wooing the family

Tuesday was the day I was going to make the big sales pitch -- to convince my brother and mother that they needed to move to Mexico.

My plan was simple.  Early in the morning I was going to drive them out to the large compound that was my favorite choice in my house search poll last October.  You remember it: ms. barra-in-the-country seeks your vote.  My nickname for it was "Live like a narco."

But I liked its feel.  And I thought that once my mother and brother saw it, they would drop their lifestyles to live there.

I needed to discuss auto insurance with my realtor.  Either on my old Escape or the imaginary Escape I have not yet bought.  I was then going to ask her to take us out to the big white house.

Our conversation never got that far.  She told me the house had sold while I was in Oregon closing the sale on the Salem house.

That is not a bad outcome.  A couple of readers were kind enough to send along email with their own tales about the problems associated with large houses in the country.  Both were quite logical.  And all of the downsides of their purchases paralleled what I most likely would have faced with the white house.

So, there was no housing pitch.  Instead, I took Mom and Darrel to the beach walk in Barra -- where they could see a much more attractive beach appearance than what Melaque has to offer.

The subtle approach most likely worked better.  When we got back to the house, my brother and I whipped up a simple meal of hoisin chicken stir fry and a Mediterranean salad (cucumbers, onions, and tasteless Safeway-bound tomatoes -- dressed with olive oil, rice vinegar, basil, oregano, and a dash of pepper.

We then sat down to discuss their impressions of Barra.  Mom seems to like the suburban subdivision feel of the neighborhood near the beach.  I was not surprised.  That is where I initially started looking for houses to buy six years ago.

This photograph sums up the differences between Barra and Melaque.

Barra likes to tart itself up as a fashionable tourist town.  Melaque is far more basic. 

When Melaque faces an onslaught of tourists, rather than finding fancy porta-potties as Barra might do, Melaque sets up a semi trailer for bathroom facilities.  It may not look like much, but it certainly is practical.

But, when it comes to serving up dinner, there is nothing in Melaque that rivals dining over the ocean on a pier draped with gauze and highlighted with tracer lights. 

It is nice having my family here with me.  And they appear to be enjoying their visit to our little piece of the Mexican beach.

I just need to convince them to move from visitor to resident status.