Not here

This is mostly for you folks up north:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151296045356671&set=a.10150104842166671.282122.88922591670&type=1&theater

Copper Canyon - Part One

Dancing with Zorro and other Anomalies

 

You may have wondered where we have been as not much has been posted of late.  Well basically we have just been enjoying life at our Winter Residence.  Nothing too special.  Mrs.T has gone scuba diving every week as usual and reported on the many fish, eels, octopi, rays, etc., that she has encountered down in the deep.  Your humble editor has been doing usual chores of food, clothes, dishes, etc.  One new activity has been jigsaw puzzling.  This often involves several members resident at the complex; BC Judy has been the leader and expert for most of them.  Here are a few pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157633062515314/

As Mrs. T relates below, we took a vacation to the Copper Canyon up north.  I will give a couple of links below that relate to the trip.  Let me give a plug for Superior Tours in PV; Astrid and her crew, particularly our guide Poncho, earned the 'superior' name.

I think R intends to write more than one account of our travel.  We took over 700 photos, a lot of duplicates and otherwise unusable, that were sorted through to give you some idea of the trip.  So here goes the first part:

 

Dan and I like to take trips around Mexico to get to know the country better.  Some of us may enjoy it more than others but Dan tags along.  We recently took a trip to Northern Mexico to visit Copper Canyon, El Canyon de Cobre. (More properly Barranca del Cobre  -dt)  We traveled through three states, Nayarit, Sinaloa, and Chihuahua. 

 I knew that a lot of our food comes from Sinaloa but I did not realize that it is the breadbasket -or should I say taco basket - of Mexico.  If you have traveled through Kansas or Iowa in the US; or Manitoba in Canada; Sinaloa will look very familiar.  There are tremendous fields that stretch forever:  corn, oats, tomatoes, melons, beans, and tobacco.  In Mexico instead of soy beans they grow garbanzo beans.  I would never have guessed there were so many garbanzo beans in the whole world.

The corn is a whole different matter.  Due to the law of unexpected consequences, that is, if you pass a law to accomplish one thing something else will inevitably occur,  Mexico ships most of their white corn (the kind most Mexicans prefer) to the US to make Ethanol.  In return the US ships most of its yellow corn (the kind Mexicans don't like) to Mexico.  Go figure!  Because of the climate they can grow three or four crops a year here.  There is only enough water from rain for one crop.  They make up the difference with irrigation from the damming of the El Fuerte River, the river that made the canyon.  (There are actually six rivers that combine to make Rio Fuerte.  And there are six interlinked canyons.  –dt) Right now the lakes are 30 meters low because of the drought so if there is not a lot of rain soon they will have to go back to one crop a year.  (The automobile license plates for the state of Sinaloa feature a tomato, many of which – tomatoes not auto plates – are consumed in the US and Canada.  –dt)

The Mexicans claim the Copper Canyon is what the Grand Canyon would like to be when it grows up.  That is because the Copper Canyon is bigger, deeper, and more beautiful.  The first two are hard to dispute.  As for the third I don't know but I think it is more fun to visit because there are a lot less tourists.  But there is a reason for this; you can't get there from anywhere.

First you get on a bus and after 4 or 6 hours you arrive in Mazatlan.  The bus was fairly roomy and comfortable but I want to tell you that it is possible to get saddle sores from a bus. The next day we took another long bus trip to El Fuerte.  At El Fuerte, we had a choice of an historical tour of the town or a river raft tour to identify local birds and plants.  Dan and I went on the river tour.  We really enjoyed it.  Thank goodness Poncho (our guide for the entire trip –dt) had warned us of the vicious insects, so lavishly coated in OFF we were OK.  Many of the birds were the same ones we see in the summer at home up north.  Three we don't often see were ospreys, vermillion flycatchers, and prairie chickens.  We also stopped at a petroglyph site.  Our guide Michael Angel for the river experience explained about them too.  Some of the petroglyphs are pretty obvious like the sun, a snake, and people.  But some of them such as a drought or religious ideas are far from obvious and I have a sneaking suspicion that some archeologists are just making them up.  On the way back to the hotel I practiced my Spanish on Michael Angel; he was very nice about it but his English was much better than my Spanish.

