Scenes from Christmas ( Mexico)

Animals in the driveway


the young , green one

sunrise on Christmas morning from the back, waiting for warmth

(?)Que Hago? (Mexico)

There I was, high on the slope of yet another canada, being led like an infant uphill. Our mule guide, Chente ( whom I’ve decided to call 'el oso' because of his massive hands), was towing me. He was on his horse and had a machete in one paw, and loaded rifle attached to his saddle. My tow-rope was in his other hand. He called my macho a lazy Mexican and yanked as hard as he could as we traveled in a switchback fashion ripping past towering cardon cactus, and a few thorny biznagas.

The tricky part was the prickly brush and palo adan in my face not to mention the joy of redirecting the beast left when Chente was really pulling the rope straight above me. There was no up, only curve after curve with the stubborn animal stopped dead after each hump. Somehow it collapsed, my macho, face on the dirt and body stuck in a hole. Chente missed the cue to stop. I yelled “Que hago? Que Hago?”. Chente seemed to tell me (all in Spanish of course) to stay put. He claimed the animal only wants to stand. I was unsure, but I had no real place to go if I did get my feet out of the stirrups and my legs out from under the thick layer of leather called armas and butt off the saddle. Actually getting off didn’t appear easy. I was not stuck, but I was fatigued. There was no panic in his eyes and beyond my yelling and heart pounding all was still. The mule straightened up, Chente mumbled a few words of encouragement and we were back in motion again; trudging uphill to see the next cave with pinturas repustres in the Sierra de Guadalupe.

It only looks easy (Mexico)

This is an on going course. Every year I make attempts to learn the art of tortilla making in Baja California and my friend Delia is an expert at all things. She marvels me with her skills and grace. At home I have my very own comal, and palo, yet inspiration seldom strikes. Improvements in this arena are unnoticeable yet my documenting efforts have reached youtube worthy status . This was a fine batch of thin ones. The ranch had a crowd for the holidays. I challenged the youngsters to make a few and the 17 yr old son displayed great talent. The day before we made New Year's day bunuelos (a royal pain) and ate them with the morning cafe.

Sheila makes Tortillas
	2 min 26 sec - 14 hours ago Sheila makes tortillas at Rancho Carpintero on New Years day. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISKCksj8y9Q

Shamba/Baobob house building update!!

I left Tanzania with the house not yet finished but everyone was geared up to finish the walls, both inside and out. Here is a picture of a big work crew on one of our last days.




BEFORE: sent from Teri in December 2009. Arches for doorways and windows are complete, now all are awaiting the roof. Maybe 2010!!



AFTER

2010 New Year's update from Kyle... interior firebrick walls visible and cap placed on walls. You can see the half wall for the outside, graywater shower system started. Im not sure how the design will work in regards to privacy. We simply had buckets and used banana leaves for cover. Oh the long lost days of air drying!

(If you want the real details..click on the link on the right that says Rotary Club Sideshow)

BACK in the BAY (California)

Don't eat these



I'm back in the bay area in time for fungi fun!!. The Mycological Society of San Francisco's annual Fungus Fair always has a display of freshly caught mushrooms and we joined a foray led by Bill Freedman to make a sizable contribution to that display. We got the golden key to enter the Crystal Springs Reservoir terrain and found bundles of the usually suspects under leafy oak and madrone. Most showy were the deathcaps but later this week we had a nice batch of boletes and have spent time harvesting California blue mussels from our favorite rock. One bucketful is about the 10 pound limit. The chore is the "debearding" job that Jon gets to do. If he is equipped with special gloves it goes smoothly. We made some nice meals with that one collection. Too bad our annual fishing license needs renewal soon.

You should eat this one