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I live here for the weather… really!

Jonna — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:27:04 +0000

Wood's Blue Goddess

I often hear others say they couldn’t live in Mérida because of the heat. I’m pretty sure that the main reason I do live in Mérida is because of the heat. I liked lots of other colonial cities in México, but I couldn’t stand the cold winters. The weather has been spectacular in my book for the last couple of weeks. Warm days, cool nights, occasional rain at night and in the early morning, perfect! April and May are known as the hottest months of the year but not this year. April has been spectacular, I hope May will be even better.

I like hot weather, that’s why I live in the tropics, and this winter was trying with all the nortes that brought temps down into the teens Celcius (50′sF). The days are now hot and sunny and I am finally warm. The cool nights and lower humidity are wonderful for sleeping. We have only the sheet and a cotton blanket on the bed although I’ve had to drag out the comforter a couple of nights when it rained. There is nothing I like more than waking up in the early morning to cool rain falling and going right back to sleep until the sun is shining. That’s my kind of paradise!

I come by this heat loving naturally. My mother spent most of her life in Santa Barbara, California which is a spot that most people think has some of the most perfect weather in the world. As she got older, she got colder and less comfortable there. I would go to visit and she would have the fireplace burning, the thermostat on 80°F, all the windows and doors closed and wearing several sweaters and a shawl. If I opened the door to go outside (I smoked then) she would urge me not to let in any drafts, to hurry and close the door. This was when it was 72°F outside and sunny. She was a child of the Old South and always said she missed the hot and humid days of summer, that she would love to return for the weather. I thought it was pretty funny that she was living in what others consider paradise and longing for the sultry weather of Louisiana.

Well, I certainly got that set of her genes. I take back all the derisive jokes I made to her about it not being really cold, if you are cold then it really doesn’t matter what the temps are. I think it is karmic that I left southern Calif and ended up down here in weather that is even warmer than the South, with the same soft and humid nights that she loved. I also love them now.

I’m still undecided about putting in the air conditioners we are set up for, we have 4 rooms with the pipes for them. I doubt I’ll ever put it in the living room or office so the 2 bedrooms are the question. We have recently discussed putting in one in the guest bedroom since our guests are rarely as adjusted to the heat as we are and also we would have it as an option if we felt it was too hot. I don’t know. I can imagine using it for sleeping at times just for the dryness but I would hate to lose the open doors and fresh air. Also, I think it destroys your heat adjustment and makes the heat uncomfortable the rest of the day. It’s kind of a moot point right now because I’ve spent so much on dirt and plants for the yard. It’s all about what’s really important I guess, I’d much rather have plants than AC.

almost done

Art is everywhere in Mérida

Jonna — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:43:48 +0000

Koren and some strange guy

It’s one of the things I love about this city, the commitment to public art. One of the things we did while Dupre and Koren were here is walk around the Plaza Grande and go to the Macay museum. The pedestrian walkway in front of it, the one that runs alongside the Cathedral, has installations that change regularly. I particularly like this batch.

small boy, big jaguar

It seemed that many people liked it, the interactions between the public and the art were great. Kids were climbing on the jaguars, teenagers were taking pictures of each other in front of different pieces, moms were taking pictures of kids. To me, that is what public art is all about, involving the public, getting their attention, giving them a way to interact with it.

one of many

The jaguars are all over the city, mainly here and on the Paseo Montejo. They are a project somehow related to the Wild Nine conference that just occurred. It was a great honor to have this international wildlife conservation conference here this year. Presidente Calderon gave the opening welcome and Jane Goodall was the featured speaker.

a chalk line

I know I’ve been missing for a bit, Mimi is in the US and aside from missing her, I have more to do. Didn’t that sound good? Actually, I’ve been having a lot of fun with my friend Mary who was here for 3 weeks and another friend Sheila who just arrived for 4 months. It’s the season for the snowbirds to return and there are a lot more things going on. Pictures from the state fair soon, we went yesterday.

the dog park

Jonna — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:21:53 +0000

Tortuga's new home

One of the things that we have been worrying about is where we are going to park our RV, Tortuga.

She’s been out at the beach at the house of friends of the Dodwell’s but they are coming down in a few weeks and we need to move her. We’ve looked at a lot of places and none worked out for a bunch of different reasons. It was getting close to the wire.

Paula mentioned it to Debi and she called her friend Annie and we went over and met her at a lot she owns here in Centro.

It’s fantastic! It used to be used as a dog park by some of the gringos in Centro, they would meet there early in the mornings and let their dogs run. It petered out from all I can tell and then the rains came and the grass got waist high.

Parking area

We rented it immediately and yesterday I met a gardener there and in a few hours he had all the grass and volunteer trees cleared and stacked at the back.

There are lots of fruit trees in the back and the front is level with a small concrete pad. The whole thing is walled and with the gate shut you can’t even see inside. The neighbors are friendly, the street is really quiet and it is only a few blocks from our house. I can’t imagine a better set up.

