Morning thoughts

It is seven in the morning and starting to get light out. A Dove is cooing in my garden. I love that sound. Roosters are crowing in the distance. Someone just shot off a small rocket. The kitty is purring on my lap. Chico is watching us from the bed. It is a peaceful morning. No more marching bands walking past my door at seven a.m. now that the ten day festival is over. 

We are in the midst of the high season. Friends are returning. More people are hanging out at the Lake Chapala Society. Restaurants are busy and there is a lot of traffic on the main road. 

Yesterday I went to a consignment store and bought beautiful curtains for my patio door. I now have to hem them. I am terrible at sewing. I don't have enough patience. Everything I sew comes unsewn right away. 

Christmas decorations are up in many stores. Wal Mart is packed with winter clothes, jackets, hats, boots and gloves. And toys and other gifts. In the winter here I always get a kick out of seeing the expats wearing shorts and thin tops while the Mexicans are wearing warm jackets, hats and gloves. 

There are many evening performances here this time of the year. My friend went to see the Nutcracker the other night. The theater isn't far from my house but I don't have patience to sit through performances either. Especially the Nutcracker. 

Moby Dick is playing at the local theater and that is another thing I never had patience for, reading Moby Dick. But I may go see the movie. If I get bored I can always walk out. I still have my year pass and can see any movie for free. What a deal. It only cost me 500 pesos, about what it costs to go to the movies in the United States one time with one friend. 

The exchange rate for Americans is still great. Somewhere between 16 and a half and 17 pesos to the dollar. For the Canadians, not so good. This would be a great time to open a checking account and deposit an American check. If only the local banks would accept them, and if I weren't too impatient to do that. There are too many more interesting things to do than sit in a bank. 

This is also the time of the year when expats living here year around go back to the States or Canada to be with their families. And when the ones who stay here start missing theirs. If you want to be a house sitter, now is the time. I did that for the first few years after I came here but got tired of moving from place to place. And now with my own animals, I would need a house sitter . Chico is mine now and there is Olive, the wild cat who adopted me. I didn't want any animals. Now I have two and I don't know what I would do without them. Everyone deserves to be loved and animals are great at giving love. And receiving love. They never tire of being petted. (Olive is still sitting in my lap and enjoying my pets.) So if you are living away from your loved ones and are feeling lonely, pet an animal. Guaranteed to lower your blood pressure and take away the blues.