Next day we met the first Tarahumara Indians lying in wait to sell us baskets and tee shirts at the train station while we waited for the train which was only about an hour late.  We were told by our helpful guide Poncho that this was almost on time. Hmm!  The train was fairly comfortable and served very nice meals in the dining car.  If you got tired of sitting you could stand between cars and cool off while looking out at the landscape.  Dan suggested that if I were feeling like James Bond I could climb up on top and hop from car to car.  It was tempting but I resisted.  When a freight train passed us I was surprised to see there were several men resting on top of most of the cars getting a free ride.

The three hotels we stayed in in the canyon area were all lovely.  The hotel in El Fuerte used to be a hacienda and is famous as the birthplace of Don Diego de la Vega, otherwise known as Zorro.  Of course they make much of the fact and that first evening as we were listening to the music during happy hour who should appear but a masked man!  Dan was drinking two beers and I was having lemonada.  Dan was grumbling because, although you got two beers for the price of one, they were very small bottles.  They put me in mind of the old Coke bottles and I found them rather cute but Dan did not see it that way.  Of course since they do not usually get much call for lemonade during happy hour, they became confused and brought me two regular sized ones.  Virtue is its own reward.

About this time Zorro started singing along with the live music; he had quite a nice voice.  They were doing mostly mariachi songs.  Several of the younger ladies in the crowd - in their twenties and thirties I would guess (and not in our older people tour group –dt) - started taking turns dancing with Zorro.  Dan leaned over and whispered to me that he thought that Zorro was our guide from the river tour.  I was looking at him trying to decide.  Then Zorro announced that he had saved the last dance for a very special lady.  This was a lady he met on the river tour this afternoon and he held out his hand to me!  Well I don't dance really, but if you get a couple of lemonades in me it is amazing what I will do.  We have no photos to record this event; undoubtedly someone else in the tour does.  Another lady in our tour group who was about our age told me later she was so glad that I had done it; she would never have had the nerve.  Was this a compliment?  (No telling what Mrs.T will do after a couple of margaritas  -dt)

 

Here are some photos.  But a couple of preliminary comments are appropriate.  With a modern digital camera is possible to take a lot of photos as noted above; most of us are snapshotters and not photographers.  And with the advanced technology, especially image stabilization, pictures come out very nice without editing.  However, in a speeding bus, train, or boat, pictures of birds and other things often result in blurs.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157633051699773/

Of course Mrs.T will be writing more about the trip.  The pictures had just a couple of the canyons; next installment will have more.  If you want to read more background, head over to Wikipedia:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_Canyon 

And you can read the travel details of our tour at:   http://www.superiortoursvallarta.com/copcan2013.html

 

There is more to come.

And we will be back at the Summer Estate soon.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Enjoying Life

MEXICAN NIGHTS

 

The festival has been over for a while.  We are having a turnover in renters.  Things are more or less back to normal.  Normal includes group dinners on specials nights and good-bye dinners to friends heading north. (By and large that means Canada.)  And of course normal also means shopping trips to PV by the ladies.

One night walking back from Centro, i.e. downtown Bucerias, going over the Kissing Bridge, Rebecca noted the scent in the air.  She composed a poem and story about the experience.  You will enjoy it:

 

Mexican Nights

The stars hang low against the midnight sky.

The geckos hanging upside down throw kisses. I,

Enthralled by music from a lone guitar

Drift on a road of mellow song afar

Across the world, from Mexico to you.

By Rebecca Sellers Terrible

 

Mexican nights; ah Mexican nights are sensual.  The warm breezes caress.  You walk down a quiet street in our little town, enticed by a stream of melody from a Spanish guitar.  You find yourself smiling and realize it is because you are floating in the scent of night blooming jasmine.  The stars hang so low that if you stand on tip toe you probably can pluck them.  But why do that; stars are for wishing.  In the distance you hear the heartbeat of the world as the sea advances and retreats in measured tread of the great dance. 

 

And dancing, oh Mexican nights are full of dances.  You sway with the stately progress of the angelitas who follow the Virgin's float to the church during the fiesta.  You hop and bounce with the rhythm of the Indian dances on the plaza on Sunday nights.  And, even if your feet can't do it, you heart whirls flirting with the wide skirts in the folk dances, your head held high, your Spanish eyes flashing a challenge to the vaquero who dares to share your dance.  When the dance is finished, you skip lightly home and lie down to dream Mexican dreams.

