MeXscape

When people discover I am a year-rounder, and, in fact, have not left Mazatlan since I moved here three years ago, they often ask me if there are any foods that I miss. My answer is always a quick and unequivocal yes. I don't need to think about it. My little Texan heart yearns for Chicken Fried Steak.

I am a Texan, ergo I love Ranch dressing. Texans have always had a special relationship with this creamy, tangy little bit of heaven. We eat it on everything: Pizza, french fries, vegetables, even an occasional salad. Pretty much anything we can batter and fry (which covers a lot of territory) we dip in Ranch dressing. The ultimate treat for me is deep fried dill pickles dipped in Ranch. Yum.

I moved to Mazatlan with an open mind and an eagerness to experience everything about living in the tropics. There have been so many new things – 1001 ways to eat shrimp, street food, summers without air conditioning, parties that don't start until midnight, learning water flow management through rainy season, the eschewing of shoes more sophisticated than flip flops — and for the past two weeks I have been improving my experiential reference — by getting Dengue.

This is the Energizer summer. It just keeps going, and going, and going. We are still hitting daily heat indexes in the 106° - 109° range. I call 105° "escape temperature", which means that I gather my stuff, duck into the bedroom, and turn on the AC — something that makes the dogs very happy.

Warning: This post was a very cathartic experience for me, but may be pretty depressing for you. Feel free to skip it.

I have a deep dread of middle of the night and early morning calls. They never seem bring glad tidings. But since it was 10:00 on a sunny Mazatlan morning, I felt absolutely no alarm when the telephone started to ring. I looked at the caller ID. It was my Mom. My mood immediately picked up a bit, and I answered the phone, "What's up?"