Nearly gone with the wind....

Wow, for four, no, five official "followers", you sure are a demanding lot. And even the unofficial ones have been making noises. And I thought nobody was listening. Okay, okay. Yes, it's been a long time. Sorry folks. Though it would be nice to say that the future is promising for more constant correspondence, we're heading into the Christmas season and soon on a reccy mission to southern Argentina, so busy, busy.

But, putting the world and it's business aside for one moment...

Well, happily, life returns to normal in Argentina -- to its chaos and unpredictability and its unkempt streets and wayward dogs and something new: strong winds coming up from the Patagonia. Usually the winds come up in August and everyone shuts their eyes for a month and grits the sand between their teeth while holding out to September But from all accounts, that month was fairly quiet, while October, and now November, have been windswept and turbulent, blowing the topsoil off recently planted seedlings and giving everything else a pitch of 30 degrees, and pretty much knocking out the internet service. A late frost has badly affected current crops, but word on the streets is that the 2009 wine harvest was excellent, so you might want to be looking out for those malbecs soon.

Really, at the moment, it's a game of "Pick your Plague". When the winds have finally died down, they've usually trailed along late night frosts; when they disappear altogether, then the temperature has soared to 32* C, and bugs start, literally, crawling out of the woodwork.... (it's an old house, that was neglected for too many years.) At night, we've heard termites gnawing and while it's good news to learn we've got the house for another couple of years at least, it's just as well that it's not ours: there's so much to set right.

They say that further south the winds are fairly constant, but that's to be seen in early December as we head on a mission to flog wares down San Martin de los Andes way. Meanwhile, feather and leather, bead and seed are coming together in the hopes that it's somewhat less conservative in its tastes than San Rafael. It's also a community featuring many more indigenous people and their own work, which should offer inspiration for designs.... and other dynamics and interactions to think about. It is obvious that there is a socio-cultural reevaluation occurring regarding the indian heritage -- only last month a large conference took place here in San Rafael, aimed at incorporating native history into secondary education -- but it's still a fairly recent -- and superficial -- phenomenon.

Well, there's work to get back to. Besides the things we want to take south with us, there's editing and translating to do and the water needs to be sent back on its way....that's for the next installment: riego and rodeo Here, however, are some pictures....