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By Mom Unplugged, January 2, 2008 11:58 am

(Photo: Sunset from our balcony)

Christmas in Mexico was like a drink of cool water on a sweltering day. Especially in this year of extensive Christmas ruminations and soul searching.

It was almost like it wasn’t Christmas at all, which was fine with me for this year. The hotel had minimal decorations, a nativity, a few discreet Christmas trees and tasteful bows here and there…and NO Christmas music!!

The day after Christmas we went to a Mega hypermarket (the Mexican equivalent of a super Walmart) and there was not one single Christmas decoration to be seen. Astonishing! Did the elves whisk it all away at midnight or (more likely), were all the American-style plastic Santas, talking trees and inflatable snowmen simply never there to begin with? I suspect that Mexico does not engage in the same commercial Christmas orgy that takes place annually here in the US.

What a relief! This Christmas stillness allowed me to gather my thoughts and I feel I might actually be able to face the Holidays at home next year. I thought about all my Christmas/Holidays Unplugged posts and all your helpful and inspiring comments (thank you all so much for helping me!). I can do this. I can make the holidays what I feel they should be. After all, I can’t keep running away, can I? I do want my children to have happy Christmas traditions and memories other than airports and hotels.

As for the non-contemplative side of the trip. It was nice, but for someone like me who is always cold, I thought the weather was a little cool. Even the natives said it was cold. I can’t complain too much since it was high 60′s to low 70′s (Celsius: about 20 to 23 degrees) while here at home it got down to 2 degrees (Celsius: -17) and snowed.

The kids swam like crazy little fish despite the cool temperatures, and I got some reading done. I didn’t blog at all, although I used the lobby computer once for five minutes to moderate comments.

The trip down was fairly smooth, but the trip home was an adventure. First we lost the keys to the rental car. After searching the hotel room, the car, and the luggage for an hour, we eventually found them in an odd little drawer in the room (thank you youngest daughter!).

Upon arriving at the airport, it took half an hour to return the car and the line to check in was REALLY long. It was also slow-moving because they hand-searched every single checked bag since they don’t have x-ray for that there. We also discovered that the airline had moved the flight time earlier by two hours and had not notified us (thank you US Airways!). The security line was down the hall and around the corner, and that was BEFORE you even got to the giant maze of ropes. Fortunately we had factored in time for lunch in this whole process, bye-bye lunch.

I have done a lot of traveling in my life and I am a firm believer in the “everything happens for a reason” school of travel thought. Fortunately my husband is the same way. We thought perhaps we were simply meant to spend another night there. There are certainly worse places in the world to be stuck! Despite entering our zen-like travel state and planning on another night in Mexico, we somehow miraculously made it to the plane. We were the last ones on, but we were on. Upon arrival in Phoenix (only 42 degrees, 6 Celsius!) we were starving, tired and crabby so we wisely decided to spend the night.

The next morning, feeling much better, and after breakfast and a little fun shopping at the Ikea in Tempe, we headed home.

I didn’t take many photos, but here are a few:

A little restaurant:

An impressive field of Tequila Agave (Agave tequilana) used, of course, for making tequila:

My youngest daughter going for a brief Christmas Day walk, or rather “a drag” down the beach with her Dad before I had to carry her back to the hotel (for some reason she didn’t like the sand!):

Art shot - Town square, old mining town of San Sebastian:

Rock slide in front of us that shut down the road (for only half an hour though) on the way home from San Sebastian. Note the boulders in road and the dust cloud!:

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By Mom Unplugged, December 14, 2007 1:05 pm

Thank you all for your great thoughts and opinions on Wednesday’s post. It is amazing to me to be able to have a discussion with intelligent and concerned fellow humans from all over the world! Although our topic was depressing, your comments raised my spirits and reminded me that there are many caring, thoughtful people on this Earth. Thank you!

Here in my tiny corner of the planet, yesterday was also one of those days where you just look around in awe at the beauty of it all. Tuesday’s one foot snowfall had left the tall pines groaning and bending under heavy loads of snow which sparkled in the sun and contrasted beautifully with the robin’s egg blue sky.

When I ventured out of my cozy nest in the morning to prepare to take the kids to school, it was so cold (just 12 degrees Farenheit) that the snow crunched with every footstep. The trash can lid squeaked as I opened it. My breath misted up the crisp, dry, pinyon-scented air.

The afternoon cooking project perfumed the house with the exotic fragrances of cinnamon, cloves and allspice as we prepared a dish of Turkish Bulgur in honor of the Muslim festival of Eid ul-Adha. My 7 year-old daughter had studied this holiday to present for part of her “Universe Night” show, and we needed to bring a Muslim dish to school for the post-show potluck dinner.

