in hot water with Clarence Darrow

I had to abandon the hot tub for the dreamier climes of my bed.


I have almost finished reading Edward J. Larson's The Scopes Trial. Tonight I completed reading the section on the trial itself. As I read along, who should show up in the tub but John Scopes himself -- the veritable cipher in the whole episode. He settled down into a quiet corner.


But he was almost immediately joined by Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan. Two loud Democrat attorneys -- both with causes -- filled the tub faster than I was willing to share. I decided to abandon the hot tub and the evening to the three of them. After all, they will still be there whenever I am willing to pick up the story again. And they have been good enough to abandon their histories to me.


Off to bed. This cold is managing to hang on for too long. It must be two weeks now.

mixed algodón

The family Cotton finally managed to assemble to discuss The Great Mexico Adventure. The cast: my mother, my brother, his daughter, and me.

We were on our way to a military memorial service for my uncle. Getting together is such a rare event for us that we thought we would squeeze out some mourning time in favor of family time.

For 50 years we have been eating at a local diner called Lew's Dari-Freeze. Over a traditional cony island hot dog (with onions), fries, and Diet Coke, we discussed two topics: 1) Where would Mom like to settle down, and 2) Who is going to join me in heading south to Mexico.

It turned out that my brother and mother had already discussed her future. And she was ready with her answer. She has two listings that she needs to resolve with her real estate business. And both will resolve soon. She then intends to move into her house in Bend. My brother and I will help her in whatever way we can. That was easy.

Then came the Mexico move question. My niece is in her sophomore year of high school. Her parents do not want to move until she graduates. My sister-in-law could telecommute from Mexico, but my brother needs to find some work to do south of the border. That is their homework assignment. But they may very well be heading south after the summer of 2010.

As for me, April 2009 looks like a good move date, and I have some good information on a rental house in Melaque. If I take that route, I would probably stay in Melaque on an FMT from about May through about October. I would then decide whether I wanted to convert to an FM3 and rent in the central highlands or choose another site on the coast -- such as, La Manzanilla. At some point, I want to get to Pátzcuaro for an extended visit.

Mom also said that if we all decide to move, she would like to come along. I should note that this was the plan over a year ago when I floated the notion of the entire family retiring to Mexico. And here we are, back where we started.

Several of you have wisely counseled: stop analyzing, start doing. You were correct. The plan is quickly falling into place. Come next April, I will grab two suitcases and either drive or fly south. Let the adventure begin.

I must comment on my uncle's memorial service this afternoon. My memory of him is that he was a man of action. Very typical of the other men in the timber country where I grew up. He was a boxer, a naval aviator in the second world war, and a logger. I never knew him to say much about any topic, but I do recall that he had a laugh that caused joy to well up in his listeners. In his later years, he became an accomplished keyboardist. But like the other Londons and Hemingways of this world, he was a flawed character -- just like the rest of us. By his flaws, I knew he was was human; by his virtues, I knew he was a hero. He was all that -- and more. He was my uncle. He will always be Roy Brewster.

the tax man cometh

[Note: I need to add a disclaimer to this posting. It contains information about legal matters in Mexico. I am no expert in that area, and I do not purport to be giving any legal advice. I cannot even attest that all of the facts I have picked up in writing this post are accurate. Having said that, it is an area I find fascinating.]

Foreigners move to Mexico for various reasons -- some for the weather, some for the culture, some for the cultural values, some for just being somewhere else. The inimitable Michael Dickson says there are only five reasons to move to Mexico from the States: (1) cheaper real estate and rentals, (2) cheaper utilities, (3) lower property taxes, (4) superior health care, and (5) for single men, Mexican wives, "who are a dream come true."

But, for most expatriates, the conversation often turns to a perceived lower cost of living. And housing is always high on that list.

I have recently run across an issue, though, that has raised the hackles of some homeowners when they sell their property: the dreaded capital gains tax. Taxing profits on homes is a hot political issue in every society where home ownership is encouraged. The United States has tried several tax mechanisms. On one hand, it is not fair for profits not to be taxed; pn the other hand, residences are a unique class of property.

Mexico is no different. The language of the Mexican capital gains tax statute is simple and has exactly the same type of social interests at stake as does the law in the States. If the home is the primary residence of the seller, the seller may be entitled to an exemption from the capital gains derived from the sale.

And that is where the simple part ends. The application of the law is starting to cause greater problems for foreigners who sell their Mexican homes.

The first problem is proving that the home is the "primary residence" of the seller. Many foreigners try to maintain a primary residence both in Mexico and in their home country. Primary means just what it says. You can only have one. The people who are affected most often by this are the proverbial snow birds.

In an attempt to give a more consistent application to this portion of the law, some notarios will not allow the ca[iyal gains tax exemption if the foreigner has an FM3 visa; the notario will allow exemptions only with an FM2 visa. That makes sense because the FM2 restricts the number of days the visa holder can be absent from Mexico. During the past year, several areas of Mexico have disallowed the exemption for all FM3 holders.

