Auction and San Miguel First Days

August 28th: The Auction

What a day; what a thrill; what an event!

I've been to a few auctions and love the energy thatsurrounds the day. As buyers and bidders we are looking for that special rare antique or piece of art for which we pay minimal dollars and can take to the Antique Road Show and discover its worth a small fortune. (Although,

Many people come to an auction and just want a great deal on every day items. Others buy things they didn't know they wanted. When we first moved to Eau Claire and I was in my " garden phase of life" I struck gold with my auctioned purchase of a complete bee keeping setup including hives, net helmets, sprayers, smokers and stuff that I had no idea what, or how to use but, for $20, I'm in the beekeeping business. It made my day.

 

Auctioneer, Jerry Andrews and his staff are the consummate professionals when it comes to the auction business. They handled everything from advertising to setting up, and seeing that the area is returned to normal. Well done!!

We had a terrific turnout of friends, students, strangers and the curious. All seemed to be aware that we were moving to Mexico and so many came up to us to us to wish us well. How wonderful to have soooo many friends.

We sold everything! If it wasn't anchored or tied down, it got sold... Furniture, collectibles, electronics, even chicken wire and our two wonderful BMWs.

I guess it's only stuff and I was glad to see it being recycled. What a great party!

 September 3rd: SMA - San Miguel de Allende

It's 7am Monday morning. We've been here for two days. I'm writing while sitting on the rooftop terrace overlooking SMA. The town spreads out below while the hills climb into the clouds to the East. Birds are singing; a few hummingbirds fly by looking for morning succulents. Huge cactus trees adorn the grounds below with leaves topped with flowering bulbs about to give birth. Is this paradise, or what?

Today we are going into town to get additional keys to our casa (home) made and take care of our post office box at a private service. All our mail will be first sent to the office in Laredo, TX and they carry the mail to San Miguel and deliver it to our door. We are told that this is faster and more reliable than the Mexican postal service… So, off we go to town.

Now since we don’t have a car we can choose to walk, take a cab or a city bus which comes within a block of our casa.  Since one of my goals is to be become better fit, we walk. This alone is a great adventure. The first part of the walk is about ½ mile on an uneven cobble stone street circa 1500 A.D., at least. Cars and busses crawl along the road to avoid the wheels falling off.

Once we hit the portion of the street that is paved, or at least the cobble stones have been worn down to a 19th century passible grade, the going is great. Sidewalks, like the streets are made with stone and small. You have to watch where you walk, looking down as well as up to avoid being struck by signs or overhanging whatever.

The walk is eye candy of small, independently owned and family run shops ranging from fast food, (chicken & Mexican menus) Mexican handcrafted colorful art, handmade metal lamps, medical practices, gift shops, a wood shop that makes and restores the beautiful doors that adorn the fronts of SMA homes and business. Check out the book “The Doors of San Miguel” on Google. We found the key shop… Don Pedro’s, a small hardware store where we had keys made.

After getting to the Jardin, the center of town we found the postal box store and took care of business making sure we were signed up and the mail would be delivered.

Next stop… Mextel, the telephone company, for a cellphone. If you want a slice of Mexican life, take the bus. Just like you read… packed, hot, babies crying, standing room only and only Mexican spoken… constantly! The only thing missing was the cage with a live chicken. It was a real treat and wonderful entry into this way of life. Never did get the cellphone… lines too long. Besides, do I real need it?

 I need to digress a moment before I tell you about the evenings, mouth dropping, dinner.

We are living in a Mexican section of town. We wanted to do this to immerse ourselves in this culture and to get a different perspective on this world. Well, this is not E.C. It’s more like a bad day in Beirut in some places. Some streets are unpaved, like ours. Many homes are partially finished.   Families continue building when they have the money for supply’s. But, what is beautiful is that families spend their time outside playing with the kids, young lovers walk hand in hand, some doorways host Mama serving tacos to make a few pesos… It’s a real slice of life that works so well in the community.

 

We found a little family owned pizza restaurant around the corner from where we live. It’s a huge building with a 25’ ceiling that serves wood fired pizza and Mexican food. Sara, our dog was with us and she sat next to the table with us. We were the only customers.

So, the three of us our sitting at a coca cola painted table when all of a sudden a Burro and his master walks in the triple wide door loaded with wood for the wood burning fire pit and stop three feet from our table to unload. This is a first for me. I look at Lorelei and Sara who are sitting with their mouth open in a huge smile. This is right up Lorelei’s passion for animals. She starts petting and brushing the Donkey who just stands in place and I think, laughing to herself. 

 

Sara just takes it all in as though this is the way life is…. And you know, maybe she’s right.