Ruta Recreativa

On Sunday morning when Joey crashed after mass and Mario immersed himself in the newspaper, I thought to myself, "what will Clara and I do for the two hours that the boys are lost to us?"

Solution:  Ruta Recreativa!

What is the Ruta Recreativa?  About two years ago, the mayor blocked off some of the major streets of Saltillo on Sundays between 8am and 1pm.  Saltillenses can take their bikes and ride up though town, fear-free.  Or, of course, we can walk our dogs, skateboard, train for the half-marathon (which also took place yesterday) or just walk down the middle of the city's major streets, traffic-free.

When he introduced this idea, I didn't think it was going to last.  Or take off.  But it has!

Now, Clara and I did go downtown between the hours of 11 and 1 . . . not my best idea on a June day in Saltillo.  But it wasn't too bad.

And much to Clara's delight, the city provided free brincolines at both the Alameda and the Plaza de Tres Culturas (on the other end of Guadalupe Victoria). Ever since Children's Day (April 30th) when our chuch rented bounce houses, she's been asking almost incessantly to find more brincolines.  I'm thrilled that we now have a weekly outlet to enhance her need to jump. 

And if that's not enough, DIF had some face-painting stations and a few Twister games set up for people to play.

It was quieter than I expected, but we had a good time.  We'll be back.

At 10:30 on Sundays there's a Zumba class right in front of the library in the Alameda!

They close off Venustiano Carranza all the way to the Plaza de Armas (and the street is then named Allende).  Guadalupe Victoria is also closed off). So one could bike from Liverpool to the Alameda every Sunday morning without fighting traffic!

Guadalupe Victoria, looking towards the Alameda. 

It is kind of fun to strut down the middle of the street.

My non-jardin garden

My house, like most houses in Mexico (except in rural areas, of course) has a distinct lack of green space.  We know that we are very blessed to have both a patio and cochera (roofless garage) of fairly ample size.  But we do need some green in our life.  And since I like growing plants and Mario likes to buy them, we've had some very pleasant container gardens over the last 5 years. 

And this is the first time that I've documented one! 

My calla lily (or alcatraz), given to us by friends of Patty's.

My pot of Jojutla--menthol and wandering jew that I stole from my mother-in-law's garden.

My gardenia--I bought it at the fair for San Jose Day, and I'm shocked that it's not only surviving, but thriving.  Everything that we put in the cochera usually dies.

My veteran bouganvillea.  Again, everything that we put in the cochera has never lasted more than a season.  Except for this guy!  You go, bouganvillea!

My awesome tomato plant--first time growing tomatoes!  Plus a volunteer moss rose and another calla lily in the background. That lily is a lot happier, as this is the patio garden, which gets a lot less sun and is easier to remember to water them. 

We'll see what's still alive at the end of the summer. ;)