Weather

I am nearing the end of my last week this trip. Two tropical storms, Emily on the East coast and Eugene on the West coast have been buffeting us. No big problems, just a very strong tropical downpour for an hour or so yesterday afternoon, which gradually softened and disappeared. We did have a little bit of excitement – the storm overwhelmed the drain below our offices, blew the manhole cover completely off and flooded the intersection nearby. Certainly nothing in comparison to what other people are facing in Monterrey and other cities in the North of Mexico as Emily comes ashore.

I always feel a pang of sadness when the time to leave is approaching. I know I will be back in about a month, but it still hits me. I will miss my walks in Morelia, my trips across the Bajio, my friends and the many little pleasures of life in Mexico. According to prognostications, I will be spending even more time here in the future. I am taking a larger role in some projects as our work moves from development to production. I look forward to it, but I know it is going to press some decisions on me. The simple fact is our home in the US is getting too expensive and large for what we need. We will just have to see, but it looks more and more like we will be moving sometime soon. What shape those decisions will take is still unknown, but they have to be made, whether I like it or not.

I am learning and considering a great deal in this work. I spent yesterday thinking about how to manage educational outcomes measurements and today I awoke with new insight into the diagnostic process doctors use to determine treatments. It isn’t new knowledge in the world – it is just new to me. How does one thing tie to another? One of the articles I read in passing discussed ‘Internet hypochondriacs’ and how the increase of information available to patients is impacting healthcare. It discussed how doctors approach a set of symptoms and how that differs from the investigation process patients use on the Internet. At the same time, I am considering how to structure the measurement of case-based neurological education for primary care residents. The article lead me to realize the assumptions used to develop the diagnostic sequence in a series of computer-based cases was basically flawed and the measurement system being used is suspect. Being a consultant at this level is necessarily an upside-down situation. You come into a situation knowing nothing about what is happening, having almost no knowledge about the subject, and having to provide better insight into what can be done. It takes research, consideration, and considerable work to gain the confidence of the people you are consulting to so they will accept your conclusions. It is the essence of my work.

I’m finishing this entry now in George Bush Intercontinental Airport Houston. We had an interesting flight in from Morelia. They told us on the way here there would be a patch of ‘really bad turbulence.’ It never really materialized. They told us that Huston airport was closed, and when it opened up, there would be delays. We landed on time. We saw some very large thunderstorms, so I know the reports were accurate but the worst never materialized. Like when in passed Morelia, we skirted the remnants of tropical storm Emily.

It’s getting close to time to get on the plane. Time to go.

wp:thumb src=”2005-07-17-5a.jpg” cap=”Lesser egrets are a common sight on the lakes and in the fields in this part of Mexico”—> ->

July 25th, 2005 by Mike
Tagged as fotos | No Comments »

Flora

This is the rainy season in Mexico. In the Bajio, where I am, it is a welcome relief. On the East coast, where they get the full force of the tropical storms that bring our rains, it is often a dangerous time of year. But for us, in the states of Guanajuato and Michoacan, it is a time when the hills turn green again and everything grows in abundance.

Depending on where you are, the rains can either be downpours or gentle sweeps. In Guanajuato, the tendency is for rains to come out of nowhere and pour down, disappearing as fast as they come. In Michoacan, they tend to come regularly in the late afternoon or early evening and break the heat of the day. As a result, Michoacan is usually about ten degrees or more cooler than Guanajuato.

Riding this bus to Cueramaro this week was a welcome surprise. The hills and valleys have all turned green and the air is fresh and sweet. In Morelia, we are seeing the grass in the parks grow back and the colors of the flowers are strong and vibrant. At first, it was so different from previous trips; I was concerned I had gotten on the wrong bus.

I have seen many flowers, birds and animals in Mexico that I have never seen before and it is a constant source of amazement. The foto that opens this entry is of a mistletoe that was very surprising for a guy from Northern California. The mistletoe I am familiar with has small white flowers and isn’t very pretty to look at. This species has long, red-orange blossoms and a different leaf structure. If the leaves weren’t different than the tree they infest, I wouldn’t have known they were mistletoe. There is another tree with very similar flowers that is often planted nearby.

The blackbirds in this part of Mexico are quite different than I am used to also. They are a little larger and the males have long, elegant tails, which they obviously take great pride in. Their calls are more raucous, something between a crow and the squawk of a parrot. However, just like in the city parks in Sacramento, they roost in the trees in the jardin at night and that gives employment to a small army of men who use pressure washers to clean up the jardin every morning. Beauty comes with a price.

One thing I have learned that has given me great joy is how to balance my digital fotos in a way that gives a look similar to Ektachrome. The �punchy� color of Ektachrome transparencies has been a favorite of large format photographers for a long time and a staple of magazines that depend on fine photographs like National Geographic. I have learned how to work with shadow and highlight in a way that brings out more detail in the sky and shadow than I thought possible. I didn’t believe the information was actually there. It is, and with only a few seconds of work, I can balance a picture to a point that I would have previously only been able to accomplish in a darkroom. It takes time to make the transition, but it has improved my fotos a great deal.

