Saturday, June 21, 2008

Lichees, lizards and lovely visitors...




Top picture: a pile of lichees harvested from the huge tree in the middle of our patio; Center picture: a lovely Brown Anole Lizard showing off his dewlap; Bottom picture: Kim, Amelia, Josie and Jeff at The River Cafe in Puerto Vallarta

We've had a wonderful week, with glorious summer weather. For the last eight days, we were especially excited to have VISITORS FROM CHINA! Son Jeff, his wife Kim and their two daughters Amelia and Josie got on the plane this morning, heading for the US for a few weeks before they return to China, where Jeff and Kim teach in an international school in Wuhan, Hubei Province. They enjoyed being tourists: scuba diving, boogie-boarding, going to the Splash Park, swimming at the beach, shopping and eating great Mexican food. It was so hard to say goodbye...

So many wonderful fruits are coming into season right now - we are inundated with fresh mangoes...so many friends bringing us large bags of sweet, sun-ripened mangoes. Fortunately, we can reciprocate with bags of lichees, a walnut-sized fruit that is not native to Mexico, but actually was introduced from China. It is a huge favorite of Mexican people, who love their spicy sweetness. They are also pretty expensive - about $10 ($100 pesos) for a kilo bag. So we have become pretty popular in our neighborhood, as Jerry goes from house to house with gifts of lichees.

That pretty little lizard is called a Brown Anole, and they scamper all over our patio, jumping from tree limb to tree limb and post to post - they can jump about 2-3 feet. They love to show off their bright orange dewlap. To us, they are a metaphor for beautiful and mysterious Mexico - they look very modest and ordinary, blending quietly into the background until they throw back their heads and surprise us with such an extraordinary display of beauty.

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