Times of my grandparents and some irrational rationality concerning elections and politics

(1)  The first photograph is my father with his pet racoon, obviously.   He weighed about 70 pounds and

was a veritable pest…very intelligent…and addicted to stealing anything made of silver or crystal - photo from 1920.  Notice in rear of scene, the T-model pickup.

(2)  The second photograph is of Norman N. Newton (1860 - 1930) and his wife, Esther Lee Christian-

Newton (1870 - 1931), my grandparents, standing in front of Valencia orange trees that they had planted.   I believe

 that this was taken in 1921 or so.

(3) The last picture is here because it gives the reader a glimpse of a transgenerational collection…with the oldest man being Peter Bonesteel Christian and the other descendants of his. The younger ones  lived in Minneapolis

(actually Saint Anthony, the hootsie - tootsie city surrounded by Minneapolis and Saint Paul).

  The photo was taken in 1921 at the farm of my grandparents…Peter's son-in-law and daughter.   I never had the chance to meet them, because they were all gone before I was born.

Some time back…perhaps a year or so, I made the mistake of repeating a story from my father and my maternal grandparents and a large number of people who were of the same opinion.  Those opinions had to do that a significant political and banking cartel in  Hidalgo County of Texas had been what could be perceived as a bit opaque in terms of their methods of acquiring real estate.

     Let us suffice by saying that the Depression killed both my grandfather and grandmother. They lost a fortune overnight.

     My father joined the United States Army, being sent to the 1st Division of Cavalry (mounted), 12th Regiment - Headquarters Squadron, serving from 1929 through 1933.  He finished as a 1st Lieutenant.

   It should be mentioned that the girl, Esther Lee, and her father, Peter Bonesteel Christian (1850 - 1930), were the ones who bought and lived on a medium-sized hacienda in rural Mexico, at a community named Llano de Enmedio, Vera Cruz, up in the mountains bisected by the Rio Pantepec…which flows to the Gulf of Mexico, exiting near Tuxpan, Vera Cruz.

    The land was purchased, apparently in 1882 from an elderly military general who was a personal friend of Porfirio Diaz Garcia, Presidente de Mexico for over 30 years or so.

    The property title held, but the weather did not.  In keeping with the prediction of AlGore and the Global Warmingcoolingclimatechangeweare allgoingtodieanditisTrump'sfaultandtheBushestoo, we had to yield to a superior force.   
      During the 1890s up to the year 1900, there were three massive cold seizures, complete with snow and sleet and temperatures falling into the lower 'teens.   Since the business at that place and time was the production and transport of oranges, avocados, mangos, and such things (even a bit of coffee), the Hacienda essentially died.  It would take at least five years to recuperate.

     The old man stayed in South Texas, once he returned to the United States.  He was involved with the Washburn - Christian Mills in Minneapolis as a member of the board of directors and as person whose job it was to survey, on site, European industrial farming machinery and processes and what value might be found in Latin America in terms of food processing for the American and European market.

     For those who wish to "understand" Mexico, it would be well to study the life, times, performance, and attitude of the man pictured to the left.   He was, in my opinion, perhaps one of the top 1,000 intellectually equipped men (persons) in the New World up to and including "his time".   General Presidente Jose de la Cruz Porfirio Diaz Mori conducted business in such a way that the leftist elements declared that it is true there was a great deal of progress in Mexico under Diaz, but it had left Mexico as the mother of foreigners and step-mother of Mexicans.
     Among other things, people meeting General Don Porfirio for the first time saw him as a king or some kind of supernatural person.  He always described himself as just a humble servant of Mexico, and a poor rural boy from rural Oaxaca.   He was profoundly handsome and brilliant. 

     Much remains to be investigated about this topic and many others but we shall delve into those matters at a later time.   Frankly, it amazes me that from the "millennials" to the younger-than-them set, there is no cognition of anything that might have occurred before 1995.   And so many of them know everything.  And they drown in a swamp of ignorance.  Truly amazing.

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     A fellow shakes his finger at me and declares, "You were lucky that Cruz won, because BETO almost showed him the door."

