It is a pretty day, and so I took a photo from the roof of my house looking north to my wellhouse. Between the wellhouse and the sunlit line of trees lies a canyon with the hidden Rio Laja. The furthest away line of high hills is of the same geologic formation as the famous mines of Guanajuato that gave my Mexican State its name. We are about to celebrate Mexican Independence (from Spain, France, and Gringos) Day.
As you can see from the flowers, we have had a gloriously moist summer indicating a continuation of GCC giving us a gift — a strong monsoon type weather where daily sun heats ground and creates substantial updrafts of moist air that hit COLD air a few thousand feet overhead sucked in from the oceans equidistant from us = huge thunderstorms almost every day.
We are becoming green like we were before the Spaniards cut down all the trees to smelt silver, thereby creating a near desert.
Yes, and I have also personally planted almost 50 myself. Our little subdivision of 19 lots, currently with 10 houses, is called Rancho Las Garitas, but if we could we would change the name to Bosque Las Garitas, which means Woods of the Little Sheds.
Up until 20 years ago they burned off everything every year to stop trees and brush from encroaching on grass for their miserably skinny cattle. Trees and cacti are now growing back, especially the very tough mesquites (most of the trees in the photo). The original trees I am helping to escape from extinction are weird long living oaks with huge almost rubbery leaves that hold their moisture well on hot days. We also are helping wild olives and willows that grow along the Rio Laja.
Yes, almost completely, about a century ago. A nice old lady about a kilometer away still has a small group of milkers, and the memory of cowboy days is still very strong — many many families still have a horse or three, often instead of a car, and magnificent antique cowboy outfits will be brought out and worn for the mass horseride (cabalgalda) commemorating “El Grito,” the sermon by Padre Hidalgo in the town of Dolores just north of us (located under the line of blue hills in my roof top photo above) denouncing Spanish rule as hopelessly tyrannical, immoral and evil, rallying the local people to launch the Mexican Revolution.
The cabalgada will go from Dolores Hidalgo (they appended the priest’s name to the town’s to honor his memory) through my little sacred pueblo of Atotonilco, Sanctuary of Atotonilco - Wikipedia , and then on to San Miguel Allende, a name that similarly commemorates the brilliant and patriotic young military office Ignacio Allende who had been planning and preparing a revolution for years under the tutelage of its formidable organizer/instigator Josefa Ortiz Josefa Ortiz de DomĂnguez - Wikipedia.
Padre Hidalgo, having become aware that the secrecy of the conspiracy had been penetrated, went off like a bottle rocket out of nowhere and the revolution went into gear for self-preservation.
We are at the beginning of the annual commemoration, and horsemen from all over Mexico are showing up to join the locals.
After tourism (we are now a major vacation and wedding destination), the rising industry is viniculture. The pattern of rains in late spring into summer combined with still rich soils make for promising conditions, and husband and I often go and taste both grapes and young wines at hopeful wineries big and small. As I did my share of grape harvesting (using the hooked knife known as a reber) and drinking in my California youthful days I get treated with bizarre respect.
So….that means there are 9 lots available? Do tell…
I’ve been brushing up on my Spanish. Just need reliable water, power, and internet. And access to good doctors (we both have issues…getting old is not for wimps).
The water has been problematic but now solved. Power exists but the power company has not been regulating its power well, and so we have very strong power regulator for the house, and needed to get a really big regulator for the well pump which has been blown out a couple of times….. sigh. Best internet is Elon’s starlink, but that has some acceptable cheaper competition, but we do a lot of business and zooming from the house. Doctors dentists and hospitals are actually quite good and much less expensive than USA, but for major stuff most gringos trek north and let medicare pay.
As to lots, well, 2 of the 9 vacant lots I own and am enjoying their steady increase in price. I believe 3 are basically available but not currently on the market.
