Two years ago about this time we wrote a Blog entry (Theory of Relativity) about how cold it was:
“The relative temperature here is COLD. At 8 AM it was 49 F or 9.5C
Surprisingly it is almost the same temperature in Pueblo, CO. although at night it is in the 20’s (-4 C)
46 F (8 C) was the coldest it got here overnight.
But 50 F / 10 C and colder is bone chilling ‘round these parts.”
That weather report was two years ago. Now in January 2010 we are experiencing a cold snap expecting some sub 50F temperatures tomorrow through the weekend.
A Yahoo headline this morning read, “Frigid weather hits Midwest, -52 wind chill in ND.” So we are not alone in all this. But for us living in Mexico, take away that “-“ and utter 52 F or 11 C and shoulder blades close, necks sink below collars and faces grimace. “That’s cold!”
Obviously not a lot of people in North America will have sympathy for our cold plight. Somehow even knowing that there are others suffering in far colder regions, I was unable to feel better about the current 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15.5 C) as I sit here with cold fingers tapping still colder keys.
Most have no heat what-so-ever here in the tri-city area (Xalapa-Coatepec-Xico) so sub-60F inside temperatures is common place this time of year. But for us sissy extranjeros we will retreat to our nine foot Lance camper blocked up on our Casita property in Ursulo Galvan and crank up the little forced air heater to 65 as the temperature goes low (maybe even 67F and live a little!).
I remembered that during my courting of Guapa Senora Calypso I had promised to always keep her warm – this vow was reiterated while we snuggled in front of a fireplace in Bend Oregon where we spent our honeymoon skiing and things.
I can tell by the look on her face when we got up to 57 F in the house that maybe I was slipping on that promise. So tonight we will head to the Lance camper and warm up – with our 20th anniversary not even cold I am bound and determined to back up that promise; and my butt to that force air heater. Stay Warm and Stay Tuned!
Christmas Eve Morning in Xico Mexico: The sun also rises here up on the mountain at Rancho del Cielo. At 6:30 AM a balmy 65 degrees with a light wind produced a majestic sunrise with Mexican colors. The burnt orange sky and a fine cup of Mexican coffee has to be one of the best ways to wake up to another Christmas Eve morning.
There is no way I have the skills and the equipment to give the scene here justice captured with a digital camera – you the reader will have to imagine what an expanse like this might be here in living color.
This says a lot because writing about living in Mexico is the same in that we can only touch upon the beauty, grace and tranquility of our adopted land. It is like the photo – you really have to be here. (Click to Enlarge – it is worth it!)
As the sun dawns we are listening to O Come All Ye Faithful performed by The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge. From Colorado, U.S.A. to Veracruz, Mexico, to London, England – a glorious international morning sort of speak. We are after all one people.
Nearing the end of another year, moments like these in the quiet solitude of a Mexican sunrise pretty much puts it all in perspective. Life is good – better than we deserve I think. But we will not look a gift horse in the mouth.
The Calypso family wishes you and yours a wonderful holiday.
The American dream of retiring to Mexico and having a maid and gardener is alive and well albeit perhaps a bit tarnished. If there was a simple answer for hiring people in Mexico for these services the discussions would have ended long ago – a simple solution isn’t going to happen. Like the discussions on the ‘dangers of living in Mexico’, controversy about employing of maids and gardeners is ongoing.
Heard in a coffee shop near you, “You can move to Mexico, have a maid and a gardener while living on social security!”
My Amigo Steve brought the issue up as it relates to him over there on the sunny beach of Melaque.
Steve wrote in part, “I am purposely generous on the maid cost; she needs it.”
Steve being the consummate nice guy would be in that camp. But, if we look at this beyond the surface Steve comments, “The maid issue is a ticklish one.”
Ticklish Maid Issue
If we were to hire a maid in the United States for $60.00 US a day or more we probably wouldn’t be taking into account the maids living condition beyond that business relationship. But, somehow in Mexico we consider the helps life style as it compares to our own to the point of modifying compensation – perhaps because the gap between ‘the haves’ and ‘the haves not’ is widening?
