In Search of a Gringo Free Mexico

Or, A Week in Manzanilla Far removed from the shouts of street hawkers and the gaggle of American tourists, lies a tiny, Mexican beach town on the Costa Alegre, popular with families from Guadalajara. Here, visits to ATM machines must be strategically planned, self-taught Spanish might possibly get you by, and when you order Agua …


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Going Native

BARRANQUILLA, COLOMBIA— “Where you from?” the driver asks in Spanish after a few minutes in the air-conditioned cab. He’d picked me up on the corner near my apartment, sweating under the morning sun in my khakis and button-down dress shirt with the sleeves rolled-up to the elbow. He was running me to the university, but …


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Shower

I am mad, just mad, about the hummingbirds in our backyard. J. caught this little guy taking a shower in the sprinklers while perched on the laundry line. He zipped off, probably to go find a blow dryer to feather his hair.

At the Zoo

The Point Defiance Zoo sits on a hillside above Puget Sound. It’s almost like an amphitheater, when you stand at the top, there’s a stunning view towards Mount Rainier and across the water. The setting is grand, just grand, and if you go early on a Sunday morning like we did, there will be no …


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Let’s Get Away From It All

I learned it, now it’s your turn. You’ll find the chords for the arrangement I’m playing here, though I’ve replaced the Db9 with Gm7 and the C9 with C7 because my ears like it better that way. And hey, maybe some day I’ll learn to sing, but today is not that day.