January 31, 2020 - 140 - "Excess Baggage"

Taking It With Us

     The ability to use standby travel is the main perk of working for an airline.   Not only do we fly standby...but so does our luggage      

            

      Our travels have usually involved only carry-on items.  We always felt pretty hard-done by if the flight got so full that we were asked to check our bags.    

     It was only about a year ago that we learned we could check two bags a piece free of charge and each bag could weigh up to 50 pounds.   

     We've been pushing these allotments to the limits ever since.  

---

A House Needs a Bunch of Stuff

    Sometimes it's just easier to buy things here and take them down.  Instructions will be written in English.  There's  plenty of time to think about purchases.  We don't have a car in Mexico, so big shopping days involve getting a taxi or driver to take us places.  This puts extra time and money pressures on shopping. 

     I realized how much we've changed how we look at things when we saw a lamp we really liked the other day at World Market.  We instantly began quizzing the poor sales clerk about how large a box the lamp comes in.  We peppered him with questions:  How many pieces it's broken down into?  How heavy is the box?  We start trying to disassemble the thing as the guy looks on in horror.

January 30, 2020 - 139 - "If You Build It, They Will Come"

 Bar Hiett  

      Though our rooftop still looks like a hardhat-only construction zone, I have a clear image of the final product; especially the L-shaped 'bar' created by adding a new wall where the top of the boveda used to be. 

     I've taken to referring to it as Bar Hiett, when I send update pictures to the kids. 

     Eventually it'll be painted cream color and have the gray cantera stone topper that the rest of the walls have.  We've already got the bar stools.  It's practically finished.  (If you squint your eyes just a little.)

Vintage Barflies

  

   For some reason my vision of this area doesn't stop there.  For the life of me I can't picture it without imagining people bellying up to the bar there. 

     There's a restaurant in San Miguel that we pass often.  The long bar is visible from the street and
we find it amusing that there is always someone sitting there.  

    We'll pass and say:  Hey!  That guy was there four hours ago! 

January 29, 2020 - 138 - "Tracking my Habit of Tracking Habits"

      My habit-tracking mania has evolved over the past few years.  It started as a passing interest and has grown into a full-on obsession.  

     It's something I've thought about most of my life.  How do people form and keep good habits?  But really seeing the impact of habits, both good and bad ones, didn't come until I read Charles Duhigg's 'The Power of Habit'.  (I freaking love this book.)  

     It really broke down the components of habits;  how we form them, what triggers them, as well as how to grow them, lose them, or adjust them.  It made me really start noticing what they do for you; both good and bad ones.  

     Once you look at things through the lens of what habits do for you, it becomes obvious that the statement "Habits make our lives" is the absolute truth.

     By creating and evolving my exercise routines, I really got confidence that I could actually form and keep good habits.  (I always hated exercise...I figure if I could form good habits around this I could do anything.)  It's turned out to be pretty true.

     For me keeping a visual record of new habits I'm trying to form is key.  I can see when I get off track, and when I get back on, and then note what contributed to these cycles.  But mainly, it really motivates me to keep my habit-keeping streaks going.

     I have toyed with the number of habits to work on at any given time, and I'm seeing I can only keep up with tracking about 6.  Of course we all have hundreds of habits from brushing our teeth, to what we eat, to what we watch on tv. 

    I guess I'm mainly talking about the habits I'm working on forming or keeping at the moment.  If it's still something that feels easy to let slide, it needs to be tracked.

January 28, 2020 - 137 - "Mexican Casa Renovation 6: "Rooftop Re-do"

     One of the cool features of our house was a huge boveda (arched ceiling built of bricks) in the dining room.   

     Right after we saw the house for the first time Michael said:  it's got to go.

    I was appalled.  It was the show-stopper of the whole house.  You walked into the dining room and the already 24' ceiling soared about 12' more to the top of the arch.  Wow.

    Michael pointed out that a) we don't really have a need for a 36' ceiling, b) it's not original to the house, and c) it completely ruins the rooftop.

     It didn't take long to see what he meant:  There was a small patio at the front of the roof, that was pretty much the only useable part of the roof.  Smack dab in the middle of the roof was this huge quonset hut-of-a-structure.  It was ugly, and blocked the sun from the small back patio area.  It also blocked access to the rooftop room.  There were weird, rickety stairs built to wind around the top of the boveda. 

