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Report From South Of Town - 4 January 2010
¡Prospero Año Nuevo!
First, I’d like to wish each and every one of you the Happiest of New Years and/or as they say here, a ¡Prosperous New Year! God knows everybody needs one after the decade of the oughts.
I suppose many of you are wondering about my habitual annual Christmas and New Year’s missing greetings here. I’ve been electrically challenged for much of the past couple of months. As I got closer to the end of the month, my ability to store electricity went from bad to non-existent. Yep, the batteries died and I do not possess a hand crank computer. Luckily, their meeting their overdue end did not completely ruin my year long plans for Navidad.
Ever since I was privileged enough to experience the smiles I received from the children of Xcalak last Christmas, I’ve wanted to do it again. Starting in July, I began looking for and buying gifts for them. I also stopped trimming my white beard – itch, itch, itch. When I found an item on sale I imagined I would enjoy if I was a kid here, I bought lots of them – sometimes all there was. Snorkel masks, recorders (flautas), beach toys, Frisbees, games and things I felt underprivileged children would enjoy receiving from Santa Flaco.
By November, I had amassed almost seventy toys for niños. On one trip to Chetumal in November, I found a good deal on stuffed animals (peluches para Navidad) and topped off my quantity of gifts at a few more than eighty. Then I went on a quest for wrapping paper. All things Christmas were proudly displayed for aggressive marketing by then, but wrapping paper simply did not exist anywhere. At a papelería I visited, a lady who often helps me find what I want offered to order some for me. So, I ordered some really nice shiny foil Christmas paper. Funny, there wasn’t any available with “Feliz Navidad” on it; only “Merry Christmas” – but, it was pretty to me.
Upon my return home, I found my refrigerator off and everything in the freezer defrosted – the batteries had met their end of service life. I fired up the smoker and cooked all my meat for the next couple months. In unpacking my cold things cooler from the truck, I discovered I only made it home with five of the thirty eggs I had bought intact. Toro and I had scrambled eggs for dinner, breakfast and lunch the next day. Cranking up the generator, I managed to charge the batteries only to have them go dead three hours after turning the generator off. But, the fridge was plenty cold by then and if I stayed out of it, it would stay cool for about a dozen more hours.
For those of you who I have made envious of living like I do, I apologize for bringing a bit of reality to your dreams. The main reason I only go shopping once per month is it is about a 230 mile round trip to Chetumal where one can buy most things one needs. It is also nearly an eighty mile round trip just to buy gasoline to run the generator. And that trip has been reduced to the eighty mile trip by the opening of the Pemex a few years ago. I used to have to drive to Chetumal and back for gasoline. These things one has to live with when considering living near the end of the road in paradise. With a little planning, it ain’t that difficult; as long as Mr. Murphy doesn’t apply his law too terribly often. You ought to try driving back from the gas station at night on a new moon with no headlights – I’ve done it and survived! It seems the secret to almost everything is patience.
By my December trip to Chetumal I had replaced all but four of the bad batteries with good automotive batteries I had here as backups for the truck. They too had a finite life I expected to end soon, but something is better than nothing even if it didn’t last long. I resupplied my groceries and scored the Christmas wrapping paper I had ordered.
Upon my return home, I decided I’d begin what turned out to be a four and a half day chore of wrapping some 80 presents. With lots of pretty paper, tape and Christmassy red and golden chord left over from last year, I fumbled with my five fingers, a nub, my teeth, my nose and elbows in attempt to make presentable presents for the niños of Xcalak. I wrapped 83 presents securely, tied 62 bows and grumbled like a Grinch for nearly five days wondering how I got myself into such a mess.
Once I was finished and had placed them around my tree Hanno had given me back in 2002 and on the fold down couch, the mere sight of them returned the Christmas spirit to Santa Flaco. Sitting at my dining table with the gifts, lit tree and the Caribbe in the background through the glass sliding door was a sight that could awaken the Christmas spirit in anybody. I tried for a couple days to get a good photograph in the daytime to share with you here, but the lighting was impossible to work with. I got photos showing the Caribbe, but no presents and barely a tree. I got photos of the tree, no presents and an all white sliding door. I got photos of the presents, no tree ornaments or lights and a glowing sliding door. It was beyond me and my cameras’ abilities to capture what my bad eyes witnessed to share with those who enjoy Portillas.com. I took 324 photos and none were worth looking at.
At about 2:00AM on 21 December, the wind and rain had died along with my AM radio I listen to at night to catch the Cowboys and Spurs playing along with CoastToCoast late night on 1200AM from San Antonio. CoastToCoast keeps me apprised of all things weird – ghosts, UFOs, etc. The station fades in and out and is only receivable at night from here. I surmised the batteries had once again died when the chaquistas started munching on the exposed portions of my ass. So Toro and I wander outside to crank up the generator to recharge the batteries so my plug-in chaquista killers would allow me to sleep unmolested.
