It looks like the title and URL of this blog once again make sense. After our first-ever foray into Mexico together, and due to an assortment of circumstances and mysterious functioning of the universe, we seem to be on the verge of a trial run of full-time life outside the United States.

The Lake Chapala region was surprisingly appealing to us, especially when we discovered close-in alternatives to the gringo ghetto of Ajijic.

While we were in Jalisco, we met an architect from San Francisco who had recently purchased a house in Guadalajara. In the course of our conversations with him, he expressed grim anticipation of catastophic decline of life in the US in various social and economic parameters. It was eerie to hear my own misgivings echoed by him, but we really want to move south for the positive reasons based on what we have observed and experienced, not because of our fears about where the US is headed.

Before we can proceed with our plans, I need to head to Reno with sister Mona to work with her and Becky on dismantling my late father's material leavings - a house and the contents accumulated for the conduct of his and his also-late wife's lives over the past ten years or so. How odd, to have to empty a house to the bare walls, with every item either hauled off for auction, donated, or discarded into a 12-cubic-yard dumpster. Then, we will hand the keys over to a realtor, and leave. Probably a two-week visit.

I'm taking the Mdog, because Pat will probably have some travel requirements while I am away. It should be an interesting couple of weeks.

Good thing I don't have a job. With the resurection of our Mexican plans, it's also a good thing we didn't buy a house here. After all the frustration and disappointment while we really tried to find a house, it makes me realize that there has to be some trust in the universe, as things work out the way they were intended to.

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