     The room was plenty big enough to be a bedroom...but the bathroom on the roof could only be accessed by going up and over the boveda.  (Not too fun in the middle of the night...especially if it's rainy or cold.)

     So, we worked with the city engineer to make plans and ask to get the permits for the project (permissos), from both the city of San Miguel, and the state of Guanajuato.  The structure is  not historically correct, and actually considered a gringo conceit by most locals.  Bovedas were traditionally used only in churches.  Ditto cuppolas.  (Though we still have one of those and kind of like it.  Luckily that's not visible from the street.)

     It's a busy time for construction in San Miguel so it took forever for the inspectors to come out from the capitol of Guanajuato, but they eventually did and they approved the project.

January 27, 2020 - 136 - "Mrrwkksijfkd, jfl lld kizee ll.d;??? ???"

   I was in a dead sleep when my phone went off at 1:18 this morning.

     It was a notification from crew scheduling (fondly known as 'screw sched.', in the airline biz).

     The messages are all in airline-ese.  I'll give you a vague translation:

     

ALERT!!!:  Activity has been added and removed from your schedule.  Please contact Crew Scheduling to confirm.  

(Note:  They capitalize 'Crew Scheduling', like they're referring to a deity...which is telling.)

      I'm thinking (if you can call it that):  Huh?  Added and removed?  If it's removed...why didn't I see they added something earlier.  Did I miss a text?

      Then another came in:

ALERT!!!:  Reminder:  DFW flt xxxx/27JAN DFW-ONT departs at 10:40 pm. 

No change to sign in.

       Uh...what?  I'm only good for Monday...how can they give me a sign in at 10:40 tonight?  Or if it's last night...did I miss it?

   Then another:

ALERT!!!:  Reminder:  Your sign in is at 5:00 am!!  Contact crew schedule to confirm.

     ???  I know I'm about as alert as Ella snoozing at the end of the bed at this point...but, seriously, none of this makes any sense.

     About that time the phone rings.  The caller ID is:  "It's All Good-You're right on schedule."  (My attempt at being zen and chill about getting weird middle-of-the-night marching orders to leave my warm bed and fly off to some random place.  (btw...this is not working.)

January 26, 2020 - 135 - "Did You Get Dressed in the Dark?"

   I've been in that weird on-call Never-never Land this month.  I've hardly flown at all...but, of course, I didn't know that ahead of time.  This morning I was extra-stressed.  I woke up around 5:30 and made the mistake of checking the Assignment List.  Big mistake.  I was only two down the list and there were tons of trips open.

     I checked, for the 4 billionth time, that my ringer was turned all the way up and tried to go back to sleep. 

    Not happening. 

    I gave up trying to sleep and thought I'd work off some of the nervous energy by exercising.  I didn't want to wake Michael so I dug in my dresser drawer for workout clothes in the dark.

    The drawer is fairly organized.  I know that leggings are on the left, tops next to them, exercise bras in the left plastic drawer divider, socks in the right one, and my sneakers are to the right of those.  I grabbed an item from each category and put them on. 

     Once I was upstairs in the light and could see my outfit creation I thought I wouldn't have done much better in the light.  Light pink leggings, black bra, gray top, and gray sneakers.  Not bad at all. 

January 25, 2019 - 134 - "Like Father Like Daughter"

  Nature or Nurture?

     I was sitting in my dad's office the other day.   It's a place full of all sorts of interesting projects, plans (literally...house plans he's working on), photos, and artifacts. 

Dad's Shelves

     I looked over at a shelf and noticed something I hadn't really seen before:  rows of white binders, with white labels, with black writing on them.  

     He used these notebooks to keep various projects corralled, track goals, keep notes on new software he's learning.  He also had some divided by year, or type of plans he'd 'drawn'.  

     I suppose drawn is sort of an archaic term now.  Growing up Dad always had a drawing board at home.  I'd watch him carefully measure, and draw various elevations of buildings.  He'd notate things in his perfect architect's lettering.  It always intrigued me that his handwriting was as clear as a typewriter.  

     Anyway, this row of notebooks made me laugh.  Dad asked why.  I told him I'd send him a picture later.

January 24, 2020 - 133 - "Recombobulating"

Laundry List of Busyness (Skip this if you've got no cheese to enjoy with the whine...)

      I've been discombobulated.  The usual conveyor belt that pulls us from Halloween through New Year's Eve seems to have extended its reach and speeded up considerably.

