HOT Summer Nights

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Hey There Hi There Ho There, Talleyho'ers

How are you handling our medium warm summer after midnight's?

I am a big believer in commenting on stuff even things that have warts which more the most part enlighten folks as to the reality of the tropics.

In August it will actually cool down a little. Some of it is just plain meteorological normal while part of it is more common afternoon thunderstorms. The girls go nuts in the sixty degree down drafts. They'll dance in the rain then squeal and shiver when those microbursts bring on goose bumps.

There is a comfortable grade of open weave cheese cloth that can be folded four times on top of mattress linen. Wrap pillows in giant beach microfiber towels and it will keep them dry. Circulating outdoor air inside is key as is futzing with fans until you get it just right.

[mexicoruss]

And I sit here reading this in my comfortable home in the Sonoran desert. A stones throw to the sea of Cortes'. Good coffee, this morning a grilled cheese sandwich and in a few moments a cold cold beer. The barrio is super quiet today, we are just 2 days after the important election for Mexico and I think people are still digesting it. The mood here is good. People are pretty happy I think. Life in a Mexican town......pretty stinking cool. I don't have any tours until October but that just means Naomi and I hit the beach a few days a week. We love livin on the coastline! Happy travels and happy summer my friends!

[navegator]

On my mothers side we come from Veracruz, Orizaba to be exact and that is tierra caliente (hot land), one of my uncles lived in the Puerto we would have breakfast and some times dinner at the Café de la Parroquia kitty-corner from the Zocalo across from the church, if you go there that is a must, anyway all people in the port when it is hot drink coffee with a little salt instead of sugar, the neat thing in this place are the "café con leche" (coffee with milk) they bring a tall glass and a spoon, you tap the glass with the spoon, as loud as you can with out braking the glass that place is noisy, pretty soon a waiter shows up with two big coffee pots one with hot coffee and the other one with hot milk pouring from way up there with out splashing any, good stuff and on Sundays after dinner one takes a stroll to the Zocalo to hear the band play on the Palacio Municipal's balcony, and if you are lucky there will be a zapateado dance by the local dance troupe, people in Veracruz are known as Jarochos all others that are not Jarochos are Chilangos.

Hey Talleyho, pretty soon you guys will be chilangos.

By the way the word gringo started when the Mexican American war took place many moons ago, the US soldiers were dressed in green uniforms and the Mexicans would shout "green go home" and pretty soon just "green-go" was left, in Spanish it is written "gringo" and now you know where the word originated from today all foreigners are called gringo.

Chilangos y Gringos hasta la vista!

navegator

[Talleyho69]

The label "TalleyHo" is a combination of our two last names. Yes, after 42 years of wedded bliss, we still have different surnames.

The female half of the team is the moderator of this forum.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Talleyho.....

Ummm you know Ralphie, like the moderator of this forum who just moved to Zihuatanejo (?) Monikered TALLEYHO (?)

Others are considering doing similar things....like ya know this is a Mexico and south of the border travel forum (?)

And some folks appreciate you know like tips about living in the tropics. It's called armchair travel. People can learn things by reading armchair travel articles.

Hate to disappoint but I don't use drugs, smoke or drink alcohol. Ya see I question the wisdom of ingesting the destructive distillates of burning vegetation...

But you mentioned "The Good Stuff............"

Meaning potency...

Here ya go,,,,,,,enjoy......



This will have you skipping out the front door. It's the "Good Stuff" 🙂

[Ralph_Cramden]

Mex......I love sitting here chain smoking and drinking coffee before heading off to work while reading your posts.

They are eloquent literary works of art.

What is a tallyhoer? Is that sort of like a tallywhacker? And what are you smoking? Evidently good stuff. That's a hobby I may take up again if I ever make it to retirement so I investigate all options lol.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

When the humidity goes above 80% I like to lower it down to the sixties. Mid August to the end of September is the high humidity period. With episodes of "la Canicula" Dog days. Hurricanes push a large bubble of significantly warmer air ahead of them. When that happens even the locals get grumpy. Mattresses get dragged out onto porches, and when you see them they look like they have the measles (bites).
I discovered that sugar and high carbohydrates and high temperature do not get along. Being kids and young ladies, the girls automatically reach for the sugar, sweets, and candy. Away goes the sugar and out comes the Stevia. Lowering blood sugar really seems to help. I managed to hook into a 100 ml bottle of thick maple extract (not artificial). So they get "Hot Kakes". Grandpa has his half-a-melon (cantaloupe) and banana for breakfast. The Diablo liquadora (blender) gets a workout. Fruit, ice, a dash of milk and a plop of cream gets whipped into a slushy. I down it, avoiding sinus whiplash if I can then head for the shower.

