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Sunday/ cherry blossoms

Spring is in full bloom here in the Northern Hemisphere, and the cherry blossoms are all out – here in the United States, and also in Japan and China.

Here is the University of Washington campus today, with some of its cherry trees and their blossoms ..
.. and I picked up this Camellia flower (I think it’s a Camellia) with its pink tints and flecks, on the sidewalk today. It still amazes me, the detail that smartphone cameras can capture these days.
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Rainy Saturday

It rained steadily this morning, but cleared up enough later so that I could make my way down to the Capitol Hill public library.  At the corner of Broadway and Thomas, I spotted this guy: big 3-0 balloons in one hand, and a cake box in the other. He was surely on his way to the party for the birthday boy or gal that was turning 30.  I remember how I had thought my life was over, when I turned 30. Well, live and learn. I now say: it’s not over until it is over.  

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Friday/ do not trust Facebook

Recent cover of German magazine Der Spiegel: ‘Die Falle Facebook’ – the Trap that is Facebook. Be careful. Do not be this guileless user, that just divulges everything/ clicks on everything/ believes everything, on Facebook.

I am not deleting my Facebook account, but they have lost my trust. Facebook will do almost anything for money. A sample: they enabled Russians to buy fake news ads (and pay in rubles) for the 2016 US Presidential election scandal, they enabled hate speechers to find target audiences on Facebook; allowed third parties to extract personal data, and then failed to follow up to make sure the data is deleted (the Cambridge Analytica scandal); scanned  images and links sent from Messenger.

So now I go in every other day into my Facebook settings, and I am systematically deleting anything that they can use to sell me stuff.  No more favorite movies or books, deleting my interests, do not enable just anyone to view my profile, do not enable face recognition in my photos, delete all connections to other apps. Sending money with Facebook? (yes, it can be done). Never.

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Thursday/ at the Masters

The Masters started in Augusta, Georgia, today. Gary Player (age 82) and Jack Niklaus (78) were on hand to perform tee shots for the ceremonial opening of the tournament.

Tiger Woods (42) is attempting a comeback, but had a rough start, finishing 7 shots behind Jordan Spieth, the talented 24-yr old Texan.

Check out South African Louis Oosthuizen’s putt on the 16th. He sank a 30-footer by standing with his back to the hole, and judging the sharp break on the putting green perfectly. Big smile and a little shrug of the shoulders afterwards.

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Wednesday/ chieftains and Kings

It was Wednesday, and so my friends and I went for a beer and a bite at one of our regular watering holes, The Chieftain.
Also: today marked the 50th anniversary of civil rights leader Dr Martin Luther King’s assassination at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

Irish pub ‘The Chieftain’ on 12th Avenue. A chieftain is the leader of a people or a clan.
Dr Martin Luther King mural near 15th Ave and Madison. In 2005 King County (home to Seattle), was named after Dr King. From way back in 1852 up to 2005, King County was named for a different King: Alabama resident William Rufus King that was subsequently elected Vice President in 1853. Only 6 weeks after later, though, he passed away.
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Tuesday/ point and line puzzles

I scan through the Wall Street Journal almost every day, at the public library here in my neighborhood. The weekend edition has puzzles in, and the two puzzles below are from this last weekend.  (This is the link to the WSJ puzzle blog).

I think I know the solution to the ‘Maximizing Links’ problem .. but the Seven Points problem has me stumped .. but I’m working on it!

Update Fri 4/6: Well, the solutions have been published. I got the first one right: 9 links can be drawn. Trying to solve the ‘Seven Points’ problem was a humbling experience, and I got close, but no cigar.  I knew the solution had to involve equilateral several connected triangles, but I should have applied more rigor, and maybe used a compass to arrive at the solution (as shown in the figure with the circles, from Math Stack Exchange).  So depending on the way one looks at it, the solution is a regular pentagon, with two points carefully added to it, equidistant to three other points on the pentagon .. OR two diamonds pinned at a shared vertice (bottom left on the first diagram), and the other vertices a unit length apart.

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Monday/ all clear after the storm

It was a brisk 44°F/ 6 °C in the University District this morning at 10 am, where I was this morning.  The storm we had on Sunday night was gone. It brought down a little hail at my house, and a thunderbolt so loud, and so close, that it rattled the windows and the glasses up in my kitchen cabinet.