     My response is to myself…and to my OROG community.   Ted Cruz ran for re-election and won.  That is point number one.  The next point is that Ted Cruz raised 30,000,000 yankee dollars and spent a good portion of that on his re-election.   He had no opposition in the Primaria Elefante, and he perhaps overestimated his certainty of a positive outcome.   But not by much… 

     Robert Francis O'rourke raised about 85 per cent of his campaign funds from the perverse and degenerate sources of the extreme West Coast and the New York Upper-drawer, ''good people who care".   They flooded Robert Francis with 80,000,000 dollars of out-of-Texas money.  

Bobby Frank went about, flailing his hands and arms, and saying nothing that didn't make no sense, nohow.  And people would applaud.   It was like a show put on for people from the "institution" down the road.  

    And Robert Francis O'Rourke lost.   Cruz in relative terms did not lift anything beyond his little finger…he still has a War Chest…and he gains more respect and deference each day.  He is a truly hard-working Senator…and…Cornyn, the Senior Senator and a country club Conservative Republican…has become more confident in being the conservative that he is in his brain and soul.   It is almost Spooky…how reasonable Ted Cruz has learned to express himself and how hard he works, travelling in flyways and byways  of the Republic of Texas.

    And, how "down home" Cornyn has become, without sacrificing his blue-blood and position, the person we all knew.  We Texian Republicans…stuck in the federated Union with States such as New York and California…are fortunate to have two Senators who are articulate, hard working, and peculiarly dedicated to Texians' problems and solutions.

   Your humble servant has had a couple of "periods of judgement" and he has spoken or written in  strong terms about those conservatives and Republicans who did not vote because Cruz was going to win anyway…and to those who called themselves Conservatives but thought that a "Conservative"Democrat like BETO would help "balance" our representation in the yankee Congress.
   In each case, such people with such comments to me revealed that they knew nothing about Robert Francis…his lack of any sense of service or philosophy or comprehension of liberty, local control, the Bill of Rights, and such.   Robert Francis is a construct of his father and his father's buds.   He has no philosophical moorings…and, sorry girls, he is not pretty.  He is uglier than Bobby Kennedy by triple, and he has no good mooring concerning his philosophical and/or cultural understanding.
   He will finish in the lower half of the peculiar gaggle of ghouls, weirdos, wild-eyed LRNOZEPBYDE Restroom People who are running to be President of the Hated States of Hated America, Land of the Bigoted and Selfish and Racist and Bad.   Robert Francis cannot construct a comprehensible sentence or idea because he has none of that ability within him.  He is a play-doll of his daddy.

    It is not a good campaign philosophy, but it seems to play well to the party that had people literally Booing at the mention of the word "God" during their Democrat National Convention in 2016.  Methinks I shall retire from being near them in the future, just in case there is lightning in the area.

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    In these times, it is necessary that we point out that the issue of the "migrants" coming in from Central America is not a matter of fairness, understanding of plight, understandable desire to have opportunity, or any of that.   It should be stated that your humble servant has considerable time in Mexico, on the Texas - Mexican border, doing business and owning property in Mexico, and so forth.  My studies at University were in large part dedicated to matters concerning the regions and nations being affected.

     We would like to assure all readers that the people coming up from Central America are not "migrants".   They are, in fact, invaders who have made nations that are rife with corruption, criminality, perversion, violence, all forms of murder and torture and where there is no peace, no sense of anything beyond self, and where the social and moral code, almost uniformly throughout the populace is, "If I can get away with it….".

     There is little religion…although I know there are agencies representing themselves as Christian missionaries and brothers in Christ both down in Central America and in the United States.  Those in the United States who believe in providing sanctuary for these people are either frauds providing a theatre for the establishment of a permanent class of dependent,  violent, and indolent people or people who are deluded in the hope of being able "save" those poor, hapless souls who are trundling forth in search of a better life.

       The Roman Catholic Church in Honduras, El Salvador, and to a lesser extent Guatemala has no real religious function any longer.  Changing the language from Latin to Spanish and allowing women to enter without mantillas or hats, etc. etc. did not improve or save the Roman Catholic Church.  The lower socio-economic elements long ago gave up on the rattling of the beads of Rosaries and observing the novenas and such, and like the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion in general, have devolved into social, not religious, institutions.

