mike and bev: August 17

BACK IN PITTSBURGH
The below (August 17) is just now being posted (September 9!!) because I’ve been trying to figure out how to either place pictures in the blog or link to our Picassa album. Since I’d don’t seem to have any luck doing either, I’ll just go ahead and post … for now.
This is a ‘speaking of …’ blog!
It has been some time since my last blog update which is evidence that when Bev is around there seems to be more going on and I’m less inclined to squirrel away to update the blog … though it only takes a few minutes!

Speaking of time (it is valuable and shouldn’t be wasted), a few days after Bev arrived I went to my first bullfight! Yes, it is true the pacifist and non-meat part of me gave way to the curiosity of the bullfight. This coupled with the tremendous description of the ‘meaning’ of the bullfight as described in Michner’s Mexico prompted me to go along with Remy. We bought seats En Sol (in the sun) with the rest of the Mexicans and cheapskate foreigners! Too, seating in the sun was part of my effort to not be overly self-indulgent with what I knew was going to be a display of gruesome animal killing. (Sorry, but I just couldn’t get my favorite principle of the UU’s out of my mind: “…the interdependent web of life of which we are all part”.)

With this introduction I suppose you can figure out already that I found the whole experience of the bullfight rather stupid entertainment and mostly a waste of time. There was the very occasional moment of the heroic display of the matador, but for the most part it was so heavily favored toward the six or seven men and two horses engaged in each ‘fight’ and the mostly confused bulls were made so tired as part of the early stage of the ‘fight’ that the whole thing could hardly be described as a ‘fair fight’. So what exactly is the point of seeing six bulls killed and unceremoniously dragged out of the ring by a team of horses? I’d compare it to the stupidity of ‘professional’ wrestling. And, I suppose the audience that gets a kick out of it would also fill the arena to watch the wrestling jerks in the ring throw each other around!

Whew, now let me tell you how I really feel about bullfighting! Unfortunately, a still photograph hides the fact that the bull has most likely taken about four or five steps and turned around for another four or five steps. In other words, he is too worn out to get up a full head of steam and charge the matador. It is sort of like watching boxers forever tangled in the clinch!) Bullfighting won’t be on my ‘things to do in SMA list’!

This takes nerve!

Hiking will be on the list. We (Erica, Bev, our neighbor, Myron, and me) hiked the Picachos again for what was another tremendous opportunity at some fairly strenuous hiking with spectacular views. Part of the hike was on the rim of this canyon with a big waterfall. I’ve posted a couple pictures from this hike and the canyon. To give some sense of dimension, if you look carefully at the photo you’ll see a couple people swimming in the pool beneath the falls!

Speaking of tremendous views, I took my first flight in an ultra light last week and have posted a couple pictures of our house and the "neighborhood" during the fly-over. Juan Corral (Santiago’s brother) was the pilot and an excellent one! Though when I arrived expecting to go up with Santiago he was already up with a student and Juan was about to take-off. Juan offered to take me up and, having only met him once before (he’s visiting from LA) I must admit that I had a momentary hesitation. We flew in Santiago’s ultra light (a French built ‘Cosmos’) which he describes as “the Volkswagen of ultra lights”. There is not much to it: an aluminum extruded frame forming a ‘tricycle’ with a Bombardier built 45 hsp. Air cooled four cylinder 2 cycle engine with a three blade prop behind and about a 20 liter gas tank below. Above is basically a hang glider wing arrangement pivoting on a central pole and controlled by a horizontal pole held onto as in hang gliding. The pilot controls the throttle with one foot and has a brake on the other foot (for use on the ground!). The front assembly is turned with two feet for steering on the ground. This model has a simple altimeter and not much else, but what a blast!

We done helmets, strap in (waist belt only), and takeoff with the two of us (both weighing 215 lbs.) within the 500 lb. limit of the craft. A total thrill! Yet, Juan is an extremely cautious and capable pilot - he used to test pilot ultra lights for Cosmos in France – who maintains the attitude that “I’d rather be down on the ground wishing I was flying than be flying and wishing I was on the ground”. He’s been flying since he was 12 years old (hang gliders) and has enough close calls to know the constant potential for danger (some very close … one when his camera flew out of his hand into the prop necessitating an emergency landing!). After the all too brief flight, I find myself wanting to do this more often. I could easily get hooked into this sport, but at this stage in my life I realize that I’ll likely not be able to do all the things that I’d like to do! That said, Santiago has offered to take me up anytime (he’ll use any excuse to fly). And, of course, I’ll teach Santiago to row … decidedly more safe!

Zoom in on the above pictures and see if you can find Casa Tecolote!!

Speaking of rowing, I’ve been a couple more times and am looking forward to rowing this weekend.