Here’s the colorful facade of the University of Washington’s new 6-storey ‘Comotion’ building at 4545 Roosevelt Way. It is a ‘startup incubation space’, one that enables collaboration with UW’s partners in industry. UW also invites in companies, even if they don’t yet have an explicit connection to the university.
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Saturday/ spring weather

March ended with a lovely, sunny spring day (60 °F/ 15 °C) here in the city of Seattle.

Daffodils (genus: Narcissus) on the sidewalk just around the corner of my house, late this afternoon. Daffodils have been cultivated from the earliest times, and are mentioned in ancient Greek literature.
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Friday/ Bitte ein Bit (a Bit, please)

The one-a-day beer is in the cans, the as-much-as-you-like beer (no alcohol) in the bottles. I like them both.

My fridge was empty, and I set out to refill it today with eggs, milk, yogurt and beer. The store where I usually get my German beer, and my McCann’s Irish oatmeal, was out of both. 

Well darn it, I thought. And: You’re too persnickety with your tastes.  The Amazon-owned grocery store called Whole Foods Market came to the rescue, though.

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Thursday/ souvenirs and coins

I had no problem getting an Uber driver at 3 am this morning. There is a new, designated spot in the Seattle airport’s parking garage, and Abdulqadir (my driver) showed up in his Toyota Prius in 7 minutes.   As always, it was nice to unpack my little souvenirs from Mexico, from my bags today!

I bought the little Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) beaded skull at the Plaza Machado (Mazatlán town square), and the porcelain mini-birds at Micheal’s gift shop.
The front and back of a ten pesos coin. The front of the coin has the national shield and says ‘Estados Unidos Mexicanos’: the United States of Mexico. Mexico has 31 states, and then there is Mexico City which is in a special district or state – much like Washington DC in the United States. The back of the coin shows the sun stone from Aztec mythology, with the sun god Tonatiuh.
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Wednesday/ halfway there

This charming little guy at the airport shop, is hugging Orendain tequila, made in Jalisco state. Orendain’s reposado is 100% agave and aged for up to a year in oak.

My wonderful time in Mazatlán came to an end today – alas!  Off to the aeropuerto it was, at noon.

My layover is again at Los Angeles (LAX), and I will catch a red-eye flight out to Seattle in another 3 hours or so.

I will try to summon an Uber car in the wee hours of Thursday morning, to take me home.   If I don’t succeed, I can always stay over in a cheapie Seattle airport hotel until later in the morning.

My boarding shot of the Alaska bird (Boeing 737-700) on the tarmac at Mazatlán airport, that took us to Los Angeles.

 

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Tuesday/ Estero del Yugo

Estero del Yugo is an estuary in the far northern outskirts of the city of Mazatlán.  There is a trail around it that we traversed today. The foliage around the estuary is dry this time of year, and the water level was low.

Even so, we spotted herons, ibises, pelicans and a beautiful pileated woodpecker with its red-crested head.  A single deer across the water made an appearance as well, but we did not see it again, even after we had made it to the other side.

This is a green heron that we spotted today at the estuary – a small heron found in North America and Central America.
This is an American white ibis, found from Virginia via the Gulf Coast of the United States south through most of the coastal New World tropics. Behind the ibis is a black-necked stilt.
Here’s what a large part of the trail around the estuary looks like. That’s a young Mexican giant cardon (elephant cactus) on the right.
A beautiful tree flower that we found on the ground. It may be a from a tree called ‘palo cruz’, but I’m not sure.
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Monday/ taking the Mazatlán bus

We took the bus today to Juarez in the north of the city of Mazatlan. It’s complicated for a visitor, since the bus stops are not marked with route numbers.

One has to look for the destination that’s written onto the bus (and even then the bus does not always go to the same place in that destination).  A good thing I had a little help from my friends here!

I took this picture a few days ago. This bus goes between Plaza Sendero and Central Mercado (the central market) and the ferry terminal.
Inside our bus today.  The fare is 8.5 pesos (46 cents US). Some buses are fancier with airconditioning and nicer seating, and then the fare is 11 pesos (60 cents US).
This church is in Juarez where the bus dropped us off. The giant head and face is that of Miguel Hidalgo (1753-1811), a Mexican Roman Catholic priest and a leader of the Mexican War of Independence (1810 -1821).
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Sunday/ El Recodo, Villa Unión

The drive to El Recodo is to the northwest is under two hours. Villa Union is just off Highway 15 on the way back.

On Sunday, we drove out to the town of El Recodo and made a stop at Villa Unión for lunch at a famous seafood restaurant.

