It’s summer here, finally, and it is hot and humid.  Everyone is carrying their washcloths with them and mopping their brow as needed.   The streets are empty at mid day, or if you head out you carry your umbrella.  Not for the rain, silly!  For the sun.

So far so good for me using chia seeds to help with my hydration this summer.  I seem to have a normal amount of energy and no headaches so far. (knock on wood)  Yesterday I really tempted fate though with a bike ride from here to Valentino’s and back at 11 am!  That is a bit late for bike riding, especially without a hat.  I’ll try to go earlier, but it’s still fun – the national tourists are here in droves and they are all really enjoying the water.  It’s great to feel their enthusiasm.

The summer crankies have hit two out of three message boards in town with people criticizing each other for writing messages with capital letters or advising this and that about satellite tv.  It happens every summer when people either lock themselves in the air conditioning with their computer… or maybe it’s those who swelter and drip, I don’t know. It is tiresome, though.

Paul and I have been crossing things off our to-do list, too.  We finally got a fan hooked up over our cooktop – the fan is attached to the chimney at the roof.  The curved hood over the cooktop is actually a chimney so this is how we had to do it.  You should see our roof, it looks like we have a restaurant or something with all fancy metalwork.  This was important to me since Paul and I cook left-and-right and I am a vegetarian.  Now all odors go up and out!

We’ve made arrangements with a local carpenter to build an island in the kitchen.  We’ve had a metal work table there but some of the stainless steel is already rusting and it just isn’t big enough.  I’m really looking forward to this, especially since I have been baking so much.

Projects around town are proceeding slowly.  If at all!  Here are a few updates:

Zaragoza Park - They have been working on this for about six months. It is still a big mess.

Pino Suarez Mercado - The fire in February brought about a gigantic renovation that includes all the adjacent streets and sidewalks, undergrounding utilities, and other work including as you see above, window replacement or repair.

Plaza Hidalgo, also known as Plaza de Los Leones or Library Plaza because there is a library in the center. More than a month ago some of the walkway was removed without proper permits, and INAH shut the work down. About two weeks ago they started jackhammering and removed all of the walkway surfaces. It has been sitting there with just dirt for at least two weeks. It is rainy season, and I am wondering what kind of mess we will have when it really starts raining? This park, like all in México, is well used. Where did all those old timers go who sat there every day?

The Hotel La Siesta on the malecón has been upgrading its look. They are adding molding above the windows and the balconies have been structurally improved with steel and the railings changed. This will give it a look more in keeping with Centro Historico. I wonder what colors they will paint it?