     It's like we upped the ante on every element of busyness in or lives.  Not enough to deal with keeping a 102 year old house going...why not get another one that needs loads of work?  How 'bout doing it all in a language you're not very conversant in!  lol

     Halloween didn't just involve buying candy and turning on the porch light this year.  Instead we decided to raise a house (temporarily) out of the rubble so we could enjoy Day of the Dead with the kids.  Then we put everything back into storage and went back into renovation mode.

     Thanksgiving was going to be reallly easy...a nice trip to Mom and Dad's, only 45 minutes away.  What could possibly go wrong?  Oh yeah.  I managed to contract a doozy of a cold.

     We celebrated Christmas by deciding not to do much at all...then do a 180 and do every single thing we've ever done...even adding some things...and, basically, celebrating three times.

     New Year's Eve was shaping up to be super-chill...a party at friends nearby.  But then I got pulled back onto reserve for the 1st. 

January 23, 2020 - 132 - "Fake Cafe Beats Heck Out of the Real Thing"

Writer on the Move

     Recently my own cozy home office was made less private because of out of town guests.  I thought I'd head out to a cafe to get some things done.

     I'd just gotten my lunch and computer arranged on my table for maximum eating and working comfort.   It was mid-afternoon and there were just a few other customers in the place.   Just a little bit of light conversation going on around me.

     I barely took the first bite of my sandwich when a cell phone started 'ringing'.  The ringer was set to a very annoying, and very loud, song.  You'd think the guy would want to shut it off as quickly as possible.  

     Uhhh...no.  He seemed to be ignoring it until he finished his next paragraph of work.  

     It played through a good portion of the oh-so-bad song, then cycled off...only to rev up again just as everyone in the vicinity would start to relax.   The guy let this cycle happen about three times before reaching down to answer it.

January 22, 2020 - 131 - "Stalking Artists Series: Installment 1 - Diego Rivera"

  
      On our last trip to Guanajuato, 20 years ago, we took a tour and saw the main points of interest around town.  

      This time we had two conscious goals.  We wanted to see a couple of things we've heard of since then but hadn't seen.  We wanted to:  

1)  Check out El Callejon del Beso (The Alley of the Kiss) a site of local legend, and 

Hidalgo's corner of Alhondiga de Granaditas

 






2) See the Alhondiga de Granaditas (the old Grain Exchange building) a building where an important early battle of the Mexican Revolution took place, and  that later became a symbol of Spanish oppression when the Spaniards placed the heads of the leaders of the insurgents on each corner of the building.  

     Other than that we just wanted to wander around town and hang out.  

      We'd accomplished all the random wandering we wanted to do, and on our last day found the two locations we'd intended to visit.  It looked like our trip was complete.


---

     We had a couple of hours before our shuttle was coming to take us back to San Miguel and figured we'd just find a cafe' to hang out in.  

     We ran into an American who lived in Guanajuato and discussed things we might want to see with her.  She recommended the best coffee in town.  We decided to go to one of their shops to have a cup of coffee and while away the next couple hours.

     We headed in that direction but only got about a half a block before seeing the Diego Rivera Museum.

     I just started laughing.  That moment was just so 'us'.

     It's like we literally can't leave a place without checking out where the local artists live, and work.   Even if we don't do it 'on purpose'.

January 21, 2020 - 130 - "New Series!: Stalkers"

Random Travel Choices

     I've always thought that Michael and I are pretty free-form travelers.  Our trips through the years have been a grab bag of locations and activities, seemingly with no particular plan. 

     We don't have a goal to visit all the battlefields of the Revolutionary War, or eat at all the restaurants in France with 3 Michelin stars, or scuba in the top ten diving locales in the world. 

      One trip we did try to get the maximum number of stamps in our National Parks Passport book, but that was only because we learned of the book after visiting several parks and not noting it.  Plus we were sort of 'in the neighborhood' of a lot of parks...we figured we should take advantage of the moment.

      We've never paid much attention to 'bucket list' destinations.  Our choices are often based on  exploring around a destination where there's an event we're invited to.  More randomly, we see a photo or video of a place n that appeals to us and say:  How 'bout there?

     Our plans have always seemed incredibly haphazard.

Name That Theme

     But, it turns out there is a theme.  In retrospect it's pretty darn dramatic and I can't believe it took half my life to notice it.

