Landslide

Here are some pictures of the landslide on the highway between Tijuana and Ensenada on December 28, 2013. This highway runs along the Pacific coast.

The reason is still unknown.  Some speculate that it was due to a aftershock from an earthquake a few days prior. Some say it is due to bad construction practices. Regardless of why it happened, the pictures show the  impact on the highway.  The hole is about 40 feet deep and 200 feet long.

Luckily no one got hurt when this happened. Notice that some of the orange traffic drums are not tipped over.

VIEW FROM THE SKY

 

Photos from Facebook posted by  Protección Civil, Cavaro Comunicación, and passersby. 

A Prayer

I went to Christmas Mass the other night to be with friends that came from out of town (and who did not have too much time to go around and visit).  
At the end of mass they handed out a little sheer mesh bags with a little baby Jesus in it and a prayer printed on card stock.
I'd never come across this prayer before and wanted to share it here.  

A Christmas Prayer

by Robert Louis Stevenson*

Loving Father, 
Help us remember the birth of Jesus, 
that we may share
in the song of the angels,
the gladness of the shepherds, 
and worship of the wise men. 

Close the door of hate
and open the door of love
all over the world. 
Let kindness come
with every gift 
and good desires
with every greeting. 
Deliver us from evil
by the blessing
which Christ brings, 
and teach us to be merry
with clear hearts.

May the Christmas morning 
make us happy to be thy children, 
and Christmas evening
bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts,
forgiving and forgiven, 
for Jesus' sake. Amen. 


[* Yes, the same Robert Louis Stevenson who wrote Treasure Island, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde among others.]

Silent Night

We had our Christmas party with the family tonight. We had so much fun. We had dinner, my sister-in-law cooked for us. The meal was delicious.  The little ones opened presents and were running all around.  The grown-ups played Dirty Santa. Each one of us brought a gift and each one of us got a number.  The person with #1 opens one of the presents, then #2 may "steal" #1's present or open a new one,  and so on. The next person has the option of opening or stealing.  Once a gift has been "stolen" 3 times, it's out of rotation.   We had 12 people playing, so it was loads of  fun as some people got to open two or three presents as theirs would be stolen. 
We took lots of pictures --which I still need to extract from our camera.  We also had time to mingle.  The little ones found some toy microphones and one of them would sing Twinkle Twinkle, would go back to play with the cousins and come sing again.  

Give a hug to your family. Merry Christmas. 

And before I leave you today, listen to Silent Night  played by my husband on a Native American flute.  



Here is a little something from a few Christmas ago.

Chin chu lancha

Mi amiga Chayo me contó el otro día que empezaba a estudiar chino. Lo primero que se me vino a la mente fue una seire de chistes "bilingües". La razón es que hace años cuando yo tomé un curso de japonés a todo el mundo se le ocurría contarme estos chistes. 

Así que para continuar con la tradición, aquí van unos de los cuantos de los que recuerdo.

¿Cómo se dice náufrago en chino? Chin chu lancha 

¿Cómo se dice beso en árabe? Saliva va saliva viene

¿Cómo se dice pañuelo en japonés? Saka mokito 

¿Cómo se dice muerto en africano? Tum ba tum ba

¿Cómo se dice encendedor en japonés? Saka yama 

¿Cómo se dice suegra en alemán? Storbo

¿Cómo se dice viejita en chino? Chichi káida 

¿Cómo se dice beso en ruso? Vodka a vodka

¿Cómo se dice papel de baño en japonés? Kita kakita

¿Cómo se dice 99 en chino? Kachi chen

Buena suerte Chayo... un día de estos pongo algo más serio por aquí.

Accents

Let's have some humor...

I've managed...

I've managed to go over a year without writing an entry for the blog... Maybe I can get back in the swing of things this year. 

 Took up crochet-- well, actually, picked it up again. I think I was in high school or freshmen year in college the last time I crocheted. I've been crocheting on/off this last year. In the past 4 months  I've been attending a new group of knitters and crocheters, the Pine Belt Fiber Artists & Producers. It's been so much fun and I've learn so much. Each of us brings the project we're working on and we teach each other new stitches and tricks. 

Besides the learning, another reason I've enjoyed it so much is because it has brought back so many memories from my childhood. I have memories of being at my Aunt Agueda's and Aunt Eloísa's home (my grandma's sisters). I think they had a yarn store. I was very young, 6 or 7, not sure, it was before they moved. They had a big house and the store was at the front, street side. I have vague memories but they became so vivid one day at one of PBFA&P meeting when they brought out a ball winder. I remembered playing with the winder and making balls for the clients. I think they may have been the ones that first taught me to crochet. 

I also remember that once I spent a summer at my grandma's when I was 9 or 10 and I'd go to a yarn store to take lessons --maybe my grandma sent me there to keep me distracted (Aunt Agueda and Eloísa had moved to their apartment). I remembered a purse/bag I crocheted for my mom that summer. One night I dreamed about that purse, the next morning I woke up and searched the internet until I found the stitch--I did not remember what it was called, so I it took a bit longer. I found it and figured out how to do it again. I had some leftover yarn and practiced for a little bit. Got a different yarn and I did a small scarf. (picture to come) Oh yeah, it turned out to be Tunisian crochet. Who knew. More crochet musings to come.