Two weekends ago friends, Paco and Ana (they own tons of land along the Presa) and Eric, Wendy, and daughter Sabina went out rowing. The occasion was to ‘christen’ Paco and Ana’s new little rowboat (sort of a floating ‘Big Wheel’). Remarkably, Eric’s first time rowing was pretty unusual! After his very brief ‘lesson’ we went out and was on the water for a half hour doing quite well. He’s a natural! I think he’s hooked on rowing! (Now all I need to do is persuade him to be my business partner importing and selling boats down here … maybe something along the line of the Maas Aero would be most appropriate for the conditions on the Presa when one ventures out of the wind-protected ‘bays’)

Speaking of Paco and Ana, they along with Gayle (one of the new members of Amigos de la Presa as a result of the article I wrote on rowing for the local paper) were the only ones that showed up for our meeting! Admittedly, there was a pretty big rain storm that began shortly before the meeting, but out of a possible 20 or so people it was a bit of a disappointment to have only five of us including Bev and I!

Still, the meeting was a good one with Ana (the consummate voice of wisdom) pointing out some of the ‘realities’ of the Mexican way. One of the conclusions was the we need to be long on action and short on meetings and that even with this as a modus operandi we shouldn’t expect huge turnouts until things ‘catch on’. So, last Sunday, we’ve invited everyone to the Presa for a 10:00 AM, Sunday row/paddle. A half dozen folks showed up which was a pleasant surprise. A couple pictures of the event including a space that we cleaned up are below! I remain very optimistic about the possibilities and my desire to increase the benign recreational use of the Presa while raising visibility and working on water quality issues. We’ll see.

Saul checking out the Presa ...his first paddle there even though he's been in SMA for 3 years!
Note all the 'junk' along the shore BEFORE we did a clean-up!

A 'cleaned up' shore line looks a lot better!

Saul and Jesse (in my boat)

Speaking of Sunday, last Sunday, we are having our first comida … a really big (17 – 20 people) gathering of friends for a mid-afternoon meal! Heretofore, we have enjoyed these comidas at Alan and Flora’s (they often refer to them as, FF’s or Family Fiestas!). This will be our first big gathering and, if the weather isn’t too hot, we’ll have it on the roof! Guadalupe (or current housekeeper) is coming to help Bev with the cooking, etc. The menu: chicken with vegetables, ‘green’ rice, salad ….bread, cheese, wine, and beer! (I have this idea of building a ‘dumb waiter’ – from the back door of the kitchen to the roof -out of a garage door opener, but it wasn’t ready for the weekend so I got the call!) A couple pictures also show are new rooftop structures! The meeting was held at Casa Tecolote in Riconada de Los Balcones ...our house!

And, speaking of Alan and Flora they are now very happily, Mr. and Mrs. Grishman proving that true love can happen anytime, anywhere, with anyone and a life lived without love is a life lost. We went to the civil ceremony held in el Centro which was an interesting display of the complexities of the Mexican beaurcracy and one of the few examples of third world operations! That said, it was made happy by the almost 20 of us who crammed into the second floor office!

A couple days later (last Sunday – August 12 – exactly one year after Alan and Flora ‘fell in love’), there was a big celebration at Alan and Flora’s with about 50 guests. Great food, music, dancing capped off Alan and Flora’s celebration! (They will continue the celebration by some upcoming travel including a trip with Bev and I to the cabin in a couple weeks followed by … a month in Paris!)

Speaking of dancing, Bev and I have had the opportunity to view arguably some of the best flamenco dancing in Mexico featuring our friend, Angela (Santiago’s partner) and the beautiful Christina and her incredible dancer/singer husband, Antonio! Powerful. Passionate. Rhythmic! See a couple photos at: We invited our neighbor’s Russy and John to go with us and it turns out that John has a full recording ‘studio’ in his house and as offered to help Antonio to make a much-needed CD of his signing. John, a retired graphic designer from Texas will do the liner notes for the CD including, hopefully the words in English (John and Russy said that if Bush was elected they were leaving the states and thus they live fulltime here in SMA across the street from us).

Speaking of dancing, Bev took her first flamenco dance lesson … with Christina … last week. Bev said, “…there is nothing like looking in the mirror and seeing a bow-legged flamenco dancer somehow subtracts from the elegance of it!” Bev, is being too hard on herself, and enjoying a good workout, will take another lesson before we head for our northern home!

Speaking of dancing, Bev and I took our first lesson with Christy! Christy (of Adrian and Temo) is so happy in their new house (just down the street from Alan and Flora) as it has a great dance space on the second floor. She’s a great teacher and it is easy to see how she and Adrian are champion salsa dancers! Christy is sure to enjoy a successful career as a dance instructor here in SMA. As for our first lesson, we learned some basic steps of the Foxtrot, Salsa, Swing, and Meringue! (I guess I’ll need to make the transition from just moving around to the beat to actually knowing what I supposed to do … not an easy change …) Bev, of course, has no problem with any of it! Anyway, it will be fun practicing here and when we get up north (Christy gave us a ‘cheat sheet’ and a CD of selected songs that she made).