anyway....all levity aside....we are a pretty dull, reasonably militarist bunch of people....and we look forward to the future while checking the rear-view mirror frequently.    I am blessed by their existence and incorporation into my orbit.

     Now, we have events coming up at the Quinta Tesoro de la Sierra Madre, so time has come to start buying dogandcat food and a few provisions that will be better obtained "here"  as opposed to "there".     Among other things that might pertain to "there",   I shall have to find a muffler for my old chariot.   That will be done down in the area...not far from the Quinta.   Oddly, one of the little industries in the "community" is the fabrication of mufflers and tailpipes.   They are quite good and are bought by "city people" from Victoria and even the Monterrey area.  Installation usually takes about 20 minutes and the cost is...let me say...reasonable.

     Beyond that,  these are the times to prepare for folks who will be coming out to see the literal fog of Monarch Butterflies which will begin next week and continue on through early December.    The peak will be early October through mid-November.   If it stays warm, then the flights will extend into the December dates.   I have had a lot of folks from the Monterrey area in years past....and there are several people requesting reservations down there for use of the Quinta.   Alvaro always becomes huffy and exasperated when people call and want the impossible...."We only have 17 people..." "We have to have our tacos made a certain way....like my mommy did..." "It really doesn't matter just two cigarettes before we go to sleep....We can leave the window open"...."No,no...our children are different...yes, I know they broke everything the last time...but they are totally different now...I promise they won't stuff towels into the toilet this time".....

     For some reason when I say..."No smoking inside....no children.....two people at a time....a third person is permitted if related....we serve what we serve, please advise in advance  if you have medical, dietary conditions.....Three nights is a minimum stay".....Then there is no problem.  

       Even after owning and operating an excursion company for many, many years....it is admitted that for the first couple of years with the Quinta,  we had a bit of a problem enforcing our rules...But not now.   It occurred to me that we built the place....we paid for it, we did all the legal work....we should also defend it and require what is required to ensure its defence and maintenance.  

       Perhaps it is because this is more "something to do" than something that has to make money.   Perhaps it is because I am just a cranky old codger who has a bit of hermit's blood.    But....the people who stay with us always seem to think that we are very generous and kind....perhaps they just do not know the  "Real( inner) Old Gringo" .

     We shall make a few further comments in the next couple of days, so readers might want to check back....or forward questions....because I should be out for a couple of weeks or more before a brief return in October....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15 September 2010

http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at201013.html

(This will link you all to the tropical involvement referenced in this blog addenda.)

     We are really back into watching the weather again.   The Rio Grande dams are releasing again.....just in case....and Tropical Cyclone Karl is taking aim at somewhere around Tampico and points north.    The fear is that there is considerable possibility that the storm remnants might move up to the northwest and rain itself out  in the Rio Grande watershed.   Tomorrow, I will be driving a day or two ahead of landfall closer to the belly of the beast, so I should have some interesting stories upon my return.    We have already been through a couple of these storms so far this season, so whatever was going to have been damaged, has been damaged.   Therefore, I am not expecting much out of this even if it goes over us.   The real problem will be if, in fact, it does move up along the face of the Sierra Madre Oriental.   The rainfall totals of these systems can be staggering, as we have seen this season and several times over the period of recorded history here.
      More later.

Wow! Rain, Rain...are you here to stay?

     So, while I was worrying about me, myself, and I...suddenly  the little tropical storm...almost a category I hurricane....slices in from the Gulf, moves due north...against all predictions..including mine .....deluges San Antonio, then Austin....including all the other usual suspects....San Marcos, Round Rock, and essentially the entire Laredo, San Antonio, Austin, Waco, DFW Interstate 35 corridor with rains over two days approaching 20 inches in many places.    Flooding of major creeks and even some middle-sized rivers is well underway and the Interstate was shut down overnight at more than one place....one of them being in downtown Austin....which is, for those who are unaware, the Capital of the Republic of Texas. 

      I think it should still be at Washington-on-the-Brazos....but that's an argument for another time.    All my children and grandchildren live along the IH35 corridor....so it has been an interesting time....to say the least.

UPDATE:    This was sent towards late morning from my comadre (which actually means that her son is my son-in-law).   It speaks to the issues in and around Central Texas

 At present, it's still raining cats and dogs! We have received about nine inches of rain so far. At 1:45 this morning, the heavy rain was producing a full fledge water fall down the stairs from the patio on top of the hill. I could not begin to see the rock stairs, as the water was tumbling so fast and deep. All drainage systems worked perfectly, a tribute to Joe, our gifted rock man.

Talked to Dad, in Sun City Georgetown, his rain gauge registered thirteen inches this morning!

The creek beyond the field, beyond their back yard, was so high that dad could see large tree limbs and logs floating by at a fast clip, and much of the field was under water.

Schools are closed, as is the collage, due to two feet of water on campus. I 35 was closed down also, due to water over the freeway. It's probably open now. And it continues to rain, with the down pour due to start around eleven, this morning!

Give my soggy best to the family, glad the hut didn't, have to endure more heavy rain.

 

This above-entered cut/paste is to give an idea to those of you who have written or called about what was/is going on in the Trans-San Antonio/DFW area.

As a bit of additional information, my son took this picture from his place of residence in San Marcos earlier on the morning of this day.  This is being written at around 18:30 hours, and I believe this picture was taken during the mid-morning.   It has continued to rain here and there, and on and off during the day in most of Central Texas and Northcentral Texas.   Wowsers!

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