          The Roman Church in Mexico still has a bit of the vestige of spirituality and moral purpose but, as in the case of America, it dwindles.    The fact is, in any regard, that these people coming up in the "caravans" (a ridiculous made-up word) are after one or two things.  Mainly, they are coming up because it became a popular affectation.   Leave and follow the successes of the Mara Salvatrucha 13 and the Callejon 18 and have things and everything because we want things and we hate Gringos and we deserve to have what we want and we want it now or else I'll call my cousin and he will stab your head with his knife.   We have arrived at that point.

     And, of course, the girls are nice enough to come trundling up to the border with a baby in the belly and two or three in tow…perhaps babies or post infants not even related to the "mother".   And they will be sullen and complain about the food and the lack of accommodations and the lack of new clothes and the waste of time hanging around the Border Patrol offices when they want to go to Newark where their brothers are waiting in their Mara Salvatrucha secret clubhouse.

     The women also know that it is very necessary to arrive pregnant or ready to become pregnant because once that happens and the baby is delivered on Terra Sanctus Americanus that they are "…in like Flynn".   The baby is an American, therefore the mother must be allowed to stay because she is the baby's only source of care, succour, protection, and responsibility and so she receives MEDICAID, AID TO FAMILIES WITH DEPENDENT CHILDREN, FREE HOUSING, FREE KINDERGARTEN, FREE SCHOOL, and on and on it will go.

     The males who are coming up, without attachment, are in their majority, criminals.  Most are on the run.  Many have been deported before.  Many have archives of violent criminal behaviour…and we do not mean 2 or 3 per cent of them.   It is more like 25 per cent.   They joke about how easy it is to assault and steal from an American…how easy it is to steal things.   Almost all the males see females aged 9 and higher as "opportunities".  Most of the "single males" have no concept of paternity or family union.  

     There is no abiding sense of protection of the weak, deferring to the females, protecting  the weak or the very young.   It is their responsibility…as it pertains to 50 to 60 per cent of the single male population aged 16 to 40...to steal, gain unfair gain, deflect, and injure the most vulnerable at every opportunity.

     Many of the "elderly" males…ages 30 to 50…have debilitating problems such as alcoholism, brain damage, mental retardation, drug addiction, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), various forms of venereal disease, and once again…many if not most have criminal archives.

      At this point 6 per cent of the known adult population of Honduras lives in the United States.  It is reasonably estimated that 80 per cent of that population lives either on public assistance or criminal activity.  For 90 per cent, it is all they know to do.   The biggest accomplishment for most of the women is to wait for the Stork to come through the open window while the poor, beset-upon mother waits patiently for her ticket to paradise…the AFDC Gravy Train.

Ay! Gringo Viejo…why are you so judgemental?  Why do you ridicule these poor people who are only searching for a way out…to have a life…to avoid all the violence???

   My answer?   Wherever they go…Honduras rules will follow.   The gangs and cartels,  due to the purposeful neglect of the problem and inactivity of the Obama administration.  The lower instincts have long since taken root in Baltimore, Saint Louis, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and a hundred other places, large and small.   Their Mafia is alive and well and pumping out death, torture, and addiction to every 11 year old 5th grader they can possibly lure into the web of death.     And,  Yes, Virginia, there was a time when Honduras had hope and was a beautiful, disciplined placed…clean…noble…a large middle class…rich people who earned their wealth.   Just a nice place on the map…like Costa Rica.  Many Gringos had places on the Island of Roatan, just off the west coast of Honduras's Caribbean frontage.   Many folks have told me that it was better than Hawai'i will ever be…but such talk is comparative.  Suffice to say that it was an idyllic place where a person never died…"…because they were already in Heaven."

   That is all gone now.  To have a finca or poor mansion on the beach or whatever on Roatan, it is necessary to have a squadron of ''guardaespaldas"  (bodyguards) with automatic weapons.  Much of the spillover from the disintegration of the Samoza regime in Nicaragua…which brought on the devastating disorder caused by the Ortega psuedo-communist crooks (they followed the Castro Cuban model)…has lent to the downfall of what was a corner of Paradise in the Americas.    It seems to be the mission of the communists and the nihilists to destroy Venezuela with false gods like Chavez and Maduro…and Cuba with the Castro-Ruz brother act…and poor Nicaragua…minding its business with a pompous dictator…but truly duly elected…like Anastacio Samoza in charge…and after killing him….everything became better??????????????

