Monday, June 30, 2008

...mere sketches

Since I was unable to capture the true profusion of color with a camera, I tried to do so with colored pencils. Pretty poor sketching skills, but this does give a bit more of a feel for how lush the flowers were this year.... along the side of our humble little casita in the Little Salty Place. We planted three colors of bugambilia at the base of a "retorño" tree.  This creates a great trompe-l'oeil -- telling the eye that this tree has three colors of blossoms (white, red and purple). The yellow blooms in the big pots are "Copa de Oro" and will be transplanted to the base of our upcoming carport support posts... copious yellow blooms on a climbing plant. In the foreground -- margaritas! And over by the water tank is a mango tree dripping with yet-to ripen mangos.

A quick sketch, celebrating the hibiscus...

Friday, June 13, 2008

MexPix / Village life - Spring 2008

BRIEF SHARK UPDATE:  They've posted warning signs on our beach and there's a lifeguard by the break with a two-way radio.  A helicopter cruises the coastline and reports sightings (two great whites and a bunch of bull sharks).  Apparently the sharks cruised off somewhere, though, because according to an email from Matilde, everyone was right back in the water for a 5-day huge swell, her husband included.  No attacks.

But here, a small selection -- almost random -- of our village life.  Peter has promised to share his pix, too.  He has a great photographer's eye.  In a future post:  a couple of drawings, pix of the beach-life, and hopefully I can finally succeed in uploading a video of Jesus & Francisco singing an old corrida...

Our humble home as it looks in April, 2008.  The ferns, fruit trees, and flowers will continue to grow more prolific and luxuriant as the years go by.  This home was built by the brother of a village friend of ours (see photo below this one).  

Here is the family who built our casita.  They lived in it, unfinished and unplastered, for a number of years and then crossed the border (early '80s).  They are legal US citizens now.   Their son (at the top) is said to be the Police Chief or Sheriff of Fresno.  Maybe so.  The two boys in their laps are actually neighbor kids.

Our very first guava trees are flowering!!  When the fruit is ready to eat, it will be our village friends who will be the lucky ones to pluck them.  What makes this guava, and the lemon and the mandarin trees as well, so delightful is that we did NOT plant them.  We sat on the porch the very first season we were here and spit the seeds over the side.  They just growed.

This is the first photo taken of little Chaneke, the nephew of Corazon.  As did Corazon, little Chaneke has a heart on his side....   but Chaneke is clearly his own self, feisty little trickster that he is.

Ahhh, but not all of Chaneke's days were on his own terms.  So teeny was this flea-bitten furbag that on flea-be-gone days, this is how Robert did it.  Stuffed him in a large coke bottle with the soap.  No claws, no cries.  Just dumb submission.  Fluffy clean kitty afterwards.

We are very proud of our private showering facilities, under a fruiting mango tree.  At last, we can shower naked.  "No es correcto" to be seen without clothes, you know -- huh, Jojo?

Here, Robert is conferring with the mayor of our Little Salty Place about construction plans for our new outdoor kitchen.  Guillermo is sitting at his own home's construction site, where he is adding several bedrooms of brick and cement to his previous wattle-and-daub construction.

And here is a series of photos of the village kids we've been watching and loving as they grow.

Drawing is always popular, so I keep crayons, pencils, glue, scissors and paper (and other amusements) handy.  The kids know where I stash them, and are welcome anytime to just start in. (Luis, standing. Angelica, Ariana, Anomiszul, Daisy;  Robert by the car)

Anomiszul is studying how the world is put together....

The mood is so loving, warm and light.  Jenga is also so popular... Anomiszul, Robert, Omar, Sandra and Lalo here.

Some of the teenagers!  We've known these good-looking youths since they were little kids (oh, and Peter on the right, showing them his digital pix).

"¡¡¡O Solo Mio!!!" sings Damiancito....

Ariana (our little shadow) and her cousin Damiancito, in front of Ariana's wattle-and-daub home -- built by her dad, the mayor of our Little Salty Place.

Sandra (Ariana's older sister) on her 13th birthday.

Just one of countless work photos, this one showing that wild ladder which Robert made -- 90 pounds of heavy coconut wood, held in the air by one single pole.  That's Peter helping him with the pouring of a new cement post.

And here...  at the home of dearly loved Jesus Pompa (seated with guitar, father of 11 kids spanning from 70 years to 14) and his second wife (mother of some of them), Julie.  Jesus sings the high harmonies and Francisco, in the foreground, sings the haunting melodies.  All the old corridas.  Francisco bicycles here every night on a dark bumpy dirt road from another village -- every night! -- in order to sing with Jesus.  For us, it is a short walk from our casita, and we are transported.  In a separate entry on this blogspot,  I hope to post one of our short videos of these two singing one of their corridas.  Watch the fingerwork of Jesus! In this photo below, pictured with them are David Carey, Peter Carey, Robert and myself. 

UPDATE: for the life of me I cannot get the short video to post.  Can't even email it out. Practically shuts down the computer.  Any advice out there?  The videos are ".mpg" format, from our little digital camera. (Also, couldn't post the photos any larger than this... dang)

I miss everyone already, and we're hardly a week back home.