Fresh coat of paint, a ceiling fan and two curtains.
AND WE’RE STILL working on the upstairs terraza’s renovation. Yesterday it was painted. The same color as before, but now it’s gussied up like a Saturday night hooker.
You can also see the two canvas curtains installed recently to keep out rain. Thursday night, not expecting rain, they were rolled up when a monster storm arrived, and blew in quite a bit of water. Not like in the olden days when we had a lake out there the entire five months of the rainy season, but it was a bother.
My child bride mopped it up early yesterday before the painter arrived.
We’re still grappling with how best to keep rain out. The curtains were my first idea, but due to high winds that sometimes accompany rain, I’m not convinced of their durability. We’re now thinking of awnings in those two other open areas.
The awnings would extend downward enough to keep most rain out, and they would be attached more firmly, and they would not obstruct the mountain view.
Toward the sex motel.
Facing the other direction, toward the sex motel, you see an oddly shaped open space that favors neither curtains nor awnings. Soon that will be closed off with the same reddish-brown canvas of the curtains, but permanently fixed with a steel frame.
This first day of June, however, debuted beautifully. It rained last night but none of it blew into the upstairs terraza, which is how we like our rain. Courteous.
It’s cool and sunny, but it likely will rain later today. May it be a mild one.
I took this shot Saturday afternoon while sitting near the big plaza.
LIFE USUALLY consists of a series of little things, and mine’s no exception.
First, I had a gut infection a month back with symptoms similar to those of a year ago thatinspired me to get a colonoscopy, which declared me clean of life-threatening stuff. This time, I visited a new gastro man who gave me pills that are returning me to normal. Getting old is not for sissies.
Second, I electronically filed my IRS Form 1040, and within 60 seconds of sending it down the electronic highway to Austin, I spotted a YUGE error. For the first time in my life, I have to send an amended 1040. Trouble is, you cannot e-file an amended 1040. You must stick it into snail mail.
Lord knows when they’ll get it.
Third, my child bride and her sister are going on their annual pilgrimage to the nearby town of Tzintzuntzan. This is a trek across highway, hill and dale on foot, and it lasts about three and a half hours. That takes place on Tuesday coming, so I’ll have much of the day off.
I’m not pilgrim material.
Fourth, it appears we may make it to March without another freeze. Normally, March means we’re home-free, freeze-wise, but not necessarily. One year we sailed freeze-free through January and February and then got walloped in March. There was snow on mountain peaks in the distance. The Goddess can be malevolently playful.
Do not turn your back on her.
Early March a few years ago. Shot from the upstairs terraza.
Spring brings gobs of dust and crunchy, brown grass. It’s no fun, but it’s not freezing either. The dust is worse because it lasts weeks, months, till June when the rains begin. Spring is the pits in these parts.
Fifth, two weeks ago, workmen finished removing the red-clay roof that covered part of the upstairs terraza. It now sits bareheaded. The blacksmith promised the steel structure that will support the glass that will cover the entire terraza will be installed early next month.
Upstairs terraza awaits its new roof of glass and steel.
Sixth, of no interest to anyone but us, but I’ll mention it anyway — since it’s a little life thing — is that I’m canceling my longtime internet provider of 18 years. It’s a local business that was the only game in town when I moved to the mountaintop in 2000.
But things have changed drastically since then. Our television cable company,Megacable, also provides internet for just 100 pesos extra, about five bucks. We have that, and it’s fairly reliable. Having two providers is necessary here if you want to always have WiFi.
Is that true above the border?
The new No. 2 is Telmex’s Infinitum, which was installed earlier this week. It seems to be working fine. Now I have to break the cancellation news to my original provider, a business run by a fellow I know here. His service has always been quite good. My main objection is a butt-ugly antenna that now soars over the upstairs terraza. It will have to be removed anyway to install the new steel-and-glass roof.
Little life things. It would be boring without them.
THE POWERS THAT be here on my mountaintop, the people who run the town, started major street and sidewalk renovations two or three years ago. I forget how long it’s been. It feels like forever.
It’s been nonstop since it started.
Previously, the cobblestone streets (some were just concrete) were in very bad condition. Same goes for some sidewalks. That’s all changing now.
The work seems interminable because it’s so labor-intensive. There are two elements involved. One is the surface of the streets and sidewalks. The other, just as important, is upgrading the underground drainage system.
Flooding was a serious problem during the daily downpours of the five-month rainy season. June to (or through) October, depending.
I’ve really enjoyed watching this work. Unlike above the border where everyone fears getting sued, so construction projects are walled off, nothing is walled off here. You can walk right up and watch, even making a nuisance of yourself.
I particularly enjoy the drainage aspects. What you see in these photos will be just manholes from the street surface, but look what’s below.
Close up.
I never spotted anything like this above the Rio Bravo. Maybe they were doing it this way, but you couldn’t get close enough to see due to lawsuit fears.
If you fall into a hole here, it’s just your tough luck.
Sheep’s tail relishes the aftermath of rainfall this morning.
IT RAINED yesterday, and it rained again this morning. It’s supposed to rain this afternoon. We embrace this even though we’re not sure of the cause.
It could be the start of the five-month rainy season, or it could be due to the hurricane out in the Pacific, or it could be both. No matter. We’ll take it.
Sunday is a good day around here. There’s a certain sameness to Monday through Friday, and Saturday is devoted to pastry sales downtown. Sunday is up for grabs.
There is some routine to Sunday. My child bride usually irons. We invariably go to a restaurant for lunch, and we usually watch a Netflix movie in the late afternoon.
But if we wish to change all that, we have the right.
Every morning of the week, after croissants or bagels at 8, we move from the dining room to the living room and plop down into the cushy sofa for a spell. Put our feet up. It’s one of the best times of the day, every day.
If the light is just so, a cobweb or two around the big living room becomes visible. We really should have a maid, but we don’t, mostly because we are solitary people who don’t want anyone underfoot. So my child bride does the best she can, ever bitching about why didn’t we build a smaller place.
I help a bit, but most of my work is in the yard. Plus, I’m ancient.
Even the Jesus Patio table welcomes the rain.
The rain has cooled things considerably. We didn’t have the cooler blowing upstairs last night, and we only turned on the ceiling fan in the bedroom. The tower fan stayed in the off position.
Not only is it fresher, but we’re feeling good, which is notable due to both of us having some health issues in the last few months, things that appear to be resolving themselves. Sunday is usually a great day.
Even better if you’re feeling fine.
From the downstairs veranda this morning, also enjoying the cool air.
