Dancing in the Park

Today the Roman Catholic Church decided we would wake up at 7:00 am. Not that I was in full agreement with this schedule, but thunderous bongs from the belfry proved to be decisive. And just to make sure there was no malingering, after a snooze period of ten minutes the tumult of the bells began again. The day was under way. like it or not, and I confess I didn't particularly like it. I haven't heard this kind of unabashed neighborhood ruckus since I was a five-year-old in Verdun.

It so happens that the one brother we know who lives in this town is out of town for a while, but by noon today I managed to establish telephone contact with the local COBE. We made arrangements to meet with him and his wife tomorrow so we can chat for a while about life in Colima.

In the meanwhile Carol did a little cart work in the park across the street and placed a really big brochure with a man. Or maybe it was the cart sign.

In the afternoon we passed a little time in the lounge area on the hotel roof. It's breezy there during the hottest part of the day. I went to take a fresh look at the volcano and noticed it was covered with cloud. Wait a minute. That couldn't be all cloud. Part of the formation was gray and climbing taller.

The Colima volcano was spouting a column of ash this afternoon. Cool!

We checked into arrangements to visit the volcano. Not quite to my taste. A bus brings one to within four miles of the volcano. Since going up the steep slopes is out of the question, the trip is fleshed out with a visit to a coffee growing area, to a maker of pagan religious masks, and a little time is devoted to bird-watching. Hey, if I can't go peer in the crater of the volcano and watch bubbling lava then let's just let it go. I'm tickled merely to see it belch ash from 20 miles away.

As we ate supper in the sidewalk café the State Brass Band assembled across the street in the Belgian Gazebo and played on for an hour and a half. And none of this Mariachi Mexican music. We had Big Band music from the forties, Begin the Beguine, some Benny Goodman hits, and a few Italian classics tossed in too. The folks here are not the type to sit at home evenings and watch TV. If they're not filling the park benches they're on their feet dancing to the music. And dancing quite well too!