Do I feel bad about manipulating my fotos to bring them to what I see in my mind’s eye? Not at all. It is what good photographers do every day. It is satisfying to be able to make it happen.

wp:thumb src=”2005-07-06-1.jpg” cap=”A cicada on the balcony outside our office in Morelia”—> ->

July 17th, 2005 by Mike
Tagged as fotos | No Comments »

Things

Today I’m sitting at home in Cueramaro listening to Cirque du Soleil and Mystere as I look back over all the things I have meant to write about and just haven’t had the chance. Such is life. I have one more week before I head back to the US for a month and I have a lot of stories in my head gathering dust. I guess it is time to start putting some of this down.

The first is two weeks ago when Rey’s brother Chava, his wife Juliesa, and his daughter came to visit from Los Angeles. I haven’t had a chance to see them for a couple of years – the last time Rey and I were in LA. They had been in Cueramaro for a more than week when I got back from Morelia and were close to going back to California. They have also built a home in Cueramaro and plan to move back eventually. We started talking about our common interest, furnishing our houses, and I realized they hadn’t really had a chance to look at what is available in Mexico now. For someone who remembers the Mexico of ten or more years ago, it is a welcome surprise. So, of course, this meant we were going to have to take a shopping trip the next day and show them what Irapuato has to offer.

Librado and his wife Maria decided they would like to join us, so in the morning, we gathered up the group and got ready to go. Librado’s house is near the edge of town, so Chava brought his truck over to our house to go out to Librado’s. The plan was to take Librado’s Lincoln, which is roomy for a group, from his house to Plaza Cibeles in Irapuato, about 30 minutes away. That is when things began to go wrong.

First, the battery in Chava’s truck refused to turn over the engine. It was no surprise – it doesn’t get near enough action to keep the battery charged up when he isn’t in Cueramaro. After maneuvering, Librado’s truck to a strategic position, it was jumped and we headed off. We got to Librado’s house a little before everyone was ready, but while we were waiting, we decided to pull the Lincoln out of the garage. The battery was dead. Worse, the floor of the garage slopes down from the front, so pushing it out to where it could be jumped was out of the question (although we tried). We also tried switching the battery out of the truck – not enough amps.

At this point it was getting into the afternoon, but the problems just seemed to seal everyone’s resolve. We were going! No question. A taxi was called.

At this point you have to understand that Cueramaro, unlike larger cities in Mexico, doesn’t really have a lot of taxies. There are usually a couple of taxies sitting near the jardin on Sundays (market day) but the rest of the time you need to call one and wait. This means giving directions to places where a lot of drivers have never been, asking how long it will take to get there (if they have never been there, the estimates are going to be suspect immediately) and then – going out to the major cross streets to flag them down when they wander by.

Since there were seven of us, including the two little girls, we needed something larger than a standard Mexican taxi. Most of them only seat four comfortably, including the driver! We ordered a pickup with two rows of seats – which in ordinary circumstances is a workable solution. After what seemed like an eternity, a taxi appeared at the end of the road. It was an ordinary little four seat compact.

Another round of phone calls, frantic calls on the radio from the taxi driver who had been dispatched by mistake, and some time later, an appropriate pickup was flagged down on the main street and walked back down the dirt road to Librado’s house. We packed ourselves into the pickup and headed off; firm in the knowledge we were going to get to our destination without further delay. Wrong again.

Outside a little town known as San Cristobal, we found we had yet another problem to deal with. The rear tire on the taxi was going flat. In Mexico, especially in the agricultural region of Cueramaro, this is a real catastrophe. There are no shoulders to pull off on, the roads are narrow, and large trucks and buses go by all the time. The only alternative is to go slow and look for the first farm road you can find to pull off on – hoping it will be flat and wide enough to change the tire. Fortunately, we found one not too far along and pulled off. It was’t really wide, it was dirt, but it crossed a culvert so it had a firm base for jacking up the truck. We sighed in relief.

We took shelter under the mesquite trees while the driver worked to get the tire changed. With a little help and encouragement, he got it done. Of course, while the taxi was jacked up, a pickup and a tractor had to pass, but somehow nothing further clouded our day and we all got back in the taxi and continued on our way. As Librado and I suspected, Chava and Juliessa were very happy and surprised to see what was available in the plaza. We had a pleasant dinner in the food court and the kids got to spend some time in the pet store. Even better, we met Librado’s son, Miguel and his wife who had brought a van from Cueramaro and volunteered to take us to Walmart and back to Cueramaro in safety and luxury. There’s a lesson in all of this I’m sure – but in the end, we were all happy. We stuck to our plan and did want we wanted. Somehow the problems just melted away.

wp:thumb src=”2005-07-02-4.jpg” cap=”Dinner in the food court at Plaza Cibeles was a welcome close to a long day.”—> ->

July 16th, 2005 by Mike
Tagged as Cueramaro | 2 Comments »