Monthly Archives: December 2013

Of course it would be unacceptable for me to complain about the cold. But I’m envying those of you who are snug in your houses beside the fire or the heating vent. For the last four or five days here … Continue reading →

We began our Christmas celebration on Christmas eve with a small dinner party here. We surprised ourselves by staying up chatting until after midnight. I had thought we might wander down to one of the big churches to observe midnight … Continue reading →

Did I say windows and floors before Christmas. Ho! Ho! Ho! We’ve scrambled to have window frames made, floor tiles delivered, paint chosen. But it seems there’s a set sequence which doesn’t always make sense to us. No windows until … Continue reading →

Cold Front 20, we’re being told, as the temperature drops into the single digits (Celsius) overnight and fails to reach 20 during the day. We’re not suffering much, and even though I’m wishing I could be spending Christmas with kids … Continue reading →

How foolish is this? We seem to have adopted a kitten. We found it huddled—terrified, skinny, scruffy—behind some construction stuff being stored on our portico. It looks to be about 3 months old. We scrambled down to the Mega–a supermarket … Continue reading →

Last evening, we attended fund-raiser for Caminantes Brillantes, an organization that sponsors the university education of bright young people whose families could not afford higher education. The event was a wonderful and rare mix of Mexicans and North Americans at … Continue reading →

Today is the Dia de la Virgin Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico, the official beginning of Christmas celebrations, and the last day of school until after the three King’s day on January 6. I won’t recount the story of the … Continue reading →

I have mentioned Antonio and Eloisa several times in these posts, and I know I will mention them again. Over the last decade or more, they have become close friends. They look after our house when we’re not here, and … Continue reading →

Saturday. We’ve been here a week. The workers left early afternoon and won’t be back until Monday, so it was actually worth cleaning up a bit outside. We’ve been spending less time on our patio than usual, although the weather … Continue reading →

Some shameless self-promotion here. During the fall I wrote and recorded an essay that will be aired on the Sunday Edition (CBC Radio 1) this Sunday during the third hour (11-12). A day of mixed events. First, I reconnected with … Continue reading →