A Long Trip Back

It was a long trip back to Colorado with a few days in New Orleans for my grandson, Zachary's, high school graduation.  It was a wonderful time.
I spent one day and night in Guadalajara with David Luna and Pepe Kabande.  This is a beautiful Tabachin tree on their street. More about this later.
I am experiencing some problems with my blog site, as some settings have changed.

I am hoping to get back but don't know yet if I have it working.  This is a test.

You Get More Than Just A Little Help From Your Friends

You get more than just a little help from your friends, finds a new Brigham Young study-you get good health too, if you have the right ones.  A strong social network, especially one with healthy pals, improves your chance of living longer by 50%. It doubles your odds of surviving cancer and wards off colds.  That is good news for your mood and your body.  Supportive friendships can help you cope with stress, so you are less likely to suffer it's negative physical and emotional effects.

Breakfast at the Beach Club, a frequent happening.  Good food, good friends and you don't need a members only jacket.

It is fun to know our friends 'other friends' and family as they
come for a short vacation.  The interchange, conversations,
joking, reading good books together is part of our life here. 



A fun 'girl's trip' to the orchid farm.  Female friendships
are like no other, they are more open with verbal expression
of emotion, opinions and thoughts.  They are more one on
one with a sense of attachment.

 

An expression of friendship, orchids
for Isabel.

 

The gang is all here!!  Men see male friend-
ships as physically doing something together, view themselves as a 'team' with an exchange of
jokes and insults.

 



Sometimes we see far-off friends once
each year when they come for two weeks.
Gail Ryland with me and Inez, who I see
everyday.



Lorena Mejia, our condo property manager,
and a friend of many years is always willing
to stop and help you with a computer problem
and her husband, Memo, is our favorite driver,
tour guide and advisor on everything from a
mechanic to buying a new cell phone.

  



A cocktail party to say hello to everyone

and a night of dancing at the El Oasis.

Bernardo and Thelma from Cuidad Guzman came to spend
the day and introduce us to Renata, lunch at the El Oasis.

   

A day trip to the water falls and a picnic
with Dick and Cheryl.  Beautiful scenery
with fried chicken, potato salad and a
good wine with good friends.




It is exciting to see everyone again,
after the months away from Mexico.
Notice how white everyone is
compared to later.

 


Harriet and Pam, connected.
You can feel the cheer or is it just the wine?
Good friends let you know that you are
appreciated.

 

Fun shopping with Cheryl in the
Saturday market.




Fun events, baking Christmas
cookies with Lorenita and Ana,
daughters of Lorena and Memo.



The deepest friendships have nothing
to do with proximity.  Manuel and Lidia
Hernandez with their granddaughter,
represent genuine affection and goodwill
in a friendship of many years.



Nicholas Christakis, professor at Harvard Medical School and
author of 'Connected' says "Human beings are hardwired for
emotional contagion."   It is wonderful to hear the laughter and 
see the enjoyment of these young people here with their family
for the holidays.  The Gould family at Christmas eve potluck at
the Sierra Madre pool palapa 



 Pizza party

at MJ and Tim's house on the beach.
The fun is contagious.



It is suggested to live close enough that
you regularly meet face-to-face with friends,
but this seems a little more than ...

     



The same study suggest that you should
feel free to ask small favors from a friend
such as picking them up at the airport, and
who makes more airport trips than Ray Grant,
(left) maybe Phil is a close 2nd.

  


Female friendships are unconditional, (we are all human and can't
always be perfect) loving, silly and safe. What is more fun than
a girl's lunch?



My friend, Connie and I chat through
18 holes of golf and catch up on family
and travels.

  

Truly happy to see each other. 
Inez with her daughter, Sherry and
granddaughter, McKenna.  The same
study suggest to long-distance loved
ones to try and connect in person at
least once each year.



Let's pass that little bundle around.
Friends make time for you, friends
make you laugh.




Nothing can bring your hearts together
like these little bundles of joy.




Spending time with a friend is a sweet

treat. Evan enjoying a ice cream sundae

at El Oasis. Evan is the youngest son of

Heather, Dick Eddy's daughter.

