Wednesday, April 13, 2011

dancing in my chair


I am in a Latin frame of mind today.


Before I get a big "Duh! You live in Mexico, dude!" from everybody, let me explain.


Our summer has begun.  Not by the calendar.  We will not be there until late June -- just as the rest of the northern hemisphere.


But the reality of summer arrives around here when the keepers of humidity say it is time to rehydrate the Pacific coast of Mexico.  That happened last week.  And it was as predictable as the naked, overweight guy pouring another can of water on the sauna's rocks.


The gills I developed for Oregon rains are coming in handy.  This is salamander weather.  When the shore and ocean gain enough kinship they couldn't even get married in Arkansas.


But it is not just the humidity that puts me in a Latin mood.  After all, this humidity could spell New Orleans just as easily.  And for all of its French and Spanish roots, New Orleans is no more Latin than is Chicago.


For the past hour, three of my neighbors have been in a battle of the boom boxes.  Almost all of it ranchera -- traditional and contemporary.  All at full volume.


My young neighbors to the east of me appear to have won.  In celebration, out comes the mambo -- the dance, not the snake.  And I become one with the music in my chair under the shady mango.


During the music war, I almost pulled out my headphones.  Listening to three music sources in different tempos and on different beats is only slightly less pleasant than listening to Manhattan street noises.


But, like everything else in Mexico, if you are patient, matters sort themselves out.  Usually.


Or they start all over again.  The battle has been rejoined by another boom box across the laguna.


But that is why the siesta was invented.

48 comments:

Francisco said...

That's a time when my 100 watt amplifier and electric guitar would come in handy. It's good that you're adaptable. Someone said "Never go to Mexico for peace and quiet".
Saludos,
Francisco

Felipe Zapata said...

I must take issue this morning with two statements. Duh! You live in Mexico, dude! You are instead on longterm vacation, amiguito. Where you actually live at this point in your life seems to be nowhere.

No. 2: New Orleans is no more Latino than Chicago? Sure, it is, especially in attitude. Plus, if memory serves, when I lived there New Orleans had the largest Guatemalan population in the world outside Guatemala. Why? I don't know.

Purplepatty2 said...

I can really relate to "dancing in my chair". That's what I did for a week while visiting a Caribbean island that shall remain nameless. Mambo was everywhere and I fell in love with it; even bought a couple of CDs. I'm athletic but not particularly graceful on the dance floor; I found my chair worked just fine. Thanks for reminding me of a great trip!

Steve Cotton said...

I was on that same island in 2001 doing work with the Salvation Army -- and enjoying some dance steps. Sounds like a remake of Guys and Dolls.

Steve Cotton said...

Hmmm. Other than in some metaphysical exercise, it appears I do live in Mexico. I was here yesterday. I am here today. The probability I will be here tomorriow approaches 1. I suspect that means I live here. Even in my Zen moments, I can't claim to live nowhere.

As for New Orleans, the very essence of blues and jazz strikes me as being the best that Anmerica has to offer. But there is that odd Central America connection. Maybe Laurie can give us a hand with that one.

Steve Cotton said...

A set of JBL studio monitors would come in handy now and then. Merely for my own listening enjoyment, mind you.

Tancho said...

And you wonder why I live in the middle of trees, removed from town by 6km......
When I want noise and or music, I will control it myself, thank you very much!

John said...

Of course everyone living in Mexico (and like you, I am sure you do live here) must adjust to the NOISE level. When we left Puerto Yesterday morning there were 14 guys - each with a hammer pounding on rebar 8 feet from our window. And four of those hombres appear to now be living there on the lot. They are building two houses next door (a double lot). A good time to get out of there. And the weather in Xico is SPECTACULAR!

ANM said...

A Latin mood, huh? How about this for a motto: Nihil in intellectu quod prius in Boombox.

ANM

ANM said...

I'm with you Tancho. Toxic noise is absolutely madness-inducing. ANM

ANM said...

The image of Major Baraba doing some sort of "dirty dancing" is an image as uncomfortable as it is bizarre. ANM

ANM said...

When I lived in NOLA in the 70s, there were a number of Cuban refugees living there as well. The city has always attracted a diverse population -- they have the Irish Channel, the German district with its old churches, Creole, Cajun, French, Spanish, and whoever is the latest arrival. A great deal of the rebuilding being done in NOLA is being performed by Hispanic labor, the origins of which I don't know. But the city thinks of itself as one big social bowl of gumbo, everything thrown in so nothing is wasted, creating a taste that is both unique and beautiful. ANM

ANM said...

