A Gift from Don Popo

From the morning of 29 Feb.
I think that's the worst it can get.

150224-090324

The air quality was bad for most of last week, so I stayed inside until evening when it cleared up a bit and I was able to get some walking in then. I probably should have realized that poor air quality was due to the volcano, Popocatépetl, but I didn’t think it was anything to worry about. I was sweeping up more ash than usual outside, but I reckoned that it had to do with changing winds.

Then, I was watching Colbert’s “Meanwhile” segment on YouTube on Tuesday and found out that old Don Popo had erupted 13 times on February 28th, and he had gifted us with a f**k-ton of ash in the air and all over the place. And that ash is heavy as hell and it gets in everywhere!

The air is much better now; I even walked to the top of the Cerro de San Miguel again on Thursday. That is the 3rd time I’ve done that. I think I may try to climb that bastard of a hill once a week from now on. It takes me about 2 hours from the time I leave my house until I get back home again, and by then, my legs feel like they are made of rubber bands. I feel much safer now while going up and down the gazillion stairs and steep ramps with my Nordic walking sticks. I’m still not ready to try it backwards yet, although I do walk up and down the stairs in my house backwards a couple of times a day.

I will be attending a brunch tomorrow at a house in a gated community. Looks like I’ll have a chance to see how la otra mitad lives. It’s going to be a fairly large gathering and I have been asked to bring my guitar; El Mariachi Gringo rides again!

Hasta luego.

 

Location: Atlixco, Puebla, Mexico

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