A Little Pre-Season Christmas Spirit

I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving. Craig tagged along to the grocery store today because my back was really hurting and I didn't want to drive the Bug and lift groceries. The grocery store was packed with people shopping the Thanksgiving ads! I stocked up on everything but the turkey, and then we decided to hit Costco for a few items. We sampled all the cookies from the Christmas cookie tins (YUM!), and bought a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. I'll freeze it so I don't have to stand in that long line for pumpkin pie there next week! People were piling Christmas decorations and gifts into their shopping carts.

All those lights and ornaments at Costco reminded me of Isla Mujeres in December. The lights on Medina in front of the ferry look so retro!

And look at this decorated Christmas window from December 2005. I think the shop has changed hands and is now internet and gelato. But wasn't it something that Christmas!

And a shop door on Hidalgo decked out for the Christmas season.

I think the Grinch (that would be me) is starting to warm up with some holiday spirit!

Crop Circles?

Last year, I was more than slightly amused when I read an article in the local newspaper about crop circles in Chandler. Then I really hooted when I realized the supposed phenomena was right in my own backyard. He he he Scotty -- beam me up!

We get drenching rain storms around here combined with unbelievable wind, and one of those happened about the time this highly imaginative guy noticed this mysterious phenomena in the sorghum field over on the corner. I had noticed the field right after the storm and commented that the crop had been destroyed. But our local UFO devotee thought otherwise. Here's the quote from the article that I really like: The forces that created them (the supposed crop circles), "are hoping to make it to the UK (United Kingdom) one day, but until then, they're practicing in Chandler."

Here's the field in question and part of the article from the local newspaper.

Chandler Crop Circles

UFO buff explores Chandler 'crop circles', by Edythe Jensen - Mar. 19, 2008 01:12 PM

The Arizona Republic

A year after he stumbled on what he said were mysterious "crop circles" in a south Chandler field, resident Michael Polani said he's still trying to call attention to them. Eleven people showed up at the Basha Library Tuesday night to hear what Polani had to say about the damaged sorghum stalks and odd patterns he photographed at Gilbert and Ocotillo roads last March 25.

"We're seen by our family and friends as 'a little bit different,' " he told the audience, many who nodded their heads affirmatively. "But I've seen enough to say, yeah, we need to listen to this."Polani said he regrets not being able to photograph the Chandler phenomenon from the air; the crop was harvested hours after he spotted it. He was able to walk into the field and capture patterns of downed stalks pointing in different directions among clusters of stiff, erect plants. And he picked up a few of the damaged stalks which appeared to be burned and bent in different places. "Someone simply stomping on it couldn't do this . . . If the Chandler patterns appear a little crude, he had an explanation. The forces that created them, "are hoping to make it to the UK (United Kingdom) one day, but until then, they're practicing in Chandler," Polani said.

Ed Hermes, spokesman for the Arizona Department of Agriculture, said . . . a likely explanation for what Polani saw is a common occurrence in heavily fertilized grain crops, Hermes said. When they're exposed to wind, the top-heavy engorged stalks bend and fall.

Dorothy, we're not in Kansas anymore!!! And all of you thought I led a boring life. In fact, I'm busy right now in my kitchen fashioning an aluminum foil UFO attractant hat. The crop in the field's getting pretty tall again, so maybe I'll try my hand at getting beamed up! I'm thinking the design below is simple, yet will reflect enough of the spaceship's glow to signal my availability.

P.S. It's not that I would totally dismiss the possibility of UFO's and aliens, but believe me, if it WAS aliens trying to send a message, they really need to go back to the design board.

Boats Afloat

I love the boats on Isla -- especially the ferry boat that takes me there! All the boats are beautiful with the turquoise blue Caribe as a backdrop. But without all the rustic pangas, Isla Mujeres wouldn't be the same! Picture all the water and docks along Rueda Medina lined with sleek modern speed and sailboats. The island's ambience would definitely be altered. Here are some of my all time favorite boat pics.

The restaurant at Bally Hoo is my favorite place to watch the boats on Isla come and go. Not to mention I love their fish and chips!

I like to walk straight out Medina along the airstrip on the bayside. Lots of sailboats drop anchor there in the bay, and rustic pangas also dot the shoreline in that area. It's a great area to take photos!

And then there are the multitude of boats in town all up and down Medina along the docks.

Love this sailboat. It was on Isla one May for a regatta.


And the pirate boat!




Never ridden the car ferry, but I love photos of it passing in front of the Posada beach.




And then there are the ferries. I love the Ultramar, but I can't hack being cooped up inside the old Puerto Juarez ferry.