     Or was it like Cuba?   There we rid ourselves of a pompous dictator  like Gen. Fulgencio Batista who had put 600 people in prison for speaking their will!
   Then replacing him with the Fidel and Raul Castro - Ruz show that began with the killing of almost all the sergeants in their own Cuban revolutionary forces…Castro's guys…leaving almost 1,000 non-coms to bury themselves.  And, of course, over 12,000 political prisoners, housed in hell-holes of filth.

      Madness…brought on by the anti-soul of the Cuban Revolution...Chez'…the front bumper of every T-shirt on campus, when worn by a mindless glub of a snork who thinks he is making a profound statement about "The Revolution".

The seductive and enchanting
 environs  of the archeologicalsite of Tikal
 in the northern reaches of Guatemala.
  A most beautiful country, filled with
 the most interesting people inworld
 in many ways.

     Question, mister liberal arts student at Harvard -  Is Chez is your shirt-banner?…Do you know his last names and nationality?  Mexicano?  Cubano? Argentino? Espanol?   Was he Ernesto (Chez) Guevara de la Serna or was he Ernesto (Chez) Guevara Lynch?   Was he a graduated doctor of medicine?

     Or was he just a rich-kid, spoiled person consumed with self-hatred for himself and for the rich and hatred for America?   Or was he just a compulsive, paranoid schizophrenic compelled to murder hundreds of people…men, women, and children…as part of a sacrifice to the need for the establishment of social democracy? 

    It doesn't really matter.  The swirling winds of marxism and the withdrawal of the Central American…and North American…people from their basic Protestant, Orthodox, and Judaic

Lake Peten Itza'
northern province of Peten, Guatemala
adjacent to the archeological site of
TIKAL

catechisms has given us this problem.  The problem will either soon be solved or the problem will literally consume us all…all our children…all our grandchildren…all of the future more certainly than any faux Climate Change disaster.

     These people coming up looking for opportunity are not looking for opportunity in their 85 per cent.  They are looking for free goodies paid for by the common millionaires, the people making 50,000 to 100,000 dollars per year per family…people who work 40 to 100 hours per week because they have a work ethic.  Remember, fifty per cent of the Gringos pay 100 per cent of the Central Government's income taxes.
    Thankfully we have many youngsters who are not going to Grand Universities of Great Note.  The overwhelming majority of our kiddoes are going to Community College, State Universities, and trade schools / apprentice programmes.   Underwater welders make 125 to 250 dollars / hour and can pretty much pick and choose their venues….pretty much, I said.
     A master carpenter and his crew can make 6,000 dollars per week, plus the cost of material, on a major rehab of a private home.  Hair dressers who take their work seriously…between funeral homes, weddings, regular visits, etc. can make real live money in heaps and piles.   It is exhausting but rewarding work…all the above and many more "blue collar" and "professional level" etc. people are the ones who make it all "work".   Ivy League be damned…you began to lose your value in 1969 and your worth is now measured the number of "safety  zones" your campus has to protect snowflakes from having seen a "conservative".

     Finally, and this screed will go on in the future to deeper and wider depth, this is not an anti-immigrant screed.  We are not "anti-Mexican".  We shall reiterate that we have lived, worked, conviviated with, enjoyed the entire Mexican thing.  We are deferential to a fault for and in favour of those people, especially Mexicans, Brits, most Orientals, even Canadians and other such people…who become immigrants, legally, with paperwork in order who come to America and be naturalised as real, live Gringos.
   For instance I oppose the expulsion of a veteran who was honourably discharged from the service…but because of a serious misdemeanour or other charge…he is deported as an undesirable alien in spite of the fact that he had accomplished the requirements and been sworn in as an American citizen.   That is simply how I think.

