Grammy has been working hard the past few months to get herself strong for a trip to Mexico. She’s wanted to see firsthand where we live and what life is like. Traveling alone would be really tough, though, so Ali flew up to Portland to get her. They of course had to go to Target and apparently decided to use this automated dog transporter while they were there. Yes, Grammy is one of “those” dog people. My family requests that you PLEASE do not get me started on this subject.

The jacarandas are popping off.

If Hollywood was casting “Mexican tough guy” for a movie and our neighbor showed up they would give him the part before he even opened his mouth. And yet when we walk out the front door and he’s standing across the street he is the first one to pop a big smile and wave hello every time. So one day there is a knock on the door and I go out to find him standing there with a hot pepper plant in his hands. He’d seen that Ali has been coming home with plants all the time, filling up every nook and cranny like every other house in San Miguel does, and he generously thought we should have this added to our collection. It’s already firing off some tiny peppers.

When I say every house in San Miguel does this, I really mean that. Every rooftop is covered in pots and coffee cans with different things growing in them. Every house is brimming with bougainvillea, Jacaranda trees tower over every other home, ferns pour over themselves in the shade, etc.. This town could easily be a little concrete jungle, but it’s not because every available inch of space that can hold a plant or a tree does.

She made it. And she got to meet Ozzie.

We took Grammy inside the cathedral and she asked if I’d walk her to the front so she could see. As we stood there she started sobbing. She said she was overwhelmed by how beautiful it all is. It’s always nice to see things through the eyes of another person. I’m not religious, and tend to walk into cathedrals thinking things like, “Geez, how did they fund this thing? How many poor people gave up their life savings for this? Who is paying to keep the roof from leaking?” So seeing Grammy be overcome with emotion over it helped me realize, again, that my opinion on these things isn’t the only one that matters. It’s good to get those different perspectives now and again.

She was loving every minute of San Miguel life.

My office turned into Grammy’s bedroom for the week, and Za was happy to have her.

This shot of the hillside gives a  good idea of what I was talking about earlier, with San Miguel being so dense and yet so well covered by greenery.

Our last night with Grammy. It’s pretty clear, going through these pictures, how meaningful this trip was for her. She played a big part in our decision to get ourselves back to this corner of the world for a while. She almost didn’t make it through her battle with Covid. Then again through some other health scares last year. Seeing her down here enjoying life with us  would have seemed unthinkable for most of the last few years, so this trip meant a lot to all of us. And after this run of success we’re going to start planning that 80th birthday trip that’s coming up in just a few short months.

Ali does a lot of the heavy lifting in our family, and was once again on a plane flying with Grammy, while we headed off to a swim competition for Ouest.

She did amazing, winning all four events. When we first arrived to the pool we saw another girl that made us both think, “Uh-oh.” She looked very strong. And she was. Every single race Ouest managed to beat her by just one or two strokes. As happy as I was for Ouest, I could also imagine the frustration that other girl felt in coming so close so many times.

Ouest and a couple of her teammates.