The annual 'Margarita Cup' held by Sierra Madre neighbors
and tennis players the last week of the year is fun.  We know
that exercise helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Lead study author, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, PhD says friends
may also reduce the risk and not having close bonds can be
as bad for you as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.

This has been a busy but fun two months and I cannot believe that it has been that long since I posted to the blog.  You can see how we spend some of our time.  I have more post in draft form and hope they will be interesting as we visit plant nurseries and local cooks.

   

De Colores, Of Color

Mexico enjoys an utterly unique relationship with color, inseparable from life itself.  In this country color flourishes in all areas of life like a sea of color with walls, pottery, flowers, fiestas, food, fruit, mercados.

Sometimes the colors are somewhat startling,  describing what the Mexican writer Octavio Paz called "the fiesta of the object."

The Mexican markets spill over with color, fastidiously hand painted ceramics with colors freely combined.

This beach vendor's arrangement of multicolored candy is a sheer pleasure to look at.

This beautifully designed arrangement of roses and miniature daisies are elegant in their simplicity.

This home altar is a piece of art work with the combinations of color and textures.

Richly colored, hand painted talavera items such as this bathroom sink, from Delores Hidalgo 

The Mexican walls tend to be variously colored and expressions of the owner, sometimes leaving us with the urge to see inside. I love the magenta combined with yellow and the blue border to guard against evil spirits.

The hand painted table top is almost too delicate and beautiful to use.  The hand blown glass light fixture is colorful and playful, made in Tonala. 

I love this altar with strings of garlic, peppers, milagros, crosses, sacred hearts, fruit and candles.

Windows painted over glass in a restaurant, to provide privacy and a division from the other side are fun, whimsical and colorful. Imaginative! 

Light arrangement from Origines in Tlaquepaque, colorful against the terra-cota wash walls.

The bed and breakfast, Rosa Morado, in Tlaquepaque is one half of an old hacienda, probably 200 years old.  The inside walls have allowed traces of the old color and are washed in an ocher and rosa Mexicana.  

Chile en Nogada, one of the most colorful dishes prepared in Mexico, quite distinct with the walnut sauce and pomegranates, which make it a seasonal dish.

Nichos, sometimes found in the most unlikely places offer a surprise.    Fiestas seeped in tradition and color.

Virgin De Guadalupe altar with all hand made paper flowers, a riot of color surrounding the Virgin.

The Galiano (also called African Tulip) tree is so colorful loaded with brilliant orange-red flowers.

Ginger flowers growing wild against a jungle background.

The brilliant colors of the bougainvillea spill over in every corner of our world here.

Last, the postre (dessert), so full of color, a piece of art.  Wouldn't you like to walk by and take a swipe of the frosting and lick your finger.  I saw a little guy about four years old do that.

"De Colores" (of colors) is a tradional folk song that is well known throughout the Spanish-speaking world.  The song was brought to the Americas from Spain during the 16th century.

The words of the song are an expression of joy and a celebration of all creation with it's many bright colors.

De colores, de colores

Se visten los campos en la primavera.

De colores, de colores

Son los pajaritos que vienen de afuera.

De Colores, de colores

Es el arco iris que vemos lucir.

Y por eso los grandes amores

De muchos colores me gustan a mi.

Y por eso los grandes amores

De muchos colores me gustan a mi.

De colores, de colores

Brillantes y finos se viste la aurora.

De colores, de colores

Son los mil reflejos que el sol atesora.

De colores, de colores

Se viste el diamante que vemos lucir.

Y por eso los grandes amores

De muchos colores me gustan a mi.

Y por eso los grandes amores

De muchos colores me gustan a mi.

In colors, in colors

The fields are dressed in the spring.

In colors, in colors

Are the little birds that come from the outside.

In colors, in colors

Is the rainbow that we see shining.

And that is why I love

The great loves of many colors.

And that is why I love

The great loves of many colors.

In colors, in colors

Brillant and delicate is dressed the dawn.

In colors, in colors

And the thousand gleams the sun treasures.

In colors, in colors

Is dressed the diamond we see shining.

And that is why I love

The great loves of many colors,

And that is why I love

The great loves of many colors.

These four versus are the most commonly used, even though dozens of other vesus are known to exist.  De Colores has been recorded by many different artists but my favorite is by Nana Mouskouri.