     My wife and I resent listening to people say, "We are all immigrants".   My wife's people and she have almost 470 years in the same territory, much of it what became Texas.   My people have brought me forward in this Continent for the past 380 years…we are not immigrants.  We were colonials…and we are republican citizens…not immigrants.  I have a daughter-in-law who is unlike Pocahontas Warren…our daughter-in-law is a person with real, live American Indian bloodline…she is not an immigrant…we are not all immigrants.  
    We celebrate all the other folks, and we are no better than they…Mexicans, Czechs, Poles, Germans, Orientals of many,  many stripes (all interesting), Scandinavians, Brits, Canadians, and on and on…like the Italians and Spaniards…and not the least of which are the people of Black African ancestry, Russians, even Australians.   Let us all make a joyful noise unto the Lord for them having been sent to us.

BUT NOT PEOPLE WHO COME WITHOUT INVITATION, WITHOUT PAPERS, WITHOUT ENTRY VISAS ISSUED BY THE CONSUL IN TEGUCIGALPA, OR GUATEMALA CITY, OR SAN SALVADOR,  WITHOUT MEDICAL RECORDS, WITHOUT PROOF OF WHO AND WHOM THEY ARE, AND WITHOUT CERTAINTY OF A CLEAN CRIMINAL RECORD…ETC. ETC. ETC. AND WHO THEN DEMAND ENTRY…WHEN THE MARA SALVATRUCHA 13,  AND CALLEJON 18 HAVE BEEN TURNING MUCH OF THE AMERICAN URBAN SITUATION INTO ANOTHER CENTRAL AMERICAN HELL-HOLE.

NO MAS NO!!! SE DICE… NO MAS NO!!!!
EL GRINGO VIEJO

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Telling stories that need be told…Sierra del Cautivo

A good geography lesson.  One can see the new orchard stretching
towards the Sierra Madre and the ancient cypress trees "with their
feet in the water" of the Rio Corona.

The Sierra del Cautivo:  Tales from Its Past, Present, and Future

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This very orderly and very modern agricultural development is the child of the mind of our neighbour, the owner of the Hacienda de La Vega.  He took out all 200 acres of the old Valencia orange planting that had been producing for almost 85 years, three years back.  Then he planted the entire acreage in these new fangled limes that have become increasingly popular throughout the world.  Paris, London, New York, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, and a thousand other culinary and fancy saloon venues have steadily been increasing their orders for this new King of Sour.

    Advantage?  Florida?…California?…Texas?…Arizona?...Arabia / Mesopotamia?…the Mediterranean?  Well, not so much.  As it turns out, this area from around Cd. Victoria, Tamaulipas up to Allende, Nuevo Leon and then away from the mountains twenty miles or so to the east has the most ideal conditions, placement, and access that one might imagine if he / she had the power to design a citrus, sweet or sour, industry complex.

Breaking new ground for planting the last nine
acres of the new lime trees

     Valencia oranges and two types of red grapefruit are still going to be grown and harvested in this zone.  The quality of these products has long been legendary.  The arrival of these fancy limes, however,  is going to bring a lot of work, higher-tech jobs, and general marketting and transport opportunity.

    Just during the past few months, it has been my pleasure to meet fellows who have travelled from Europe (Italy and France) in search of "Fincas" (fancy farms and/or orchards) where preliminary contracting might be a good opening for those needing supply.  There have been others from Mexico City poking around, of course, and it should not be long before American contract buyers   start making their appearance.  The orchard pictured above will be among the very first, if not the first, to produce a market-worthy harvest.

        The first photo is a good geographic study…taken about two weeks ago.  One can see the the lime trees are gaining back their green hue that had been lost a little due to a prolonged cold period and an unusually wet winter (nearly 8 inches of rain for January and February).   It shows the three tiered relationship with the Rio Corona…first the orchard, then the dense riverine forest that borders the banks of the Rio Corona. And lastly, the dominating Montezuma Cypress trees, some as much as 1,300 years old, with their "feet in the water", so to speak.