 

Here are some pictures of recent events and a few are evocative of Mrs.T's  poem and story:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157632711303970/

 

We have something very special this issue:  A guest contribution.  Recently we had a visitor in the pool and our neighbor Don wrote about the event.  Here is his description.  (Thanks Don!):

Hola everyone
     We had a little excitement around the pool today. I had just been out of the pool for about 5 minutes when Jude (Judy is Don's wife –dt) decided to go in. Just as she was going into the water I noticed this shape on the bottom of the pool. At first glance it certainly looked like a young crocodile, it sure swam like one. But very quickly I realized it was a small iguana. Of course Jude screamed and high tailed it out of the water. Rebecca come running out of her condo to see what the hell was going on and started to laugh. "Go in there and grab him," Rebecca says to me. "Who do you think I am Crocodile Dundee" I say as I am backing away from the pool. So she climbs in the pool, chases him around for a while, and finally grabs him as the rest of us cheer her on. I knew I should have brought my fishing rod. So Rebecca hands him to me and I take him over on the grass and let him go and he takes off for the high wall that surrounds our complex. Next thing I know here he is climbing up the brick wall. He gets about 6 feet up and tries to climb over some cables and he slips and down he crashes to the ground we think. So Rebecca runs over and there he is swimming around in this huge flower planter that is full of water. I guess he landed right in it. "Grab him", she says. "What do think I am -crazy" I said. He looks pretty pissed off now, and I am backing up again. "Oh you Canadians," she says and leans down and grabs him for the second time. So Rebecca lets him go and explains that every once in a while "Chion" the local cat chases the iguanas and they will run into the pool to get away. Another first for us in Bucerias. Now the question is Will Jude go back in the water? I wish I had the music for JAWS. Adios
                                                                                    Don

 

Here are a few pictures:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157632711538088/

 

Hope all of you are staying warm and dry.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

 

NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME

RETURN OF THE MUSE

No, we have not fallen off the planet or sought asylum in Mexico.  Mrs.T the resident muse has been in a distressed and depressed state for about a month.  She explains what happened below.  Thus her stories have been neglected since the beginning of December; now she is more or less back into the swing of things.  We enjoyed the usual fireworks on New Year's Eve and launched a couple of Chinese lanterns.  The first week of the year saw the departure of the first wave of Canadians and the arrival of the second group, most of whom will be here for at least a couple of months.  January first we had an unusual torrential rain.  And it has been a tad cool a few days here and there.  But we mostly have been just going about the normal business of living and enjoying life.  Here is R's latest:

 

After I broke my leg on the trip to swim with the whale sharks some of you might have wondered what I would do next.  Well the truth is I broke a rib trying to learn to paddleboard.  Actually I was able to get standing up on the paddle board four times.  And I have a picture to prove it.  Unfortunately I fell off three times, hence the broken rib.  This was not, I will admit, my most successful venture.  However looking on the bright side I did have two very nice young men trying to help me.  (Wisely I did not try to explain the physics involved. –dt)

 

It did not hurt too much at first but it kept getting worse so I went to see Dr. Victor.  Dr. Victor felt around a bit and said my rib was broken.  Dan was very pleased to hear that because he, Dan - also known as The Voodoo Doctor (long story, but TVD is usually correct on his diagnoses -dt) - had told me my rib was broken while I maintained it was just a strain.  Dr. Victor hooked me up to his machine.  It showed that in spite of the pain my blood pressure was quite low.  I have always been rather proud of my low blood pressure.  This may seem a little odd but if people can be proud of their intelligence or good looks, why can't I be proud of my blood pressure!?  You have to play the cards you are dealt, I say.  But I digress.  His machine also said that my oxygen was very low.

"Are you a smoker?" Dr. Victor asked disapprovingly.

"No," I replied.

"Did you used to smoke?" he inquired.

"No."

"Why do you think your oxygen is so low?" Dr. Victor asked.

"Because I am not breathing," I replied.

"Why are you not breathing?" he questioned.

"Because it hurts to breathe," I replied with unassailable logic.

"Well you had better start breathing more or else you will fall over and that will hurt worse!" Dr. Victor replied firmly.  Sigh!!  Our friend Daphne (We are happy you are feeling better. –dt) maintains that you get better more quickly with Dr. Victor because he gives you hugs and kisses before you go.  She quite possibly is right.

