Joshua Tree, CA- April 22, 2008

Earth Day seemed a marvelous time for a field trip to Joshua Tree National Park. Located in the town of Joshua Tree, two deserts come together; the Colorado (named because the Colorado River forms a border) and the Mojave Desert. The Colorado Desert has an elevation of less than 3000 ft. while the Mojave, reaches 5,000 ft. and is the home of the well-known Joshua Tree. Jenny described it well, when she recalled that the tree looks like the tree in Dr. Suess's well-known book, The Lorax, which I had read to them on Dr. Suess's birthday.

The tree, known for its twisted, spiky form, is a giant member of the lily family (yucca brevifolia), though you would never know it if you observed it up close. Each branch, which forms after flowering, is filled with sharp, dagger-like spines....I know because I touched one!
These trees grow an average of 1/2 inch per year and the oldest in the park is thought to be about 300 years old. We showed up to see them at the end of their flowering season; clusters of white-green flowers on long stalks.

I was amazed at all of the colors in the desert, despite having heard about it before. It was the perfect season for viewing wildflowers and there were so many varieties and colors. I had actually visited Joshua Tree years ago, but my companion felt it was too dangerous to get out of the car for fear of scorpions and rattlesnakes. This time, I had a ball hiking and seeing up close, all the wonders of the desert.

Joshua Tree, in the Little San Bernadino Mountains, is also known for the amazing geological displays and rock piles which we enjoyed viewing and climbing. It is believed that the process that created the current landforms, began 100 million years ago when molten liquid oozed upward and stopped below the surface of the top rock. These intrusions formed a type of rock called monzogranite which in time, formed fractures and rectangular joints. These fractures eventually became split, eroded, and slowly became the "broken terrace walls" that remain there today.

I also hiked to an area called Barker Dam, pictured as the water hole in my slides. Many years ago, this small lake was made by damming the water with large boulders. It seemed odd to walk into the desert and find this water source and lush area where many mallard ducks were spending time on their migration route. I also saw lots of lizards, a couple of rabbits, squirrels, and some interesting birds during the day.........but no rattlesnakes or scorpions!

Telluride Ski Resort- Winter 2008

I'm still trying to catch up but I'm getting there! I had intended on blogging about Telluride Ski Resort before leaving Telluride but it never happened. Having spent the last two weeks in the desert, the ski area is feeling very far away!

I have never skied in such an amazing ski area. It was not only the snow, but the vista that made it so incredible. Every direction that you looked was breathtaking. There were 14 lifts of all types and the one I liked the best was the gondola. This is no ordinary gondola but one that runs almost year round. It is used to transport not only skiers, but anyone wishing to travel from the town of Telluride to Mountain Village, which is also in Telluride. The gondola runs from early morning until midnight each day.

The ski season opens officially around Thanksgiving each year and the locals are praying for snow. The mountain is leased for 4 months each year and despite how much snow remains come April, it still shuts down. I had a really hard time understanding this; the mountain closed despite the fact that about 7 feet of snow remained on the mountain when it closed and two more feet of snow fell in the same week after the closure.

Apparently, the money making season is over by then. All of the locals have already bought their season passes months before. Tourists stop coming in as it is spring and they are headed for warmer climates. Telluride is so off the beaten trail that it is not feasible to keep it open. Skiers coming to CO head for the slopes closer to Denver. Still, it seemed to strange to abandon a mountain full of snow. I imagine the snow will still be there come June as there was so much!

I had the best time sking ,ever, and took full advantage of skiing whenever I could. You can see the town of Telluride in the pictures. I walked from my house to the gondola, got on, and rode to the first slope. From there, one could ski to other lifts and slopes with the highest elevations being at 13,320 ft. I never skied from those elevations as I stuck with the intermediate slopes. My favorite run was over 4 1/2 miles of sheer beauty. At the end of the day, I skied Telluride Trail back to the town and walked 5 min. home.....perfect!

At night, I could lie in bed and watch from my windows, as they groomed the slopes. I think they worked most of the night to get everything ready for the next morning. It is the Mexicans and immigrants that do all the labor in Telluride, the surrounding towns and states. Fortunately, they seemed to be getting paid well for their work.

Again, I can't tell you how lucky I felt to spend the winter in such a magical place and I was sad when it was time to leave. I still have my house there and will get back a little before the end of my stay in CO.

Pascua-SMA-March 2008

Easter morning dawned-another beautiful day in San Miguel. The weather is nearly always perfect there! I walked to a couple of churches and spent a little time listening to the mass in Spanish and observing the people. There is such a reverence among them. It is common to see people "bless themselves" as they walk past a church or a statue or when the bus they are riding on begins to move, etc. On any given day, people are in and out of churches on a regular basis. So, on a "holy day", you can imagine.

