Hi-xo, the hills!

[bixaorellana]

These photos were taken on a ramble in the hills behind my house late this morning.
I live in a suburb of the town of Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán, just south and pretty much attached to the city of Oaxaca. My neighborhood stretches up from the main road and backs up on Monte Alban. My house is one of the last ones before the municipal power lines run out. However, people own land and homestead on the roadless and waterless hills behind me. They build their houses a bit at a time, as they can afford, and simply hope that one day the modern services will reach them.
The dog and I set out going north from our house towards Monte Alban. It rained buckets last night, and today was very overcast, not making for good photos.
This seems to be a whole compound, with a painted fence and a good bit of ground:

I love this tree and wanted a photo of it before it leafed out. It's still dramatic with leaves. This is a guajal. The pods are eaten as a snack. Supposedly Oaxaca got its name from these trees.

Looking west:

A freshly plowed field:



A tidy homestead. The open, roofed structure in the middle covers the washing area -- a waist-high concrete water receptacle on one side and shallow rub-board on the other. The structure on the right would be the bathroom:
This picture quite clearly shows the ridge of Monte Alban and some of the ruins there.


This photo is hardly in a league with the fabulous Tibetan windows, but it does show a noble attempt to add cheer and color to the house in progress:

Several of these pictures could be entitled "Hope". Here is an isolated house in the process of being built:
And here are banana trees amazingly snugged up to the flank of Monte Alban. Those appear to be young fruit trees next to them:


Growing anything under the condition of a half year with no rainfall is not a small endeavor, particularly considering these are the stony foothills of a mountain range.
This is the ground over which we were traveling:

More hope in flower:
This frangipani was blooming in a fenced area which also had some baby fruit trees in it. This was the house in the yard, whether completely abandoned or only used when the owners visited this plot, I don't know:

That yard was across the track from this house: .
I quickly snapped this picture from the side, as I didn't want to offend the lady of the house. From the front, her house has quite a nice garden. You can see all the ways water is guarded in order to have that.

Bleak beauty:



Looking back towards the city:

Heading home.
You can see Ginger's fuzzy behind mid-way down the track:

[Deleted]

Great photos Bix,I am so thrilled for you in your new home.Judging from the size of that frangipani and how lush it appears with that dry arid climate I guess I need to hold back on watering mine.
It appears so calm and quiet,not a soul in sight. Did you meet anyone while trekking? Maybe you'll make friends with the woman with the nice garden.
What do you suppose those plowed fields are for?

[bixaorellana]

I came up the wrong track from my house and had to ask a lady for directions. She was really sweet, saying she also wanted to walk to Monte Alban one day and that I should come get her some Sunday so we could try. She showed me how to cut across through the brush to get to the other "road" -- a rutted track one-vehicle wide.
There were people about, families in fields either digging wells or planting things, but it's pretty empty.
It's a pretty sure bet that field was plowed for corn.

[Deleted]

That's really interesting, Bixa. The buildings would seem to indicate that "four walls and a roof" is all that people want these days. No attempt at more sophisticated architecture? While I understand that it is a poor region, it doesn't look like there are really very many artistic flourishes.

What can you tell us about the mentality of the people there?

[bixaorellana]

Whew ~ that's quite a question! I'll have to think about the mentality thing in order to answer carefully and fairly. Right off the bat I'd say that more rural people around here -- people who don't live right in the city -- are friendlier and easier to know. At any rate, that's been my experience.
The thing about appearances is radically different from the attitude you know in Europe, or from what seems normal and reasonable to any of us from the States, Canada, and Australia, for instance. There is a certain obliviousness here to the esthetics of ones surroundings that I've never gotten used to. In contrast, people here usually look as nice as they're able, frequently under adverse conditions.
Since moving out of the city over three years ago, I've seen up close how provisional structures segue into a permanent arrangement. I know quite a few people in Nazareno who have the sketchiest of kitchens for instance, and bathrooms barely better than port-a-lets. These same people will give massive, cripplingly expensive parties. The part I've never been able to understand is the acceptance of things that make life harder -- things that in our cultures would be priority to fix. As a visiting friend once quipped, "The hardest thing about being in Mexico is learning not to start sentences with, 'why don't they ......?'"

[hwinpp]

When will it get green Bixa?
I just had a look at your province, jeez, it's way down there!
How do you get around? Do you have a car or a bike? How about horses?

[Deleted]

One thing that I have to say is that after having lived six and a half years in Southern California, I would never voluntarily live again in a semi-arid climate, even though I love to visit such places on holiday.

After growing up in a lush sub-tropical area, I just missed the rain too much. In California, everything would look beautiful in March or April, and then it would all just get yellow and dusty and stay that way for six months. You could expect the first rain of the season around November, which was fine for the dust, but the vegetation wouldn't start growing back until winter was ending.

[Deleted]

Same here,I love going to dry,arid climates especially mountainous ones to visit. But,there is something about being "landlocked" so to speak that's disconcerting after a period of time(usually about a month). I somehow have the need to be close to the water.