      Michael and I are:  Stalkers. 

January 20. 2020 - 129 - "Phew: That's Done"

     There are such great side effects to setting and hitting goals.  It's like it creates a ripple effect in your life; the benefits echoing out far beyond the original desired effects.  

     Like with exercise goals:  Yea, they're good for achieving overall health and fitness, and you're gonna feel better in your clothes, but it goes so far beyond that.

     You get the more-oxygen-to-your brain alertness, and the natural-high hormones flooding your brain making you feel happier and all-around better.  Then there's that unbeatable feeling of building credibility with yourself.  Saying what you're going to do...and then doing it gives you a positive reputation with yourself.  

     I think the side effects might be even better than the original goals.  

     The very best side effect, for me, is that feeling like:  'Phew!  I don't have to think about that for the rest of the day!'  My exercise goal is met for the day, or I already did my blog post.  It's incredibly freeing.

     I feel like posting every day why it's a miracle that I hit my goals.  Sometimes the reasons are more dramatic than others.  If I'm flying three long flights in a day, or on vacation in another country and working on restoring a house and...  

     But, really, every day has it's reasons for not reaching goals, if only the I just don't feel like it reason.  

     Today I had to run away from home to sit in a coffee shop and hit my goal...but now I'm free for another day knowing, however imperfectly, I did what I said I was going to do.

     'Phew!  That's done.'

---

"Finishing races is important, but racing is more important."

-Dale Earnhardt-

--

"Always remember, the goals that we have achieved pale in comparison to the daily commitments it took to get there."

-Dabo Swinney

---

January 19, 2020 - 128 - "Funny Things Flight Attendants Say"

         A couple of gems from recent trips...

     I was talking about becoming antisocial because of the over-interaction involved with the job: 

     When asked what she likes about being home....

      "My favorite thing to do is to...not talk."  -Liz - BOI MCI

     In the middle of a particularly crazy flight, with particularly weird passengers (plus 7 wheelchairs, 5 pets in the cabin, and Hurricane Irma on it's way)...

"Every day I say I'm not going to drink tonight and every day I change my mind."  -Bruce TPA ORD

January 18,2020 - 127 - "Singing Your Heart Out"

 

     Performing artists amaze me.  It seems like the bravest thing in the world that anyone could do.  And the hardest.  Baring your soul for your supper.  

       We have friends who'll play for just about anyone anytime.  Guess it's part of their make up.  The grass has to poke up through the sidewalk and find the sun . Fish gotta swim.  Birds gotta fly...

January 17, 2019 - 126 - "All Pumped Up"

      I went shopping for a pair of pumps yesterday.  I guess that sounds like a pretty fun idea.  But these were work shoes.  

     It got me to wondering how many pairs of plain, closed-toe pumps I've bought since 1992 when I became a flight attendant.

     I probably average 3-4 pairs per year.  They get wrecked pretty quickly.  We walk for miles in them daily.  I've often worn right through the soles of shoes.  We walk between gates in terminals in them, board flights in them, walk to our crew pick up points in them, leave hotels in them in the morning, and kick carts with them.  

     Carts are those things we push up and down the aisles and serve drinks off of.  They're pretty flimsy.  Carts get out of whack pretty easily, requiring flight attendants to 'finesse' the doors into closing.  And by 'finesse'...I mean kicking them to make them shut.  I try really hard to remember to turn and kick them with my heel, donkey-style.  (Yes...it's non-stop glamour in the sky.)  Often I forget and just kick them with my toe.  This isn't good for the toe of my shoes...nor is it good for my actual toes inside those shoes.  

     They should really make cute high heeled pumps steel-toed.  Not just for the cart kicking...but for during boarding when passengers enjoy walking on, and rolling their bags over flight attendant feet.  

     It's not entirely their fault.  It is tight quarters, and there is the problem that our uniforms

make us absolutely invisible.  People slam right into us without even an 'oops' or a 'sorry'.  

     Well, that's not true:  there usually is a 'sorry'...but it's us saying it.  Airlines know how to hire suckers people who apologize for things that aren't their fault...which is probably smart.

    

     My point is...we go through a lot of shoes.  When I started we had to wear at least an inch and a half pump.  Then it became the rule that you could get a doctor's note and wear your 'in-flight' shoes (flats worn during the service on the plane), in the terminal.  Now I think it's considered discrimination to make girls wear heels when the guys can wear comfortable shoes all day.