The morning was fairly quiet and I saw no evidence of the Easter Bunny of which I was glad. The crowds did gather again, though, outside of the churches. It is a tradition in SMA to blow up "Judas" figures in the jardin. I walked to see what was going on. About a dozen full-sized paper mache figures had been strung across the street. Each was labeled with the name of an individual or a business that the town or citizens had a gripe with. Each was filled with an explosive. One by one, the fuse was lit and the figures blown up, amidst cheering and many covering the ears in expectation of the big boom! Mexicans have a good time doing everything!

My friend, Roz, had been invited to Easter dinner at a friend's house and she asked to bring me and her aunt along. I had dinner with a "tableful" of Canadians...such nice folks. We had an interesting political discussion. One lady said that the whole world is afraid of our upcoming elections. They are afraid McCain will get in and war will continue. I wanted to alleviate their worries and tell them that, of course, our country was ready for a change and would vote democratic. . ......but that was what I thought last time and look what happened. Still, it was interesting to hear their comments and reinforce my thoughts.

Hope all of you celebrated Easter and spring in a memorable way!

Sabado de Gloria-SMA, Mexico- March 2008

The Saturday before Easter is also called Sabado Santo and was a pretty quiet day for festivities, though many businesses that had been closed for two days, reopened. The main highlight of the day, in terms of Pascua, was a candle light procession, as dusk was falling. Beautiful young girls, dressed as angels and carrying baskets of rose petals, followed the priests out of the church. The image of Mary ( which you saw in an earlier slide all dressed in blue) was now completely dressed in black and was carried by long files of women. Her train was very long and was supported by another group of women in the procession. Parishioners, carrying candles, followed as the procession made its way around the square. Music was softly sung and it was a very prayerful moment.

The Holy Burial- San Miguel- Good Friday- 2008

The longest and most solemn procession of Semana Santa (Holy Week) is the Holy Burial which departs from one of the main churches in the city. This procession originally began in 1712 and has continued since that time. A crucifix called the "Lord of the Inspiraton" leads the procession and is carried by 6 young men. Following, are 24 athletic young men dressed as Roman soldiers. Young girls with white dresses and blue ribbons carry statues of angels. Next are 6 groups of 6 women each, all dressed in black and wearing lace mantillas covering their heads and faces, carrying the figures of 6 archangels. A glass coffin contains a replica of Jesus and that is borne by 36 men wearing black suits. Still following are priests, walking under a canopy of gold and purple and finally, more women carrying other religious stautes.

The parade lasts so long because each step is painstakingly slow.....one foot moves forward and pauses, the next foot moves forward and pauses, and so on! Also, the street was so crowed, I was unable to get close for pictures. Though it was light when it started, the candle lit torches came in very handy before they were finished!

Riding the San Diego trolley- April, 2008

My second day in San Diego was filled to the brim. I bought an all day bus pass and began getting on and off buses, trying to find the way to go to get to the office to buy my trolley ticket. This city has great public transportation systems and I made great use of them! The trolley tour lasted two hours, if you stayed on the trolley the whole time, or you could get off and on at your leisure. Having spent so much time in Old Town, I was very limited so decided to ride most of the loop before getting off again.

We went down to the waterfront and saw the Star of India, the world's oldest, active sailing ship, drove through the Gaslamp neighborhood, known for shopping and evening entertainment, Chicano Park, where the underside of the Coronado Bridge is decorated with Hispanic murals, and over the bridge to Coronado. The bridge is over two miles long and connects the city to the island. The large building in the 4th picture is the Hotel Coronado and is similar to the grand hotels in New England.

I spent the largest amount of time in Balboa Park, an amazing 1,200 acres filled with plantings, fountains, recreational areas, museums and a botanical garden. The San Diego Zoo is also located at one end of the park. When San Diego was first being settled, there weren't any trees. The park was all scrub brush and cactus. But thanks to a woman named Kate Sessions, the park is now a lovely place. In 1884, she rented a small portion of the park to use as a nursery, and in exchange, she planted 100 trees per year in the park and 300 more in the city. Kate was a college graduate from Berkley in the field of science and an extraordinary horticulturist;a real woman pioneer.

Besides the plantings, the buildings in the park are incredible. Many of them were designed and built for the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition, to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal. The style chosen was Spanish Colonial and later buildings, added in the 30's, continued in the same theme. Though the buildings originally were intended to be temporary, they now house incredible museums. I could have spent at least two days just roaming the park and visiting the museums, but time prevented it.

My last stop for the day was Heritage Park, which is located on the hill above Old Town. A half dozen beautiful, Victorian homes were moved to this hillside and restored as each of them was going to be demolished. Several of them are now serve as "Bed and Breakfast Inns."

I saw a great deal while in San Diego but didn't begin to scratch the surface! That's okay...it will give me a reason to try and return someday!

