We're back from the Yucatan. Over the all, we drove about 10,000 miles so my photo to miles ratio held at 1+:1, the 1+ plus being the number of photos and the 1 being the mileage. Not bad. I've deleted a lot and will delete many more. Then there are the ones that make sense only to me. I'll keep those. Among the remainder, there are a few worthy of presenting to you, the rare, much appreciated, occasional visitor to this tiny outpost border crossing. Also, naturally, I have a few things to say about the trip and, for your traveling convenience, I have compiled a list of tips for people brave enough to leave the gringo trail and travel in real Mexico. All this to come. At the moment, I must get coffee. Outside of tourist joints it is nearly impossible to get a good cup of coffee in Mexico, the land of coffee, a fact I find nearly impossible to comprehend.
Language itself is a barrier.
01/12/2005
Home again
We're back from the Yucatan. Over the all, we drove about 10,000 miles so my photo to miles ratio held at 1+:1, the 1+ plus being the number of photos and the 1 being the mileage. Not bad. I've deleted a lot and will delete many more. Then there are the ones that make sense only to me. I'll keep those. Among the remainder, there are a few worthy of presenting to you, the rare, much appreciated, occasional visitor to this tiny outpost border crossing. Also, naturally, I have a few things to say about the trip and, for your traveling convenience, I have compiled a list of tips for people brave enough to leave the gringo trail and travel in real Mexico. All this to come. At the moment, I must get coffee. Outside of tourist joints it is nearly impossible to get a good cup of coffee in Mexico, the land of coffee, a fact I find nearly impossible to comprehend.
Get it RIGHT. Get us OUT.
2110
Go sign the petition at MoveOn.org. Tell Congress to get us out of Iraq. I did. Here's my letter:
Go sign the petition at MoveOn.org. Tell Congress to get us out of Iraq. I did. Here's my letter:"Get us out of Iraq NOW. We should have NEVER gone there in the first place. You were all FOOLS to go along with Cheney and Bush. Now get it right. Get us out!"It only takes a few minutes and it is the very least we can do so now you send one.
25/11/2005
Right to NOT die
2105
We crossed into New Mexico this morning and are currently, happily, tucked in into the Sands Motel in Socorro, New Mexico. It's a great, family-owned place directly out of the '50s except for the fact that the owners are a nice, vegetarian family from India and we have high speed internet in the room. A fantastic deal all for $40. This morning we stopped to visit the International UFO Museum & Research Center in Roswell. Nothing new there but it was fun anyway.
I admit, I have been a "believer" since childhood. At that time, I was in the habit of secretly staying up past bedtime to scan the skies for flying saucers with my binoculars. One night a milky white, quarter size light suddenly shot into the open skies above the trees. I dumped the binocs and
watched. It was climbing very quickly so in seconds it passed over the house and out of sight. I ran to my parent's bedroom and looked out their window. Nothing. I ran back to my room and looked out my window again.
To my total wonder and delight, there were now four milky white, quarter size lights stopped in the sky above my
room. They had formed a square, and hung perfectly still in the night sky. They stayed like that for about a half a minute then the three in the SW, NW, and NE corners, maintaining formation, broke off and quickly disappeared above the trees to the NE. The fourth one, in the SE corner of the square, shot away in that direction, retracing the path of the original light. That was it. No funny scars.
No weird dreams-like memories but I have been looking ever since so, no matter how hokey, stopping at the museum was a must.
A bit further down the road we pulled over to visit Smokey Bear's grave and museum. It cost two bucks to walk the path to Smokey's grave so we peaked over the wall instead but the museum was a free, sweet, homespun place housed in a small log cabin. 
There were the usual things ... tshirts, cups, hats, jewelery etc. but there was also a wonderful collection of Smokey Bear memorabilia including photos of baby Smokey, anitque posters and products long out of circulation and several scrap books of Smokey's newspaper clippings, photos and lots of hand scrawled fan letters to Smokey from grade school kids from the 40's on.
A little while later we passed the last stronghold of Billy the Kid. New Mexico! Great place.
Smokey the Bear's Grave, New Mexico
Commenting on the Iraq war, Washington Post Op-Ed Columnist Michael Kinsley said today: "The last man or woman to die in any war almost surely dies in vain: The outcome has been determined, if not certified. And he or she might die happier thinking that death came in a noble cause that will not be abandoned. But if it is not a noble cause, he or she might prefer not to die at all. Stifling criticism that might shorten the war is no favor to American soldiers. They can live without that kind of "respect." - kinsleym@washpost.com --------------------- I couldn't agree more.
