Getting out of Dodge!

I am only 32 hours from a road trip! And there is so much in between: Hitting the ATM after a check deposits at 2am, paying the cable bills when the office opens in the morning, going to Cancun for Carlos (be true to your cabbie)to take me camera shopping, Walmart is recommended by Jim in Cancun, coming back and getting Lora packed off for her spa stay.
Yes, she will get a shampoo and a thinning hair brushing with a razor: she has been in constant shed mode for six weeks. And then, around 10pm, Carmen and I will board the Ultramar, take a cab to the bus station and a first class bus to Merida.
From there, we will first take a commuter bus to her village Halacho, where her sister is preparing a multi-course breakfast including baby shark, a visit with her mother and then back to Merida to see a chiropractor and shop the municipal market, maybe nap at her another sister's, shop some more then and take an overnight bus back.
Well, I'm tired just thinking about it!
This morning, Lora and I made three runs to the paint store. Coming home after the third, there was no one on the job site. I cooked with faith that Gilberto and his right hand man would be back. They were. And have worked their hearts out since.
The good news is they have lined up enough work for their buddies and themselves to be busy into the new year.
Would there not be work while I was gone, they asked. Contrario! We hope to return to a finished job, I said. Gilberto smiled and gave Lora a little petting. Well, she will not be around to supervise. I just hope they remember her directions.
Right now Gilberto and his right hand man are finishing up lunch. It was once of the better pesacado veracruzano caldos I have produced, but a habanero was hotter than I thought. No really, it is great, Gilberto said. I had avacodo, radish, onion garnish with parmesan noodles and tortillas to wrap it all up.

Weekend Road Trip!

I never meant to be this busy! I'm off to the heart of Maya country for a weekend road trip, invited to join Marta for the baptism of her niece at St Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Sacalum. We will take the 5:30am ferry Saturday and a bus to Merida, then a commuter bus to Ticul and a cab three miles to Sacalum and stay with her sister.
The two have a special bond, with her sister placed in charge of raising the baby Marta after their mother died, until they were placed with grandparents. That didn't work out so well but it served to bond the sisters even more.
Picking up Day of the Dead goodies is a must do. For Marta, cleaning and visiting her mother's grave is also very important, as she did in 2006, pictured here.
This is also a chance for me to buy young Maya tree trunks, straight as an arrow, to use as the background for shade cloth on upper deck, aka rooftop patio. Marta's father makes the trip to Cancun twice a week carrying fruits and produce, so that is a way to get the lumber here without paying Cancun lumberyard prices. Very pricey.
I am continuing to work on passages for the "newsies before the papers died in Cleveland" book that John Tidyman is compiling. Funny, how I'm doing this approaching Day of the Dead. I'm up in the middle of the night, so day of the dead may be my reality in the morning!
For the road trip, I'm going to take a little cooler and hopefully bring back some venison to keep frozen until Christmas. I never really new how much I liked venison until I started eating it here, where it is farm raised now. Hunting Bambi is no longer permitted in Maya country because the deer is an endangered species.
How different from North of the border!