La madre Naturaleza

There is much happening here. There was a 6.4 earthquake this morning at 6:50 AM centered in Chiapas the next state to the south.

Here's the epicenter from Reuters

I would guess it was maybe 15 seconds long, but one’s sense of time is all off, so who knows. It started slowly and built up until the last five seconds were scary. At that point, I was thinking, “Mmm, if it gets any worse, there will be damage, “ but it ground to a halt and it was followed by a collective pause, much like the silence just after the music stops.

Instant adrenaline buzz! No matter how you slice it, Mother Nature must be respected at all times and feared every now and then.

There are lots of earthquakes here. I just checked and there have been 93 in the since Jan 24. Here's a link to the current stats. The locals only worry when there are none for a time, because the next one could build into a major tremblor. And this area has had some big ones.

The houses are all one or two stories at the most and built of adobe or concrete with re-bar - very study stuff. I don’t think there was much damage. I read that a few old abandoned houses fell in the city.

After months of virtually no rain, it actually rained yesterday. I was working in the garden when it started. The winds in San Agustin are often fierce. They sing like no other place I have been. They were howling and I could look north across the valley and see dark clouds over Etla, which is to the northwest.

I have never experienced a dry season like this. The ground plants crunch, the dust is so fine it is like velvet and clothes dry on the line in just a few hours. Man, it is dry.

So to feel moisture coming from the sky was sublime. I just stood there in the rain and wind... until I realized I was late for dinner with Henry in the city.

We dodged raindrops and enjoyed the smell of the rain.
The jacarandas are blooming early. They normally flower in March and they come when it has been so dry for so long, they seem like miracles, an explosion of purple. So it appears that it has been so dry that they felt the need to arrive early.
Mother knows best.

UPDATE: It may have been a 6.6 and lasted over 40 seconds - time flies when you're freaking out!