There you go, Steve, start decibel arms race in your neighborhood and see if you can outspend your neighbors, pushing them into penury and silence. I can see you now on your balcony: "Senor Hernandez, turn that boombox down!" Reaganly intoned, of course. ANM

ANM said...

And that's what I love about Mexico. Masters of cement architecture. If one can mix it, one can build it. The only limit is imagination, and the peso, of course. ANM

NW said...

Nothing smells of victory more than three different versions of ranchera in the morning. Horns, accordion and thumping oom pah pah bass at conflicting rhythms send shivers down my spine. Brings back wonderful memories of growing up in LA.

NW said...

Hijole

ANM said...

NW, you're lucky to have grown up in a rich urban environment where the noise was not mere noise, but the sound of the neighborhood's soul. I fear many of us, myself included, grew up in too rarified an environment and we may be systemically incapable of supporting a rich sensory environment. I have neighbors who complain about the "noise" of birds in the morning during the summer. ANM

Steve Cotton said...

And here I was just thinking about my instant pleasure. But I like your long-range Reaganesque plan. Break them at the poker table.

Steve Cotton said...

As I was reading your comment, I was thinking gumbo -- and then it showed up. And that is why jazz is the perfect metaphor for New Orleans -- and America. Not diverse. Merely mixed together in one tasty brew.

Steve Cotton said...

Nowhere near as disturbing as Sky Masterson in a uniform.

Steve Cotton said...

Hijole, indeed!

Steve Cotton said...

But I doubt I could play the role of a Trappist.

Steve Cotton said...

As I sit here, I can hear the gas truck, two vendors in trucks with loud speakers, a few roosters, lots of birds, and the neighbor's boom box. The only silent creature is the croc sunning himself on the bank. What surprises me is how easily I can filter out most of it. If I had not been writing this comment, I doubt I would even have noticed it.

Steve Cotton said...

And there is the irony. For a culture based on using everything for its best purpose, concrete work is a rather temporary thing. You probably hit on the reason. Pesos. You can only build quality with lots of them.

Steve Cotton said...

I wonder, now and then, if the northern Mexicans had not incorporated German polka into their music just how it would now sound. I guess it could have been worse. Greek sailors could have been shipwrecked here, and left behind a bouzouki tradition. Or Indians with sitars.

Steve Cotton said...

And you wonder why I left Salem?

Steve Cotton said...

If only Jerry were here to join in.

NW said...

Si,si, muy rico todo....

NW said...

No offense to those that indulge but I'm not too sure that it COULD have been any worse.

Steve Cotton said...

Try saying the next time you are stranded for a week in a hotel in Patras.

NW said...

Just 'cause I'm having fun - As of census 2010:
Chicago had 28.9% Hispanic or Latino; New Orleans had 5.3%...
Un punto Algodon

Steve Cotton said...

Yeah. It is the danger of metaphors. Just like you can buy tacos in Salem. But they aren't very good.

NW said...

YEAH!!
White people can't dance and stinkin' kids today..
Seriously though, you know where to get good tacos in Salem?
hehehe

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NW said...

Don't you just hate it when you share an "inside joke" with the folks and then remember that it was an "inside joke"?
Okay so in College English the prof asks the class, "Can anyone give an example of a metaphor?" This guy from the back of the room says, "White people can't dance and stinkin' kids today."
We all bust a gut and the prof says, "uh yeah...no"

Cineguy said...

*chuckle* I doubt that was the only reason...The birds are the loveliest, natural "noise" we have!

Steve Cotton said...

Yup. But they are much better here. Even the ojo tacos.

Steve Cotton said...

I wonder if that was ANM?

Steve Cotton said...

The birds in Salem are great. But they are good here, too. If only I had a hot tub.

Steve Cotton said...

I wonder who planted the idea?

Cineguy said...

You have a beach instead. No hot tub in that weather.

Felipe Zapata said...

Numbers smell fishy to me. I suspect the Census. Or our Latino tendency to suspect the government and dodge questions.

NW said...

Spoken like a true gringo

Steve Cotton said...

Except, he's not. Felipe is a genuine Mexican citizen.

And I must admit my neighbors' distrust of government and learned circumlocution appeals to my libertarian heart.

ANM said...

Nicht Ich. Ich kann tanzen. ANM

Nwexican said...

Un punto Zapata y nada por wexi.

Andre said...

Durango music came out of Chicago.Many Mexicans live in that region.

Steve Cotton said...

There you go.