Warren Hardy and La Cortesia

Hurricane Blanca

• Hurricane Blanca is located just over 400 miles off the coast of the Mexican Riviera.
• Blanca strengthened into a hurricane Tuesday and will continue its rapid strengthening to a major hurricane (Category 3 or stronger) today.
• Blanca is nearly stationary, but will begin moving northwestward Thursday.
• Blanca may become an intense Category 4 hurricane Thursday or Friday, but is then expected to weaken quickly due to increased wind shear and movement over cooler water.
• There is increasing confidence in a track toward southern Baja California. However, the average track error at 96 hours is about 165 statute miles. With a small wind field, this can make a huge difference in impacts.
• If Blanca directly impacts the southern Baja peninsula, it would likely do so sometime Sunday. As mentioned above, however, Blanca is expected to be weakening, possibly rapidly, as it moves toward the latitude of the southern Baja peninsula.
• Those in the southern Baja peninsula, including Los Cabos, should closely monitor the progress of Blanca.
• High surf and swells generated from Blanca - and leftover from Andres - will affect the Mexican Riviera and southern Baja coast. Dangerous rip currents are likely.
• Remnant moisture from Blanca may eventually be drawn into the Desert Southwest and southern Rockies next week.
• Blanca is the earliest formation of the second hurricane in the eastern Pacific basin since reliable records began in 1971.
• According to NOAA's database, only one other pre-July 1 tropical cyclone tracked within 65 nautical miles of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, a Jun. 14, 1958 Category 1 hurricane whose center passed just south of Los Cabos.  

ARTS EXCURSIONS

This fall, Anderson Ranch Arts Center will host two workshops in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, to coincide with the three-day Día de los Muertos holiday (Halloween, Día los Niños and All Souls’ Day), Oct. 30-Nov. 6, 2015.

Both workshops will visit nearby small communities to experience the authentic Día de los Muertos traditions from an intimate perspective, including preparation of altars in homes and cemeteries. A day trip to the famous colonial city and mining town of Guanajuato, as well as the pre-Hispanic settlement of Cañada de la Virgen pyramid and archaeological zone, also dot the itinerary.

For aspiring and established photographers, Ed Kashi (photojournalist, filmmaker and educator) and Andrea Wallace (Artistic Director of Photography and New Media at Anderson Ranch) will teach a workshop focused on how to create a personal documentary project. Whether a series of street portraits or an exploration of local cuisine and architecture, participants will be encouraged to discover a subject that speaks to a personal passion and document it in a compelling and unique visual style.

For ceramic artists, Holly Hughes (Professor of Painting and Drawing at Rhode Island School of Design) and Doug Casebeer (Associate Director and Artistic Director of Ceramics at Anderson Ranch) will delve into decorating tiles and plates, using Mexican culture and history as starting points.

Tuition is $2,050 and includes all field excursions, welcome and farewell dinners, instruction and studio supplies. Airfare is not included. More information and registration details are available at andersonranch.org/workshops or by calling Anderson Ranch at (970) 923-3181x215.

Nina Miller to Read From New Novel

Nina Miller to read from new novel

Many people in the Ithaca community know Nina Miller from her work with Hospicare, Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service, and many more service oriented organizations in Ithaca. But she is also a writer of creative fiction, and has just completed a new book, "The Mother of Invention."

This new novel explores issues close to most people's hearts: friendship, loss, aging, the risks of fracking, illness, marriage — all set in a college community. Miller will give a reading at 4 p.m. Saturday at Barnes and Noble, as well as at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 17 at Kendall of Ithaca.

Miller has been a major force in the human service area for many years. She was the executive sirector of Suicide Prevention and Crisis Services and then Hospicare and Palliative Care Services of Tompkins County. She was a writing major at the University of Pennsylvania and won a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship for graduate studies in English. Twenty of her short stories have been published in literary reviews and anthologies. Miller raised three children in Ithaca with her late husband George. She now divides her time between Ithaca, Cape Cod and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Hurricane Blanca Landfall Sunday in Los Cabos

Just as Hurricane Andrés is set to expire, along comes Hurricane Blanca. Blanca was upgraded today to a Category 1 hurricane today

Andrés has increased in strength and is now rated as Category 4 but is expected to weaken to a tropical storm by Wednesday.

Tropical storm Blanca, the second named storm of the season, is now the focus of attention on the Pacific coast and is expected to strengthen quickly, according to the United States National Hurricane Center.

However, there are no coastal watches or warnings in effect. Blanca was located 540 kilometers south-southwest of Zihuatanejo at 10:00am Central and moving northwest. Little motion is expected tomorrow and Wednesday.

Blanca is forecast to deliver very heavy rains in Jalisco, Michoacán and Guerrero.

