A brief message from Mexico

Hola, everybody,

Just wanted to post a brief note to everyone while I have a few minutes of borrowed Internet time. We have arrived safely in Mexico City. We’re currently living in temporary housing, so we can’t make a lot of permanent commitments like DSL right now. I have forwarded our Vonage number to our Mexican number (the cost (if any) will fall on me). Since Tuesday, it has been forwarding to my American cell phone, so any message you might have left are lost to oblivion.

For all of you who wondered if we were going to melt or if we were cruel to take our Northern breed dog to Mexico because of the desert-like heat, rest assured that all is well here. On July 1, our first day here, I turned on all of the little gas furnaces in the house. It was 62 degrees. And it stayed in the 60’s for the whole day. In fact, it has never gotten out of the 60’s. Supposedly this is the rainy season. More like the monsoon season. If we weren’t 8000 ft up in the mountains, our house would be built on stilts.

I have started a new blog that will be much more sanitized than this – leaving out our names, where we live, and really anything that can identify us to the more unsavory type. When I have Internet, I will actually update it, but until then, if you send me an email, I’ll reply with the new blog address when it goes online. For those of you that I don’t know or don’t trust J, I will still occasionally update this blog without photos or any really juicy gossip. Much like this post.

Excess in all things

Today we changed gears with Dad and Ross and went hiking on the Billy Goat trail - sections C&B -- 6.5 miles.  This lovely trail is on the Maryland side of the Potomac.   We saw an excessive amount of wildlife, with a number of great blue herons, some turtles, innumerable dogs, a toad, a kayaker, and 3 snakes.

To add to my fungus collection.

So, as we were walking back to the car, going down the C&O Canal towpath, we spotted a group of people standing and pointing at something in the canal.  There was a snake that had caught a frog and was rolling around in the water to maneuver the unlucky amphibian into its mouth.  Finally the struggling stopped, and the snake swam off, with the frog's head sticking out of his mouth.  In the top picture you can see that the snake looks like he has a frog head.
At one point he held the frog high in the air.
When he got to the bank, one lady asked, "What kind of animal is that?  It looks like a snake but it has legs!"  She was horrified to find that the those were the unfortunate frog's legs.  If you look carefully here, the green band is the frog's mouth just under the snakes mouth.  Coolest pictures ever.
When we arrived home, Ariel and I made dinner -- fall-off-the-bone baby-back ribs, Texas beans, cheesy grits, cornbread, salad, and homemade South Carolina mustard BBQ sauce.  We ate till we were sick.  It was divine.

D-Day Signs

My dad and brother came to see us this one week before we move.  Dad requested visits to Arlington National Cemetery, the World War II Memorial, and the Botanical Garden.  The day we went turned out to be the 65th anniversary of D-Day.
JFK memorial.  Bobby Kennedy is buried nearby, and as we were walking past, Ethel Kennedy (his widow) passed by with roses to put on her husband's grave.

Arlington National Cemetery had some of the very best signs of all time.

Here Rests in Honored Glory An American Soldier Known But To God

The Mast of the Maine

US Marine Corps Memorial

At this point, the girls were a bit pooped.  We had walked all over creation.  We kept having to talk to Lena about lying on the ground.

A sphinx at the Netherlands Carillon really perked the girls up.

World War II Memorial

US Botanic Garden

The girls walked many miles, often complaining; but surprisingly, they were able to find a second and third wind for their sails many times throughout the day.  Otherwise, we would have gone home after Arlington.  The botanic garden was their favourite part, and their delight and awe there was contagious.

April Showers OF May Flowers

Because we had 10 cubic yards of mulch delivered to our driveway, I kept my car parked on the curb, under the kwanzan cherry.  The lovely tree dumped all of those double blossoms everywhere, and whenever I went anywhere, I had a trail of pink petals blowing behind me down the street.  I had the good fortune to pick Livia up from school early, and when people saw my car parked out in front, they either laughed at the spectacular beauty of it or actually thought someone had punked my car.  I felt maybe I should have written "Just Married" on the side to make it look appropriate.
The pink snow became so deep at one point I almost broke down and made people take off their shoes before entering the house.  (I'm from the South where asking guests to remove their shoes is a huge breach of etiquette.  I may be blunt or without class, but I am not rude.)  (I mean, I'm not a rude Southerner.  I don't need lots of ugly emails from Canada about this.  I know in Canada it's rude to leave your shoes on.   This is not Canada.  We have 4 seasons here.)  

Kwanzan double cherry above, Akebono single cherry below.

Japanese Maple

Bearded Iris

Azalea japonica - we have some sort of Japanese theme going in our garden.  But then, I think that's sort of common out here in the suburbs.

My favourite garden feature -- my man working!

Melting Photogs: Part 2

All of these are Amy's shots from her photoshoot that I liked and cleaned up.  Not only is Amy handy with the camera, but she actually got Lena to smile.  That's why people pay her the big bucks.

I just wanted to point out for posterity that Lena is not my only child with crazy teeth.

Thank you, Amy!