Winter rolled into Mazatlan early this year and weather conditions deteriorated under a steady north wind that had daytime temperatures struggling to reach 19 degrees centigrade. For many, my self included, this was a serious cold snap that drove us into extra garb, with multiple layers for mornings and evenings. I have had on long pants for four days now and willingly seek comfort in the warmth of an evening barbecue. However, the newly arrived Canadians are finding the temperatures down right balmy and are cruising the Zone in shorts and tee shirts.

Signs of Christmas have been steadily on the rise since mid October and seemed to have peeked with the sometimes garish residential displays of lights and inflatable entities. I can honestly say, I have never seen such an ostentatious array of blow up yard art as appears through out Mazatlan during the holidays, especially in the walled city. There are several streets in El Cid where it becomes the land of competing Christmas displays, complete with their individual sound tracks. I have seen larger than life, bulbous and gaseous Santa’s kicking a soccer ball, waving from an inflated sleigh, going down an inflated chimney, stuffing a reindeer down an inflated chimney and many that simply stand as mute testimony to the season at hand; doormen with an overblown omnipresence. Both life size and miniature nativity scenes will share a yard with an inflated Frosty, some elves and a few ubiquitous reindeer scattered about. The largest displays will have 20 or more inflatable figures spread across all available roof and yard surfaces and every shrub and tree festooned with thousands of lights. A Grinch with a BB gun could have quite a deflationary impact on Christmas in Mazatlan. Sarcasm aside, if you are in town, the El Cid displays are not to be missed. We may be lacking the frigid crust of ice across the landscape, but if you look………….the sparkle is still there.

It was on the winter Solstice of last year that I impulsively rescued 2 tiny street cats. At the time, I was living in my RV and did not really need or want a couple of feral cats. However, a year ago I had no concept of just how intelligent and clever a Mexican street cat can be. I am sure that survival on the mean calles of Mazatlan is swift and unforgiving for a cat; evolution at max volume. When Snickers and I encountered an obviously homeless feline in the parking lot at the Stone Island Embarcadero, I could have just stepped over the crying kitty at my feet, climbed in my truck and driven off. I know my life would have been easier and Snickers was certainly trying her hardest to encourage that particular course of action. However, since the scraggly ball of fluff seemed to pick me out of a crowd of 30 people, I new I was doomed to adopt a street cat. When Snickers found the second cat cowering in a pile of trash, I thought…. what the hell? They are like kids, two are easier than one; at least that was the working theory.

I often find my self referring to them as “los gatos del diablo” because they are coal black, very wild and into everything. I have been around many domestic cats through out my life, however all my preconceived notions about cats have been put to the test by these two feral felines, Bandito and Lupita. Their body type and facial structure shows a strong Siamese influence and their constant antics reinforce that supposition. Last year I initially saw them as a burdensome responsibility to be humanely dealt with, now I know them to be a seasonably significant, living cultural gift from my adopted city. When the natural world shapes your reality towards love and acceptance and away from fear and loathing, you realize that the pieces of your personal puzzle are falling into place.

It’s not that I would have really walked away from a couple of starving kitties, I just figured I would nurse them back to health and find a good home for them. In retrospect, I did both.

There have been a number of fireworks displays in the weeks leading up to Christmas, most of them originating from the plaza across from the cathedral. These are not kids with bottle rockets; these are industrial strength, multicolored high altitude starbursts, launched right from downtown Centro. My first indication that a show is about to start is the sharp report of the first shot out of the tube. I then go to my 3rd story roof deck to watch 10 to 20 minutes of high quality Mexican pyrotechnics. I have a full view of the launch site, flight path, point of detonation as well as the fiery drift of the aftermath; it is truly spectacular. I have noticed, on occasion, that some of the flaming projectiles experience a rather low altitude, premature detonation. When a 100-foot starburst goes off 300 feet from the ground, it is indeed quite dramatic, however the still burning debris rains down on the many homes and business in Old Town. I love a town where grown men can play with highly explosive, incendiary devices, in a densely populated urban area, with no pesky fire marshals to spoil the fun.

So………in the spirit of the season, please accept, without obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish to wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated entry into the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make the world what it is. In addition, I wish this wish to be made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishor or wishee.

Peace and love to all.