I have not yet decided whether I should try again.  I have gotten quite a bit of advice on this subject, much of it concerning acting my age (About 12, do you think? (On a good day. –dt) Or were they speaking chronologically?)  Was it Mark Twain who said if at first you don't succeed try, try, again, and then quit, there is no need to make a complete fool of yourself!?  (Actually it was William Claude Dunkenfield, aka W.C. Fields:  "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.  Then quit.  No use being a damn fool about it."  -dt)

Moving on, I saw some therapy dogs on television and I told Dan that maybe I needed a therapy dog.  Dan, ever supportive said I could have a therapy iguana.  Well, Okay!

Paddleboarding attempts:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157632507226740/

 

Last Friday when I went diving I heard the whales singing.  We did not see them until later when we came up.  But you could hear that there were several different whales singing together.  I cannot help but wonder what they were saying.  So there I was hanging out underwater trying not to breathe - when you breathe you cannot hear the whales for your own bubbles - totally entranced!  I had the urge to sing back, but if you open your mouth your regulator would come out - not a good thing because that is what you breathe with.  Have you noticed that breathing figures heavily in all these events?  Perhaps if we could breathe osmosisically our lives would be more fulfilling.  Just a thought.

 

We were diving on the South side of the bay at a place called Majahuita.  As we prepared for our first dive a tribe of coatimundis came out of the jungle.  They climbed down on the rocks at the side of the ocean and were catching and eating crabs that were climbing up the rocks.  Coatimundis are kind of like a cross between monkeys, raccoons and anteaters.  Very neat animals.  The tide was very low and a lot of rocks were exposed.  Thank you moon!  Tomorrow perhaps I will walk on the beach.

 

We have been watching the unusual weather many of you are experiencing.  We hope you are staying warm and cozy.

 

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

 

Just Routine Days

 

NATURE WOMAN SPEAKS

This may be our favorite time of the year at our Winter Residence.  The weather is cooling down a bit and the humidity is lower.  But mostly it is quiet; very, very quiet.  Luis and Joannes, and Randy are the only people in the condo complex besides us.  Muy tranquilo.  There have not been many adventures to report upon.  Things are very normal and routine; it really is our home here as much as at the Northern Estate.  (Sound really rich, don't we?)  So here is a little report of the everyday from Mrs.T.

 

 

It has been quite warm this year in Mexico.  But it is getting cooler so that when I get in the pool every day I tend to give a little EEK!  (She also goes EEK! when she enters the hot tub at our summer estate. –dt) Our pool is too short to swim much but often I do my yoga exercises (except for two which are impossible to do without drowning myself).   Usually at night I go out and float on my back and look at the stars.  I do this Zen meditation where I think of myself as a star and send out warm healing thoughts to all those I love, especially the halt and the lame. (That includes us two.  –dt) So if you feel a surge of good health late in the evening it is probably from me; hey, you never know.  I end up sending good wishes to all sentient beings.  I hope mosquitoes are not sentient because I simply cannot wish them well. (Mrs.T is a mosquito magnet. –dt) I read once in Albert Schweitzer's biography that he would not swat a mosquito.  I guess that is the difference between a saint and your plain old garden variety eccentric!

 

Speaking of fauna I have a couple of semi-pets.  Every night I go out and look for the little geckos who run up and down the screens on our patio and sometimes venture upside down on the ceiling.  I always encourage them to eat more bugs.  (She talks to them and the iguanas in the back also. –dt) One day a housefly landed near one a gecko the screen.  The fly was almost as big as the gecko.  The gecko started forward to check it out.  I really don't know what he was thinking because there was no way he could have possibly eaten it.  A gecko's tongue should exceed his grasp I suppose.   But the fly was not buying it and chased the gecko right down off the screen and into the bushes!