The shower is the savior of life in the savanna for me. An overhead 12" sprinkler, spikes to hang clothing a towels on (scorpions) and amazingly a rinse off takes less than three minutes. Women hate the stuff but for me the diswashing liquid Trip Cloro cleans out skin pores better than bar soap and leaves me refreshed for twice as long.

I get a "skin head" haircut which seems to catch on as a limited local style when guys figure out it really helps to keep the head cooler especially at night. Mexican "guapos" the young studs have elaborate hairstyles stiffened with gel. Guess a rooster has to show stiff tail feathers and all that.

Comfortable living means keeping a head of lettuce in a 2-gallon zip loc with a tablespoon of water. Amazing increase in storage life. Cole slaw is another favorite. Cold chicken, and marinated shrimp salad called cebiche is a staple. Finding the best tostadas is a must. A tostada is a disc. But much higher corn is used to make them than in a totopo a corn chip. And about 99% less salt. Mexicans refer to corn chips (totopos) alimento de chatarra (junk food) but to tostadas as a genuine alimento (foodstuff).

When I go to Patzcuaro I go to the very rear (al fondo) of the market on Plaza bocanegra the smaller of the two markets. The sellers are getting used to me so they know when I ask for Zarzamoras (blackberries), Frambuesas (Raspberries), and Mora Azules (blueberries) it's going to be a compra mayoreo (like wholesale) and not just a handful of stuff. The last time I went, I returned home with 38 pounds of fruit. A Sunday is spent sealing 4 to 6 oz portions in small sandwich (no seal) bags. Then they go into a chest freezer. Brenda thought I was nuts making up the bags, that perception lasted lasted until I caught her with her hand in the freezer. There's also mango and pineapple two fruits grown locally. The girl's dental bills have plunged since the days of them begging for Abuelo! Abuelo we want 500 grammos of emm e emmies (M&M's).

[pianotuna]

The joys of semi arid climes. Today about 2 p.m. the RV reached 31% RH @ 25 c (77 f) with nothing other than a fantastic fan on low and the roof vent in the bedroom open. I did use the swamp cooler at my 5 p.m. supper time as the temperature had risen to 29 C (84.2 f)

Around 6 p.m. it started to rain--and humidity rose to 41%.

I had a sash window in my home and could stack two 20 inch box fans to draw the heat of the day out. I did make the effort to add masks to them to improve performance.

They were far from the bedrooms. I did toy with the idea of adding a thermostat but never did get around to it.

In spring of 2019 I`ll be moving in to my retirement abode which has a triple mini split air conditioner. That should meet all my cooling needs, and even save some money as one room may not be used much at all.

I`ll be there a long time as I modified the unit to allow for wheel chair access to each and every room, and the building itself is so modified.

[Talleyho69]

We arrived here last Friday night, so this is our 9th night. It's wonderful! We are currently having a great thunder and lightening event. One dog and the cat are watching it and doing great, the other, our 95 pound puppy is in a cardboard box and calm. We are SO happy!

We lived and worked on South Caicos in 1977 for 2 years and loved it.

Sitting here, reading, (I'm going to finish the Bill Clinton/James Patterson The President is Missing book that I started this afternoon) watching the light show and being in paradise. In the morning, we'll do our regular-the 2+kilometer walk with the dogs on the beach, swim with them, and if conditions permit, paddle.

Currently eating rambutans for dessert. So good cold!

We have 4 big inverter AC units in this place, and have cycled each one for 30 minutes since we have been back to keep them happy. Us? Couldn't be happier!!

We live in paradise. Life is great!



How could life be any better???

[bighatnohorse]

We haven't had heat since we returned in May. And we don't have air conditioning. The next few days are to be in the upper 60's to low 70's with the threat of 90 degree days in a few weeks.

We're having a new heating system heat pump installed on Thursday. My only worry is that the house will be at an natural ambient temperature of 68 degrees and we won't know if the new heating system works until fall - upon which time we will be gone.

These new fangled heat pump contraptions are supposed to act as air conditions too. . .so I'm hoping for the 90+ degree temps.
Wish me luck. . .

Viva la diferancia. . .

[jmtandem]

Hey There Hi There Ho There, Talleyho'ers

How are you handling our medium warm summer after midnight's?

I am a big believer in commenting on stuff even things that have warts which more the most part enlighten folks as to the reality of the tropics.

In August it will actually cool down a little. Some of it is just plain meteorological normal while part of it is more common afternoon thunderstorms. The girls go nuts in the sixty degree down drafts. They'll dance in the rain then squeal and shiver when those microbursts bring on goose bumps.

There is a comfortable grade of open weave cheese cloth that can be folded four times on top of mattress linen. Wrap pillows in giant beach microfiber towels and it will keep them dry. Circulating outdoor air inside is key as is futzing with fans until you get it just right.

So can I affirm from your post you don't follow the 70 degrees?