tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67699159589056907112024-02-20T07:17:08.962-08:00Up the mango treeTexasThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13347272703781910205noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769915958905690711.post-73530131748860314452020-08-21T12:37:00.000-07:002020-08-21T12:37:33.931-07:00Pinocchio: The day my heart broke againPinocchio (<i>Pinocho </i>in Spanish) was a duckling who fell as deeply in love with me as I did with him.<br />
<br />
Wherever I went, <i>Pinocho </i>was sure to follow. <div><br /></div><div>He was a constant companion —until the day he wasn't.</div>TexasThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13347272703781910205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769915958905690711.post-32820091782743265632020-04-16T23:48:00.000-07:002020-04-16T23:48:23.661-07:00Adiós, muchachos<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
Adiós, muchachos, compañeros de mi vida,<br />
barra querida de aquellos tiempos.<br />
Me toca a mí hoy emprender la retirada,<br />
debo alejarme de mi buena muchachada.<br />
Adiós, muchachos. Ya me voy y me resigno...<br />
Contra el destino nadie la talla...<br />
Se terminaron para mí todas las farras,<br />
mi cuerpo enfermo no resiste más...</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
Acuden a mi mente recuerdos de otros tiempos,<br />
de los bellos momentos que antaño disfruté<br />
cerquita de mi madre, santa viejita,<br />
y de mi noviecita que tanto idolatré...</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
¿Se acuerdan que era hermosa, más bella que una diosa<br />
y que ebrio yo de amor, le di mi corazón,<br />
mas el Señor, celoso de sus encantos,<br />
hundiéndome en el llanto me la llevó?</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
Es Dios el juez supremo. No hay quien se le resista.<br />
Ya estoy acostumbrado su ley a respetar,<br />
pues mi vida deshizo con sus mandatos<br />
al robarme a mi madre y a mi novia también.</div>
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Dos lágrimas sinceras derramo en mi partida</div>
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por la barra querida que nunca me olvidó</div>
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y al darles, mis amigos, mi adiós postrero,</div>
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<div style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
les doy con toda mi alma mi bendición...</div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi%C3%B3s_muchachos_(song)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Adiós, muchachos (song)</a></span></span><br />
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+++++<br />
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TexasThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13347272703781910205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769915958905690711.post-90068461550312709752020-03-14T17:53:00.000-07:002020-03-14T17:53:19.979-07:00Genesis<span style="font-size: large;">My life started in Mexico, where I was conceived, so I'm truly Mexican-American: made in Mexico, and born in the USA!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I also happen to be half Italian-Mexican and half German-American, with the paternal sides of both families coming from further north in the country of origin than the maternal sides.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I was born in San Antonio, Texas, a city I've never lived in</span><span style="font-size: large;">— we left there as soon after my birth as we could travel, a</span><span style="font-size: large;">lthough we did spend more time in Texas than originally anticipated. The doctor ended up having to induce my birth when I kept postponing my appearance...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>TexasThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13347272703781910205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769915958905690711.post-82503892146486018082020-03-13T17:22:00.013-07:002020-08-21T12:17:11.491-07:00Up the mango tree<br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I spent my first twelve or so years living in Agricultural Experimental Stations in the subtropical boonies of Colombia and Peru.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">These stations were in Villa Arteaga, Colombia (until age 8) and Tingo María, Perú (ages 8 to 12).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This blog is named in remembrance of my very first "bestie" —<i>mi amigo del alma</i>—, </span><span style="font-size: large;">a mango tree that lived in the backyard. </span><span style="font-size: large;">I spent countless hours sitting in its branches, sharing all that was important to me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Whenever my mother couldn't find me playing in the house or running around the yard, she'd go to the mango tree and call me. I was usually there, sitting amongst the branches or hugging the trunk.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">That tree was my best friend, especially after Bambi got killed.</span>TexasThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13347272703781910205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769915958905690711.post-47690998877258470052020-03-13T01:25:00.001-07:002020-03-22T01:33:37.307-07:00Bambi: The day my heart broke<span style="font-size: large;">One day, much like any other one, a couple of the Experimental Station workers came by my dad's office at the house.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This wasn't so unusual, since my dad was the Station's rubber expert (as in <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_rubber" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">hevea</a> </i>—also called India rubber or Amazonian rubber) and he needed to be kept in the loop of happenings in the field. What was unusual was that they seemed nervous and uncomfortable.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I wondered if it was another complaint about us kids "liberating" the latex that dried along the tapping grooves of the rubber trees, and which they were supposed to collect, measure and track. I happened to be one of the main "liberation" agents...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">After the men left, my dad wanted to talk to me. He didn't seem angry, so I breathed a little easier.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But my relief turned out to be premature. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The men had brought news —bad news—, and it had to do with Bambi, the fawn I had raised since he'd been found as an orphaned baby. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I had bottle-fed him, and we had become inseparable —at least until recently, when he'd started to grow antlers and he'd begun getting out of the yard and disappearing for hours at a time.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We had put a bright red collar on him, so people who saw him would know he wasn't wild.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But the collar had failed to protect him, and hunters had claimed him. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The men had come to deliver the news, condolences for Bambi's death, apologies for not knowing it was my deer until it was too late —and an invitation to dinner...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I was devastated.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">More than that, I was horrified that my parents were going to attend the dinner and eat him!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My father, and then my mother, tried to explain that they had to accept the invitation in order to show that they forgave the hunters for accidentally killing Bambi.