 

This year for some reason the Chihuahuan crows have become quite bold. (I don't think that is the actual species.  Any bird people able to identify them?  Sorry no picture. –dt) They fly down and perch on our tables under the palapa or strut around the edge of the pool making various shrieks and squawks and whistles.  Dan has opined - and correctly I believe - that they are imitating other birds or sounds they have heard.  Therefore whenever they start I shout "Nevermore" at them.   I don't seem to have enhanced their vocabulary but I have annoyed Dan quite a bit. (And Edgar Allan Poe is rolling over in his grave.  –dt)

 

We are preparing for Christmas in our own Mexican way.  I have put up our tiny Christmas tree.  I use jewelry for most of the ornaments.  I imagine that armadillo Christmas ornaments would be unusual in Ohio but here they seem right.  Instead of a nativity we have a Nacimiento which has an elephant, a camel, and a horse because everyone knows that is what the Magi rode.  Of course it has no baby Jesus because he hasn't been born yet. (He will go in on Christmas Eve. –dt) The same yet different; I like remembering putting out our crèche every year with Nick and Marla and then reading the Christmas story from the Bible after we lit the candles.  As Tiny Tim said on that long ago Christmas day, "God bless us every one!"

 

Here are a few pictures:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157632194939164/

 

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods. 

Happy Holidays!

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

 

You Need to Laugh at Yourself

EVERYDAY LIFE

Mrs.T is not gregarious.  As many of you know she would live alone in our woods without human contact if it were possible even though she is quite good in groups.  I am toward the opposite side of the spectrum.  That is, I have no problem bumping elbows with shoppers on 'Black Friday', an event that we miss down here at our winter home.  And I am not prone to embarrassment.  I follow the advice of Richard Feynman in his book What Do You Care What Other People Think? - at least the title.  So sometimes (often?), I surprise R; she has a little story about such a recent event.  As an introductory comment, her renditions of Rule Number 1 and Corollary One are not quite accurate, but they are close enough and that is how she remembers them.

On to her story.  (No pictures for this one.)

 

It was all my fault, of course.  I know this because of Rule Number 1 which states "It is always Rebecca's fault."  Dan has explained that this rule is for my benefit so that I need not dither trying to decide whose fault it is and can proceed directly to step two:  feeling guilty.   Even Dan is willing to admit I do pretty well with feeling guilty.  (She has mastered that. –dt)

 

Dan's electric shaver was broken.  The outside part of the wire was crumbling off.  It was my job to hold the wire straight while Dan wrapped electric tape around it.  (Some of you will recall my 'rabbi' beard. –dt) Two days later the shaver ceased to function.  Rule number one applied.  The question was where to get a new one.  I suggested Mega, WalMart, or a large minisuper.  (Yes, that sounds oxymoronic; but that is correct. –dt) Corollary Oneapplied.  Corollary one is: "Rebecca is never right except when Dan thought of it first."  Since I had forgotten to say "I'm sure you think we should look at Mega, WalMart…," we had a problem.  We were ambling up the street thinking about this when suddenly Dan rushed up to a rather beaten-up pickup truck and started knocking on the window.  "Where can I buy one of those?" he asked.  The young Mexican man who rolled down the window looked puzzled.  "Que?"(What?) he responded.  I was confused myself.  "How do you say buy?" Dan asked.   "Comprar," I answered promptly.   "Where me comprar," Dan asked and stopped in confusion.  "He had an electric shaver a minute ago," Dan told me.  (I am quite positive I saw him shaving.  And my Spanish is better that Mrs.T implies.  –dt)

Look at it from the young man's point of view.  It was Sunday afternoon and he had come to visit his girlfriend.  Naturally she was not ready when called for so he waited for her in his truck with the music playing loudly and the air conditioner going full blast.  He got his shaver out of the glove box and decided to spruce up a little more while waiting.  Some old man started knocking on his window and when he opened it yelled at him in English.  (I did not yell; R always says I yell.  I just have a voice with volume.  –dt) He put down his shaver and turned to the gringo.  "Que?" he asked.   The gringo talked to his wife and said something that the young man was pretty sure included ""comprar".  "Is it possible?" he thought. The young man gave a beautiful smile.  The young man had been trying to sell his pickup for several months.  Alas it was not to be.  The old gringo's wife asked, "Donde compramos un machina electrica por afeitar?"  That was pretty clear if not quite correct.  "Mega, o Walmart, o un minisuper," the young man replied.

 

So we went to Mega and bought the cheapest one they had.  After bringing it home and charging it for 18 hours it made a small noise.  Rebecca returned it and bought a Remington.  Now Dan is clean shaven and not a bit abashed.  (But Mrs.T was thoroughly amused. –dt)

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Yes, we are still alive

WHERE HAVE WE BEEN?

