August 2020 Newsletter

Life in Mexico

Last week, Hurricane Hernan was passing by Manzanillo, about 200 miles out in the Pacific. The worst we seemed to be receiving was a steady rain.

That all changed on the morning of Thursday, August 27. We noticed a wave of brown muck slowly creeping up our street. It lapped over the curb and began to crawl up our driveway.

Our rental home is situated about 200 metres from the beach. I had always assumed that if we had water rushing up our street, it would be from a tsunami caused by an earthquake just offshore.

I was wrong. Rain from the hurricane had collected in the adjacent mountains and came pouring down toward the sea. The drainage ditches dug to divert the water soon overflowed, and a wave of crap came rolling toward our house.

We barricaded the door but it came through every crack and crevice, quickly filling the main floor with over a foot of brown goop. Neighbours who tried to flee stalled their cars in the deep water in the road.

We scrambled to clear out shoes from our closets and food from the lower pantry shelves. It short-circuited our fridge and filled the bottom half with sludge. Flip-flops, pasta and bloated paperbacks floated around the pool patio.

We were lucky that our home had an upper floor to which we could retreat. The power went out, and we spent a hot, sweaty night wondering what the morning light would bring. Fortunately, the rain stopped and the water receded, and we were able to clean up some of the mess.

We were able to move to a nearby undamaged house while our home is being cleaned and restored. The memory of the event will stay with me for as long as I live, however. I had seen scenes of hurricane flooding dozens of times, the homes encircled by brown water in which cars floated upside down, but I had never thought I would experience firsthand the devastation that a flood can cause.

Fortunately, we were not harmed. My heart goes out to all those who suffer far greater than we did.

Recipe

Lime Coriander Shrimp and Asian Cucumber Salad

This is a great summer BBQ treat, easy to make and delicious! You can scale it up or down, depending on the number of guests, and it only takes two minutes to cook! Serve with coconut rice and fresh limes.

Lime Coriander Shrimp Ingredients (serves four)

1 pound large (21 to 24 per pound) shrimp, shelled, leaving tail and first shell section intact, and if desired, deveined.

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1 T sugar

3 large garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup of coconut milk

1/2 cup fresh coriander sprigs, washed well, spun dry, and chopped fine

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes

1 T fish sauce

Coconut rice

Lime wedges

Lime Coriander Shrimp Directions

Mix all the ingredients together and allow to marinate for one hour. Place shrimp on skewers (I normally put six on each skewer), and cook for two minutes per side at medium heat.

Asian Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

One large cucumber, cut into thin slices.

One small chili pepper, finely chopped.

1 tsp of brown sugar

¼ cup of rice vinegar (or white vinegar)

2 tablespoons of chopped coriander

1 tsp of toasted sesame seeds to garnish (optional)

Directions

Mix the ingredients together and chill. Serve as a side dish to the Lime Coriander Shrimp.

Book Review

How to Find Love in a Bookshop

By Veronica Henry

This, not surprisingly, is a novel about love and books, set in the idyllic English town of Peasebrook.

Amid the honey-colored sandstone buildings of this fictional Cotswold village, Julius Nightingale owned and operated Nightingale Books, nurturing customers and neighbours for over 30 years.

Now, with his death, the torch is being passed to his daughter Emilia. Returning from an extended absence, the young woman soon learns that her father was a pinnacle of culture and light to Peasebrook, beloved by all.

And beloved more by some than others, it would seem. As Emilia searches for a meaningful relationship of her own, she becomes aware of an adulterous affair that her father had conducted for many years in secret.

Add in a nefarious real estate baron intent on buying the bookshop building, impending financial disaster and some hunky, lusty lads, and you have the classic summer romance read, with lots of love, laughter, heartbreak and surprises.

I highly recommend How to Find Love in a Bookshop!

Coming November 1st

New Jack Kenyon Mystery/Thriller!

“COPE HAS DONE IT AGAIN – DEAD MAN CIPHER IS A REAL PAGE-TURNER!” MC Anderson, founder of the San Miguel de Allende book club  

FBI AGENT JACK KENYON is squaring off against one of his most intractable foes.

Dev Patek, a renowned nuclear physicist, has been found lifeless in his backyard. All evidence points to suicide, until a letter arrives at Kenyon’s desk, to be delivered only after Patek’s untimely death.

But the dead man letter is in code, a cipher that requires the use of a mysterious manuscript to crack it. The message may reveal who killed Patek, or something far more sinister.

As Jack pursues Dev’s murder, he begins to uncover a comprehensive scheme to steal one of the world’s most valuable secrets, the blueprint to Baron Feargus Morgan’s nuclear engine.

Follow Jack from San Francisco to London as he pursues a host of spies, murderers and kidnappers who will stop at nothing to achieve their goal.

Pre-order Here Now!

TV Series Review

Boston Legal

Streaming free on IMDB TV

Guilty pleasure time! Created by the talented David E. Kelley (Chicago Hope, Ally McBeal), this courtroom comedy ran for five seasons, from 2004 to 2008. It centered around the antics of the lawyers at Crane, Poole and Schmidt, including Alan Shore (James Spader), Denny Crane (William Shatner) and Shirley Schmidt (Candice Bergen).

The charm of the series emanates from the friendship between Alan and Denny, a pair of lecherous litigators who chase everything in skirts. The duo finish off every episode sharing a cigar on the balcony of their Boston office, reminiscing about the day’s shenanigans.

Although the series finished more than a decade ago, the topics they covered are just as relevant today. Police brutality against blacks, federal government interference and LGBTQ rights (with a little cannibalism, dwarves and elevator sex thrown in to spice things up even more).

The series is well written, acted, and edited, making it a joy to binge watch. I highly recommend Boston Legal!