Dreaming of Warm Tropical Breezes

Palm, Yucatán
(photo Courtesy Google Images)

While the entire Eastern Seaboard of the US is huddled, trying to stay warm in extreme cold, I can find some relief by simply viewing images of beautiful, tropical Mérida and the turquoise and azure hues of the Gulf of Mexico. Currently, outside our home in Virginia, the temperature is 30℉ (-1℃). That doesn't sound so bad, but the wind is blowing and the chill factor is likely 10-15 degrees lower. When I returned from walking the dogs this morning, my hands felt like they were on fire! I'm sure our friends (who are in Mérida as I write) have checked the weather for the NYC area. It is currently 14℉ (-10℃).
Enjoy the remaining days of your trip to the tropics, guys!

Did I mention that our home is now officially on the market? We have had one showing and the couple wants to come back for a second look. We have always had very good luck selling our homes, but of course the market is the worst in the history of our experience. Nonetheless, we have high hopes for a reasonably fast sell. Mérida is calling us for an August move. We might possibly take a few detours on our way down, ending up at Casa de Las Lechuzas in September. Warm, tropical breezes...

Beachfront, Sisal, Yucatán
(photo Courtesy Google Images)

Home, Sweet Home

Stepping Up the Timeline

We've been saying for a while now, both on the blog and to people we know, that we will be moving to Mérida in the near future. The truth is, we were never really sure when it would happen. We've both felt like we have one foot here and the other there, waiting for the stars to align, the cards to be right, or that blasted ferry to become a reality. We've come to the conclusion that the best way to move forward is to rid ourselves of a lifetime of accumulated possessions. The Tampa ferry is not going to begin operation in order to facilitate our move. In fact, it might never become a reality. We will most likely make the dreaded drive, with our animals and what few mementos we wish to keep, in one vehicle.

So, we have contacted an estate sale company and will have a three-day sale in late September. What doesn't sell will be taken to an auction house (furniture) or a thrift shop (clothes, books, and countless boxes of other stuff). We will hang on to the best of Alan's cookware, knives, and a few small keepsakes. After the sale, we will put the mostly empty house on the market staged with a bed and a few other pieces of furniture from our condo which is now rented. We don't know how fast the house will sell. It could be quickly or it could take several months. Either way, once that happens, we will have nowhere to live except that lovely little place in Mexico.

I have been feeling a bit anxious and frustrated lately, like we are stuck and not moving forward with our plans. There's most likely an element of fear in there somewhere, with questions like "How will we manage this?" "This move is going to be overwhelming." "How will we ever drive for six days with two dogs and a cat that has not been outside of our home in over 4 years?" I would like to be able to approach this in the way that I TRY to live my life -one day at a time. Perhaps, once on the road, our mantra will need to be 'one mile at a time.' If only we could teach that to the animals!

A really bad older exposure that I fiddled around with and converted to
black and white for fun...

Yaxcopoil

Once a grand hacienda, Yaxcopoil is now operated as a museum of sorts by descendants of the original owners. The grounds are dry and dusty and very little has been done to restore the buildings. For an admission price of 50 pesos, you can tour the main casa, filled with old furniture and artifacts from its heyday. The property is of a grand scale and at least one of the buildings, possibly a huge work building, was closed for viewing. Wandering through the casa can be fun, if nothing more than to take a peek at the collection of furniture and other household items. I was primarily interested in photographing architectural detail and found Hacienda Ochil and Yaxcopoil equally photogenic.

First building

Garden

View from behind a gate

Colorful and inviting

Peeking over a wall

Post and pulley

Moorish-inspired window arch

Arriving in Mérida

It is really nice to touch down in Mérida only two hours after our departure from Houston. Our checked bags arrived moments after we reached baggage claim and we both got the green light through customs, so it couldn't have been more than 15 minutes before we were in a taxi headed for Calle 47-A.

As we approached the house, we could see lights and the front door open and there was Ruben standing on the sidewalk. He seems to have this uncanny sense of when we come and go. It is not unusual for us to go out for a few hours and when we return, within a few minutes, Ruben is at the door to see if we need anything. It is wonderful having him, literally, just around the corner.

We always perk up, no matter how tired, when we walk into the house. Everything is just as we left it the last time, with only a few things slightly moved around. It had been 5 days since the house was cleaned, so there was a bit of dust -nothing bad. We could manage until Tuesday, our regular cleaning day.
Ruben did inform us that Jazmin now has another (better) job and her cousin Mari Carmen is the new housekeeper. We hate to lose Jazmin, but Mari Carmen is very nice and seems to understand my poor attempt at communicating. We need immersion -badly.

Here's looking at you...