Bouganvillas on our property "down below"
between our Adobe Hut and the Rio Corona,
something like the "local official flower"

      Then someone threw in the Sierra Madre Oriental, forming the backdrop of the entire scene.   This particular segment of the Sierra Madre is known as the Sierra del Cautivo (Captive)…so named because when the first Spanish explorers came through this area a White man came down from those mountains, accompanied by a gaggle of Indians who had relatively light skin…and some with green and/or blue eyes.

      The White man declared that he was, in fact, a Spaniard, and had been taken prisoner during a battle further South in Mexico (then New Spain).  He said he had been traded up from one Indian group to another, and that he had been treated well.  He had married and had children…He also pointed out that the Indians with whom he lived called themselves Hualahuises or Warrior Peoples of the Mountains.

  He also allowed that with his basic knowledge of medicine, the people had assumed that he was a magician / medicine man, and therefore they had developed a certain reverence towards him.   He also said that he had developed considerable fluency in their language.   He declared that the people were leery of other White men, thinking that they were out to extract the gold and silver in the mountains.   To this day it is known that there are massive deposits of said metals, along with even more valuable things, like molybdenum and such.

  He also declared that his village was something like the Garden of Eden so he could not complain.  He told the reconnoitring Spanish expeditionary group that he had continuously tried to preach the Christian message to the Indians…very carefully.   That is a brief description “El Cautivo” (The Captive) and his adventures, in a land a mile and half high…and 5 leagues west (about 15 miles)  of the land in the first picture posted here.  This encounter occurred in 1544,  plus / minus.

     No settlement began in the area where the Quinta Tesoro de la Sierra Madre (our place) and the Hacienda de La Vega (our neighbour's place) and that zone just to the north of this scene until the very earliest 1700s.  In agriculture it became famous then for silage, corn, and especially peppers of many kinds, and various vegetables especially squash of various types.   Later, sugar became a major product, and with that product, of course, types of tequila, aguardiente, and mezcal. 

  And not to forget, but for many, many generations henniquin maguey was a major industry, placing this area, the Yucatan (northern part), and certain areas of the Philippine Islands  in control of the rope industry throughout the Northern Hemisphere.  Ocean ships and cowboys could not have existed without the area we are writing about here.

Misnomered frequently as "orchid tree"
the pata de vaca (cow-foot tree) is another
of the "official trees" of the Santa Engracia
catchment area.   This one lies directly in
front of our front door

     We move on to matters of less import…just rambling through our little property…taking advantage of pruning and training exercises for the various shrubs, trees, and other growies.   As most OROGs (Order of Readers of the Old Gringo) know, folks like to come out to stay a weekend, or at times stay for a longer respite.   It was, true enough, a lot busier five or six years ago, but slowly things seem to be returning to that pace, when people would pull up unannounced, and surprised that there is such a place as ours,  out in the middle of Nowhere,  Mexico.

     We forget sometimes to remind our readership that we need at least a two-week notice for those who wish to use our one little guest room w/ private bath and entrance.   With that much anticipation, we can almost always have every detail covered…like hot water, water, food, nice beds, nice towels, nice everything, and the "Guarantee".  "Well, what is the "Guarantee", Gringo Viejo?", one might reasonably ask.
     The "guarantee" dates back to that time when a lady asked, when inquiring about our facility, if we could "guarantee" that she would be absolutely bored.  She and her sister (if I remember correctly) wanted nothing more than to do some ambling around in the village, read their Agatha Christi mysteries on the corridor, watch and study the many species of birds, and have a cold Corona (or similar) while rocking in the huge cane and straw-bound "mesadoras" (rocking chairs).

An old Heliconia, a precursor of
the banana.  We have several on the
property, and they tend to bloom when
they deem it convenient.

     They seemed charmed by our dogs and cats (all very disciplined), who were adept at begging without being pushy or insistent.   The tranquility of our environs was, in fact, exactly what they were searching out.   Tranquility was helped by the presence of huge and ancient cypress trees on the adjacent clear, spring-fed river, now almost totally litter free…thanks to our majordomo Alvaro…and to a lesser extent your humble servant…in cleaning up what had been a "secret" intermittent, midnight garbage dump before we built our little adobe hut there.
     The people of the small surrounding community have become quite compliant concerning the need to maintain an uncluttered environment, and the results have been most pleasant.  The clients we have had appreciated all of that, They especially appreciate the number of species of birds that use our grounds and premises for nesting, feeding, bathing, and generally decorating the place with their songs and colours.