Old Town, San Diego, CA- April 2008

Everyone said, "Go to Old Town," so of course, I did! I, also, spent too much time there and thoroughly enjoyed it. Those of you that are familiar with Prescott Park, in Portsmouth, have an understanding of this National Historic Site, but on the opposite coast with different players. It is said to be "the place where San Diego began" and includes a rich history of the Native Americans, the Spanish, and the Mexicans( before the US decided they wanted the land and took it).

The first "taking" was by the Spanish when Cordillo sailed into the bay in 1542 and declared the land for Spain, despite the fact that a Native American group called the
Kumeyaay already lived in the region. The Spanish returned about 60 years later and the first Catholic mass was said on the land. It wasn't until around 1760-1780, that the Spanish became very interested in the land and sent in fleets and missionaries.
Twenty-one missions were built and many Native Americans died in the process.

Spain lost their hold after Mexico became independent in 1821 and claimed San Diego for themselves. In 1833, the Mexican government passed a law that allowed the division of the mission lands creating large, properous "ranchos" owned by Mexicans who called themselves, Californios.

The Mexican-American war began after a dispute in which Polk seized land along the Rio Grande and then, invaded Mexico; in 1850, California became the 31st state. The Mexicans living there were given the choice of staying and becoming US citizens or leaving. Many wealthy Mexicans lost their land at this time.

Old Town was developed by these early Californios and today, is a 6 block pedestrian park that still contains some of the original buildings built around the central square. Some of the buildings have been rebuilt and/or refurbished and contain original furnishings. There is a great visitors center, lots of restaurants and stores. The workers were mainly Mexican and Spanish was spoken throughout so there was a very authentic feeling. A large livery stable showcased early vehicles, and a great Concord Coach, all the way from NH. The Mason School was the first school in San Diego and covered 8 grades.

The park was beautifully done and represents the history in a real way. I think that many Americans who get angry about the Mexican immigrants, forget that much of the southwest belonged to Mexico before it belonged to us. Spanish was the first language in this region, after the Native American languages, of course!

Tijuana, Mexico- April 8, 2008

I couldn't quite stand to be so close to Mexico and not go and visit! I have heard so much about Tijuana over the years but it was never positive. Due to lots of changes and "cleaning up" over the years, it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected.

I had read about a tour on the internet when I was researching the possibilities of what to do on my couple of days here and had jotted down the number of a company that does full and half day tours. Tijuana is only 15 miles from San Diego, so it was easy to do in a half day tour. Only 9 people went on the tour bus; represented were Australia, Russia, and Spain, in addition to the US, of course! We were an interesting group. I got to hang out with the man from Spain, as he didn't speak any English.

I pictured dusty dirt roads, burros, and crimes being committed along the sides of the street, but again, it was quite different than that. The only burros I saw were painted like zebras and were ready to pose with the tourists. I had no need of the Mexican souveniers but did enjoy stopping at the panderia and buying some nice rolls.

Tijuana saw amazing growth in the early 20's when prohibition in the US drove may Americans south of the border for various pleasures. I'm told that in the last twenty years, the city has really cleaned up and police presence was very apparent.

Coming through customs was amazing. The line of cars was huge and fortunately, the bus had it's own line and we didn't have to wait as long as the sea of cars next to us had to wait. We had to get off the bus and walk through customs and then, board the bus again on the other side. Twenty minutes later, we were back in San Diego. Tijuana isn't the Mexico I know and love, but it was a fun experience and I'm glad I was able to go!

And where did I go today......? April 8,2008

I had a lovely drive today to San Diego. I dropped my "family" off at the airport as they were flying to Las Vegas for a conference. They loaned me their car and I set off to the city for a couple of days. I opted to travel the slow, scenic route over the mountains and enjoy the journey. I traveled through the San Bernadino State Park and kept stopping to soak in the beauty. The colors of the desert in spring were amazing and I felt so lucky to be there!

When I arrived in the city, my room at the hotel was not ready. Todd owns the hotel and had booked me the Pent House Suite......never in my life have I stayed in a Pent House Suite! Anyways, since I had the time and couldn't get in the room, decided to go on another adventure.......Tijuana!

To all my school friends...........SMA, March, 2008

As many of you know, Ruth Whaley's daughter, Jessica lives in San Miguel de Allende with her family. Since Ruth retired, she and her husband, Rick, have had lots more time to spend in Mexico. On my recent visit, Ruth and Rick came over to visit and see the house I am building. We had a wonderful visit and they shared all their Mexican tales with me! The first picture was taken in a little park near my house. The second was taken on my street, with the reddish house in the background on the right, being mine.

As you can see, Ruth looks wonderful and was really enjoying her time in Mexico. It was great to see her!

