Cactus or Tree?

Definitely cactus! This one was in a small road-side nature park that had several interesting varieties and specimens of cacti. It's located on the road between Oaxaca and Puebla in southern Mexico. (And no, I don't know what it's called.)

Desert rain!

It seems hard to believe that a couple of weeks ago I was suffering with sub-zero temperatures in Milwaukee. This week we've had temperatures here in Torreon over 90 degrees. One of those days those temps were accompanied by a serious dust storm. The picture is of the Cerro de las Noas, with its Christ statue. Can you make it out? This is not an unusual experience during the months of February or March. Sore throats and itchy eyes abound.

Brrrrrrr!

Five degrees below zero! Maybe many of you don't see that as a big obstacle, but for those of us who have not lived in the north for twenty-five years or more it is a real shock. I drove from the Chicago airport to Milwaukee for our LATTE meeting in a snow storm and within a day the temperature had dropped to five below.

Plaza, Las Tunas, Cuba

Nothing spectacular to see in this plaza, but I was surprised to see the greenery and the statuary. In most smaller towns of Cuba one doesn't see much that's been painted and well kept up. We ate at a cafe just across the road from this plaza. I don't understand many Mexicans' fascination with Cuba. It's not like they've heard it once was.

Christmas in the Zocalo of Oaxaca

Those venders' balloons would make any plaza look festive. This picture is from a few years ago, about the day after Christmas. Oaxaca is a great city to visit, with the ruins of Monte Alban just outside of town and the great culinary experiences that await the traveler, like black mole for instance. Many years ago I had spent quite a few evenings sitting in this plaza listening to the local marimba music from the main kioso of the square.

Short Vacation

The wife and I went back to the States for our annual medical checkups. They turned out well, for which we thank God. But then the good part! We drove out to South Dakota to my home town of Glenham to do a little pheasant hunting. Marlene had given me a new shotgun, Browning Gold Hunter - 12 gauge, for Father's Day which I hadn't seen yet. It seemed to work real well. But the best part was that our two sons and their families joined us for the hunt too. What a blast. Even my oldest grandson, Jacob, got his share of birds. Now we're back in Puerto Rico for the rest of this week before heading back home to Mexico.

Mexico City Alameda

This is one of my favorite plazas in all of Mexico. It is also near the small hotel where we stay when we have to be in Mexico City. A city of 25 million people (estimates vary, some are higher), you don't often see horses and riders or horse-drawn carts like you do in many smaller towns in Mexico. These two are special mounted policemen.

Rain, and lots of it!

At the family retreat (see my LATTE post here) this weekend it rained every day, almost all day long. When we got up this morning my student, Eligio, called to say that the roads getting to his place were all flooded out, and that I should not try to come. We started watching the local news and found out that it had rained 11.85 inches here in Caguas in the last 24 hours, up to 18 inches in some other places. It seems as though Tropical Storm Noel brewed up while we weren't looking. But God is good, we are safe and our home is dry (except for one small leak in the living room that our landlord is working on fixing). Still no internet though, so I'm sitting at the mall using their free wifi service for now. (No, the rain had nothing to do with the internet outage, that started last Monday--a good four days before the rains started.

Wittenberg Platz

Last June we were able to visit the famous city where the great reformer, Martin Luther, lived and worked. This is the main square of town, in front of the Rathaus, with its requisite statue of the reformer.

The other bunch of grandkids

We haven't seen these guys since last Christmas, except for a very brief visit in Minnesota at their Grandpa Johnson's funeral in March. They are Larry M's five. God willing, we will see them again this year. The youngest is just over two years old, the oldest will be 12 in a month. I hope to get to go pheasant hunting with him and his dad in November. We are really proud of these guys, they are great young men. And fun to spend time with as well.