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Weekly Observations
May 29 - Jun 4, 2005

The Guamuchiles are at their prime, plump and sweet. Despite the promising signs last week, we have still not had our first good rain of the season. Guadalajara got a good downpour, I'm told, but here at Lakeside we have had nothing of consequence.

This tree near the church in San Anonio Tlyacapan is a bit confused. It has about 25% of the normal full-bloom for these trees (whose name I am searching for but don't have at the moment). The odd thing is, they normally reach their peak of blossoming around September. The nearly-bare tree to the right is of the same species, and typical for these trees at this season -- they have lost most of their leaves and are just waiting the rains to grow new ones. The one on the left, however, has most of its leaves and a fair number of blossoms. The flowers are large, tubular and reddish-orange in color.

I have noticed other plants around here that seem to have trouble keeping track of the seasons too. The weather is so consistent, it is hard to tell Spring from Fall. We had Guava trees at our last house, for example, that bloomed twice per year, though one of those times barely produced any fruit.

This has been the hottest weather of the year, with high temps hitting 95°F. to 98°F. all week, and lows only getting down to about 60°F., so although it is comfortable at night, the house doesn't cool down enough and soon re-heats in the morning, making it 85°F. indoors by noon. By six P.M. we are driven out-of-doors by the heat. If there is a breeze (and there always is at some point in the evening, though it may not start until 7:00 P.M.) and we sit quietly in the shade, it is quite comfortable. It is too hot to do anything unless it involves large amounts of water splashed all over!