Our New Home

We were invited to a neighborhood party tonight. We saw recently made friends and met new people soon to be friends. All were gringos. Many were here in San Miguel de Allende for many years, and many were new arrivals. All seemed genuinely happy to be living here.  They loved the fact that the weather wasn't extreme, meaning that it was comfortable with no high heat and humidity.

The people we talked to were interesting, many were travelers. There were writers or people involved with writers, artists of varied medias. Many had bought a house here and some just moving into new houses, many renting like us getting a feel for the new country of Mexico. I got the feeling that most don't miss the United States, with its homogeneous cities, its hustle and stress, and lack of time; maybe its focus on time itself.

We seem to have more time here to focus on defining who we are, more time to spend with each other, more time to devote to friends and acquaintances.

For Bev and me, all of that is true. We wake in the morning or say before falling asleep, "We are living in Mexico." with wonder in our voices. We spent time here many times, but always with the knowledge that we were just visiting or on vacation. Never with the feeling until now that this is our home. Our home is exciting with the thunder storms and the rain that comes down in big drops that cause rivers in the street. It's exciting to turn the corner and discover something new. It's exciting to see the families enjoy simply being a part of a happening in the Jardin. And yet....it's not exciting, it's peaceful. There's a calmness that comes with manana. It will get done, whatever needs to be done. Kind of like a beautiful butterfly. It knows where it wants to go, but it's going to smell every flower on the way; maybe even smell a flower more than once and then come back again before moving on its way.