The Christmas Rush-- Not!!

The Christmas Rush--Not!

I have been lazy about blogging the last few days and have been busy doing other things on the computer, and outside.

I drove for the first time to one of the grocery stores here the other day. I usually take the bus; but I wanted to stock up on some of the heavier things and Roy didn't feel like going. Up until now the only place in Mexico/Guaymas that I have driven to is the laundromat. The traffic here to me seems chaotic and I just wasn't ready to jump into the fray. Things went fine and it was not as stressful as I thought it would be, so I will probably do it again. A blog amiga from San Miguel de Allende is in Houston, Texas right now for Christmas. You can read about the driving experience she had there the other day, here: http://billiemercer.blogspot.com/ , I have to say that I am glad that I am here and not there!!

We knew that a fellow from Alberta, who we met up with online, was coming here and renting the downstairs apt.. He arrived, without getting lost, (surprising since the only directions he had were from me). He got settled in the apt. and prepared to enjoy his time here. Yesterday we hopped some buses with him and showed him a few of our favorite places and also went to the bank. While he was in the bank, we waited outside. The security guard for the bank, must have been wondering why we were just hanging around outside for so long. After we had exchanged a few smiles back and forth, he came over to chat with us. We explained that we were waiting for someone in the bank and he began to chat. He asked us lots of questions and as usual the first 2 thoughts he had were: A: that we were from the USA and B: that we lived in San Carlos, after we cleared both of those things up he had lots more questions. He had no qualms about asking about whether we can still get Canadian Pensions down here (doesn't apply as we are not old enough), where we live in Guaymas, how we like it here and many more. We had a nice chat, which passed the time while we were waiting. When the fellow came out of the bank and we were ready to leave, he shook our hands and wished us well. A pleasant interlude.

We returned home and later on in the afternoon Ciro came up to visit, with Brittany and Alan. We still have no railings, so it was interesting making sure that they did not run over the edge of the patio, especially when they and Roy began playing their game of "El Toro". Ciros brother is making the railings and as he is very busy at work, work for family members sits on the back burner. Ciro is hoping they will be done shortly. We got chatting about the giant Sahuaral Cactus forests that are close to here. We got out our maps and Ciro showed us where they are located, after he had marked them on our maps, he must have thought that we would get lost. He told us that he knows the area well and as there are many roads (read tracks) across the desert and we might not know which ones to take, we should all go together. He said that he would take us today at 10 AM. He is a wonderful man/landlord. I am not sure if he is going to get away from the hectic activities of the 2 grandchildren or whether they are coming to run off some steam. The two grandchildren follow him around like shadows and he looks tired already and they are still out of school for almost 2 more weeks. He calls them "chupa rosas", another name, other than colibris, for hummingbirds. Pretty funny from the sidelines.