Me
A Fireside Chat?
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Swine Flu
I guess the last man standing get’s all the groceries. Yesterday we helped two more of our friends get ready to head north by taking all of their groceries!
In the last few weeks we have inherited all sorts of delicacies from one Gringo pantry or another. I’m liking this end of the season bounty. We have some asiago, camembert and blue cheese, and many varied and exotic salad dressings. We have Bailey’s with a hint of crème caramel (reportedly good on ice cream) and crèma de macadamia con café (we need more ice cream). We’ve got containers of crescent rolls, peanuts, rice chips, more mayo . . . pie shells, bananas, raspberries, chicken and frozen vegetables.
So maybe we can skip the market this week which would be disappointing. I love the energy of the market. The noise, the music, the colour and even the elbow to elbow shopping experience conducted in both broken English and attempted Spanish is enjoyable. For Cath and me the coup d'état of market day in Mexico is the stuff that leads to yodeling and chest pounding when we have successfully managed to infiltrate a sea of humanity, grab some fruits and vegetables and live to talk about it!
But now in view of the fact that much of the population is hiding behind blue masks and avoiding contact with one another maybe we ought to exercise a little caution until the swine flu scare is over.
I’ve been listening to CNN the last couple of days and the bulletins that they keep releasing makes it seem like Swine Flu will turn out to be the forerunner to Armageddon and eventually we will all be shaking our heads from the grave saying: “I guess I should have stayed home with my mask on”.
Maybe it is just me but I am considering yesterday’s numbers of one hundred and forty nine dead in Mexico and trying to decide what that figure means to my household. The reporting is nothing less then sensational and misleading when you run the numbers. And, oh, by the way: those cases are overwhelmingly in Mexico City and as of yesterday the cause of death for the one hundred and forty nine souls was not confirmed. These are two facts often omitted from the CNN reports.
At last count the metropolitan area of Mexico City exceeded nineteen and a half million people while the city itself is estimated to have more than 8.8 million permanent residents. Anyone who knows me realizes that math is not my strong point but I do believe that when you consider the statistics and combine them with several hundred miles of separation, the odds of us avoiding Swine Flu are in our favor.
For friends and family who are worrying about Cath and me I can only say: don’t. We are healthy and doing what has been advised by cooler heads: keeping our hands washed, and avoiding crowds and if it becomes necessary we will purchase masks. So far there are no reported cases Lakeside but should that change we can just stay home and ride it out. After all the larder is full to capacity!
In the last few weeks we have inherited all sorts of delicacies from one Gringo pantry or another. I’m liking this end of the season bounty. We have some asiago, camembert and blue cheese, and many varied and exotic salad dressings. We have Bailey’s with a hint of crème caramel (reportedly good on ice cream) and crèma de macadamia con café (we need more ice cream). We’ve got containers of crescent rolls, peanuts, rice chips, more mayo . . . pie shells, bananas, raspberries, chicken and frozen vegetables.
So maybe we can skip the market this week which would be disappointing. I love the energy of the market. The noise, the music, the colour and even the elbow to elbow shopping experience conducted in both broken English and attempted Spanish is enjoyable. For Cath and me the coup d'état of market day in Mexico is the stuff that leads to yodeling and chest pounding when we have successfully managed to infiltrate a sea of humanity, grab some fruits and vegetables and live to talk about it!
But now in view of the fact that much of the population is hiding behind blue masks and avoiding contact with one another maybe we ought to exercise a little caution until the swine flu scare is over.
I’ve been listening to CNN the last couple of days and the bulletins that they keep releasing makes it seem like Swine Flu will turn out to be the forerunner to Armageddon and eventually we will all be shaking our heads from the grave saying: “I guess I should have stayed home with my mask on”.
Maybe it is just me but I am considering yesterday’s numbers of one hundred and forty nine dead in Mexico and trying to decide what that figure means to my household. The reporting is nothing less then sensational and misleading when you run the numbers. And, oh, by the way: those cases are overwhelmingly in Mexico City and as of yesterday the cause of death for the one hundred and forty nine souls was not confirmed. These are two facts often omitted from the CNN reports.
At last count the metropolitan area of Mexico City exceeded nineteen and a half million people while the city itself is estimated to have more than 8.8 million permanent residents. Anyone who knows me realizes that math is not my strong point but I do believe that when you consider the statistics and combine them with several hundred miles of separation, the odds of us avoiding Swine Flu are in our favor.