     Sometimes I forget how terribly pleasant the place and the surroundings are…grumbling over this thing that needs repair and that thing that has to be straightened.  But perhaps that is the nature of the Southern, Anglo-Saxon type.   For instance, we have the opportunity to cuss and moan about the fact that it's too cold…until I see the FOX News report about 43 inches of snow in eastern Colorado…in early December…when my low temperature is 56 degrees.

Hercule Poirot
 great Belgian private detective
He worked  with Agatha Christi
 during the Depression and WWII.

     Or, when the temperature soars into the high 90s in July, and the "canicula" (dog-days of Summer) is beginning to settle in, it is necessary to take a deep breath.  At that time, it is well to remember, hour by hour, the advantages provided by the fact that we are essentially on the Tropic of Cancer, and there have only been three or four freezes during the previous 125 years.   There are opportunities of a different sort, as well, if one wishes to modify his daily routine just a bit.
    For instance, getting up at 1:00 A.M. and stepping outside in our little "parking lot" in front of our long west facing corridor, and looking up at the stars is a reward unto itself.   Literally hundreds upon thousands of stars, and very frequently a stunning swath of the full sweep of the Milky Way silently puts on the greatest show off Earth.

An ornamental multi-trunk Yucca
with blossoms in a home setting 

     And, yes Virginia, we have even had to put up with those pesky things like unidentified flying objects that, at times, reward the easily convinced two or three…or fifteen or twenty…times per year during those dark…no urban night light…nights, when the orbs with peculiar paths seem to like to mill around in near-Earth locations.   We have a particularly favourite client who came to stay with us for several days…he and his very pleasant wife…about three years ago.

Henequin (sisal fibre) drying "on
the line" - the rope starts here. It
comes from the "lowly" Agave

     He, and his wife, have had experience in witnessing these things such as UFO events.  During his stay, he assisted in instructing me that our sky in the middle of NoWhere, Mexico had a great number of "flashers"…something that I had seen, but not invested in the "little grey cells" as the great detective Hercule Poirot referred to his brain.

Crown of Thorns, of which we have many
and many different variations.

    And the folks ask at times if there is a "bird count" that might be reliable.  My answer is "Yes".  There are many reference books, both paperback and hard-bound, that detail in various ways (almost all excellent) the various birds who come through our place and out by a radius of 25 miles.  We have brush, forest, large pond-lake (irrigation impoundments) arrangements that might be 1,000 acres of coverage, juniper forests on the mountains, along with tropical oak, all nature of flowering things.   Then, we also have seasonal crops in farming stretches or orchards, as well as

Wild petunias that attract bees and hummingbird by
the millions.  This is a part of our lower property we
designate as "semi-disciplined".

areas that are protected in an informal way for those who collect nature-provided yummies such as flor de yucca (very edible for Gringos, Indians, Anyone…bland but delicious).   Other folks dedicate themselves to the collection of chile del monte (small roundish chiles) and chile pequin (very small chiles) that are quite potent, loved by mockingbirds, kiskadees, orioles, and hens…and many people such as your humble servant).

     The "bird count" now numbers 525 different species at this point…and after collecting reliable in-put from various very serious to serious bird watchers and our own observations.   Suffice to say that we have easily the greatest Sulfur Butterfly migration twice per year.  And, of course, two of every three years, we are inundated with the Monarch Butterfly migration.  Both of the species essentially flood the airways to the point that I am surprised that our SKY-TV receiving antennae can function.   Of course, every time there is a bit of a dip in the Monarch migration, Al Gore Acolytes, Inc. come forth to remind everyone that Global Warming killed all the Monarchs in 1999 and it was George Bush's fault.

This is one of our many Powder Puff
 bushes.  Bees and hummingbirds are
really big fans of these particular plants.
We have four or five of these around the
house.

     The Monarch environmental matter tends to be tenuous at times, but certain actions, private and public, have been taken over the last five or six years especially, that have caused a bit of optimism…real optimism...about the continued prosperity of that flight.  We had a huge season both going down and coming forth this past year…perhaps the second largest we have seen since building our little mud house.

