25 Wednesday Dec 2013
Posted in Sentiments
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Kappy, Bernie and Kathy, Doyle, Michael, Beth and Jim, Sybil and James, Cole, Lillie, Weston, Hayden, Topaz, and Kerri — thanks for making our Portland Christmas everything we hoped it would be.
But enough of the freezing fog already. It’s back to Puerto Vallarta (and sun, and beach, and surf) tomorrow.
Tom & Louise
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(Photo by Sybil Lichty Fontaine)
16 Monday Dec 2013
Posted in Sentiments, Travel
The other day I was watching Portlandia in the afternoon down here in Mexico. It was that episode about the annual day in July when the first beam of sunshine returns to Portland after eight months of gray and drizzle. People come rushing out doors with their picnics, bongo drums, sun hats, skateboards, and guitars. I instantly doubled over with guilt, verklempt with shame, suffering a double dose of Sun Guilt in both art and life. The sun was shining, and I was inside making a bracelet. I should have been Out There. Continue reading
02 Saturday Nov 2013
Posted in Gallery, Sentiments, Travel
In Mexico the whole Halloween thing is overshadowed by a more ancient version of the holiday: a combination of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day called Dia de Muertos (“Day of [the] Dead” — which this year is today, November 2nd). On this day the Mexicans celebrate the lives of the people they’ve lost, with altars. The altars typically have a picture of the late dearly beloved, as well as bottles of whatever libations and vices the person preferred, favorite foods, and symbolic objects.
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03 Thursday Oct 2013
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Blue agave plants growing on the grounds at Los Tules
Those of us in the US tend to forget that, like our own, Mexico is a country of united states — 31 in all. The Mexican state that we’re living in is Jalisco. Among other things, Jalisco is where the blue agave plant (above) is grown, and the sweet syrup from the agave is used to make tequila.
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29 Thursday Aug 2013
Posted in Sentiments, Short, Travel
Egads! It’s Thursday. Today is our last day in Bellagio — in Europe, even. We just found the best pizza in town and we still haven’t found the fabled two-dollar beer. We can’t leave yet!
05 Friday Jul 2013
Posted in Sentiments, Travel
If I could save time in a bottle,
The first thing that I’d like to do,
Is to save every day,
Till Eternity passes away,
Just to spend them with you.
27 Thursday Jun 2013
Posted in Sentiments, Travel
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“Meet us under the big clock at the railroad station.”
When our friend Simone suggested that meeting place, we knew exactly where that clock was. We knew how long it would take to walk there. We even knew that at that time of day, the clock would be in the shade. We have lived here three months, and three months is long enough to know things like this.
And now we’re about to leave.
29 Friday Mar 2013
Posted in Sentiments, Travel
This is the hamburger I ordered at the Slow Bar in Portland, Oregon today. I wanted this for my last American meal because it is big and juicy and has great beef and two onion rings, which is exactly as many as any mature human can or should eat at once. I know there are probably great burgers in Europe somewhere, but I don’t know how long it will be until I find one.
26 Tuesday Mar 2013
Posted in Sentiments, Travel
Nuri Kilani, ca. 2010
A friend of mine died a couple of weeks ago. His death brought his friends – very good friends – together. We cooked together. Drank some beer. Laughed at memories. Exchanged hugs and tears and backslaps and fistbumps. And at one o’clock last Friday night we buried him. Threw his ashes in the air and watched them sparkle in the moonlight.
27 Wednesday Feb 2013
Posted in Sentiments, Travel
“Won’t you get tired of good weather all the time?” That was my friend Doyle, an Oregon native like me – and like me, a man of webbed feet and hooded raincoats.
The Expat Almanac 