The second problem in proving residence centers around the foreigner's source of income. Some notarios require proof that over 50% of the foreigner's income is derived from Mexican sources. For retirees (and I am soon to be in that category), if that factor is applied strictly, pensions from foreign sources will not qualify. And that will be a large number of current owners of Mexican homes.

So, what happens if you fail the primary residency test? It simply means that a portion of the money you earned on your Mexican property must be paid to the Mexican government (and, of course, potentially to the foreigner's home country, as well). That strikes me as fair. Homeowners are reaping some very nice profits on their sale of homes. Why shouldn't the Mexican government share in that increase in wealth?

What concerns me, though, is that the definitions appear to be applied arbitrarily throughout the country depending on the notario involved. (Not that the same problem does not arise in the States.) A little more consistency would allow sellers to plan on paying the tax -- and ordering their lives accordingly.

Property taxes are very low (insanely low in some places) in Mexico. I suspect that before long, local Mexican governments will discover that property taxes are a great boon to improve local services. Property taxes are low because the extremely wealthy have been able to prevent them from being imposed. As the middle class grows in Mexico, property taxes will be seen as a good source of revenue -- rather than onerous income tax rates.

bigger and better

I have a question for you veteran bloggers. I have noticed that when I post photographs, some of them will enlarge when clicked; others will not. I upload each of them the same way. I wonder if I am deleting some information when I try to rearrange the pictures. Inevitably, I end up with huge spaces between paragraphs and phortographs. Deleting those spaces is always a problem because the spaces are not all equal.

Any suggestions would be greatly apperciated. I would like all of them to enlarge. They have enough detail that they often look much better in full screen.

marketing school dropout

A friend from New York City sent this to me last December. It is one of the funniest marketing errors I have seen. He said there were several different signs -- all on hams. They disappeared the next day. (The signs -- not the hams.)

I realize everyone does not celebrate Easter. But in that same spirit of ecumenicalism, I want to wish all of you a very happy Easter. The Sunday school kids dragooned me into participating in their pageant this morning -- something about needing someone pompous and stuffy. In any event, I hope you have a great day.

the stream of life

On days like today, I wonder why I want to live anywhere other than in the bosom of my little village. It is the Saturday before Easter -- and the day itself was celebratory.

I knew that the cherry blossoms at the state capitol building were starting to come out. When I rolled out of bed at 7:30, I paused only for breakfast. Jiggs and I were off in a hope to beat the crowd. I wanted to get some shots without the usual corps of photographers in the way -- because it was a beautifully clear and sunny day.

Jiggs has been limping on his right front leg and his left rear leg, so, we try to take our walks a bit slower and shorter. Because this was going to be at least a triple walk for him, I took it slow. By the time we got to the capitol, there were plenty of other photographers, but the cherry blossoms were just beginning their show.

Even at these early stages, the trees are impressive. This is one reason our local buses are called Cherriots. (The neighbor girl thinks they are Cheerios.)

Whoever planted the trees had a good eye for proportion. I love the tunnel effect they make over this path.

But the daffodils were not going to let the cherries have all the attention.



I have been trying to learn from John in San Miguel, Juan Calypso, Babs, and Wayne how to take candid shots of people. I getting a little self-conscious about invading people's privacy. But this older couple was obviously having a grand day.

Jiggs quickly got bored with my attention being on my camera, rather than him. Back to home we started. Just as we were walking by his favorite stream, I received a telephone call concerning the house in Mexico that has interested me this last week. While chatting on the telephone, Jiggs managed to limp down the slope to the edge of the stream -- and got in. To the consternation of the ducks. He was wading around until the current caught him, and off he went downstream over a cascade of rocks. He managed to hang on with one paw. (I kid you not. I often suspected he had prehensile capabilities with his paws.) I knew that if he tired out, he would be swept downstream, and with his aged legs, he would not be able to swim. So, into the water I go, thigh-deep to rescue a dog with a couple of centuries of breeding as a water dog.


I carried him out, and put him on shore. I was afraid he might suffer some form of shock because he was really wobbly on his feet. But he tottered right over to a clump of grass and began eating -- as if nothing had happened. If I could only live in the moment like Jiggs.

Being the blogger I am, I realized that story was done. I raised my camera and took the following picture. It was just another reminder that no matter how bad a moment may be, it is a blessing to enjoy the sun and the company of my dog.

sailing into the past

I was looking through my photographs of our sailing trip in the San Juans and Gulf Islands last year. For no particular reason, I decided I would share a few with you.

It may be that Bliss is currently out of touch sailing back up the Pacific coast from Barra de Navidad. When she arrives home, this will be a little gift for her and the Captain.

Under sail in the channel between Sucia and Waldron Islands.

And, of course, some star fish -- just for Wayne -- in the harbor at Ganges, Salt Springs Island.

I just thought this was an interesting photograph -- Sucia Island.

No trip in the San Juans would be complete without spotting a pod of orcas -- just outside of Anacortes. They are magnificent creatures.

These pictures are a good reminder to me that life offers a lot of opportunities in my current circumstances. But I am ready for a lot more.