Rain and Reconciliation

     For the past week or so, we have had what must be typified as "early on-set of the May-June-July rainy season".      Measured at the Quinta Tesoro de la Sierra Madre, I have recorded slightly more than 10 inches of rain during the past six days.    Areas to the West of us, along the face of the mountains, have picked up as much as 25 inches during heavy late afternoon and overnight thunderstorms.   The Rio Corona, pictured in the previous blogpost, has gone on about a five or six foot rise....all is suddenly exploding in a green and florid frenzy.

      That is the "Rain" part of the blog title today.   "Reconciliation" is the part that we finally have had to pull the trigger on pruning the damage caused by last December's hard freeze.    That meant taking off all the deadwood from the Royal Poncianas (6),   and much of the lower bouganvillas that were permanently damaged.    The literal mountains of limbs could easily fill a 2.5 ton truck twice.   We shall salvage a bit of the larger Royal Ponciana (Flamboyan) limbs for firewood, and burn the twigs and smaller limbs.

     The good news is that all of the bouganvillas, even the most damaged, are coming back....most are either fully recovered or well on the way to recovery.   The avocado tree at the corner of the house is flourishing, as are our guayaba and the other avacado down a ways from the house.

      We have been inundated, as well, with birds of every predictable description.     There are a few that have not been here before....at least in terms of coming into my view.     We have a bunch of summer tanagers and a large number of tropical robins who have recently arrived.     What I believe to be the white-cheeked yellow warbler has shown up in considerable number.    I am coming to the opinion that this specie is polygamous, because it seems as if there is a brightly coloured male who constantly peeps "wheee...wheee...wheee," always three times.    There will be a delay of about thirty seconds between peeps, and as they move through there are three dowdy looking, probably females of the specie who generally accompany this male.   They do not say much, but rather collect small insects in the end branches of the mesquite, ebony, and other trees.

     Our mulberry is under almost continuous assault by everything from green jays to jackdaws and everything in between....especially in terms of medium-sized perching & songbirds.

     One of our most accomplished followers  e-mailed me several days ago to advise me that my grumbling about the owls whooping like a bunch of one note pan-flutes during the pre-dawn hours would probably stop after "territorial issues are resolved".   He was right.   I think there are a least seven new owl homes on and around the Quinta.

     Of a particularly somber note, the father of the owner of the Hacienda de la Vega, (situated adjacent to the Quinta),  died a little more than a week ago.  He had been dealing with Parkinson's for several years....and did well until about four months ago.   He was brought to the cemetery of the Ejido Francisco I. Madero which is about a quarter mile from the Quinta and the Hacienda de la Vega.   He and his three children were all born at the Hacienda and, of course, are quite a fixture in the sociology of the locale.

     The cemetery is quite rustic and disordered, as are most rural cemeteries in Northern Mexico.   But in the disorder there is a certain order, and records are actually quite good.   The Salazar crypt is, of course, one of the more elaborate and the graveside services, which followed the church funeral in Ciudad Victoria, were reserved and elegant.....literally a ton of "coronas" which are very elaborate round floral arrangements, some as much as six feet in diameter.    Rafael the son moderated a very short service and his son and nephew read and extemporized relatively short eulogies to their grandfather.    Very classy, reserved, and appropriate.     About 300 people attended, of whom about 250 were from the locale.   The church in Victoria had about 1,500 people for the funeral, I am given to understand, both by personal word and by pictures in the newspaper concerning the issue.

      Many people were invited to a tent-covered buffet reception in the front yard of the Hacienda de la Vega, and it was very pleasant.....sad, happy, and pleasant.   Rafael's mother, the widow, was visited by about 50 people there and she seemed tired but relieved.     Thankfully there was no useless wailing nor consumption of scores or hundreds of brandy and tequila and beer bottles while people cried, sang, or blubbered about a person whose personality changed immediately upon death from devil to saint.     That day is probably gone in Mexico, for the most part, thankfully.

      And in truth, Mr. Salazar the deceased was very certainly a kind and reserved gentleman.   He had a true Samaritan impulse and always treated me with something akin to reverence....I have no idea why.     One of his gifts to me early on in the life of the Quinta was an eight page, single spaced synopsis of the early times of the Hacienda de la Vega which explained its past and arrival to the present.....in terms of development, agricultural adaptations, and genealogy.   It was a very classy gift which I  continue to refer to as the days go by.

      Flowering of interest??    The wild olive (ananaquita) has covered much of northeastern Mexico with its intense white flowers....in some places to thickly that it would seem from a near distance that one is seeing patches of 20 acres of snowpack.  The huisache is still coming out, but is somewhat past its prime.   Things are generally very presentable....really nice.

More later.

The Old Gringo

Some Recent Moments and Places

 

    Diana is a better photographer than I, and in all these years we have never really done the kind of photo-studies of the Quinta and immediately surrounding places that even our guests have done.   My problem is that I am too lazy, and Diana is not there frequently and long enough to invest the time necessary.    But we have a pretty good sample of the Quinta coming out of the very severe, prolonged Winter episode along with some better shots of the majesty of the surroundings.    The picture to the left shows the view to the West on a clear day.    The  ridge of the last horizon is about 10 miles away and the closest ridges are about 4 miles away. 

