MeXscape

Rainy season always brings new and interesting challenges, and this year is no different. For the first part of rainy season, we only had lovely, gentle, soaking rains, so I kinda forgot what a real Mazatlan storm can be like, but last night I was reminded.

It's finally gone and done it. It's gotten hot. Thankfully, our beautiful weather lasted until mid June, but the honeymoon is over. Old man summer is finally here. Anyone who has the temerity to go out in the middle of the day is going to get sweaty, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Most of us deal with the effusive perspiration in the normal ways: sweat rags, fresh clothes, frequent showers, and dependable deodorant. But a portion of the population – a distressingly significant portion – relies on perfumes. Ack.

I was delighted to discover a few weeks ago that Street View for Google Maps has come to Mazatlan. I spent hours looking around at pictures of this city that I walk every day. Kinda crazy, I know, but hey, I'm a geek. I stuck me that it would be a great way to show some of you who have never been here around my home town.

Our getting-ready-for-bed routine was disrupted by an appallingly loud noise in the front of our house. It sounded like someone trying to pound their way through our front gate. Chuck and I looked at each other, and he went to peek out the window to see what was going on. As he was headed through the living room, the noise changed to resemble something more like someone hammering on concrete with a large sledgehammer. I nervously waited for Chuck to come back. When he did, his shoulders were shaking with laughter. Dying to find out why, I rushed to the window to have a look for myself.

It was so hot for so long this summer. Not just normal heat, but a my-eyeballs-are-sweating-and-I-am-losing-fluids-so-quickly-I-may-just-completely-evaporate kind of heat. We woke up in the morning with so much rime on the sheets it looked like chalk outlines at a murder scene. Going to the beach was so much work, requiring major preparation and a Hydration Plan, that we just didn't bother most Sundays. We instead opted to sit in the air conditioning and have Movie Day.