Perro del Día

Owners of this dog thought it would be a clever move to speed by a gringo RV park at 60 mph and toss him out of the back of their pickup, probably hoping to avoid identification. Or out of shame.

Residents at Tecalai Park saw him land on the road and took him in long enough to contact Kristin at the Canine Center for emergency rescue. Kristin treated him for ticks and fleas and is now keeping him quarantined in her doggie play area, but will have to find a foster home at least for 14 days, since she boards dogs and can't risk exposing them to him until he's been evaluated by the vet. Medical bills and food will be paid for. He has an injured tail (broken?) and infections of the eyes and ears. At probably less than a year old he looks like he'll be a big dog, but is friendly and affectionate. He walks well on a leash, doesn't threaten other dogs and even though he had to be kept isolated he didn't whine or bark. 

With this added responsibility it would be easy for Kristin to resent the careless humans who dumped this dog, but she says, "Sometimes it's the best thing that can happen for these guys. He now has the chance to find a loving home and he will certainly get the medical care he needs."

P.S. Miracles are still happening. The abandoned family of pups and mother that I posted about last week have all been adopted but for one little black female. The mom is going to Tucson! No, I am not taking credit this time, but it's one more thing to be grateful for.

Meet Blanche

I had a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, in spite of our domestic tsunami. Neighbors invited me for dinner and we all trooped through their magnificent house for a tour. The best part is the huge circular kitchen, built around a vast round island (how do they clean the middle?) They said I was welcome to come back and take photos of their spectacular view, which kept me mesmerized all afternoon.



Most of the week I was in Arizona, where I bought a Nissan Quest minivan on Craigslist, part of a scheme for doing some traveling with my girls next year. Next Year?! Look out, 2010 is almost upon us!

I decided the best antidote for the Christmas blues was to concentrate on a plan or two, get out my Atlas and plot a few courses for expeditions in Mexico and later when it thaws out, the US. I have two sisters and a mother* to visit, friends in the Northwest, and antique store owners who have never seen our map guide.


The Quest is the most scaled-down van I've ever seen, hardly bigger than an ordinary sedan, and just as easy to drive. The rebuilt engine has only 35,000 miles on it, so for a 1999 it has plenty of years left. No serious dings on the body, the only paint scratches are on the back bumper, and inside it looks almost new. The plan is to pull out the middle two seats and install a small bed, maybe with storage space underneath, since there's no trunk.


I think I'll name her Blanche. We'll get by with the kindness of strangers and a little help from our friends.


*About Mom: not only is she now able to take half-mile walks around the lake at the assisted living home where she lives, but she can read again! My sister gave her some of my old letters from decades ago. Imagine that: my sis actually kept my old letters. I feel like giving her a big hug.

Surfing Bliss

Here's a blog I haven't seen before, a mother of four living in Xilitla, Mexico. Quite a sense of humor, even when discussing an infuriating problem with marriage to a Mexican hombre. Her blog title is Searching Bliss and I'm adding her to my bloglist. Check her out.


Oh, and then there's My Food Bliss, obviously a recipe blog.  Inspiring.

Turning an audience into a piano

If you admire Bobby McFerrin like I do, just watch his neuroscience demo, "Talking About Expectations."


He'll wake up your inner child.

Gotta start somewhere

Yesterday I met Placido, a local Mexican contractor who's going to help me transform this place, poco a poco. He was referred to me by Linda and Rich, a snowbird couple who have separate condos just up the walk from me. They remind me of Frieda Kahlo and Diego Rivera with their separate-but-equal Blue House. They've been here since 1995 and have transformed their abodes into glossy spreads out of Sunset Magazine. A pair of real "just-so" fanatics. I learned a lot, getting tours of both condos, but had to overcome a little letdown when I came back home and looked around at mine.

But wait! 1995... that's 14 years ago! Gee, maybe I could accomplish a few improvements, given 14 years.

And with the help of Placido, of course. This gentleman really lives up to his name. He's in his thirties, with a wide, tranquil face and gentle eyes, very patient with my many questions and not at all pushy with his ideas. After I walked him around and showed him the many things I was concerned about, we came up with a wish list, and he sat down and toted up prices. Not so bad, I thought, looking it over. Linda says one of the things she likes about Placido is that when he names a price, he sticks to it.

So next week he will come in and begin painting a sealer on the brick inside, so that it won't erode any further. Then I have to decide whether to leave the brick natural, or paint it. That's what Linda did, in bright Mexican colors. She says she feels like she's living inside a Talavera bowl, with all the spectacular chrome yellow, orange, purple and indigo blue.

Talavera pottery

 The brick outside will also have to be done, too, of course. Preferably before next summer's rainy season.

Also crucial is termite treatment and replacement of the wood those voracious little insects have devoured. Yuck! There's very little wood in these buildings, other than trim, cabinetry and furniture, but termites tunnel through the brick to get to the wood. Mexican termites are tiny, but have huge appetites. Part of the sealing process will involve plugging the little holes in the bricks where they travel.