The other side of that coin is “The gringos come down here and distort the economy. We cannot afford to hire these laborers at the rate of pay the gringos provide.”
In our part of Mexico there are few foreigners – thus the distortion of the economy is barely perceptible. However in areas where there is a large expatriate population the unbalancing of the economy can create wide spread hard feelings, widening the gap between locals and foreigners.
A thoughtful person who I know Steve is must carefully weigh these issues. Charity begins at home. Our home is in Xico, Mexico. We want to be a good neighbor and fair with the people we live amongst. But combining the hiring of a local service with charity is a problem.
If there was a simple answer we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Compensation, local economy and responsible behavior towards hired help have been issues since we first moved to Mexico.
The Calypso family doesn’t have a maid or gardener. We do occasionally hire some yard work service.
We tend to lean towards not disrupting the natural flow of the economy (read pay local rates). I don’t have any special insight or answers. What I do suggest is to not be too judgmental about what others might be doing and to thoughtfully consider the many angles of this very complex issue. Stay Tuned!
A major asset to any Mexican household here in the Hood is the 19 liter (5-gallon) plastic bucket. Most of these containers are spent lard buckets – the poor use a lot of lard apparently. The containers come with lids and cost 8 pesos (about 60 cents US) with lard remnants and 15 pesos ($1.10 US) cleaned – both a bargain. Last time I checked they were about $6.00 US at Home Depot.
I am known far and wide for my thriftiness so if you guessed we buy the to-be-cleaned buckets you were right.
I set them in the sun until the thin veil of lard on the inner sides melts some, making them easier to wash out. We use them for our several compost toilets as well as containers for tools, topsoil, coffee bean chard’s, tools and even as planters.
They are hard to keep around as my neighbors often borrow them – never to be seen again. When you own a dozen of something that most hoard at one or two you just scream, “Get your Buckets here!”
The buckets are the most common tote; sand, gravel and cement unit of measure, and hauler; step ladder, suitcase and tool box in the Hood.
When an hombre gets on the job and empties his bucket of tools, it then becomes a step ladder; often in conjunction with a straight back wooden chair. Some of these fellows look like they are practicing a balancing act for the Ed Sullivan Show – and if you remember that show you are old like me.
I wrote a few entries back about the collapse of the front apron of our local Alcoholics Anonymous building. The 4 meter by 4 meter room with a few pew like benches and encouraging quotes and photographs on the walls is actually the front room of our neighbors sprawling property – where there are seven casas and currently five families living as well as the AA oficina.
I thought perhaps tearing down and starting anew would be the ticket as there was some question as to the viability of the balance of the structure. That not being the Mexican way, it was decided to shore up the building with cement post and beams and reconstruct the apron with reinforcement beams. No small project.
A Complex Fix for the Small AA Building
Our next-door neighbor and another hombre commenced to working a couple of weeks ago. I check in on the progress regularly being that I am retired and often wander aimlessly around the Hood. Well the truth is I am watching this fascinating process for my readers.
A couple of days ago peaking in I noticed my neighbor and friend Emilio perched on one of the aforementioned buckets resting on a small wooden chair – wobbling as he greeted me. He calls me Yanni – I assume for Johnny. I have no idea where he came up with that? For many years he called me Señor. But, in recent time we have become friendlier and now I am YAWN-EE.
I was disturbed to see that bucket swaying on that rickety wooden chair. I forcefully said, “Alta hombre!” I walked over the 200 yards to my house and got my trusty yellow step-ladder. Upon returning I explained what he was doing was tantamount to hanging himself without the rope and that he must use this ladder.
Emilio’s Turn on our Step Ladder in the AA Building
Hours later during another wandering spell I check-in; Emilio is still on the chair and bucket, and his work associate is using the ladder. The other hombre after all was the Jefe (boss). I blurted out that I brought that ladder to protect my neighbor’s life and he remains risking limb and life? The Jefe started to dismount the ladder taking me quite seriously.
I smiled and said, “No, it is OK” – at least one life will be spared. I had, sort of, loaned them the ladder to use with their best judgment (seldom a good idea actually). They continued on. Emilio returns the ladder at the end of each work day – that being something novel here a bouts – returning things.
