Magic Happens

     A common conversation among foreigners in San Miguel includes the questions:  "What brought you to San Miguel?",  and "What made you want to stay?"

     I've heard and read all sorts of reasons for the appeal of the town, from the practical to the bizarre.





     The most obvious attractions are San Miguel's stunning beauty, and the near-perfect year-round weather.

     I've also heard more far-fetched things.  A woman at La Gruta, one of the hot springs near town, told me that there is, literally, something in the water.  She nodded knowingly and said:  "Lithium." That could explain a lot.

     Maybe it's the altitude...not enough oxygen to the brain leaves less cells for worrying?

     I read an article that suggested walking on cobblestones stimulates reflexology points on the feet, and has all sorts of health benefits-from lowering blood pressure to getting a better night's sleep.  Multiple people have told me that a layer of quartz beneath the city draws all sorts of good energy.  I've also been told about these things called ley lines.  Apparently, this is similar to the belief of pre-European North American natives that the earth has several energy centers, like Sedona, Arizona.  San Miguel is thought by some to be one of these power centers.

     More often people mention less tangible things.  They were wandering the streets and, unexpectedly, caught a glimpse of palm and bougainvillea-filled courtyards.  Or how they whiled away an afternoon from some rooftop watching the sunset turn the pink stone of La Parroquia, the Disney-Gothic-dream-of-a-church that is the centerpiece of town, to a fiery orange.  They simply fell in love.

     After that they went home, the story usually goes.

     Then they come back, even though they've always said they don't like to repeat vacation destinations.

     And then they came back yet again...

     And, at some point, one of the houses they looked at in the windows of local realtors was too good to pass up.

     In the end it comes down to a love story.

     When we walked into our house in Texas, years ago, we knew that we belonged there.  In spite of a big 'Condemned' sign on the front door, the fact that not one pane of glass was in tact, graffiti covered the walls, and almost everyone we knew thought we were crazy to want to live in that neighborhood..., we just loved it.  Why ask why?

     The fact is:  Magic Happens.

     We don't have to be pulled by the energy fields, massaged by the pavers, or calmed by lithium.

     The great love stories of life happen unexpectedly.  Life presents an open door and calls us to walk through.