We did discover that a framed print that had been hanging in the master bath was missing. We thought that perhaps it had been taken down to clean and was resting someplace against a wall. We looked high and low and could not find it. It was a very inexpensive print I had purchased from Art.com and had framed here. Oh well, no great loss. On Monday morning, Alan discovered the print, face against the wall in the laundry room. I liked that the print was hanging on the wall opposite a large mirror, so that when you pass by the bathroom you see, reflected, two vividly colored impressionist faces. Alan discovered that when occupying el trono, it appears that the two faces are staring at you. We can only conclude that a guest did not like the intrusion and simply removed the print, or maybe it was the housekeeper?

I didn't mention that the weather here is superb for April. The days are warm with very low humidity and pleasant breezes and the evenings are cool and refreshing. It couldn't be more perfect.

Leaving for Merida

Greg, Dave, Jason, David, John, & Alan

We began the day Sunday at 4:00 AM, where we quickly dressed and headed for the airport to begin the first leg of our trip. We walked off the plane in Houston at a little after 8:00 AM and minutes later were greeted by Alan's brother Dave and whisked away to Tomball, TX. We spent a very lovely day visiting Dave and Chris and two of our three nephews, David and Greg. We enjoyed a wonderful brunch and then took a stroll through the woods behind their home, accompanied by their two horses and two dogs. Along the trail, we encountered two snakes ( thankfully not poisonous) and a turtle.

After more great conversation we headed back to the airport for the 7:15 flight to MID. We had just enough time to visit the United Air Club and enjoyed a snack of fruit, cheese and crackers and coffee before boarding. We thoroughly enjoyed our brief time with Alan's family and will make a point to do this more with the long layovers in Houston.

Chris and the horses

Alan attempted to teach me to how to play chess on the flight to Merida. Needless to say, my brain was way too exhausted to grasp the intricacies of the game. Perhaps another time.

A new Blogger template

I'm sure that most of my readers have noticed a new look for the blog. After resisting for several months, I decided to give the new "Dynamic Views" template a go. When these templates were first introduced several months ago,  I didn't like the fact that gadgets or applications were not included as a feature. The main page simply consisted of the blog posts with no links whatsoever. That meant I could not display my favorites, archives, or other links on the main page. They have now included some of these applications, although they are a somewhat hidden. They show up on the right side of the screen as a black line and when the cursor is placed on the line, the links pop out. This is all good, but at this point there is no application for the list of bloggers that I regularly follow.  I liked the fact that I could see when a favorite blogger posted something new. Readers also use this list to link to other blogs that might be of interest. I've sent feedback to Blogger and I imagine that eventually this gadget will be added as well.

I like the clean, uncluttered look of the Dynamic View template but sort of miss playing around with the use of color in the old template. I could spend a great deal of time fooling around with color choices, but these days I spend most of my spare time on the photography course.

Another interesting feature is that the reader can change the view by clicking on the button at the top of the page just to the left of the Home button. This simply allows the reader to discover various views of the blog page. I'm not sure why anyone would think to do this or even want to, but obviously some web designers thought it would be fun.

I think that it is nice to occasionally change the look of a blog to keep it interesting and fresh. Interestingly, my page views have more than doubled since switching to this template. I have no idea why this would make any difference at all, but I welcome the increased traffic.

Images by John Bradshaw 2012

Los colores de Primavera (the colors of Spring)

A warm afternoon spent enjoying the emerging colors of Spring at the Botanical Garden can do wonders to soothe the mind, body, and spirit.

All photographs by John Bradshaw 2012

Guinea Pig for portraiture module

As I progress through my photography course, the assignments become slightly more challenging. I've had very little time to think about my future life as an expat in Mérida. Thankfully, bloggers like Lee and Darren & Wade, all expats-to-be, help keep the dream alive with their enthusiastic posts. Resident bloggers and friends, Cathy and Marc, offer informative posts on day to day living in Mérida with an emphasis on great photos and living la vida serena.

Although my photographic plans don't include portraiture, it has been fun getting Alan to be my model. I am learning that many mistakes can be corrected post exposure.  My instructor, of course, insists that it is always better to "get it right the first time." He is right about that, but it is a bit fun and artistic to make something mediocre look pretty fabulous. Not that I am any where near fabulous at this point.

Please feel free to comment. Critiques are welcomed.

This image largely untouched

A bit of bright gaussian blur added for a dreamy effect

Gaussian blur with less brightness

Winter colors...

Winter in this part of Virginia can be chilly and as colorless as the drab grey of the ubiquitous naval warships and aircraft carriers that dot the various harbors of Hampton Roads.  There are a few exceptions here and there. The Norfolk Botanical Garden is showcasing its vast camellia collection, although many of the huge shrubs are still just loaded with buds. I spent some time today completing work for my photography course and enjoying a rare balmy day. Tomorrow will be back to cold... albeit sunny and cold.

pink and white mottled

winter white

beautiful walkway over the canal

shall we dance?