January 16, 2020 - 125 - "Mexican Casa Renovation 5: Dust to Dust"

So you take a house whose basic components are concrete
and stone.

And you decide to redo a lot of the
electrical,..which requires chiseling out concrete,
creating masses and masses of dust.

Like...all over the house.  And you think you're done
but realize you need just one more plug...one more switch...

Plus you rearrange the plumbing all over the place....
which requires chiseling out tile and concrete.  

And the workers have to mix up more and more concrete every day to
rebuild or fill in all the changes. Which stirs up a whole lot more dust.

Then you get a lot of ideas for how things 

could be changed for the better: like by ripping out stuff 

like 1970's-era wet bars...or, ya know the roof.

And no matter
 how hard you try to block off areas.

You're still gonna end up with A LOT of dust.

January 15, 2020 - 124 - "The Profound Pressure of Pants"

     Michael's spent a lot of time considering pants lately.   Obviously, I'm not the only one in the house who spends their days pondering Serious Subjects.  

     Maybe this is what drew us to each other?  

     You'd think we're both booked for a gig at some comedy club the way we're always furiously looking for something amusing to discuss.  

     This is strange since neither of us have much enjoyed stage time in our lives.  As for me, I'd have to rule out anything that involves a loud and crowded room.  

     But I digress from the subject at hand:  pants.

     I think this line of thinking was brought on by the fact that Michael retired from corporate life a year and a half ago...and has barely had a day off since.   

     He's looking forward to the end of our latest crazy scheme.  (The renovation of the house in Mexico.)   And finally thinking of having some lazy days.  

---

No Pants Subway Ride-NYC

   
     That's my guess about why on New Year's Day he informed me he would no longer be wearing pants....


Michael:  I'm not wearing pants today.

Me:  Oh, okay.  Cool.

Michael:  I may not ever wear pants again.

Me:  That's a worthy goal.  Good on you, babe.

Michael:  I mean it.

Me:  Alright. I guess I'll be wearing the pants around here from now on.  But, ya know, it's been kind of cold outside lately, and there are a couple more months of winter to go.

Michael:  (Seeming to have just considered this.)  Well...maybe I'll wear some pajama pants!

Me:  Great idea.  It's a good thing you finally got some.  Can I ask what's led you to this decision?

Michael:  I just realize that I've been conditioned by society to wear pants.  Pants are very constricting.  You have to choose which ones to wear too.  In the summer you have to choose between short or long pants.  It's a lot of time thinking about something so unimportant.  

Me:  I see what you mean.

Michael:  I just don't want to let society tell me what to do.  So my New Year's resolution is:  No Pants All Year!  

Me:  Wow!  Impressive.

Michael:  Yes it is.  It won't be easy...but I'm determined.

Me:  Well, I'll try to support you.  I guess your pants won't be doing that job anymore.  Luckily you don't need pants to go to the kitchen and get me coffee.

    Michael wandered off to get me coffee.  And it turned out he was able to easily bring me coffee, even though he wore no pants.  

     So far his resolution was going great.

January 14, 2019 - 123 - "Cats: De-Motivational Speakers"

Why are you awake?  Just five more minutes...

     My alarm was set at the godawful hour of 1:30 this morning.  Don't ask.  It definitely was not my preference.  

     I've been dog tired  (ha ha) all day, but had a lot of stuff to get done so I could only take short breaks to rest.  

     Ella has been a huge help.  

The couch is just over there...we'd
better go make sure it's still
comfortable.

        

     Yeah, right.  That's a lie.  

     She's a cat.  She has spent the day following me around the house suggesting, in her own feline way that I do the sensible thing:  lie down and take a nap. 

---

     If there was a motivational conference for cats it would...well, it wouldn't exist.  Cats have no desire to be motivated.  They are not Motivational Speakers as much as Napitational Seekers.

    Cats are the anti-serum to the whole motivational speaker/life coach/self-improvement movement.  They're not interested in any of that stuff.  They consider themselves perfect as they are.

     Cats don't care to be motivated.  

---

     Still...if there were such an event, I suspect the keynote speaker would offer life-hack tips something like these:  

January 13, 2020 - 122 - "World's Best Margarita"

 **Edited:  I forgot I had actual photos of this event.  I came across them and they are far better than the generic photos I had here before.**

   I have a lot of respect for tequila.  Heck, it played a big role in getting Michael and I together. 