[bixaorellana]

I estimate it will be green in about 20 minutes or so, HW. Seriously, everything here is poised for Spring. Trees leaf out madly after the first good rain. Spring is more subtle here, but I've learned to discern and appreciate it. Also, things don't go all dried and beige as soon as the rains stop. Many people think the dry season is lasting longer because of deforestation. At the end of even a normal dry season, the dust, heat, and dryness are hard to take, and it does play havoc on ones skin. The trade off for people like me who hate and fear cold weather is minimal winter. The house stays open almost year round, and there is no heating & a/c. Not a very good illustration of my point, but I took this photo just now in order to answer you. It's the window (tinted) right next to the computer. Those trees were completely bare when I moved in a month ago, and except for a few days in January & February, the hammock can be enjoyed all year.
(by the way, Mexico has states, not provinces)
Transportation is very easy here, still proceeding on the assumption that most people don't have a car. In order to get down to the main road, where I can take a taxi, colectivo (shared taxi), or bus, I either walk or take a moto-taxi. These bump up and down the road all day long. I have a bicycle and an ancient car, but traffic here is awful and it's no fun to drive. Some people have horses which I think they mostly ride for pleasure, and in some villages there are animal-pulled carts. People sometimes come to town in them for the big market days, usually to sell alfalfa.

I think terrain profoundly affects us. I come from an area very close to where Kerouac grew up and where Casimira now lives. This makes me very tolerant of heat and humidity and I do love and crave rain. But one of the things that made me fall in love with Oaxaca and with Mexico in general were the mountains. I truly don't care if I never see another beach or lake, but never ever tire of the beauty of the mountains.

[Deleted]

Bixa,is that the veranda of which you spoke? You're gonna have a field day with that! It's so spacious!

There's something about that first photo of that building that appeals to me,the terra cotta color,it's simplicity,almost primitive.

[bixaorellana]

Yeah, the veranda is the width of the whole house and almost as deep. The gorgeous view doesn't show up in that window photo.

If you want primitive, I can provide plenty of that! To be honest, I chose better-looking houses to photograph, as I know how horrifying some of the others can be to 1st-world eyes.

[Don Cuevas]

I only now found this thread. (I need to visit here more often.)

I read this, below, and I said, RIGHT ON!

"The hardest thing about being in Mexico is learning not to start sentences with, 'why don't they ......?"

Then, I read this, with a sense of profound agreement:
"I think terrain profoundly affects us."..."I truly don't care if I never see another beach or lake, but never ever tire of the beauty of the mountains."

I'm going outside now (having not done so all day) to look at the mountains that surround us.

tinyurl.com/l3z4pn


(Can't get image to embed in the Reply.)

[bixaorellana]

May 18, 2009 8:20:40 GMT hwinpp said:

When will it get green Bixa?

It's been green for a while, & here is some proof, taken today:

Part of our daily walks, looking towards the hills in the original pictures.


Walking down towards the stream. This is the turnaround part of the walk, so Ginger can refresh himself before we start back home.


Here's the lovely little stream and its beautiful music.


And, if you can't view youtube where you are, a still picture of the stream:


Here is His Dogness standing in the patch of grass he likes to roll in after wading:

[Deleted]

Do you have snakes in the area? (A question that always pops into my head in unknown places.)

The photos are excellent and give a good feel for the place. It still reminds me of Southern California before the dry season sets in.

[traveler63]

Gosh Bixa you really have an interesting place to live. I am just in a little townhouse on the east side of Tucson. We are desert, which has its own beauty, but not now!!!!! Too damn hot. Here are some pictures of when the cactus is in bloom .

api.photoshop.com/home_b720b413e253456899cf073f86ba1d1a/adobe-px-assets/d2c186355b2548c5b2343a4b9236b196

api.photoshop.com/home_b720b413e253456899cf073f86ba1d1a/adobe-px-assets/a38ed1fc852748a6af36096b2f9000e8

[bixaorellana]

Nice pictures, T63! I have a friend in Mesa & she says the heat is brutal right now. I don't know either of those cactus. There's a native cactus around here that looks like your 2nd picture, but the blooms aren't nearly as showy.

Go here to see my cruelly ignored cactus pictures.

[bixaorellana]

I guess there are snakes around, although I've seldom seen one. I only think about them when I'm in tall grass, then (if I remember) I use a stick to agitate the ground in front of me to encourage snakes to get out of the way.

[Deleted]

It's really beautiful there B. I can see why you love it so and Ginger looks quite content and so very fluffy. The stream is my favorite too tell him.

[bixaorellana]

I remembered to bring the camera along when Ginger and I went walking on St. Patrick's day. Good thing, too, because almost immediately something interesting happened. A while back I reported on the land being developed near my house, perhaps by squatters. Well, as we passed by that section, a puppy came bounding up, very eager to play with Ginger. She caused me to do a double-take and whip out the camera. What do you all think -- is Ginger wearing his paternity suit?

There is a picture of Ginger in Reply #12 above. Here is the friendly puppy:

We were walking towards the advancing weather system in the east. Such dramatic light!



Lichen provides color and interest all year round.



I was trying to get a good shot of the cloud shadows on the hill when I noticed the rainbow. It wasn't until I looked at the photos on my computer screen that I discovered there were actually two rainbows.



And I managed to capture some of the cloud shadows, too.



Time to head home. Those big rains were heading my way, and delivered some beautiful downpours to me a little later.

[bixaorellana]

One last note about the pictures above. Although they seem to capture unspoiled countryside, I was very dismayed to see how much trash and garbage was strewn everywhere. If you look at the foreground of the photo above, you can see mashed plastic bottles and other trash. I don't know if Ginger's little stream shown in the photos from early July will get cleaned out when the rains start or not. It was clogged with trash.

[bixaorellana]

Another note in the interest of full disclosure -- in various posts I mention the water problem here.
The photo below was not taken in the hills behind my house, but was taken a few days earlier, facing Monte Alban from another angle nearby. The alfalfa in the foreground is on the agricultural school grounds and benefiting from irrigation. The land beyond waits thirstily for the rainy season.

[lola]

Wonderful photos, bixa. I especially love the one after the puppy, with the trees against darkened sky.

Do they call irrigation ditches acequias there? What would they have planted in the field in your 4th photo?