Anita Warns One of Our Clever Workers Incorporating the Ubiquitous Bucket with Our Ladder
When Anita heard that I had loaned the ladder to Emilio she gave me that stern wifely look, reminding me that loaning my stuff has been less than successful. I thought for a moment. I explained that particular excellent ladder was obtained from a dumpster dive in the back of Sam’s Club in Pueblo, Colorado. A great find actually. Replacement value $100 US.
I suggested that perhaps the reason that fine ladder was in that dumpster to be found by me was God’s intention; He provided it so I would loan it out to my poor neighbors, perhaps saving their lives or at least prevent a few broken arms or legs. Anita moved on without saying anything. In my head I smiled thinking we former Americans have too much stuff anyway. Stay Tuned!
My neighbor is building a 735 square foot (about 70 meters) addition to his mother-in-laws house.
She is the head of compound of six families – that started out as she and her now deceased husband. They had five kids who now have eleven children all living on the same plot of land that the two started some 25 years ago.
Vicente was given an eight day suspension from his work at the Coke bottling distributor because he took an extra day off. They punish employees that botch their schedule up from not showing up by not allowing them to work for a time – a non-paid vacation as it were.
Mind you he works 13 days out of every 14; getting every other Sunday off – rotating with his brother who also works there and who is also married to his wife’s sister. I know this is all a little hard to follow. Believe me this is just the tip of the iceberg. It seems like almost everyone is related in this 1600 person Colonia I lovingly call the Hood.
The good news about the bad news of his work suspension is we are getting our door mounted and mescaled in during his forced hiatus. And his mother-in-law is the beneficiary of the rest of the time that will be put into building her addition.
In passing conversation Vicente told me the plan and we spent most of one day discussing the pros and cons of designs for the addition. I was happy to impart my knowledge regarding building with light, air flow and solar direction – all new concepts but well received by my friend and eventually his MIL (mother-in-law).
I went over the advantages of facing south and not putting windows on the north side etc. He said these are things they never consider. They wanted to build two apartments on top of her existing casa – little rentals that would be less than 325 sq. feet each. I asked how much they could rent for – 300 pesos a month they reported. That is $30 US dollars a month.
I asked for how much could they rent a 2 bedroom 70 square meter apartment – perhaps 1000 pesos or $100.00 a month. Here I pointed out the cost of one larger place to build would be less and they could realize more rent; and only have to deal with one tenant, less parking problems etc. They went home a bit confused with a lot to think about.
While they were mulling things over I went over and climbed the ladder to their roof top – took some measurement and came back to do a floor plan in autocad on my desktop. I printed out a couple plans with windows and room layout.
They decided to go with the one large apartment – cool. I brought out the prepared drawings. We went over the details about light, how the sun would pass their windows and structure, and my ideas about keeping the kitchen close to the wall where the bathroom would be to have shorter plumbing runs; and an efficient hot water system etc.
We were very much in accord until I got the compost toilet issue Up to then they really liked my suggestions and layout. I ran some numbers on the amount of block, windows etc. and gave them an idea of material costs.
Wednesday the first 500 block of a total nearing 1800 arrived on the scene in their driveway. I thought my job is done here. The have a good, efficient plan and are on their way. But, try and keep me off a building site.
Thursday morning I saw Vicente starting to hike up three of those heavy solid blocks on his shoulder. He climbed this rather wobbly ladder up about 12 feet; back down for three more. It was already in the low 80’s and I could see he had quite the day ahead of him getting 500 blocks up that ladder and stacked on the roof. I did some quick math – Vicente would climb 167 times up and 167 times down that ladder to get those 500 block to the roof – ouch.
You all know we left 80 acres in Colorado where we completed the building of our house and added some out buildings. To write that I have a lot of tools is such a slight to the fact that I have a LOT of tools! I have even managed to get a lot of them down here.
Many of my tools are new or near new as my eye for tools has always been greater than my actual use of same. One item I bought shortly before we started moving here is a small 2000 pound electric winch. I had reasoned that as I get older I am going to need more and more help lifting stuff – how could I go wrong with this little Harbor Freight gem?