We’ll probably park Tortuga to the right of those concrete pillars and use the pad for hanging out. Mimi will have a great spot for working on RV projects and the dogs will have a bigger area to run and play.

Cuba exploring

I’m thrilled with the fruit trees, there are sweet oranges, sour oranges, limes, mamey, and a couple other I can’t remember.

All of them look parched though and I’m now working on getting access to some water. I think if we had water we could even have the front as a lawn which would be really nice.

I’m excited about it and happy that we’ll have Tortuga close to us so we can drop by, and work on things easily. I hope we get to take off in her this fall and do some traveling.

the rains

Jonna — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 17:51:53 +0000

black clouds edging out the blue

I really enjoy the rainy season, it always amazes me that the sky can be blue with a few puffy clouds all day – and very hot – and as it gets close to sunset dark clouds congeal from nothing. Wind blows, rain pours, temperatures plummet and the smell is wonderful. It’s one of the greatest joys of living in the tropics, these warm and violent rains.

I’ve been going up on the roof in the afternoon and taking some pictures to share with you.

My roof

Cathedral

This is one of the gates to the city, the one in La Ermita, it’s a couple blocks from my house. Check out the palm fronds that are blowing almost sideways.

My understanding is that they would lock the gates to the city at dark and anyone arriving afterward had to take shelter outside until the morning. La Ermita (the hermitage) was a Chapel, Inn, and safe haven for those who arrived too late. The café we were at the other day is just in front of this gate. It’s a lovely neighborhood, one of my favorites.

City Gate

The sunsets are incredible at this time of year as well. I was driving home and saw this one the other day, ran in the house and up to the roof with the camera. Almost got it all.

Sunset over the roof tops

Melting

Jonna — Thu, 28 May 2009 03:58:42 +0000

Melted kitty

Can you believe how cute this picture is? The cat is completely melted, it was really hot and we were all hanging out on the terrace kind of stupefied. Mimi and I were at least wet and cool and getting in and out of the pool, the pets were just melted.

About the time of this picture, I looked at the accuweather widget and it said it was 109°F (43°C) with a RealFeel of 115°F (46°C)!!

it's always 30° in the kitchen

We had the house shut up and it was quite a bit cooler inside. We have this clock / thermometer on the wall in the kitchen and our joke is that it never moves more than a degree or two off of 30°C. Stephen brought it outside a few days ago and said it went up to 40° so it must be true, right?

Today it was hard to believe though, I was even cooking a bunch of dog food on the stove and it still said 30°. So, I brought it outside and the humidity went from 60% down to about 25% but the temp only went up to maybe 34°. I still think it must be broken.

I’m putting another thermometer on my US shopping list, one that shows the temp in good old US numbers. I’m getting pretty good at thinking in Celsius but it just seems more real in Fahrenheit.

Not only am I functioning in a different language, I’m functioning – more or less – in metric as well. Kilometers and meters are easy, centimeters I have to think about but temperature? Forget it. I just started over and I’m building a mental image of what different temps feel like in Celsius. There is some rule like subtract 30 and add something else but it only works in a small range of temps so I haven’t bothered to learn it. I have figured out that I am very comfortable between 26° or 27° and 35°. I’m cold at 23° and miserable at 20°. BTW, I do all these neat conversions for you on the blog using my nifty mac conversion widget. I have one of those on my iPhone too that I use when I’m too tired – or too hot – to think about it.

So, we are off to Akumal tomorrow for the sea breeze and the 50th anniversary of the founding of the town. The Brits are coming with us and we’re hauling all the dogs and cats too, they need a break from the heat as well.

Here’s a pic of our whole tribe this afternoon, don’t they look like they need to be at the beach for a weekend?

Chillin'

Flowering trees of Mérida

Jonna — Sun, 17 May 2009 05:44:13 +0000

I took pictures today of the incredible Flamboyán (Delonix regia) and Lluvia de Oro (Cassia fistula) trees in bloom on all the streets of the city. The Flamboyán is known in English as the Royal Poinciana and the Lluvia de Oro as the Golden Shower tree, both are tropical and only survive in zones 10 and 11. They are commonly used as street trees here and in many tropical areas even though they are famous for breaking up sidewalks with their shallow roots. Driving down a street shaded by brilliant red/orange and dripping yellow with the ground covered in dropped blooms is an incredible thing, it takes my breath away.

out and about

Jonna — Sat, 16 May 2009 06:20:37 +0000

Paseo Montejo

I took the camera with me today but I admit to forgetfulness.(...)
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Blue, blue skies

Jonna — Mon, 11 May 2009 05:45:21 +0000

So, I was laying on the deck upstairs doing some tan maintenance and when I shaded my eyes the colors were incredible.

Mérida skies

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Read the rest of Blue, blue skies (110 words)