Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Adios to rain and humidity; hola to Blanca



Top picture: our last storm of the summer. I was lucky to get a picture of a good lightning strike...although it seems like daylight, this tormenta occurred about midnight and lit up the night sky.
Bottom picture: our newest kitty, Blanca (not a very original name, I know). She is another "rescue"; she was living as a feral cat in the field next to our house.


Although we love the summer storms, the heavy rain (about 140 inches in the last four months) takes its toll on the little dirt roads in our town. Most of them (including our own street) look more like ravines than roads right now, and navigating them is a challenge. Now that the rains are over, the municipality will grade and fill them all, one at a time. No more power outages or fried electronic equipment for another 8 months or so!

The humidity "switch" got thrown sometime during the night last night, and we awoke this morning to a dry warm wind blowing from the mountains. It almost felt like fall - and the humidity was down to 60% .... yesterday at the same time, it was 95%! Although the day was warm (around 90-95F), the wind kept blowing, and soon it was down to about 40%. Longtime Bucerians have told us that the humidity leaves in one night, shortly after the rains stop, and they are right. My paint is finally drying better and we will be able to turn over in bed tonight without sticking to the sheets. Hooray! Seven months of perfect weather ahead!

"Blanca" is the newest member of our family. She is a truly feral cat, having been born and "raised" in the field of palm trees that borders our back and side yards. A few months ago, she began coming in our cat door in search of food. We noticed that she was pregnant and began feeding her. Polo is very smitten with her - Negro not so much. She now has one little kitten and spends most of her time on our patio. She is becoming very approachable, and likes to play and be petted. She still has her baby in hiding, but I imagine that he will soon be joining our family as well. Isn't she pretty?


Saturday, October 11, 2008

Some good things that are happening in our community...



The picture at the top is Casa Hogar (literally, "a house that is a home"), the orphanage/children's shelter that is being built here in Bucerias, entirely with donations. Please take a few minutes to look at http://www.manosdeamor.com/and read the story of this phenomenal effort, which is being led by local resident Valiene Heckart. From now until the end of the year, a generous local architect has offered to MATCH each donation. AND, the organization has US 501(c)(3) status, so your donations are US tax deductible. I know that money is scarce and times are uncertain, but please consider a donation to this wonderful organization. You can even donate using PayPal from the Manos de Amor (hands of love) website.

The bottom picture is a wondrous treehouse that is being built at the public swimming pool for the children to play in...it will be a magical thing when it is finished, and I'll keep you posted with photos of both projects as they progress.

Now, for the good news/bad news item: the good news is that the rainy season is almost over. The bad news is that the rainy season is almost over. We love the storms and the cooling rains, for this is the most uncomfortable time of year for heat and humidity. But when the rains go at long last, so does the humidity, and gradually, the heat. We enter six months of ideal weather: cool nights (50F-55F) and warm days (75F-85F). We bid goodbye to the rains reluctantly, and we will certainly welcome them when they return next June.

The US presidential election is the main topic of conversation everywhere we go. Because we now have a SKY TV satellite dish, we are able to watch the US news and the debates (But NO annoying commercials or political messages). Everyone we know from the US is casting an absentee ballot (ours were emailed to us and we will mail them to Oregon on Monday). We are members of Democrats Abroad, a worldwide organization that has produced this wonderful video, showing support for Barack Obama from expat Democrats all over the globe. This will make your day, I promise. It may even bring a tear to your eye if you are like me and cry at Hallmark commercials... http://blip.tv/file/1338283

That's it for now - mas tardes.