The day closed with a lovely evening at our little Montessori school surrounded by good friends and good food. For me, the evening’s highlight was watching my daughter’s Oscar-worthy performance as a “Bacterium” in the school play about the origins of life! As you can imagine, for a Mom, it was heartbreakingly cute.

Life is good.

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By Mom Unplugged, December 2, 2007 2:11 pm

Last night our rain finally turned to snow and we awoke to about half an inch of dry, grainy snow. The children were ecstatic and my 5 year-old son wanted to immediately go out and build snow tunnels. Well, half an inch is not quite enough snow for that, unless you are an ant…but the kids did have fun.

I was relieved to see it turn to snow since this is what the playroom looked like yesterday:

Hooray! I was even able to take some drops rippling water “art shots.” The photo below represents the infinite connectedness of all beings and the earth as symbolized in the ripples of a drop of water from my playroom ceiling. I call it- Life:

Life

Oh well, if you can’t laugh, you have to cry, right? I have had this leak before, and we have had many roofers and contractors over to diagnose and attempt to fix it without success. It only happens about once or twice a year when the rain hits the house at a certain angle. I think this time we finally figured it out though, since even the upstairs bedroom carpet was soaked near one of the bedroom windows. That window must be the culprit. It looks like we are in for a new window.

Today it is sunny and I am cleaning up this mess. While the kids and I work on the playroom, we’ll take the opportunity (I hope) to weed out some toys to donate.

Thank you all for your concerned comments regarding my leak. I just hope that we actually can fix it this time, otherwise perhaps we’ll just have to buy an ark.

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By Mom Unplugged, October 23, 2007 8:39 am

Today I am thinking of all the people in Southern California who are affected by the wildfires.

Having had my own evacuation experience in the face of a raging wildfire (A Monster Arrives on the Doorstep), I understand how awful it is to sit and watch the smoke and listen to the radio, wondering if or when it will be my turn to have to leave.
If you are one of those who is preparing for the possibility of evacuating, or who has already evacuated, please know that someone in Arizona is thinking of you and is sending positive thoughts your way.

Photo courtesy of my sister, who took it from her deck on June 22, 2002, the day we had to leave.

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By Mom Unplugged, October 8, 2007 12:29 pm

This weekend made me realize why I love where I live. Colder temperatures have driven most of the summer people back to Phoenix and Tucson and our little mountain community is settling back down to its normal, peaceful atmosphere.

Saturday was quite cold and extremely windy, but people bundled up and sat on the curb of our main street to watch the annual “Nutty for Nature” parade. It was so cold that honestly, if I had not had two children in the parade, I would never have considered leaving my warm house at 8AM to sit on the curb in the wind. But, motherly duties forced me out of my snug den and onto the chilly street. Much to my surprise, it was an uplifting experience.

My children’s small Montessori school had a “float” in the parade. The “float” was entirely designed and constructed by the students. I use the term “float” loosely, since we are not talking Rose Bowl quality floral here, but rather flatbed truck and bales of hay, but you get the idea.

The children were all vibrating with excited anticipation at the idea of riding on a “float” in a real parade. Surprisingly, judging by the large turnout, people were actually in attendance who did not even have children in the parade! Joy was in the fall air as the firefighters and floats filled with happy children drove by waving and laughing. Even the inevitable Shriners on their funny motorcycles were a hit with the crowd.

As if that wasn’t enough excitement, Sunday was “free ski pass for kids day” at the local ski area. Kids bring a can of food to donate to needy families, recite one rule (by heart) from the “Skiers’ Code,” and they can get a free season’s ski pass, worth hundreds of dollars.

It was a perfect fall day. Still cold, but the wind had disappeared. After getting our ski passes, we took a lift ride to the top of the mountain. We glided silently up through massive stands of aspen trees which glowed bright yellow against an impossibly blue sky. The air became chillier and chillier as we approached the top of the mountain.

Upon leaving the lift at the summit, it felt like being on the very top of the world. The clear dry Arizona air allows for a view that must be at least 80 miles in every direction. Not a sign of human habitation is visible in that view. Simply mountains and plains stretching out forever.

What I learned (or relearned) this weekend:

- I love living in a town where people cheerfully brave cold, windy weather simply to wave at excited children driving by on pickup trucks filled with hay and handmade cardboard cutout animals.

- I love it that I can stand on a mountain on a beautiful fall day and admire a stunning view of nature that remains unchanged by humans.

- I love where I live!

PS. I spent all day Sunday kicking myself for having forgotten to bring my camera, so these great photos are courtesy of my good friend Wishy‘s husband. Thanks Wishy‘s hubby!

This view is similar to what we see from the top of the ski mountain, but the ski view is much higher up: