Wherever people live, they talk about the weather, it’s just what we do. Whether it is snow in the midwest or rain in the northwest, we always compare what we’re experiencing with some perfect “other” place. But the reality is that the perfect place really isn’t just about the weather. If it was, then San Diego would be piled 100 deep with people! And for me, the weather is one reason you accept or reject a place to live, just not the whole reason.

I mostly love the weather here in Mazatlán. It has it’s challenges… and those are the summer months. The heat starts in June and it gets cranked up… and up… and up… until you start dreaming about other places.

By the way, this is an appropriate moment for the Boiling Frog Story.

If you drop a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will of course frantically try to
clamber out. But if you place it gently in a pot of tepid water and turn the
heat on low, it will float there quite placidly. As the water gradually heats up,
the frog will sink into a tranquil stupor, exactly like one of us in a hot
bath, and before long, with a smile on its face, it will unresistingly allow
itself to be boiled to death.

—Version of the story from Daniel Quinn’s The Story of B

In Mazatlán, the snowbirds leave in droves in April.  Those of us who stay all year shake our heads at their missing May and June, two of the nicest months of the year.  Some year round gringos pack up for a couple of months and head to the hills.  Well, inland, that is – like around Lake Chapala or maybe Oaxaca.  Some head back to the US for an extended visit with family.  Some of us stay and boil, without sense to get out of the pot. (That was a reference to the frogs, above…)

But boil we do, and get more and more fed up with the heat while it continues to crank up and up.  Until what happens?  (drum roll) You get a few days of a tiny bit cooler weather and you can sit back and smile.  And remember some of the wonderful things about this city that you get to enjoy by yourselves until the snowbirds start showing back up in November.

But for right now, the temperature being just a bit lower is all it takes to make Mazatlán the happiest place around.  And it’s not just me, everyone feels a bit of change and we all know we are just about to move into the most perfect eight months of the year!  (er, well, usually this happens the first week in November, so I might be jumping the gun just a bit…)