The Sacred Encounter and the Priest's Passing, SMA, March 2008

A highlight of the "Semana Santa" or Holy Week celebrations are the two processions held in the main square on Good Friday. The first, assembled at 11:00, while I was out in the little neighborhood, viewing the reenactment of the crucifiction. These two main processions, have been going on for generations, bringing the oldest and most venerated statues of holy people, into the streets. The "floats" or biers were magnificent, as many statues from the 18th century, were marched around the square amidst solemn music, prayer, flowers and candles. Again, many people were dressed up and acting out a part; soldiers, angels, death, Jesus and the thieves, the Holy Family.

The first procession gathered in front of the main church for a re-enactment of Christ's judgement before Pontius Pilot. Many barefoot penitents, also wearing crowns of thorns and
carrying crosses were at the head of the procession behind a couple of biers, being carried by 10-12 Mexicans, upon which was displayed a beautifully decorated statue. Represented in the parade were St. John, Mary Magdalene, Mary Cleofas, and Veronica who was carrying the shroud used to wipe Jesus' face. A band with Mexican children playing instruments and singing and many angels were also marching.

Just about every business was closed between Thursday and Sunday so the streets were crowded with Mexicans and gringos for this spectacular showing of religious art from the 1700's. One of the statues is walked in from Atontonilco, a neighboring village, the week before the celebration. Another procession left from SMA, the following Wed. evening, after Easter, to "walk" the statue back to it's church. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend.

Viernes de Dolores, San Miguel de Allende, March 14, 2008

Hello family and friends,

Just a quick blog now, but I intend to catch up and have lots of info and pics from all the things that have gone on in the last few weeks. The family and I are in La Quinta, CA and will not return to CO until May. We will spend time here, and in Mexico, on their boat in the Baja.

I had such a hectic time in Mexico and came home sick, had to pack to leave, and pull together three weeks of lesson plans. The "blog" got put on the back burner. However, this trip will have some down time where I plan on catching up. Check the blog!

I was not in San Miguel for the celebration of Viernes de Dolores but my friend, Roz, forwarded this picture to me and I wanted to share it. Apparently, this celebration is unique to SMA. Doors, windows and fountains are decorated with alters filled with flowers,fragrant herbs, and candles. The doors and windows are left open for viewing and ice cream and fruit drinks are offered to the viewers. Most of the cities 45 fountains are beautifully decorated as well. I can imagine how beautiful it must have been. This celebration is dedicated to the sorrows of Mary, and is another example of the strong religious attitude that pervades this society. The Mexican generosity and warmth is demonstrated with the passing out of food and drink. I am sorry to have missed this part of the Pascua celebration, but grateful for all I was able to witness!

La Casita, San Migiel de Allende, Mexico- 2008

I had a marvelous time in SMA but became very ill with the flu on my return trip home! There was so much to do there and I pretty much ran myself ragged. (However, the whole time I was there, a big grin never left my face.) I have spent the last two days in bed but felt well enough tonight to begin a blog and say hello.

The casita was not ready when I first arrived as the services were not yet hooked up. It worked out okay because I stayed with my friend, Roz, for the first part of the week. This gave us a great time to visit and spend time together.....and she taught me how to resize my photos. My brother, Jon, had taught me to do it on my old computer but with Windows Vista, I had been unable to do it. So, hopefully, they will load for your easier!

I was able to move the furniture we had already bought into the casita and set it partially up. They are still finishing the kitchen and bathroom cabinets and the terrace needs a little more work but it was very comfortable.

It is hard to explain the feeling I had the first night staying in this very Mexican neighborhood; the first gringa on the street. My neighbors have all been very warm and friendly but still........I often sleep with earplugs in Mexico because the morning church bells, roosters, and early morning fireworks, tend to wake me. I decided it would be better to sleep without them the first night, so that I would be aware of the night sounds. However, after about an hour of hearing assorted noises and sleep escaping me, I decided to put in my earplugs. It was a great idea and I woke in the morning after the workers had already arrived to work on the main house.

The next morning some of the neighbor children asked me if I was living there now.
In the evening, my terrace lights were on and lighting my neighbors terrace, where other children were playing. I shut the lights off and the children yelled over to me and asked me to keep them on so they could see better as they don't have terrace lights. When my intercom system went in, the neighbor kids had to try it out. I was walking up by the park, and my of my favorite little neighborhood girls yelled, "Hola Paty." I had lots of great interactions with the neighborhood children.

All of the house lots in this part of the neighborhood are roughly the same size, as the divisions were made in the early 70's, all at one time. I feel a bit guilty about having this house, owned by myself and my business partner (on this project)when most of the time, it will be vacant. Meanwhile, all of the neighboring properties have, probably, between 10-20 people living within their walls. Trying to fit in is very important to me and I hope we can find ways to make our presence there, worthwhile.