When hurricanes pass, and birthdays too

Hola,

Anyone who reads my blog knows that I am an absolutely fan of the weather down here in Oaxaca. And when I say weather I do not refer to the semi-arid/tropical climate we have here that makes for gorgeous sunny days that are perfect for rubbing into the faces of your friends in colder areas. I am talking about the clouds.

Clouds?

Looking north on Garcia Vigil.

Yes clouds. Sun or rain, the clouds down here are magnificent. Especially when it rains. The combination of the mountains, the extensive valley system, and our position close to the Pacific as well as the the Gulf of Mexico genders an amazing weather system that produces some of the most spectacular vistas of storms and clouds ever.

In fact, if you were to look through my years of photos here you will see a ton of pictures of clouds and weather.

From our office. You can see the rain storm on the left and clear skies on the right.

Looking east towards Calle Alcala.

Last night Hurricane Carlotta passed over Oaxaca, having made landfall earlier. All night there was a soft, gentle rain that was almost like having one of those soothing sounds sleep assist machines from Sharper Image. Before the hurricane made it to shore, the clouds had come down over the mountains to the north of us to say hello. It was an incredibly beautiful site.

Again from our office, when the rain was really coming down.

Looking north on Venustiano Carranza. You can see how low the
clouds are.

From our neighbor's roof looking north.

On a side note, other things have passed aside from hurricanes. The previous week's Thursday, June 7, was my birthday. I turned 29 years old. To say that I am going to mourn the end of my 20s is the truth, for I really did enjoy my 20s. But to say that I am not looking forward to my 30s is false. Aside from all the people who have told me that the next decade is in fact very awesome, I know in my heart that this is how it will be. Being in your 20s is great, but you still lack a certain amount of polish--you should be an adult and you try to act like one, but you are still growing out of being a teenager and sometimes that veneer just sticks around until you hit the latter end of that decade. So being in your 30s is kind of like finally being an actual adult, or at least old enough to know better.

Anyway, so here's to being 29. At least I welcomed it in in style!

Chowing down on the bone of what was an awesome cowboy-cut steak.....

....and drinking some mezcal!