Truth is this device might have ended up in my son’s possession some years from now – new in the box. I couldn’t stand watching my friend hike those blocks up that ladder.
“Halt!” I said. I have this ‘thing’ that could help.
I won’t bore you further with the details of the several attempts to setup a system to get that stuff up electrically – but suffice it to write eventually we had setup a very slick system to lift 5 blocks at a time on a small platform. It took us about 4 hours to get all the pieces together including a run to the hardware store in San Marcos. It took less than 2-hours to get all 500 block on the roof.
We could argue the 4 hours to get it to work combined with the 2 hours to get the block up was perhaps 2 hours less than a full day of hiking up the blocks on a shoulder – but this is just 30% of the total block not to mention the many other things like 50 kilo bags of cement, 25 kilo bags of lime and many many buckets of sand. This little setup was going to make life a lot simpler.
Some may suggest I have disrupted the ‘way’ they do things here (Joe are you out there?); but I am happy my friend will not haul all that stuff up a rickety ladder; and I am happy they will have a more progressive dwelling in the end – interference and customs be hanged! I was too busy to get pictures – but there will be lots to follow as this project develops – So Stay Tuned!
OK, yet another photo of the waterfall across the way – I am still playing with my new Canon long lens – so bear with me here. Enlarge it if you dare – it is a big file – but it will give you a feel for this morning’s diatribe.
I like that sun is pronounced soul (sol) here in Mexico. For me the sun is the soul of our physical existence. In a way Anita and I are chasing the sun, and occasionally the son as well
Today is beautiful. The humming birds are poking at the beautiful pink flowers that loom high above our eastern wall. Here abouts the sub-tropical weather Romances the Flowers. To write that you have to be here is minimizing the power of the vista, sounds and smells that over power the senses.
Yesterday actually I removed a ton of wall vegetation to improve the view and remove the shade over the compost pile. A couple of hombres were here with their weed whacker – they “mowed” down the vegetation to shag carpet length – we were a busy crew.
We are packing up to head up to the Campo tomorrow. This will be our first visit since last March – we have a home up there. It will be good, if nothing else, to stretch out a bit from our Lance Camper life here in Ursulo Galvan. I have moved some what to the officina upstairs in the Casita, but we eat, sleep and spend evenings in the Lance – it is like living on an earth ship – a tiny 16 foot craft perhaps – a sailboat for sure.
Up there at a mile high I am looking forward to getting some new perspective images of Pico Orizaba with my new lens – more snow capped mountain photos – or will there still be snow at 18,000 plus feet – we shall see – come back for that.
We left a behemoth craft in Colorado – our lovely earthship. Here we move around each other, relocate this and that and make many trips to the Casita for that which can only fit in the Lance when needed. Occasionally we get claustrophobic in our little land craft – but today the sun is shinning, the birds are singing over the top of the cascada background choir. And there is most often a bass line played by the neighbor’s stereo. It is a musical and enchanting land – Mexico – come and visit – you will not be disappointed. Stay Tuned!
It is the inhabitants and their personal touches and possessions that make a house a home.
Today a sofa, two large chairs, our bed, a bookshelf and a television with cabinet left the building. From any corner now you can see we are moving. There are boxes empty and full strewn about; some furniture on end and disassembled racks and shelves. The upper room is starting to echo as sound waves bounce from vacant wall to floor and ceiling – sans any furniture or stuff to impede their travel.
In one corner is a makeshift computer work station near a long table that now belongs to the new owners of Rancho Calypso. For the next three weeks we will be living in unsettled conditions with no wedding bed to retreat to after each adventurous moving day.
I think a house looks better with furniture rather than when empty. Here I am thinking this is a BIG room. In Mexico we will live in smaller places. I have pretty much lived by ‘if there is a space it should be filled’; and there will likely be overflow when one thinks like that. We are working towards being minimalists like most of our Mexican neighbors – trust me when I tell you we have a ways to go on that front.
Our favorite neighbor is the benefactor of many things we need to not own any longer. The big comfortable easy chair with the massage motor that crawls up and down your spine has found a new home. His college attending son will rest his head on our queen sized bed and they have a host of Rancho Calypso building materials, electronics, and other furniture.