Hurricane Andrés was reported 1,350 kilometers southwest of the southern tip of Baja California Sur this morning and heading west-northwest. Its sustained winds were blowing at 220 km/h.

The NHC warned that a high swell generated by the hurricane is affecting parts of the west coast of the Baja peninsula and will likely cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

UPDATE:  It is forecast to strengthen until Friday when it will begin to weaken before making landfall Sunday in Los Cabos. Forecasters said it was too early to tell what impact it might have on the Baja peninsula.

Mexico News Daily

Going to Oaxaca sometime soon. Here's a book review I wrote a year ago:

Oaxaca Chocolate: A Santo Gordo Mystery (Santo Gordo Mysteries) Paperback by Charles Kerns

Paperback: 250 pages Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (October 3, 2013)

This is the second time for a Charles Kerns novel. The first was “Santo Gordo: A Killing in Oaxaca (Santo Gordo Mysteries).” Let’s say you have heard about becoming an expat and you’ve heard good things about Oaxaca, Mexico. The best advice is rent for an extended time to see if you like the culture, the people, the food, and the climate. Take a short cut with Charles Kerns, as Robert Evans, a retired American living in Oaxaca.

Robert Evans (Roberto) is nick-named Santo Gordo, because he is an amateur detective and to the people who know him, he solves mysteries and is their saint, with a small “s”. Through Roberto you will learn what it’s like to live among the natives, be their friend, eat their food and share in their holidays.

This book takes place around Christmas and New Years. With Roberto you’ll see how the Mexicans celebrate the birth of baby Jesus. Like “…A Killing in Oaxaca” I find the culture and people comforting. I seem to slow down when I read what Kerns has written. We also learn that it is not appreciated, at least by this writer, to have Americans think they know what is best for Mexicans; to think that American culture and ways of business are superior. They don’t want the fast paced life and pursuit of money to dominate their life style. If you move to Mexico, don’t be upset if it isn’t like the U.S.

I recommend both books by Charles Kerns and give both five stars.

Obama nominates senior State Dept. official as Mexico envoy

Roberta Jacobson, the top U.S. diplomat for Latin America and point person in detente talks with Cuba, was nominated Monday by President Barack Obama to be the next U.S. ambassador to Mexico.

If confirmed by the Senate, Jacobson would be the first woman to hold what is considered one of the United States' most important diplomatic posts due to the countries' proximity and key relationship.

Obama's previous nominee, Maria Echaveste, withdrew from consideration in late January, citing a prolonged nomination process and the interests of her family. At that point, five months after her name was put forward, Echaveste had yet to receive a confirmation hearing in the Senate.

Jacobson is a career diplomat who previously served as deputy chief of mission in Peru, director of the State Department's Office of Mexican Affairs and deputy assistant secretary for Canada, Mexico and NAFTA issues.

Since 2012, she has been assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs.

In that role she has been prominent in leading U.S. negotiators in talks with Cuba on re-establishing diplomatic ties and embassies after more than five decades of antagonism.

Those talks continue, but John Caulfield, who headed the U.S. Interests Section in Cuba from 2011 until his retirement in 2014, predicted they would not be hurt by Monday's announcement.

Caulfield noted Jacobson's deputy at the State Department, Alex Lee, and the current chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Cuba, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, are also involved in the talks and could provide continuity in what officials on both sides frequently characterize as a process of building trust. The discussions could also be over by the time Jacobson is confirmed.

"It takes a long time to get through the Senate, so I'm not sure that she's packing her bags yet. ... I would hope that most of the issues are resolved long before she would be departing," Caulfield said.

It's not clear whether Jacobson's role in the Cuba talks could complicate approval in the Senate. The Foreign Relations Committee, which holds confirmation hearings, includes Cuban-American Sens. Marco Rubio, a Republican, and Bob Menendez, a Democrat, both outspoken opponents of normalizing relations with Cuba. Others on the committee, however, such as Republican Jeff Flake have backed engagement with the Communist-run country.

Officials have said the White House bypassed the State Department during long and secret back-channel talks with the Cubans that led to the joint announcement on Dec. 17 that Washington and Havana would formally seek detente.

"They didn't even inform Roberta Jacobson about this. So I think it would be unfair to sort of tag her for the change in policy in Cuba. I think this is purely a White House operation," Caulfield said. "Nevertheless what's fair isn't always what rules in Washington, so you just don't know."

Jacobson would replace Anthony Wayne, the U.S. envoy to Mexico since 2011. Wayne's predecessor, Carlos Pascual, resigned amid a diplomatic flap after leaked diplomatic cables showed him criticizing the anti-drug strategy of then-Mexican President Felipe Calderon. ___