     We have had various of the major animals around our place, normally associated with the mountains nearby.  But, from the Rio Corona, about fifteen years ago, some folks encountered two alligators about 300 yards downstream from our place.   Mommy pumas, and one daddy (once), racoons, squirrels, coyote, fox, weasels, bobcats, and other nice and not so nice beasties have graced our humble property.

     Friendly tarantulas are less numerous now, but they still serve to eliminate roaches and other vermin…and we keep them at the far edge of our property.  Snakes should be a problem, but in the nearly twenty years of having our place, we have only had two bad snakes and three good snakes anywhere near our front corridor.    The dogs and

cats have always served well in this matter.

     The image to the left is a particular bulb that our Majordomo Alvaro propagated from gifts, trades, and cuttings given in trade with the people "round abouts".  The people are seriously involved in finding "new cuttings" and "new seeds" to plant in pots, beds, or into the bramble if it can provide food, spice, or flowers the console the soul. It is probably the second or third most active activity in the little community where we have our adobe home.

     One should be aware that, while the flower has a similar appearance, the plant to the left has no relation whatsoever to the plant above it.   The top one is tree-like with bark and all that stuff,  while the one below, obviously is a bulb plant that blooms for a couple of months, and then retires from public participation until another year.   I prefer the Powder Puff, but the ladies go crazy for the one on the bottom.

     We move on to the true royalty of the blooming vegetation in the Santa Engracia catchment area of the central core of Tamaulipas State of Mexico.   This is the one tree or bush that will stop the first time driver or visitor.  We have these trees in the southernmost part of the Republic of Texas, and they will put on quite a show even at that far northern extent of the domain of Flamboyan (aka - Poinsettia Tree).   This tree can bloom prodigiously early on in the Springtime, with the blooming lasting perhaps as much as three months…truly.
    And yes, Virginia…at times there is a general "rebrote" (re-boost…or second flowering), especially during a rainy spell during the normally dry Spring.   But it is all real…it is why people find Mexico so fascinating and hypnotising in many cases.   Since we grew up in close proximity to this magic and were associated with people at all social levels from Mexico during our farm days, all of this was simply….normal.

This is the second blooming
of a Flamboyan tree.

     One must remember in our biographic data that my paternal grandmother (whom I never knew) lived in Mexico for several years with her father in another NoWhere, Mexico (Llano de Enmedio, Vera Cruz) back in the late 1880s and 1890s.  They were actually of the Washburn - Christian Mills of Minneapolis, Minnesota (later known as General Mills) and real, live industrialists…and quirky, eccentric and wealthy and scientific and strange.  Very generous Episcopalians from when it used to be an Orthodox, Catholic Church of England type institution…but still quirky, strange, and eccentric.

    Their dedication to crops and harvests of tropical fruits and production rubbed off on the son of that woman…and he became my father…who was a very successful in the farming business on the very edge of the Republic of Texas.   Those were interesting times…and as boring as it was, my brothers and I never lacked for something that "needed to be done" or something that had a matter of great interest for our study or distraction.   We never lacked for intellectual challenge, and we have been influenced by people who were fair, studied, and disciplined.
      We shall mosey on over the crest of the hill, now.  Since I am very important, it is necessary that I rewind the big clock in the centre of Planet Earth to make certain that the planet keeps its appointments with the chronology of reality.  Very few people are aware of this responsibility that I bear, so we beseech any and all to make certain that our secret remains within these confines or whatever confines are available to your reach at this time.

And, yes Virginia…I think and know that the people are laughing at my feeble jokes.   We need to return to the issue at hand, that being assisting the nurturing and marketting of our neighbour's coming crop of deluxe limes.   This is an interesting challenge, and one that returns me to the times as a five year old…weaving around cotton trailers and John Deere tractors coughing and blustering through thick soil in the black loam of the delta of the Rio Grande…everything that was old is new again…perhaps.   Tomorrow a bit of news about the "caravanas" of the "migrants" invading the southern border…and about why the social construct in Mexico is not "hopeless" as many think.

El Gringo Viejo

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