In case you are curious about why I would choose to live in Mexico, given its present bad press, here is a video about the place where I live that might explain why.
jdbphoto, 2015, Mount Garcia and lake from Chapala Yacht Club
I think the Children from the nearby Lake Chapala Society Children’s Saturday Art Class have been spending some time in the shade of these trees lately. (Click on any tree to increase size of photos.)
For Becca’s Sunday Trees prompt.
For those who just hate shopping for shoes—home delivery with custom fitting:
For: https://ceenphotography.com/cees-challenges/cees-odd-ball-photo-challenge/
Entrance to the Tile House
Fraccionamiento La Floresta, Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico
If you think this front door is wild, you should see the rest of the house! Although I was told it was built by John Robert Powers who founded the Powers Modeling Agency, I later received this comment from Adriana Cornejo, who seems to know much more about the house than I do. Thanks, Adriana. One of the things I like best about blogging is how much I’ve learned from comments expanding or pointing out misinformation in my blogs. Here is what Adriana says:
Walter Thornton the owner (not John Robert Powers, who was his competitor) spent 30 years building this house. He bought the house when it was under construction and added many rooms through the years. He traveled to Guadalajara very often to buy tile and had it delivered to the house. Then he worked on the designs, his hands where always blistering from the cement. He employed 2 to 3 people at all times, all this while raising 6 kids. He wanted to build 6 bungalows, one for each kid, but he died before this could happen. The property has 3 bungalows. You can check his bio HERE.
Look below at barbwit’s comment if you’d like to see another fantastic tile house in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“Genius” With All The Trimmings!!!
Pretty tall tree. How’s the best way to trim it?
Everyone’s been wondering, and soon there’s not an employee to be found from housewares to car accessories. They’ve all gathered for the show.
Because someone has come up with an smart idea.
Just put a guy up on the tallest wheeled ladder they have–perhaps the one for changing ceiling lightbulbs?
And station a guy below, not just to hold it steady,
But to wheel him around the tree. If he just doesn’t get dizzy, the perfect way to wind the lights around, stepping down a step or two every revolution. Somebody deserves a raise for thinking this one up! (The store is Walmart, in Ajijic, Mexico. Yes Emily, there is at least one Walmart store in every sizable town in Mexico!)
https://nadiamerrillphotography.wordpress.com/2015/11/12/a-photo-a-week-series/
Two Poetry readings at La Rueda Coffee House in San juan Cosala and of the “Not Yet Dead Poets” at the Old Posada.
Shots from the Raquet Club in San Juan Cosala, where I live.
A small town on a large lake about an hour from a large city. A few hours from the ocean. Lots of flowering trees. Horses grazing. Mountains in the background. Birds overhead. Dogs underfoot. People who care planning and maintaining reasonable rules so I don’t have to. A community swimming pool heated by natural hot springs two blocks away. Lots of music, poetry, art, theater. Friendly people open to invitation. Nearby geological and archeological features ready to explore. Lots of secondhand stores. Open plazas with restaurants to sit in and watch others walk by. Outdoor markets. Organic markets. Weekly street markets.
A place where people sit on chairs in front of their houses at night to watch their neighbors walk by. An affordable place to live where someone else happy for the job mows my yard and trims my vines and waters my plants. A place where I can afford to hire someone else to clean my house for me while I do art and write. A community where people are invested in helping others and both give their money and time to support orphanages, schools for kids, old folks homes and to give medical help for those in need.
A place with temperate weather where people smile and say “hola” or “adios” as you pass them on the street. A place 45 minutes from a major airport where airplanes hardly ever fly over. Cattle. Raspberry fields. Corn fields. Pelicans. Fiestas. Saints Day processions. Dia de los Muertos. Fish restaurants. Taco stands. The best ice cream in the world. Arrechera. Chicken mocojetes verde. Burritos. Flautas. Chiles en Nogada. Rainy season. Virgin of Guadalupe celebrations.
I’ve found my almost perfect society. So why am I traveling elsewhere? Because there were other idyllic places in my past that are a pleasure to revisit. Because one of the less than idyllic things about the town I’ve lived in for the past 14 years is that so many of my favorite people and relatives do not live there. So I travel to California and Wyoming and Minnesota and Alabama and Maryland and Missouri and other parts of Mexico, but so far I have always returned home.
for videos go HERE or HERE or HERE
The Prompt: Describe what you consider to be an idyllic community.
I wrote this on Facebook in response to a friend who thanked me for telling what she called the “true story”: “I’ve posted some untrue info as well, but then the next day it turned “true” again. We all want to know and yet after awhile it becomes an obsession and we get so caught up in the soundbites that we forget what they are really about. Guess this is our world in microcosm. We need to remember that it all started because we lost two friends. I know there are those much closer to Edward and Nina than I was. I knew her for many years and was in three different writing groups with her where I heard her read her writing, which is sometimes the best way to get to know someone. Edward contacted me to ask if I’d like him to read and comment on my grief book before it went to the printer even though we were just friendly acquaintances. I think it would have been hard for someone even closer to do what I’ve been doing. No one else did and that’s why I have. Somehow, I got caught up in the middle. At any rate, for all of their even closer friends, I hope the hype stops and we turn to more comforting matters. As soon as I have official word from the venue, I’ll post information about the memorial. If you want to do true tribute to Nina, buy her book. That would have made her so happy.” You can find her book, “The Leprous Veil of Love” on Amazon. She also has stories in a women’s anthology “Agave Marias” which is available in Mexico and online with secondhand book dealers. (This information was requested by someone who read this blog.)
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 