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Of course, they would also convey my regrets for not attending, as I was too grief-stricken to go.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">* * *</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">For the next couple of days, I would only speak to the mango tree.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I would nestle in its branches and hug its trunk while I cried for Bambi and spoke endlessly about my grief, remembering all the good times we'd had, and which would never again be.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">* * *</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">As I got older —much older— I finally left my grief for Bambi behind and understood why my parents had done what they did. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But it was an intellectual understanding, not an emotional one.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Emotionally, I never did forgive my mother and father for eating Bambi.</span>TexasThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13347272703781910205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769915958905690711.post-75774588574728313842020-03-13T00:52:00.003-07:002020-03-13T18:04:00.951-07:00Links to check out<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><b><u>++ Gardening</u></b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></span>
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<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">+ <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyhole_garden" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Keyhole garden</a></span> <span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif; font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"> </span><span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">[added 3/12/2020]</span></div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">+ <a href="https://www.texascooppower.com/texas-stories/nature-outdoors/keyhole-gardening" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Keyhole Gardening</a></span> <span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif; font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"> </span><span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">[added 3/12/2020]</span><br />
Unlocking the secrets of drought-hardy gardens<br />
BY G. ELAINE ACKER FEBRUARY 2012</div>
<div id="m_-8243095517203202268gmail-bodyContent" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 0.875em; line-height: 1.6;">
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<span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><b><u>++ Healthy Diet</u></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif; font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">+ <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/best-diet-plan-for-anemia" target="_blank">Best Diet Plan for Anemia</a> </span><span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">[added 3/12/2020]</span><br />
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<span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br /></span></div>
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</div>
<span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><b><u>++ Spammers</u></b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">
<span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">+ <a href="https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0133-cell-phones-and-do-not-call-registry" rel="nofollow" style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;" target="_blank">Cell Phones and The Do Not Call Registry | FTC Consumer</a> </span></span>[added 3/12/2020]</div>
<span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br />Contact the Do Not Call Registry to register your cell phones and land lines.</span><br />
<span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif; font-size: medium; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><b>To register by telephone</b>, call 1-888-382-1222 (TTY: 1-866-290-4236). You </span><span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif; font-size: medium; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">must call from the phone number that you want to register.</span><br />
<b style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans", "helvetica neue", sans-serif; font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br /></b>
<b style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans", "helvetica neue", sans-serif; font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">To register online</b><span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif; font-size: medium; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"> (donotcall.gov), you will have to respond to a confirmation email.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif; font-size: medium; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;"></span></span><span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><b><u>++ Sweets</u></b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">+ <a href="https://theothersideofthetortilla.com/2018/12/guide-mexican-pan-dulce/" target="_blank">Guide to Mexican Pan Dulce</a> </span></span>[added 3/12/2020]<br />
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<span style="color: #323545; font-family: "work sans" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">+++++ END +++++</span></span><br />
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TexasThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13347272703781910205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769915958905690711.post-39286202569186420132019-10-31T10:43:00.000-07:002019-10-31T15:23:27.718-07:00MoW Page<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /><br />I was trying to come up with a Halloween treat for <br /><br />you fine folks, and everything that could go wrong, <br /><br />did. Argh.<br /><br /><br /> But I haven't given up yet....<br /><br /><br /> Meanwhile, here's a Wikipedia page with information <br /><br />on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead"><b>Day of the Dead</b></a> customs in Mexico, and some </span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">other pages you might find interesting.<br /><br /><br /> * * *<br /><br /><br /> Stories by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horacio_Quiroga"><b>Horacio Quiroga</b></a> (1878 – 1937), <br /><br />Uruguayan playwright, poet, and short story writer.<br /><br /><br /> <br /><br /><a href="https://quirogatranslated.wordpress.com/2014/02/12/la-gallina-degollada/"><b>The Decapitated Chicken</b></a> / "La gallina degollada" <br /><br /><br /> <a href="http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0606301h.html"><b>The Feather Pillow</b></a> / "El almohadón de plumas"<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://www.shortstoryproject.com/story/wild-honey/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b> Wild Honey</b></a> / "La miel silvestre"<br /><br /><br />* * *</span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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TexasThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13347272703781910205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769915958905690711.post-25189105329061825822019-10-31T09:10:00.003-07:002019-10-31T11:40:07.941-07:00Halloween<a href="https://upthemangotree.blogspot.com/2019/10/mow.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">MoW Page</a>TexasThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13347272703781910205noreply@blogger.com0