We crossed into New Mexico this morning and are currently, happily, tucked in into the Sands Motel in Socorro, New Mexico. It's a great, family-owned place directly out of the '50s except for the fact that the owners are a nice, vegetarian family from India and we have high speed internet in the room. A fantastic deal all for $40. This morning we stopped to visit the International UFO Museum & Research Center in Roswell. Nothing new there but it was fun anyway.
I admit, I have been a "believer" since childhood. At that time, I was in the habit of secretly staying up past bedtime to scan the skies for flying saucers with my binoculars. One night a milky white, quarter size light suddenly shot into the open skies above the trees. I dumped the binocs and
watched. It was climbing very quickly so in seconds it passed over the house and out of sight. I ran to my parent's bedroom and looked out their window. Nothing. I ran back to my room and looked out my window again.
To my total wonder and delight, there were now four milky white, quarter size lights stopped in the sky above my
room. They had formed a square, and hung perfectly still in the night sky. They stayed like that for about a half a minute then the three in the SW, NW, and NE corners, maintaining formation, broke off and quickly disappeared above the trees to the NE. The fourth one, in the SE corner of the square, shot away in that direction, retracing the path of the original light. That was it. No funny scars.
No weird dreams-like memories but I have been looking ever since so, no matter how hokey, stopping at the museum was a must.
A bit further down the road we pulled over to visit Smokey Bear's grave and museum. It cost two bucks to walk the path to Smokey's grave so we peaked over the wall instead but the museum was a free, sweet, homespun place housed in a small log cabin. 
There were the usual things ... tshirts, cups, hats, jewelery etc. but there was also a wonderful collection of Smokey Bear memorabilia including photos of baby Smokey, anitque posters and products long out of circulation and several scrap books of Smokey's newspaper clippings, photos and lots of hand scrawled fan letters to Smokey from grade school kids from the 40's on.
A little while later we passed the last stronghold of Billy the Kid. New Mexico! Great place.
Smokey the Bear's Grave, New Mexico
23/11/2005
Happy Thanksgiving
Here's an idea. Be thankful and compassionate. Have TOFURKY for Thanksgiving.
We're in Texas. It's great to be back in the US. We didn't have a problem crossing the border. It took about a half an hour so we arrived by noon. We're staying in McAllen for the night. The jeep needs an oil change. We will leave in the morning. It will take a couple of days to get across Texas but we plan to be in Las Vegas on Sunday. Tourism is down there during the holidays and rooms are cheap. We have reserved one at the Orleans for $20 a night. Hot water and towels in a town with street signs! What luxury.
This evening we got veggie frozen dinners at a local health food store, and some flan. There are 74 channels on TV and internet in the room. Include a tube of cortisone for the many mosquito bites I got camping and it ammounts to an excellent evening. I hope everyone has a sweet, homey holiday. Remember to share it with the animals.
Invite a turkey for dinner or share a meal with a homeless animal.
Mexico, homeless dog at Palenque ruins in Mexico. He was so sad. Seeing him broke my heart.
We're in Texas. It's great to be back in the US. We didn't have a problem crossing the border. It took about a half an hour so we arrived by noon. We're staying in McAllen for the night. The jeep needs an oil change. We will leave in the morning. It will take a couple of days to get across Texas but we plan to be in Las Vegas on Sunday. Tourism is down there during the holidays and rooms are cheap. We have reserved one at the Orleans for $20 a night. Hot water and towels in a town with street signs! What luxury.
This evening we got veggie frozen dinners at a local health food store, and some flan. There are 74 channels on TV and internet in the room. Include a tube of cortisone for the many mosquito bites I got camping and it ammounts to an excellent evening. I hope everyone has a sweet, homey holiday. Remember to share it with the animals.
Invite a turkey for dinner or share a meal with a homeless animal.
Mexico, homeless dog at Palenque ruins in Mexico. He was so sad. Seeing him broke my heart.