To replace the flimsy sliding glass back door that slips off its track all the time, a real door, framed with glass brick on each side, will be my Christmas present to myself.

Then I'll have a new front door put in, since the one I have is so cracked and fits its frame so poorly I can see daylight through it, and an easy kick would bust it open. Painted my favorite color, teal blue.

We talked about building a ramada (basically a roof, with the sides left open)  for the back patio, since my washer and dryer reside there. Mine won't be as rustic as this one, shown in Sunset Magazine, since the condo association has to approve it. But then, this one probably wouldn't survive hurricane winds, would it?

So for the next year all my shopping will be at the ferreteria (hardware store) or the taller de pintura (paint store). Any money I spend, that's where it'll go.

Anybody got any recipes for beans and rice?

P.S. The article about the ramada says the Indian who built it rubbed motor oil into the supports to discourage termites.

I'm back...Did I miss anything?

Cataclysmic events may have taken place in the last few days, but I was out of touch with the world.

I was tickled this morning to receive a spam on my blog from somebody, whose first language was obviously not English, selling Cialis. Now there's something I really don't need.

In my personal Book of Lists I named some things I will enjoy about living alone. Privileges like waking up, turning on the bedside light and reading at 2am if I feel like it. Getting to drive my own car all the time, which will make me a more confident and competent driver. Playing my favorite music anytime I want, as loudly as I want, even in the car. Listening to talk radio. Getting back the remote, or even not having a TV if I choose. Staying as long as I like at a party. Making my own travel plans, and when traveling, being free to indulge my curiosity. Maybe crewing on another boat or two.

The negatives are mostly fears for the future, which doesn't have to loom large in my life. Un poco a poco, I will meet them, get scared and then overcome them.

One thing I really must do is make another list, of new names for this blog. First Mate is no longer apt. I'm not sure how to change the name without losing my few but faithful readers. Any ideas?

First Mate no more

It has been a time of beginnings and endings. The last day we worked on our antique guide and with huge relief sent it off to the printer (when this photo was taken). Signing the papers for the first home we ever bought together. The last day we spent in the duplex we rented for more than three years. The first night in the new condo, first meal cooked in the new kitchen. And then yesterday, in a matter of seconds, our 20-year marriage came to an end. One day we were telling ourselves how our new home was going to improve our life. The next day the Capt decided to move back to the duplex and out of my life.  Nov. 11 was a private anniversary for us, Dismasting Day—marking the day our first boat, Pollo del Mar,  lost her mast in a squall in San Pablo Bay. Quite a coincidence, because I'm feeling at the moment like I've lost MY mast, my motor has conked out and I'm drifting in some dangerous currents.

Most bloggers seem to avoid discussing the dynamics of their personal relationships. I don't plan to dwell on mine, either, other than to say that apparently I won't be posting anymore sailing adventures on the S/V "Bliss."

I think I need a timeout.

Dog(s) of the Week

...Well, not really. Showcasing a homeless dog every week would take a more organized mind than mine. But Fe the Cinderella Dog had such a happy outcome, I couldn't help but give it another try.

This family of mamma and four pups apparently started out in a human habitat, because they gravitate toward people. George, who's fostering them, surmises they got to be too much for the owners and so were all dumped together at Pilar, a condo complex, probably in hopes that the mom would be able to care for them until someone rescued them. Which is exactly what happened.

Mama has a gorgeous coat, with Dalmatian-style grey spots overlaid with white, and soulful amber eyes. George thinks she's only a pup herself and this is her first litter. She's very mind-mannered, just a little shy, and awfully skinny though she seems to be filling out now.

The pups are twin black males with grey and white "socks," a spotted grey female (already spoken for), and an espresso-brown female with a white bow on her shoulder, very chic.

They're big enough to wean, but George promises they'll be wormed, bathed and started on their shots before giving them away. I have his email and phone number, if one of these dogs is calling your name.

Letting go of stuff

Victor LeBeau, economist in the 1950s. From "Story of Stuff"

The average house size has doubled since the 1970s. Ever the contrarians, the Capt and I have just moved into a place that is actually smaller than the one we left. Square-footage-wise, not much smaller, but it has one bedroom instead of two, the closets are minimal and some ingenuity is going to be required to shoehorn ourselves in here. We do have a little rented storeroom where some stuff is going. And the Capt has a place for his tools where the project boat, the Green Flash, awaits her transformation. But we've both done a lot of soul-searching about what we could do without.

The most radical sacrifice I've made so far is to give away about half my wardrobe. Being a thrift-store junkie,  I didn't consider it as big a loss as it might have been if I shopped at Neiman Marcus. I did it fast, and transported the bags to the recipients fast, before I could change my mind. Some of the items were festive — silk blouses, for instance — so maybe Christmas will be a little brighter for a few of the women who lost so much in hurricane Jimena. The Capt is of the opinion I could give half of what I have left, pointing out that my closet rod is bowing, but I'll have to think about that. This morning I gave away an extra coffeemaker, and I've been eyeing some other things I could live without.