I wanted to leave a lot of things I liked for buyers – thinking they liked this house with this stuff in it; they are coming from a small apartment and other such reasoning. But, Anita said no she thought it would be better not to leave things – I guess? Thankful recipients who want the stuff seems to be the ticket.
The truth is we have pigeon holed enough stuff down in New Mexico to maintain our packrat status. I am often reminded of that 1941 classic film “Citizen Kane.” At the end where they are going to tie up the Rosebud mystery the camera scans a huge storage facility with vast amounts of furniture, collectibles and building materials – most of which never got beyond the point of being stored while under Charle Foster Kanes ownership.
Our parallel life moving to Mexico Blogging friends Paul and Nancy have reduced their earthly footprint by a lot – Nancy actually moved all her music from CD to hard drive Ebaying off the originals and she scanned her photos parsing out the originals to her family – yikes the organization of it all. I really enjoy their Blog but damn if their efficient methods don’t regularly leave me riddle with guilt.
In merely three or four months Brenda and Roy went from springing out of the starting blocks to selling off everything including their home in Canada save what they could get in their car to start a new life South of the Border.
These shining examples of efficiency really make me look bad. We have been working on moving since 2005 – the plan to head to Mexico was born in 2001!
We will come back in the spring to clear out things Colleen and John have kindly allowed us to store in the upper loafing sheds of their property – the kindness of strangers…
A couple of years from now when people ask, “How did you do it?” I have my reply ready, “Don’t ask!” Stay Tuned!
Early Sunday morning we returned from a two day trip to New Mexico since you last heard from me. It was productive in the sense that we are lessening the load here at Rancho Calypso – this an absolute imperative in that our Ranch sale closes Thursday and then we have until September 15th to vacate.
We like the new buyers which is a good thing. When one gives up their place of residence it is tumultuous and fraught with emotion. Separation from base camp is nothing less than an adventure in life. Anita and I are adventurous types – always have been really. This is accentuated when one leaves their country of birth as well.
The new base camp for our US possessions from which we are having separation anxieties is Capitan, New Mexico. It has been mentioned here. Some years ago we had a failed attempt at contentment in Nogal, New Mexico. Nogal, a blip on any radar, lies between Ruidoso and Capitan (blips themselves really). In the late 90′s we bought 3 acres and began building. During that time period we also bought a small real adobe house lightly resting upon 4 lots right square in the middle of town (Capitan).
Essentially it was purchased for storage in that there are two garages on the property. The old adobe casa is not livable, but at the time I considered it might make a challenging restoration project at some point in the future – and it still may – but probably not for the adventurous Calypso couple.
What it remains as is a storage depot. It has been this through our living in Prescott, Arizona; Las Vegas, Nevada; Nogal, New Mexico; Pueblo, Colorado; and Xico, Veracruz, Mexico. The one constant throughout all that moving about has been the little place in Capitan.
We visited with George and Pearl. They are our friend’s and next door neighbors there in Capitan.
George is a black and white kind of a guy – retired Coast Guard. Pearl is a gem of an English woman; most appropriately named a gem of the sea – she fittingly being the wife of a Coast Guardsman . She is working on getting her US citizenship as we speak.
They are very sensible people, community minded and spirited – as most of our friends they are bit eclectic.
I have always imagined George as one day being mayor of Capitan. In the recent past he was a village councilman. Capitan is a charming small community of about 1500 people. It is at about 6400’ altitude and 12 miles north of Ruidoso. It is a mix of 60’s hippies, retired middle classers and West Texas cowboys and cowgirls – a real melting pot of conflicting life styles.
George, charming, mild mannered, retired Coast Guard infantryman, is really a stabilizing force in such a mishmash George goes by the book – which ever one is the rule of the time. It is comforting for us to know he is the northerly guard of our garages of possessions.
Friday we left Rancho Calypso with packed truck and loaded trailer to Capitan arriving there in the early evening. We opted for sleeping in the truck – not comfortable – in the future we will get the tent set up or dare we spend it – get a motel room. I could do an entire Blog entry asking WHY Ford in their infinite design wisdom affix seat belt receptacles in such a manner that they offend all that is holy when one reclines across the front seats of their forty thousand dollar plus BIG trucks.