We were very lucky to run into a tour guide in El Recodo to show us around.  He also phoned ahead to the very popular restaurant in Villa Unión, which allowed us to get in almost right away.

The church off the main street in El Recodo was built in 1855. The bell was made of all kinds of metal that were collected from residents. That’s Samuel, our impromptu tour guide of the church and the town at large. He seems to know everyone there!
This is a beautiful Mexican giant cardon or elephant cactus, native to the area.
This picture is from inside a little museum dedicated to the famous ‘Banda El Recodo’ band and its founder Cruz Lizarraga (now deceased). It’s the centenary of Cruz’s birthday in 1918.
Just an old building with Spanish roof tiles that I liked very much -on a side street in El Recodo.
Here’s the Parroquia San Juan Bautista (Parish of San Juan Bautista) in Villa Unión, located on the main town square.
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Saturday/ Stone Island (Isla de la Piedra)

We went out to the beach at Stone Island today (look for Isla de la Piedra on Friday’s map). From where we are, we needed to cross the waterway north of the harbor to get there.

The boat ride across the waterway just north of the harbor to Stone Island takes just 5 minutes. 30 pesos ($1.62) are good for a trip there and back.
Main picture: Stone Island is technically not an island. It has a beautiful, tranquil beach that offers a lot of activities. Left to right: We had frozen cocos (‘Cocos Helados’) at Lety’s. These drinks are served in coconuts. Lots of vendors sell food and souvenirs on the beach. Don’t step on the pufferfish! (Not sure how it got on the beach. It might have been caught by a fisherman and thrown back). Horses and all-terrain vehicles are also available for rides right there on the beach.
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Friday/ El Mirador, Mazatlán

We walked up the hill to the observation deck called El Mirador (‘The Lookout’) tonight for a beer at the new restaurant there, and for the great views of the harbor and the lighthouse called El Faro.

Clockwise from top left: El Mirador overlooks the Mazatlán harbor towards the south-west | artwork from a neighborhood wall nearby | one of three British cannons used to defend Mazatlán against invaders at Fort 31 in the late 1800s| the Baja Ferry on the left runs overnight across the Gulf of California to La Paz; deep sea fishing boats in the harbor; the hill with El Faro (‘The Lighthouse’) on top, is on the right
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Thursday/ Mazatlán churches

I walked to two beautiful churches here in the city so that I could take a closer look.

The Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception is the main religious building in Mazatlan and is located in the historical center. The original building was completed in 1899.
This is the inside of the church, looking forward towards the altar.
Here is the Parroquia Cristo Rey (Parish of Christ the King). Its style is unusual and I could not immediately find more information about it online.
The main entrance to Parroquia Cristo Rey (Parish of Christ the King). Those pesky telephone cables interfere with my picture!
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Wednesday/ Mazatlán Malecón

The Mazatlán Malecón is a 13-mi. (20 km) promenade that is lined with street vendors, shops and restaurants, and Pacific ocean views.

Viva Mexico! This enormous flagpole and Mexican flag is just south of the central Mazatlán district. It makes the humans down below look like ants. (The flag is not always up; today was President Benito Juárez’s birthday). The green umbrella below is part of a coconut stand. The Malecón was quiet today, but will fill up with people as soon as the weekend starts.
This is the view of the Malecón from the rooftop of the Hotel Posada Freeman where we had a beer at sunset, looking towards the north. The gray paving is brand new.  The hill up ahead with the radio towers, is Icebox Hill, home to limestone caves once used to store ice imported from San Francisco during the mid-1800s. Mazatlán families used this ice to preserve their seafood and other perishables before the days of household refrigerators.
Here’s a view of Icebox Hill looking east from the Malecón. Inset:  An entrance to the old limestone caves, now off limits to the public. ‘Cueva del Diablo’, Cave of the Devil, says the lettering.
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Tuesday/ Mexico’s Day of the Dead /Día de Muertos

We went to see Disney’s animated movie Coco (2017)* in a local arts theater here.  The movie revolves around a Mexican boy Miguel, and the annual Day of the Dead/ Día de Muertos celebration.  Before the movie started, Mazatlán resident Laura Medina explained the Day of the Dead to us.  ‘Life and death is a duality, and cannot be completely separated’. Day of the Dead is about gatherings of family and friends, to pray for, and remember, friends and family who have died – and help support their spiritual journey.

*To quote IMDb: a touching, massively heartwarming story of the strongest familial variety.

Day of the Dead/ Día de Muertos characters for sale at a local art store here in Mazatlan.