Huatulco rain

They're back and hungry

We don’t get those wonderful White-fronted or Lilac-Crowned Parrots all year round, but June here is different. One day you hear them coming, as they are the loudest, most talkative birds out there. I just read an article about how only a couple of species have that talk gene down: humans and a few birds! The parrots are born in April, and the parents literally kick them out in June. They sweep into Conejos, and our trees, already a rich lush green, come alive with brilliant red wings, yellow or purple head tops, glistening green bodies. They are big! No doubt! We had a great show for about 2 weeks, although some are still lingering, the rest have moved on. I didn’t remember it being this intense in Conejos before, whereas we would see 30-50 together, we are talking hundreds these last two weeks, flying together. Friend Kathy was properly dazzled. You couldn’t have had a more spectacular bird watching time than this.

It is as if mother nature decided this is the year for profound fecundity, as we have been over run with baby iguanas (sparkling green and so cute), red and blue land crabs (all over the house, clicking and scooting sideways as fast as claws will allow, they are fast littler suckers), baby flickers trying to peck their way through a bit of cactus for that delicious something, flowers blooming we haven’t seen before, butterflies drawn by the lantana plants, and the hummingbird babies the lantana seem to also draw. I have a new respect for lantana.

We have been busy with guests, Adriana, Rene and their two little ones, Renecito, 6, and Diego, 2, just left. The pool was a hit with Diego and little Rene. Diego would go to it first thing in the morning, diapers and all, and Adriana would pick him up out of the pool with diapers that exploded to an unbelievable size (just goes to show how much water they can hold), and we watched as he tried to waddle around before we took mercy and relieved him of his burden. On the morning they left for the drive back to Oaxaca, there he was again, sitting in the pool, all dressed in his traveling outfit..... It was a lovely time, and we so enjoyed them, as well as Kathy, and even Scott and Marian (old Krazy Kraut friends), stayed by us for a week, while they settled in.

I have been keeping busy with Huatulco Eye (huatulcoeye.com) magazine, in between guests, but now have time to go back to blog for a few entries before we head up to Wisconsin and Canada, and the East Coast. We have made so many Canadian friends here (because that is all who seem to be able to afford to take a vacation these days), that we actually have places to visit, with friends to show us around. Of course, they will all be heading down here come November anyway, but I am looking forward to seeing them in their home turf.

Reading, a passion, has led me to two fab books, The Map of Time, Felix J Palma (translated from the Spanish), where the hero, H. G. Wells and his “time machine”, in this fantastical novel save the world so to speak, with mystery and fun. I had to follow it up with Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time, and brief so it is (there’s a mercy), although in terms of understanding what you are reading is a different matter. I manage a chapter every few days, because after you read a chapter, it takes a few days to process... Thank God I’m retired. Even when I was trying to teach this stuff to Jr High kids, it was a tough sell, from a history teacher no less. But together, these books give one plenty of food for thought, and makes me wish I had paid more attention in my Physics and Astronomy classes from 40 years ago... of course that was the dark ages in science anyway, so it goes.

The rain is what has kept me at the reading. Tropical rain is different from Northern California rain. The thunder and lightening alone differentiate the experience.... but it is the 5 inches in two hours that does one in. We have had drenching rains since last week, and today is the first day of sun. It gets down right cold, like 70 degrees, we are putting bedspreads back on the bed, to keep warm. I had to dig out long sleeve shirts and long pants. I know you in California laugh, but when you are used to 85-87, almost all the time, this is cold. Centa, as you notice is no slouch in the rain, this is power nap time. Larry has been running around clearing gutters seemingly hourly, as the water can back up, then flood, in minutes. The potholes are astounding, and the workers cannot keep up. La Crucecita has streets where they are just dumping in stones in the holes until they can get to it. Ah, nothing like the rainy season in tropical Mexico.

The morning glories are starting to climb the trees though, and we expect an explosion of blue flowers, like Christmas ornaments, any day now. The ocean has been very rough, and fishing has slowed considerably, oh how we suffer.... But it is back to being lush, green, and colorful, once again. Oaxaca is truly lovely in the rainy season.