Coming

I’ve been waiting for several months now for the opportunity to return to Mexico – the time has finally arrived. Next week I will return to Morelia.

Of course it isn’t quite as simple as that. In my life things never seem to be simple. I will be in Morelia for only a few days before I head to home in Cueramaro. Then it will be back to Morelia so I can get to a meeting in Philadelphia, returning to direct to Leon and Cueramaro the next week. I expect my luggage will be well traveled this trip.

As it turns out this trip comes as the new version of OS X - Tiger comes out so I will have to squeeze in buying it before I leave. I just finished all the preparation for installing it, including a full, bootable backup of my current install to my external drive, so maybe I will be able to get it set up before I leave. I hope so. As a long time admirer of Apple computers, it has been wonderful these past few months to have the time to explore my 15’ PowerBook, now it is time to put it to the real test on the road.

Thanks to a large community of Mac developers and enthusiasts, this trip and a great deal of what I have to do will be aided by special applications and scripts that I have found useful. As a person who has used both Windows and Linux applications over the past few years, the number of small, specialized applications available on OS X is surprising. Despite what you might have heard, once you have an understanding of how the current versions of Apple computers work, you will almost always find a script or application to make some repetitive or complicated task easier. Compatibility with other computers, including Windows application formats, has not been a problem. I have ways to run Windows applications if necessary, but as yet, they languish in my applications folder.

I will write up something about how the install of the new Tiger goes soon and of course, there will be many pictures and stories from my trips. We will be getting back to “normal” (whatever that means) soon… —>

Iris

[Enlarge] Our prized ‘brown’ iris is only one of many we have in our display this year.

We have been blessed with a fine display of flowers in our garden this year, especially our iris. They came originally from the Iris Society booth at the California State Fair, four years ago. We were wandering in the arts and crafts area late in the day and found the group’s booth. They had iris available for sale during the fair and this was late on one of the last days. We picked out some and were given more from what they had left at random. They have increased over time in our garden but this year’s display has been one of the best we have ever had. —>

Morelia

[Enlarge] The white rhinoceros at the Morelia Zoo is just one of many beautiful animals you will find there.

The Parque Zoologico Benito Juarez in Morelia, Mexico is a wonderful place to see many rare and beautiful animals and a respected breeder of endangered species. I got the opportunity to spend an all too brief four hour visit in January at the end of my last visit to Morelia. I had heard of the zoo, but I really had no idea how big or interesting it would be.

The zoo is truly a park. There are wide areas of grass, picnic tables and gravel walkways that meander through the many enclosures. There are trollies that move around the park for those who prefer not to walk but I wanted to take my time and see as much as I could in the morning. I was surprised to find that the four hours I allotted myself to see it was not nearly enough. However, with an entry price around 15 pesos, I will certainly go again.

I took a lot of fotos – as many as my memory card would hold – but I didn’t think to bring a notebook to jot down all the names of the animals I saw. Next time I will know better. In the meantime you can see at least some of what the park has to offer in the gallery. —>