There are subtle colors everywhere in the gardens, like the backdrop foliage for this fountain.

Rock fountain in the Japanese Garden

the turtle pond, but no turtles found

Happy 470th Mérida

Collage of Leonora Carrington bronze sculptures displayed along the Paseo de Montejo.
Photos taken at our visit last year during the 469th Anniversary celebration.
all images by John Bradshaw (PhotoShopped)

New Year's Resolutions

Resolving to do something (anything) as part of some silly New Year's Eve proclamation of intent has never worked for me. It's not that I don't get things done. It's that making unrealistic promises to myself, such as "I'm getting off sugar"just sets me up for failure. I'm NOT giving up sugar. I will honestly try to reduce my consumption, but there's simply no way I'm giving up chocolate. At this stage of life, I'm not going to deprive myself of such little pleasures even if it shaves a few days or months off my lifespan. I mean, isn't dark chocolate healthy? Like red wine?

However, there are some things I (we) need to get done in the coming year. So, I resolve to make the best attempt that I (we) can to:

• Starting one room at a time, go through every closet and drawer, emptying and boxing all but non-essential items.
• Have a huge yard sale to try and make a few bucks off another man's treasure.
• Anything not sold goes to Good Will.
• This is a BIG one - sell a condo that we own, even if it means taking a hit. Like everywhere, prices have gone down -WAY down. 
• Plan for an estate sale when we have a firm date for moving to Mérida. We have a few nice antique pieces that someone else can enjoy for years to come. Upholstered furniture (thanks to los dos perros y el gato) will probably go to Good Will, unless someone wants to go to the expense of re-upholstering or slipcovering. It's good stuff, just worn.
• Pray - every day - that the Tampa to Progreso ferry becomes a reality in 2012.
• Complete the photography course (so far, I've finished 3 of 12 modules with fairly good success)
• Work diligently on Español                  

New York Times - 36 Hours in Mérida

Pastel mansion
photo with point & shoot Jan 2011

Elisabeth Malkin spent 36 hours in Mérida and managed to pack quite a bit into her brief visit to our city. The 3/4-page article appeared in the December 4th issue of The New York Times. One has to agree that such a prominent spread in the Times is not to be taken lightly. Three colorful photos at the top of the page include a table full of food at Chaya Maya, a folk dance presentation, and a group of people bicycling on the Paseo de Montejo. She describes Mérida as "a languid city of pastel mansions and evening promenades"and states that "the city, now one of the safest in Mexico, is an architectural jewel."

I couldn't agree more. In fact, it has been said that Mérida is THE safest city in Mexico.
Will a feature article in the Times generate increased tourism? Let's hope so. Tourist dollars are good for Mérida and for Mexico. Narco violence has taken a toll on the tourism industry and without help from sources like Nancy's blog The Truth About Mexico  (Mazatlán) and videos like the one below, Mexico will continue to suffer. I found this video on You-Tube and it had only 118 views. Feel free to help spread the message.

Catedral de San Ildefonso makes it on "The Dish"

While browsing one of my favorite political blogs from the past (I say past because I no longer have much interest in US politics),  I was surprised to see a photo of the cathedral in "The View From Your Window" feature of Andrew Sullivan's blog, The Dish.  Scroll down the page on the link for December 3 and you will see the photo. There is an ongoing contest to see which photos are published and eventually make it to a nice coffee table photo book.


There's something a little strange about the photo. Can you see anything unusual? I'm a little curious to know who might have submitted the photo. Could it possibly be that Governor Ivonne Ortega Pacheco snapped the shot from the balcony of the Palacio del Gobierno? After all, it would be the view from HER window.  It's doubtful, with her tremendous responsibilities, that she would have the time for such trivialities.  I've been tempted to submit something from Mérida but now someone has beat me to it. Congratulations to the anonymous submitter.

The waning days of Autumn

Fall is a beautiful time of the year in Virginia. The light is spectacular and the colors amazing. The brilliant gold of the incomparable ginkgo now lies mostly on the ground. The drab gray days of winter will soon be here and I will dream of warm, sunny days in the Yucatán.


                                         

Colonial facades in Mérida

There are many beautifully restored colonial and mid-century modern homes in the Centro, but there are also homes that are abandoned and neglected.  The variously colored facades are nice to look at , but I find that some  of the homes which have not been restored exhibit their own special color, texture and beauty. They can provide an interesting subject for the photographer. Layers of peeling paint can expose a myriad of soft, faded colors and crumbling plaster reveals interesting spots of exposed mamposteria, the thick limestone walls which defy destruction in this intense tropical climate.

All images taken in Santiago. I think these all were abandoned homes, but if someone is living inside,  please excuse the intrusion.  Double click on image for a larger view.