We ran into Ruidoso in the little red Suzuki. There are no signs of a recession in Ruidoso – all the eateries were packed with patrons over flowing to those with libations waiting for more than an hour for tables. We had a drink at two restaurants and some hor doeuvres in the bars – a run into WalMart and back “home” to Capitan for the fitful nights sleep in the Ford.
Saturday we somewhat methodically unloaded the last vestiges of that which we can’t seem to let go of, placing the less immediately needed items towards the back and things we might want to see in the next couple years closer to the front where they might be more available.
I really get guilty when I read about how organized our friends from Washington are as they prepare for their move to Mexico. Someone wrote if you haven’t used or seen something in a year – get rid of it – would that we could adhere to that sage advice. I am going to try and get a handle on all this before I die. Stay Tuned!
Friday July 27th 2007, 5:43 pm
Filed under: Colorado,General
We arrived home about 9 PM Thursday from a whirlwind trip down to New Mexico to take our first load of things off Rancho Calypso.
Here is our little house on the corner – kind of over grown green – yes we have yard work to do there too. The house is far left – you can see a front garage to the right and just behind the truck to the left is the garage in which we were storing things.
We arrived about 7:30 PM Wednesday; our neighbors across the street and across the alley came out to greet us. I haven’t been there for two years. It has been three for Anita. It was a nice reception from people we haven’t seen for a while. We had planned on driving over to Bonita Lake and camping out – but it was late after all the catching up with the neighbors.
Our neighbor Mike insisted on our staying in his cute little guest house across the street. We enjoyed a shower and a peaceful nights sleep before heading back across the street where we first needed to get rid of a few items and clean some of the dust out of the garage. Oh and yes it needs some paint ;-0
There is a single wide mobile home along our west property line – all other lines are bordering roadway. This mobile has been vacant since we have owned the place some 8 years or so. Now there are new renters. Ted and Virginia introduced themselves and eye balled our stack of stuff removed from the garage.
I asked if they wanted any of the items. They took almost everything. What a break for us to not have to haul the stuff away or to put a free sign and move it to the curb (we have had good luck with that process).
Our fancy little restored Suzuki 4-wheeler had a half an inch of dust on it and the battery was dead. We will return with a new battery next week and give it a bath.
We banged into a big buck on the way home – but he skirted off in the opposite direction as I swerved to the left to avoid him as much as possible – we bumped but I think he survived? The look we had in each others eyes as we met for that slit second was amazing. We are hoping and thinking he survived.
We are back on the scene today to continue packing – Stay Tuned!
We are about to take our first load of STUFF off the Ranch. We have a small adobe house in New Mexico with two garages – we will drive the 400 miles south to park some of our things.
It has been unseasonably hot here over the last few days. Two things that you can count on: strange weather when we are moving something and rain. It hasn’t rained yet, but I can’t think of a time when we have loaded our open to air trailer to move something that it didn’t rain. I will report back on this.
We are planning to camp out at a camp ground near Bonita Lake just north of the town of Ruidoso. Back in the end of the 20th Century we bought some acreage to build and a small real adobe house in the town of Capitan (Home of Smokey the Bear). We started moving stuff from Arizona to New Mexico in trailer loads much as you see here.
At the same time we were looking at a second home in the Baja south of Ensenada. Neither plan came to fruition. In 2001 we purchased Rancho Calypso in Colorado and then in 2005 property in Veracruz. Confused – well I guess we were too.
As we refined our punch list of what the three of us wanted in housing we altered the plans. We strongly recommend putting plans to paper listing in degree of importance your personal criteria – include the wishes of each family member.
We bought our first Mexico property rather quickly. In fact, I agreed to purchase two properties before Anita and Julian ever saw the area – a bold move, I know. We ended up with one of the two places and don’t regret it. But the wise advice is to spend some time in an area learning about it while refining your punch list.
Be that as it may – today’s mission is to finish loading up and head down to New Mexico. Stay Tuned!
Up to then they really liked my suggestions and layout. I ran some numbers on the amount of block, windows etc. and gave them an idea of material costs.