For friends and family who are worrying about Cath and me I can only say: don’t. We are healthy and doing what has been advised by cooler heads: keeping our hands washed, and avoiding crowds and if it becomes necessary we will purchase masks. So far there are no reported cases Lakeside but should that change we can just stay home and ride it out. After all the larder is full to capacity!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Getting Back to Normal
Ok. As many of you have pointed out: it has been awhile.
I started this blog for family and friends who were interested in keeping up with our move to Mexico but mostly I started it for Mom and Dad to help them over their reservations about our move here. I thought that if I could show them pictures and describe our surroundings that they would come to appreciate our home and location as something perfectly safe and acceptable.
After Dad died I kind of lost heart in the project, especially since Mom hasn’t got much of an interest in the internet. I know that she could handle the internet just as she has mastered her serger (it cuts and sews?), intricate quilt patterns and argyle socks! These accomplishments are all self taught; she is amazing and the most remarkable thing about that is that she doesn’t have any idea how impressive she is.
Anyway this isn’t about my Mom and it isn’t about my lost Dad . . . it is just an explanation for the long silence. First off I didn’t have much to say (I still don’t) and secondly without Dad to open the blog for Mom I didn’t think that there was much reason to carry on with it. But, apparently it has been missed and for those faithful few who are still looking, on occasion for updates, I will try to be more conscientious.
It has been two and a half months since my Dad died. In all of that time I have not been able to convince my Mom to come and stay with us for awhile. She has been determined to get things settled at home, and to make the adjustment to living on her own without delay. I admire her tenacity and her courage and I have to support her in this decision but I do miss her and I do hope that she might be ready to return with us next fall when we are heading back after a visit home.
In the meantime we have really started to settle in and make this home. Years ago, a friend of ours called and instructed us to rent The Money Pit. He was laughing so hard that he couldn’t breathe but after a few snorts he managed to tell us that the movie was about Cath and me and our infamous house renovations. Well . . . after watching the movie I have to agree: Shelly Long and Tom Hanks seem to have been acting out our lives.
With that in mind we have decided that we will do the painting and decorating but we will get estimates from people who know what they are doing for the plumbing, electrical and brick laying. The nice part is that we don’t actually have to do any of these things but, although things are fine as they are, we have some improvements in mind and so we are off! I’m sure that you are asking why I would mention any of this in the blog but for those of you who know us best it is a sure sign, when we start renovating that we are getting back to normal!
I've added some pictures below as proof that even when your heart skips a few beats . . . life goes on and we are all doing well.
I started this blog for family and friends who were interested in keeping up with our move to Mexico but mostly I started it for Mom and Dad to help them over their reservations about our move here. I thought that if I could show them pictures and describe our surroundings that they would come to appreciate our home and location as something perfectly safe and acceptable.
After Dad died I kind of lost heart in the project, especially since Mom hasn’t got much of an interest in the internet. I know that she could handle the internet just as she has mastered her serger (it cuts and sews?), intricate quilt patterns and argyle socks! These accomplishments are all self taught; she is amazing and the most remarkable thing about that is that she doesn’t have any idea how impressive she is.
Anyway this isn’t about my Mom and it isn’t about my lost Dad . . . it is just an explanation for the long silence. First off I didn’t have much to say (I still don’t) and secondly without Dad to open the blog for Mom I didn’t think that there was much reason to carry on with it. But, apparently it has been missed and for those faithful few who are still looking, on occasion for updates, I will try to be more conscientious.
It has been two and a half months since my Dad died. In all of that time I have not been able to convince my Mom to come and stay with us for awhile. She has been determined to get things settled at home, and to make the adjustment to living on her own without delay. I admire her tenacity and her courage and I have to support her in this decision but I do miss her and I do hope that she might be ready to return with us next fall when we are heading back after a visit home.
In the meantime we have really started to settle in and make this home. Years ago, a friend of ours called and instructed us to rent The Money Pit. He was laughing so hard that he couldn’t breathe but after a few snorts he managed to tell us that the movie was about Cath and me and our infamous house renovations. Well . . . after watching the movie I have to agree: Shelly Long and Tom Hanks seem to have been acting out our lives.
With that in mind we have decided that we will do the painting and decorating but we will get estimates from people who know what they are doing for the plumbing, electrical and brick laying. The nice part is that we don’t actually have to do any of these things but, although things are fine as they are, we have some improvements in mind and so we are off! I’m sure that you are asking why I would mention any of this in the blog but for those of you who know us best it is a sure sign, when we start renovating that we are getting back to normal!
I've added some pictures below as proof that even when your heart skips a few beats . . . life goes on and we are all doing well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Hadley
This is MY Giraffe and I don't want it Packed!
Gertie
Soon to be Our Home on Wheels