22/11/2005
Cuidad Victoria, looking back
So far we have made it to Cuidad Victoria. Tomorrow Texas. In the end, I guess you could say we were driven out of Mexico by the hurricanes and tropical storms. Gamma was just one too many. Too bad. The place we were camping was terrific, plus Lee needed a break. Driving in Mexico is really, really difficult! I wouldn't want to do it. I'll go into more detail when I have more time. Last year we didn't drive nearly as much. We rented an apartment in Oaxaca for six weeks. It was cheap and restful. At least as restful as living downtown in a noisy, polluted city allows. I didn't sleep much and got kind of crazy but I like the poems I wrote in Oaxaco so can't complain too much. This trip was very different. We visited tons of Mayan ruins. Megatons. Muchomegatons. It was a "trip of a lifetime" kind of thing. But we drove daily. Mr. Lee drove daily and Mexican roads are terrible, the maps don't work, the guide books are wrong and the signs, when they exist, are impossible.
My time at the cafe is almost up but just quickly, Mexico changed the way I see the world and the way I view my own life. For starters, human history is no longer the exclusive story of the East. It has completely independent roots south of the Rio Grand, or Rio Bravo as that river is called in Mexico. Perhaps the Aliens augmented monkey intelligence in both hemispheres at the same time, but the Olmecs, Mayans and Aztecs evolved independently from the rest of the world from that point on. And, as with my first visit to Mexico, I have again struggled daily with the contradictions, poverty, community, beauty and suffering that inundates me moment to moment in this foreign sister America. And, like last year, I am returning home with a renewed appreciation of the US, the American people (not our radical right wing government) and what we have created of our part of the New World. And this time I return home with an appreciation of taxes. Mexicans do not pay much in the way of taxes. It is a cash and carry economy and consequently the infrastructure is in permanent and incredible shambles. Cities can't afford waste management, raw sewage flows into the streets and water ways. Communities cannot even afford garbage cans what to speak of men and trucks to pick it up. And then there are the countless homeless, injured, starving, lonely dogs and cats wandering everywhere which people, not only ignore, but often intentionally abuse. There is not time enough to go into that vile, witless point of view other than to say wake up, people. Animals have feelings too.
Ok. My time in the old internet cafe is up once again so gotta go. More later. Hasta leugo mi amigas.
My time at the cafe is almost up but just quickly, Mexico changed the way I see the world and the way I view my own life. For starters, human history is no longer the exclusive story of the East. It has completely independent roots south of the Rio Grand, or Rio Bravo as that river is called in Mexico. Perhaps the Aliens augmented monkey intelligence in both hemispheres at the same time, but the Olmecs, Mayans and Aztecs evolved independently from the rest of the world from that point on. And, as with my first visit to Mexico, I have again struggled daily with the contradictions, poverty, community, beauty and suffering that inundates me moment to moment in this foreign sister America. And, like last year, I am returning home with a renewed appreciation of the US, the American people (not our radical right wing government) and what we have created of our part of the New World. And this time I return home with an appreciation of taxes. Mexicans do not pay much in the way of taxes. It is a cash and carry economy and consequently the infrastructure is in permanent and incredible shambles. Cities can't afford waste management, raw sewage flows into the streets and water ways. Communities cannot even afford garbage cans what to speak of men and trucks to pick it up. And then there are the countless homeless, injured, starving, lonely dogs and cats wandering everywhere which people, not only ignore, but often intentionally abuse. There is not time enough to go into that vile, witless point of view other than to say wake up, people. Animals have feelings too.
Ok. My time in the old internet cafe is up once again so gotta go. More later. Hasta leugo mi amigas.
19/11/2005
La tormenta
It is hard seeing beyond purely "human" concerns and even harder to act on behalf of creatures or circumstances generally considered secondary or trivial compared to human life.
The camp at the coast was wonderful. Ten American dollars a night - 20 feet from the Caribbean - nestled under the trees - white sand - orange kayaks - big fire pit - reef snorkling - his/her toilets and paper - a shower (outside, cold water only) with stalks of giant bamboo for walls (spaced about 3-6 inches apart, who needs privacy?) vollyball in the sand - open air restaurant (still closed, tourist season begins Dec. 1st) - thatched roof cabañas (still being readied for Dec.) - half of beach piled with washed up coral (fantastic fantasy shapes) - the rest of the beach groomed sand - extremely friendly, obviously cultured, barefoot host (retired engineer) dressed in a bathing suit working on the cabañas with a couple of young guys - lots of wild beach to walk in either direction ...
We camped at the far end of the resort, as it turned out on a conch shell and misc. rubbish dump. No matter to us. It´s all about the very important Tuck Factor. Just after we set up camp, Mr. Lee and I were sitting by the water eating survival cheese sandwiches when a tiny, big-eyed, bony puppy crept up behind us and sat and cowered in the sand shivering, hoping for a handout. She broke our hearts. I don't believe that the majority of people care much about or even notice the terrible suffering of its animals.