You may have been wondering where what we have been doing; we have not sent out a newsletter for a couple of months.  Essentially we have been engaged in mostly routine activities:  eating, sleeping, shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc.  There have been several art events and and a few visits to Columbus, but not much out of the ordinary.  And of course we have been watching OSU football.  And enjoying our quadrennial game show called Presidential Elections.  Between those activities Mrs.T has been busy working outside a bit, limited while her leg healed.  But before we depart at Halloween for our winter home, Rebecca thought she would put together a story about a short trip we took.


My broken leg was feeling a whole lot better so Dan and I decided to take a little  trip.  We went to visit Fallingwater, a house built by Frank Lloyd  Wright.  (Two websites about it:  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallingwater and http://www.fallingwater.org/  dt)  It is located in western Pennsylvania about 3-4 hours from our house.  It was an easy drive.  We did make one stop in a town along the Allegheny River for lunch.  It was not the stop we intended but it had one of those serendipitous bonuses.  The town apparently has a lot of eastern Europeans because we found several eastern churches; Catholic, Orthodox, Byzantine; within a few blocks of one and another.  Pictures show the typical onion domes.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157631792786194/


Fallingwater is built over a stream with a waterfall which comes just after the stream exits from under the house.   Because Dan and I both still had mobility issues we only went through the first floor.  (There are over 100 steps for the complete tour, including the guest house.  dt)  The house was interesting and the grounds were fabulous.  No pictures are permitted inside unfortunately.

The trip through the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania  was lovely.  We learned that here 'laurel' is another name for rhododendron.  The trees which seemed to be a week or so ahead of ours in Ohio were at the peak of fall colors.   We drove beside and over several tributaries of the Ohio (They go to the Allegheny first.  dt).  White water rafting is big here as there are a lot of rapids.  I told Dan that we could try it but his answer was a definite "NO!!"  (There is a large state park named Ohiopyle on the Youghiogheny River for those and other activities.  dt)

We visited colonial era Fort Necessity which is one where George Washington lost to the French and Indians,   OOPS!  There is a nicely done visitor's center which includes an informative movie about the fort and the major batte.   I thought it was interesting that part of the uniform for the colonial soldiers was a tuque. (Hello Canadians.  dt)   It was very rainy so we did not walk out to the actual fort.  The picture is of the children's area.

We also stopped at the Touchstone Center for Crafts where they teach things like ceramics, jewelry, glass, and blacksmithing.  (A glass acquaintance - 'The Fig Eater' teaches there.  dt)  They were between terms when we stopped.  Dan thought we might take a course there because it is not too far from our home.  That was fine with me but I  did notice that their cabins were primitive - read: No hot water. (Actually no water at all.  dt)  So I explained that if we went to a class we would be staying at the Olde Stone Inn or another bed and breakfast..  You can say all you like about ambiance and a true local experience but I prefer my ambiance with hot water.

After we returned  I went to the doctor and was pronounced healed - sort of.  I am now allowed to do anything but if I do too much my knee gives a twinge or two.  I am happy to be doing my yoga again and working outside,  I have been reading zen and came upon an interesting phrase to describe what happens when you are too self centered:  "various desires begin  to behave mischievously".  I told Dan some of my desires were about Moose Tracks ice cream.  Dan had no need to elaborate on his! (What could she mean?  dt)   Both Dan and I thought that this was an interesting way of describing it.

Of course being in Ohio which is believed to be a key state in the presidential election, we have been bombarded by political advertisements.  Dan watches "Morning Joe" a Republican (perhaps a bit -dt) show in the morning and "Hardball" a Democrat show (definitely -dt) in the evening and mutters or yells at both of them.  He has gotten me really confused.  Still he does not vote at all inspite of much harassment from me on this subject. (I am called a Commie. dt)   I have already cast my absentee ballot so I think I should not have to listen to this nonsense any more.  I do have a few ideas about how to help our country grow and improve but no one has asked me, aside from one lady doing a poll.  I did send the White House one email and got a form reply.  Sigh!  (Her email should have been directed to Obama campaign headquarters; she did actually send it there also. dt).

I have been dividing some of my plants which became confused and started blooming.  So it goes.  But I am ready to head south.


Adios.  The next time you hear from us we should be in the sunshine.
Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

We have switched to working in 'the cloud'. If for some reason you cannot see the pictures, please let me know.