Been a rough week

With the death of Shoe, friends and family have been in a turmoil for the last week. It's what happens with no death planning and a bit of a culture clash. Family from up north know nothing about Mexico, Spanish, culture or the rules. Most gringo friends here speak little Spanish and know only a little about the culture. Even my reasonable Spanish was often misunderstood on critical issues.

Special rules apply to cremation. The executor, his ex-wife, had papers that were 8 years old (too old here). Needed his son to send notarized permission to the Guadalajara Consulate and the Consulate then contact the funeral home in Manzanillo. Shoe also left no clear instructions on what to do upon his death ... either with his body or his possessions. If you are going to stay in Mexico it's not that difficult to do the paper work and save friends and family the hassle.

So we're almost past the "who's paying, where's his stuff go and what's to be done with the ashes" stages. Just that there was some real hard feelings and much confusion which I believe was mostly a clash of culture.

So last night we took the kids to the beach on the night of the largest moon in 20 years (I guess that means it's closer). Sorry but I don't do time exposures which is required for that kind of light. Had to put the moon and the reflection on the bay in two different fotos. The ocean and moon rises are often calming on the right day

In Memory of Shoe

Photo of Shoe, Bill, me and Dennis in about mid-2005, not long after I arrived in Melaque. Shoe (Roger Shoemaker) passed away this past Saturday in a Manzanillo hospital.

Please come join us this Friday, March 18th in a celebration of Roger "Shoe" Shoemaker's life at Hector's Q Corner in Barra de Navidad at 12 Noon. Share some memories and laughs, and a cold brew. He would have liked that.

A dog that only likes cat food

Coyota is her name, given by one of my workers. She wandered in one day and decided to stay. Lots of energy and became a protection barker within a few days.

Things went downhill with the Spay and Neuter Clinic in La Manzanilla and she's never been the same. They have to knock them out for the operation, then the operation was a bit difficult with her, then Rabies shots and antibiotics and then anti-stomach worm shots.

Kind of the end of the story is she had two infections in her back legs an after 4 days of more antibiotics with the local vet, she has one leg not working. She seems healthy and happy .... but will not eat dry dog food but loves the cats food. Canned dog food is OK but Whiskers (wiskas) is the favorite.

So Wiskas it is ... much cheaper than canned food and the various bags of dog food she won't eat

Rollo de Pan Bimbo

Hugo's wife brought over two large rolls of this yesterday for lunch and I first thought Sushi or those thin bread sandwich rolls but she made these with Pan Bimbo. Cut off the crust, smash it flat and roll ham, cheese and jalapenos inside then put it in the fridge. One and a half of these and I was full ... they are 'heavy'