I cringe as I write this. I cannot forget the puppy´s condition or deny the painful, lonely death that surely awaits her. Of course we fed them, four dogs total, all puppies. That puppy and another were only a few months old. The other two were not a year, both female and had already given birth. I kick myself now for not putting food on something (perhaps a piece of driftwood) to keep it up out of the sand. She ate what she could. The two older dogs instantly adopted us. We didn´t see the really young ones again until leaving. Too bad. I found bowls and bucket lids on the beach the next morning and we fed the older ones (Twiggy&Ziggy, my name for them) more dogfood (I had a bag with me), tuna fish, milk, cheese cake, a carmel nut roll and a couple of vitamins that fell in the sand. The two older dogs were obviously sisters. Their lives revolved around each other, they frolicked around each other, slept together in a curl, bit one another´s fleas and licked each other´s whiskers cleaaan. Our very nice host seemed to look right through them. I don´t see how civilized people can be blind to the suffering of innocent creatures. Spay or neuter them. Feed and care for them or give them to people who will. Or gently, kindly kill them.
Tropical Storm Gamma drove us away. At first we thought we´d wait out la tormenta (the storm) but by noon, in buckets of rain, we made a get away. Twiggy&Ziggy followed us down the road as far as they could. I´m honestly not sure which they hungered for the most, food or a kind touch. It was really horrible watching them in the rear view mirror but there was nothing we could do to alter their fate but give them a couple of good meals and a little love as we passed through their lives.
In the morning we head back for the States. It should take us about a week to get back. Then I will post more photos of the ruins and trip in general.
The camp at the coast was wonderful. Ten American dollars a night - 20 feet from the Caribbean - nestled under the trees - white sand - orange kayaks - big fire pit - reef snorkling - his/her toilets and paper - a shower (outside, cold water only) with stalks of giant bamboo for walls (spaced about 3-6 inches apart, who needs privacy?) vollyball in the sand - open air restaurant (still closed, tourist season begins Dec. 1st) - thatched roof cabañas (still being readied for Dec.) - half of beach piled with washed up coral (fantastic fantasy shapes) - the rest of the beach groomed sand - extremely friendly, obviously cultured, barefoot host (retired engineer) dressed in a bathing suit working on the cabañas with a couple of young guys - lots of wild beach to walk in either direction ...
We camped at the far end of the resort, as it turned out on a conch shell and misc. rubbish dump. No matter to us. It´s all about the very important Tuck Factor. Just after we set up camp, Mr. Lee and I were sitting by the water eating survival cheese sandwiches when a tiny, big-eyed, bony puppy crept up behind us and sat and cowered in the sand shivering, hoping for a handout. She broke our hearts. I don't believe that the majority of people care much about or even notice the terrible suffering of its animals.
I cringe as I write this. I cannot forget the puppy´s condition or deny the painful, lonely death that surely awaits her. Of course we fed them, four dogs total, all puppies. That puppy and another were only a few months old. The other two were not a year, both female and had already given birth. I kick myself now for not putting food on something (perhaps a piece of driftwood) to keep it up out of the sand. She ate what she could. The two older dogs instantly adopted us. We didn´t see the really young ones again until leaving. Too bad. I found bowls and bucket lids on the beach the next morning and we fed the older ones (Twiggy&Ziggy, my name for them) more dogfood (I had a bag with me), tuna fish, milk, cheese cake, a carmel nut roll and a couple of vitamins that fell in the sand. The two older dogs were obviously sisters. Their lives revolved around each other, they frolicked around each other, slept together in a curl, bit one another´s fleas and licked each other´s whiskers cleaaan. Our very nice host seemed to look right through them. I don´t see how civilized people can be blind to the suffering of innocent creatures. Spay or neuter them. Feed and care for them or give them to people who will. Or gently, kindly kill them.
Tropical Storm Gamma drove us away. At first we thought we´d wait out la tormenta (the storm) but by noon, in buckets of rain, we made a get away. Twiggy&Ziggy followed us down the road as far as they could. I´m honestly not sure which they hungered for the most, food or a kind touch. It was really horrible watching them in the rear view mirror but there was nothing we could do to alter their fate but give them a couple of good meals and a little love as we passed through their lives.
In the morning we head back for the States. It should take us about a week to get back. Then I will post more photos of the ruins and trip in general.
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