I call this ramshackle conglomeration of boats at Gran Puerto the graveyard. I snap pictures of the graveyard when I'm headed to the airport. You know the fun's over when you see the damn graveyard! :(

Vintage Southwest

Cactus

Courtyard Fountain

Mission Doors

Tortilla Factory

On the Trail

Southwest Adobe

Lofty Spires

Old Saguaro

Scorpion Gulch

Abandoned Tepee

Jerome Vista

Fairies at the Gate

Lonesome Cow

Desert View

Mission Flowers

Ornamental Iron

Elk Lodge

Model T Repair

Grand Canyon

Lookout House

Southwest Door

A Few Sunday Morning Quotes

Just because all your friends are wearing that doesn't mean it's right!

My Mother

Every time you wake up and ask yourself, "What good things am I going to do today?", remember that when the sun goes down at sunset, it will take a part of your life with it.

Indian Proverb

All of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea -- whether it is to sail or to watch it -- we are going back from whence we came. John F. Kennedy

And speaking of going back from whence we came, my laptop with its new mother board is scheduled to return to its mother land on Friday, the 21st. I can't wait. I never realized how addicted I am to my computer!

Consider This, Senora

I just finished reading Consider This, Senora by Harriet Doerr. Actually, after the first few pages, I realized I'd read this book several years ago, but I didn't mind reading it again. It's about four American ex-pat's who build their casas on a mesa overlooking a tiny village in Mexico. This reading, I noticed an extremely poignant quote towards the end of the book:

Our lives are brief beyond our comprehension or our desire, she told herself. We drop like cottonwood leaves from trees after a single frost. The interval between birth and death is scarcely more than a breathing space. Tonight, in her house on a Mexican hill, Ursula Bowles listened to the five assembled in her sala and thought she heard the faint rustle of their days slipping by. She could see now that an individual life is, in the end, nothing more than a stirring of air, a shifting of light. No one of us, finally, can be more than that. Even Einstein. Even Brahms.

The quote is fairly depressing, but definitely a reminder that one life is but a short moment in time in the overall continuum of the universe. By the way, if you enjoy books concerning the life of ex-pat's in Mexico, it's definitely a good read. My all time fave on this subject is God and Mr. Gomez, a biography of the building of the author's (Jack Smith) Mexican casa in the Baja. I've also put a hold on Stones from Ibarra. I imagine I'll pick the book up, read a few lines, and remember I've already read it. But I'm sure I'll enjoy it just as much the second time around!

Anyway, that quote was a definite note to self! So do consider this senora (and senor). Seize the day! And live your dreams now!

Friday Night Funny

911 Call from ??????? (You fill in the state!)

I Feel Lucky!

Well, maybe I didn't feel so lucky on Monday when I couldn't turn my computer on. I think I heard Taps! I pushed the start button, the blue light came on for a nano second, then went out. I tried it over and over with no success. We went on the HP website and did all the troubleshooting. Thank God Craig knew how to take the back of the laptop off and follow their instructions. I'm no good at troubleshooting if it involves a screwdriver and removing anything. I can usually replace batteries in an electronic device, but that's about it! Anyway, none of the troubleshooting worked.

So we called the support line at HP and got a not so helpful woman. She informed us that the computer was out of warranty and it would cost $49.95 to talk to someone about our issues. Craig asked her if she could look to see if there were any known recalls on our particular model since I vaguely remembered a product notification. No, she could not, but for $49 someone might be able to help with that. Alrighty there.

Fortunately, I DO have a mind like a steel trap!!! I may not be able to locate the scissors on any given day, but I definitely remembered getting a service enhancement notice from HP many moons ago which had to do with this issue -- a computer that won't start! At the time, the laptop was working fine, but I also filed it in my brain that they would cover the problem for 24 months. So I decided to dig through all my old e-mails. Lo and behold, it was there at the very bottom of the heap. I had marked it as not read.

So, Craig called the service number on THAT e-mail and got a friendly person named Don. He looked it up and yes, our laptop was covered under that service enhancement program. So, I took the laptop to Fed Ex Wednesday and it was beamed up in a box to the mother ship at HP. The computer will be fixed with a new mother board at no charge. I have HIT the mother lode and will receive a free mother board. (Couldn't resist all those mother phrases!) So I Feel Lucky! Should I buy a lottery ticket?

P.S. We also scored free flu shots last week, so I'm just over the moon. (That's sarcasm.) And that Mary Carpenter Chapin video is a hoot! That's one of my favorite songs!