     Diana wanted me to take a picture of a basic poached eggs, bacon, and pancake breakfast, which could be part of an overall brunch or a simple early morning standard breakfast.....of course served with orange juice, coffee (or tea)....and other goodies.

      This was something I whipped up for Diana and me.....so it doesn't do a lot for trying to impress the guests.    Our visitors have a bit more falderah and formality, but nothing that would make anyone feel ill-at-ease.   By the way, the flower arrangement is Italian parsley, climbing pink roses, blood-red roses, Marilyn Monroe roses, orange blossoms, and common Mexican rosemary, all from within 35 feet of our front door.

To the left are the very rare blue shrimp plants during their first bloom since arriving in Mexico.  Already some of the local ladies from the ejido are making designs on asking me to make  an "apodo" (a plant cutting designed for repotting or planting).   We have scores of the more common yellows and reds, plus a few of the rare golden shrimp plants.

     And now, to the right is a shot of the Cypress lined banks of the Rio Corona - Santa Engracia immediately after coming out from a Winter's dormancy.   The Rio Corona is spring fed and has never been known in recorded history to have run dry.   This picture is taken about 200 yards from our famous "West-facing corridor". 

     The left shot shows the nature of these mighty, ancient trees, called Montezuma Cypress, or Bald Cypress because of the nature of the gnarled, extensive root system.    "Gnarly, dude !"

The river contains good numbers of perch, bass, and catfish....and, we must admit...an occasional crocodile.   It is also a place where a quiet observer can encounter three different sub-species of kingfisher, including the giant ring-necked, among the hundreds of species who call the Rio Corona their temporary or permanent home.

      Part of the economic activity of the area is certainly the citrus industry, and this picture shows the second (afternoon) crew organizing for departure to harvest various of the orchards in the nearby area between Barretal and Santa Engracia.    There are probably 100,000 acres of good to excellent quality citrus fruit produced here, and the employment rendered by these operations probably represents 30% of the income of working-class locals.

       These are a few of the scenes around the Quinta during these days of recovery from the Winter.   We shall probably be posting a few more such pictures and explanations in the next few days.
 

Once again, thanks for you time and attention.

The Old Gringo

  

Promptings and Musings

     A few communiques shake me back to reality.   I was going to observe that we have had a murder of crows and a parliament of owls beset us during the past couple of weeks.   Crows are found in some abundance throughout Mexico, but precisely where the Quinta is,  we really do not have crows or ravens.   We have jackdaws (grackles), tordos, cowbirds, and the like, but no real crows....save for the occasional one who found a load of fermenting corn-seed.

     In any regard we have had quite a few crows, mixing with the parrots, generally from the neighbouring Hacienda de la Vega and down to the Rio Corona, including the Quinta Tesoro de la Sierra Madre.   They are loud and presumptive, but seem to be "group autistic" when it comes to dealing with the various flocks of parrots while both groups work the nearby orchards for larvae and other munchies.   This is the high point for the Valencia orange bloom....so, as Yogi would say, even deaf people can smell the orange blossoms.

      We do have owls.    But I have never witnessed them in the abundance now present.   There is a particular owl the locals call "pecho colorado" or "pecho rojo" ....or red-breasted, (perhaps ferruginous?) and these seem to have decided to begin a form of watermelon-seed spitting contest during the early nighttime hours.   They make a fairly sharp, repetitive, short whistle at spontaneous moments.     This is all well, but right now....during these days....there are between 7 and 10 of them inside the grounds of the Quinta or immediately adjacent and when they all get wound up it can be quite a peculiar attempt at the Chinese Water Torture (but using sound)....and the event can go on for an hour and a half.    They are not as loud as a male peacock or a flock of chachalacas....but it would be nice if they sing in something other than one single note...identical each one bird to the other.

     We have other owls....screech, barn, and the like....who also make overnight stops at the Quinta and environs.....and while they are repetitive as birds must be....they are a little less impositive in terms of dominating the nocturnal soundscape.

      From now until October or November we shall be dealing with scores and scores of species who come down from the mountains or up from the coast...it is always interesting.

More Later!

The Old Gringo

Trying Tymes

     We are back up after a brief stay.   We have had another bit  of cold weather although the afternoons have been warming up.    I believe it was last Sunday morning when we had ice on the old Dynasty.   Not much, but it was there for all the world to see.....and feel.   It is a bit disheartening to see how slow the recovery is for the bouganvillas....although there has been a bit of blooming....not much but some.   The powder puff is ever-so-slowly restoring itself and each day seems to reveal another couple of inches up the dead-looking limbs coming out with new, vigourous leaves.

     The flamboyan (aka Royal Ponciana) at the entrance to the Quinta is coming out nicely, but the others are still looking like Hiroshima in 1946.   Then, while whining about that, it must be noted that the old mesquite tree which forms a measuring corner for the property came out in a flourish of new leaves...literally glistenning in the morning dew.    It is proverbial,  folkloric law in South Texas and northern Mexico that when the mesquite tree leafs in the late Winter or early Spring that all chance of freeze and frost has ended.   And, as indicated, the tree had not leafed until after that point last week when the thermometer registered 31f / -1c during the early morning hours.

