Hell’s Half Acre

The day begins with a whisper.  I look out the window and wonder if the daylight is coming or whether I have hours to wait.  The sky is grey-blue and brilliantly lit with moonlight.  Softly, very softly, the sky lightens to grey.  If there are clouds, and I can shift in bed to see them [...]

If yesterday was Happy Happy Wednesday, then surely, today must have been Shitty Shitty Thursday.  Pike and I started the day snipping at each other and the highlight (or lowest point) was when I told Jesse to "shut up".  Jamie and I sniped; Jesse and Jamie sniped; Pike and I sniped; I’m not sure if [...]

Tonight we dine on scallops fried in butter and copious amounts of garlic and refried (I simply make the beans and then smash them in the pan, adding a little of the broth and some olive oil or butter) pinto beans with mexican scallions (more like miniature garlic than onions), cilantro, queso fresco (kind of [...]

Pike’s advice on latrines.  "The first one had a door and a roof, but too many spiders, so i went to the second one and it had no spiders but no roof or door.  I thought the one Mom used was a dump, so I used the second one.  So then I saw Mom go [...]

Well, we’ve begun the process, and the biggest hurdle has been crossed; we have a bike (exact same bike as the stolen one) which should be in San Diego by the end of the week.  We hope.  We’re used to "Mexican time" and hope we don’t run into the same clock in California.  We’ve been [...]

I’m sure someone out there can tell us what it means when a church bell tolls 59 times in rapid succession and then a few seconds later, once.  I’m still scratching my head.  FIFTY NINE times???  Ah well, the mysteries of Mexico.
We began the day with a trip to the bottom of the Bahia de [...]

One of the best purchases we’ve ever made was the Soundtrack to the Lion King.  Now that I think about it, we didn’t purchase it; my sister gifted it to the boys.  THANK YOU, Aunty Chris.  We have listened to it countless times (to the point that Pike and Jess know the chatter between the [...]

Today I did errands.  I got on the Internet and downloaded about 1000 emails and found out that SALLY is found!  Sissy apparently left her baby at the Trek Superstore in La Mesa, and Matt, the general manager has been graciously letting her live in his office.  Sissy is not one ever overcome with happy [...]

We have absolutely fallen off the edge of the earth.  Plunk.  I can’t begin to figure out why we have been graced with continual luck and opportunities and why so very many others do not.  Why should we be the ones camped on the beach while others work at meaningless jobs simply to try to [...]

The boys and Sissy are in the bunbedroom playing "bar"; Ellen is playing with Polly Pockets, I’m lying in the bedroom and Jamie is puttering around.  To the east of the trailer, we watched the sunrise and to the west we watched a rainbow form and fade.  The adults are milling about the campground, dazed [...]