---

     The fact is, the limit for any really good margarita is:  one.  

     The problem is:  it only takes one to ruin your judgment entirely.  Then a second margarita sounds like a truly fabulous idea.  

---

    The other night we went to a restaurant that specializes in margaritas. The bar was across the room from our table so we didn't see all the magic that went into our drinks, but it was clearly a laborious process.

    We watched as a woman cut up fresh limes.  She then hand-squeezed lime after lime after lime...  

     Then she got out glasses, added ice.  

     Then the mixing process began.  Her back was to us.  She'd pour this and stir that.  

     We kept thinking she'd turn around, put them on a tray, and bring the drinks to us...but she kept working away.

---

Michael:  This is the most complex margarita of all time.

Me:  No kidding.

Michael:  What do you think she's putting in them?

Me:  I've read about the Aztecs and Chichimecas that lived around here.  They were into some pretty creepy stuff, like human sacrifice.  What if the recipe actually calls for someone named Margarita?

January 12, 2020 - 121 - "Tiny Transformations"

      At the first house we bought in Mexico we had renters stay for a couple of months.  They bought two barstool for the roof so they could enjoy the rooftop view in comfort.

     We'd been looking for some but hadn't found any we particularly liked.  Actually, I wasn't completely sold on the ones they bought.  But, hey; they were comfortable, we needed barstools,...and they were there.   

     So we used them a lot and were very happy to have them.  

      Later on we decided we needed two more barstools.  We still didn't see any we were really sold on.  (There are a lot of big, heavy, wrought-iron barstools around San Miguel that aren't comfortable, and can barely be moved they're so heavy.) 

     So we ended up buying two more of the same ones.  Only problem was the new ones were stained a light brown, so they didn't match the old ones.  

     We eventually sold that house.

     When the realtor was sending a photographer to get pictures of the house I finally got motivated to stain all of the barstools a dark coffee brown (nearly black), as I'd been intending to do since we got the two non-matching ones.

January 11, 2020 - 120 - "Imagineering"

     Michael and I see stuff that isn't there.  

     We mainly focus this talent on house projects.  When we first saw our  1916 Craftsman four square house it was condemned.  There was not one piece of glass in tact in all of it's 36 windows.  It was boarded up.  When we removed the front balcony over the porch the mortar was so old the columns just fell over.  

     After a long day of working on the house we'd spend hours sitting on piles of lumber or wheelbarrows full of debris, picturing how great it was going to be...someday.  

     Eventually, it became our dream house.  

     The backyard of that house was open to the alley behind it.  It barely had grass.  Mostly it was filled with weeds and construction debris.   

    We'd lay out hoses to indicate where garden walls would be, sit on the piles of construction leftovers and envision it being a courtyard oasis...someday.

      And after years of laying stone and bricks, building a pergola, slowly acquiring outdoor furniture, digging in the broken-glass filled dirt until it finally began to resemble beds...  Planting, weeding, trimming, and replanting where things didn't quite make it...that derelict lot became a little slice of heaven.  

---

     We've been working on a house in Mexico for the past year.  It's come a long way.  We drew on graph paper, mocked up photos on PicMonkey, and spent a lot of time pinning ideas on Pinterest.  The inside is beginning to look kind of like we'd envisioned.

      We've now gotten to re-thinking the rooftop.  This morning we were going to sit up there and have our coffee.   But we have a hard time sitting still when there are improvements to be made...  

     In the picture on the left Michael is sitting on a barstool, with the remains of a window atop a paint bucket,  a cheap plastic chair on the other side of that...and work-in-progress walls and floors all around him.

January 10, 2020 - 119 - "Does Local Charm, Charm the Locals?"

Michael:  It's so nice in the little jardin early in the morning.  The fresh air, the pretty gardens, the charming cafe's... the people sitting around looking at their phones.

Me:  lol

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   It's become the same everywhere.

   Those people Michael saw on their phones were probably calling their travel agent or Googling fabulous travel destinations to escape the ho hum of their hometown.

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"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

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January 9, 2020 - 118 - "Photo Essay: Guanajuato, Mexico"

This was the construction zone we escaped to
experience clean linens and dust-free air for a while.

Driving through the tunnels to get into the 'bowl'
of the city of Guanajuato

Wow!  You don't see this much any more!