Since whatever's on my mind always seems to manifest in reality, it was inevitable that this 20-minute video, "Story of Stuff," showed up when I was reading Slate magazine recently. Annie Leonard authored and hosted the production to explain why a linear system of never-ending consumerism won't work in a finite world. Well, unless we hurry up and start new generations of consumers on other planets, that is. An ugly thought.

Did you know that 99% of what Americans buy is trashed within six months? ¡Caramba! And did you know that the drive to consume with its twin concepts of perceived obsolescence and planned obsolescence were created on purpose in the 1950s to super-drive the US economy?

Imagine, if you can, how Teresa, a woman sailor who's cruising the Atlantic coast in a 27-foot boat, with only her cat for company, manages to keep her possessions down to a quantity that would fit in a vessel that size. (I also try to imagine what courage it would take to do what she's doing. She's one of my new heroes, a madwoman now contemplating crossing the ocean. Reminds me of Tanya Aebi, author of Maiden Voyage, who circumnavigated at age 17. But that's another post.) And Dave, a blogger Teresa admires, is going even further by limiting his possessions to no more than 100 items. He calls it the 100 Thing Challenge. Now, that idea just takes my breath away.

A walk through Sol y Mar

My faithful readers have been asking for photos of our new digs in the Condominios de Sol y Mar (which the gringos call Solimar), so this morning I took Chica and the camera for a walk. But first, a shot of the one area in our place where order has been established: the living room. Jomamma, you can see our dehumidifier at left, biggest one we could afford. Doesn't Chica dress up the décor?

Outside our front door is this view of the nearby golfcourse. The fate of this golfcourse is murky at best, and it could end up in a couple of years sprouting more condos. Qué sera... Meanwhile I'll enjoy the expanse of green and hope they're using recycled wastewater to keep it that way. Ever the optimist. That silver ribbon you see beyond the trees? That's the Sea of Cortez.

Chica and I wander the walkways, trying to look subtle as we check out our neighboring units, trying to guess how many snowbirds have returned to their Mexico nests. I see Washington, Colorado and Vancouver plates in the parking lots already. There are also a number of people from Hermosillo and Obregon who have weekend places here. The Capt and I are just about the only year-round residents, other than the caretakers.

Sol y Mar was originally a resort hotel, designed with a lot more outdoor space than the average condo village. There are nonfunctional but imposing fountains here and there, communal areas with barbecue pits and benches, two swimming pools.  Everything is built of exposed red adobe brick, and some homes are covered in ivy. The complex has two water storage cisterns, each with two pumps, so the water pressure is excellent.

Although there are few variations in floor plans,  the land isn't flat, so the architects and designers had to get creative. The units don't stand like identical soldiers in a row (one of the aspects of condos that always put me off). I'm going to investigate when it was built, but my guess is sometime in the 70s or 80s. Look closely and you can see edges crumbling here and there, especially since tropical storm Jimena had her way with us. My edges are crumbling a little too, so I feel right at home.

More trees are thriving here than anyplace else in this desert town. Orange and lemon trees, some kind of aromatic thorny small tree (mesquite?), palmtrees, lots of tapachines, which I blogged about a couple of years ago because it's probably my favorite tree here in Sonora. Feathery leaves, with big, flamboyant red blossoms, an umbrella shape that offers lots of shade at the right height so you can walk and sit under it. We're guessing that tapachine is the Mexican name, a combination of tapa (cover or cap) and chine (chinese). A coolie's hat. This one is just a young thing, but look at the shade it's offering already!

We hope to plant a tapachine in our front yard, since our condo somehow missed out on the big shade trees. Once there was a big tree next to our back patio, but now it's just a stump.

Did I mention before that the common room/office building has an exchange library? All sorts of books, completely out of order. My budding librarian instincts are urging me to get in there and start alphabetizing. But maybe first I should separate by genre. Or title. Or author...

Fe Update

I'm still digging out from under the avalanche of stress brought on by moving, but I wanted to share this email I got about Fe, the Miracle Pup, who was flown from Phoenix to Massachusetts this week to join her new family.

Yesterday was finally fe-day.
We picked her up yesterday evening. She was in really good shape. Little dazed.
She had a decent night. Had to go out a few times, as she has diarrhea.
but she has met our other dog, and cat, and that is going really well. she is incredibly relaxed with the animals.

Still kind of walking around, trying to figure out what happened.
Thank you so much for putting her on your blog. We are in love, she is just so sweet.

 Top photo, after 26 days of meds, remedial diet and TLC. 2nd photo, Fe, now sporting a glossy coat, gnaws on a new extra-large chewstick while lounging on her own sleeping mat. Now this is the life!