     As an aside, we were notified that the people who had bought a little studio apartment-type house between us and the Hacienda de Santa Engracia have placed their acquisition back up for sale.    It is a nice little place, though oddly designed.   It is on the paved Interejidal highway, has good utility service (water, electricity), and heavy air-conditioning capacity.   The grounds and gardens are a bit Spartan but nice and the lot is quite large.   The new owners turn out not to be quite as adaptive to life in Green Acres and would rather return their attention back to home in the Monterrey metroplex.

     There is also some serious talk about re-initiating the development, also between the Quinta and the Hacienda de Santa Engracia, which was to have been something quite exclusive and elegant.   It is centered around the old mill chimney of the Hacienda, on a sizeable knoll.   I believe there were a couple of mansion-like homes built up there, but never finished....as well as an "in-the-style-of" convenience store and shopping.....place....(don't know what to call the design).   The style is something like a cross between an up-scale mall in Missouri with a Spanish Colonial motif and some of the big developments around major Mexican cities that have huge houses that look like funeral homes or one of those 26,000 member Protestant mega-churches that could hold the Winter and Summer Olympic Games indoors and simultaneously.

More later,

The Old Gringo

Quick Trip Up and Back

      The better half and I returned this afternoon from the Quinta...four days of small and medium sized projects.   We repaired (upgraded) the main breaker box for our electrical feed....I made a minor fool of myself grumping about the electrical service interruption....asking neighbours if they had service (they did) and generally molesting people before checking my own box.     There was a bit of voltage drop early in the day due to the effects of high winds in the area, and this seemed to have done some damage to the two fuses...which finally gave their lives to protect our televisions, refrigerator, water pump and other appliances.

     I replaced them in a flourish of electrical engineering proweress and all was restored....

     We had a bit of rain and things continue to stabilize from the effects of a really cold winter.    The flamboyan trees that bloom so impressively with their mad flushes of bright red-orange  are probably going to be delayed until mid-June.   Not all is lost however, because usually when the bloom is delayed it also tends to be more vigorous and to last longer.   We shall see.

     I return tomorrow to the Quinta....time to renew my Mexican passport and time to continue with the never ending projects that keeping a house at the end of the road requires.   Perhaps the better half will be making a few postings during my absence.

Odds and Ends

    Just back from our blitzkrieg of Central Texas...stopping briefly to visit our son at his place of work in the salt-mines of New Braunfels and then to visit the perfect pair and their two daughters in Round Rock.   The Perfect Pair just returned from Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico after a week's vacation.    It was an enjoyable episode, and they look forward to returning.

     Oddly, not all was perfect, because my son-in-law left town with a nagging upper-respiratory problem and arrived in Cancun's international airport with chills and a peculiar tiredness.   He had gone to the doctor in Round Rock before departure to deal with the problem, received medicine, gotten a bit better...but once on the ground in Mexico, he was not doing very well.   Fevers, chills, and chest pain.     They called in the hotel doctor who took the issue very seriously...He made a prescription and suggested that my son-in-law was probably suffering from pneumonia.   A hot shower, some medicine, and a night's sleep seemed to restore him, but during the next days of basking, touring, eating, shopping, and generally doing enjoyable things he began to slide back again.  

      The doctor came and rendered a bit more aid, and told them to immediately seek assistance once back in Central Texas.   He told them to make sure to tell their doctor there about which medicines were used.    So, once back in Texas, the doctor said that , yes, in fact it was pneumonia...and perhaps he should have taken it a bit more seriously, and to continue with the regimen of medication and bed rest demanded by the Mexican doctor. He stated that the medicine prescribed by the doctor in Mexico was an excellent choice and, (silver lining) a lot cheaper.

      My son-in-law is feeling 10X better now...recovering quickly...and telling his buddies that it's probably better to have pneumonia in Playa del Carmen than somewhere else.     AS AN ASIDE, this kind of intervention is common in Mexico....and it is more personal and cheaper, almost always.   ALSO, the doctor in Austin did nothing wrong, because he was only trying to accommodate a patient (friend) who was determined to go on a vacation to which he had been looking forward...and a patient who reasonably thought he was having an early onset of the famous Central Texas "cedar fever" allergy attack.

          

     My better half and I are going down towards the end of the week...for a bit of R&R for the better half, and to prepare for a series of visits by various types of guests.   The better half calls "rest" working 12 hours per day by  doing detailed improvements to the gardens and interior and re-organizing the linens, utensils, and general appearance and function of the Quinta.

She is such a dynamo that Alvaro and I try to hide a bit because neither of us (especially the Old Gringo) can keep up with her pace and her assignments.

     It is time to go about my appointed rounds here in the McAllen area.    I shall put on my flak-jacket and head out.   (Where did I put my helmet?)

Thanks, as usual, for your kind attention.

The Old Gringo