As long as the generator is running, I do not have to be concerned at the amount of electricity I’m using. I decide in the spirit of Navidad I’d sit at my table and enjoy my tree lit up along with some coffee and a dash of Kahlúa. Playing the CD I’d made of Christmas carols in Spanish at maximum volume to drown out the roar of the generator; I decided to try to get my Christmas photo again. It only took 42 attempts to capture the one I decided to post here.
With severely limited amounts of electricity after the generator had to be turned off so I’d have enough gasoline for the day to come soon, I decided I’d spray the upstairs with Raid, close the doors and windows and watch the pepper like bodies appear on the pink tile floors. Once the floor was covered, I could get a little shuteye before the sun lightened the clouds – I’ll sweep later.
Sweating in bed proved to be a futile attempt at sleeping. Hot and humid were the active adjectives for the day so far. The fridge ate all of what I had put in the bad batteries after I ate my Tony Tigers. Crank up the generator; resize the photos to pick one for the web, pump water in the tinaka so I can wash my bowl and spoon. I got it posted here right before I ran out of gasoline, but there was no time to write anything. Thus the “just a photo” Christmas message I produced turned out to be all I could do for Navidad for you.
I had ordered a complete new set of batteries from Tom at Solar Costa Maya (www.solarcostamaya.com) but they got stuck in customs in Veracruz for the holidays – something I felt certain would happen considering when I ordered them. Luckily I had completed my Christmas shopping for the niños of Xcalak before I had to order three grand worth of batteries. Yea, Mr. Murphy’s law does get enforced here more often than not.
Noche Buena (Spanish for Christmas Eve) finally rolls around. Santa Flaco loads up his sled (Green-Go, the name I gave to the truck I built from a very green 82 Cheby body I bought and installed ‘Ole Blue’s guts and camper in) and heads down the multitude of lakes he calls the road to the middle pole also known as Portillas.
Santa’s helper’s mother had a heart attack earlier and she was with her mom in Chet aiding in her recovery in the hospital. Solo, Santa Flaco decided not to walk the town with the load of gifts kept dry in a couple huge black garbage bags slung over his shoulder. Call me lazy, I don’t care. Last year, he only had one (the biggest one) and was recovering from a broken ankle, but his helper felt walking was the best. Without any input, I loaded my sled, turned on the stereo loud with my Navidad carols, windows down and parked in the middle of each short street. Niños poured out to greet the strange tall old skinny man dressed in red and white Caribbean attire with his conehead hat neatly flopped over with its top bell banging his eye often. With countless JO, JO, JOs (in Español, “H” is silent and “J” sounds like a gringo’s “H”) Santa Flaco sat his butt on Green-Go’s tailgate and portrayed Carnac in attempting to decide what each child would enjoy most.
Watching a child go from fear to skepticism, to complete surprise and finally to an elated joy is one of the greatest opportunities of my life. Mere words cannot possibly describe the happiness it brought me to make a child that happy even for one moment in time. Somehow it is different giving to those who expected nothing. To me, it was overwhelming – so much so, I forgot to get many photos and just wanted to do it again, again and again. Eventually I managed to take my poorly timed photos so I could share the video I planned to make for you, my readers in my feeble attempt to pass on my joy to you.
I may have messed up with a few things – one, the wrapping of their gifts. Now, I ain’t no prize winning wrapper, but I figured if it looked loose, put mo’ tape on it. I ended up with about 80 hermetically sealed packages wrapped in a nearly impossible to tear Mylar paper. The gifts turned out individually beautiful in strange shapes revealing nothing of what they were inside. Many, I had sliced the outer edge of the paper to make it frilly and tied a bow tightly from the golden chord I had leftover from the previous year. Kids who have no shoes do not understand bows. When I was a kid at Christmas, bits of paper flew everywhere as I viciously attacked my Christmas presents. These shiny pretty presents were something precious to these kids. What was inside was of no importance whatsoever.
Oftentimes, both I and the kids’ parents had to plead with them to open their gift. Most were more than content to hug their wrapped present and stare at me in disbelief of their good fortune. With great care they would open their present, not even wanting to sacrifice the tape. Moms helped them and the paper was very neatly folded as if it were delicate clothing. Six inch sections of the golden chord were cherished and not permitted to touch the ground. I overheard one kid asking their mom if their birthday present could be someday wrapped in the paper. I found myself wishing I knew everybody’s birthday. I’d never get anything done.
I had started passing out regalos at 9:00AM. Somebody commented, “Santa Temprano.” By a little past 3:00PM, the most unfortunate thing happened. Without Santa’s helper’s assistance I had no accurate count of niños. Further complicated by the fact that it was a warm beautiful day for a Beach Navidad, I had not counted on the very many visiting niños from out of town. How does one attempting to impersonate Santa Clause tell some kid they’re in the wrong place for Santa to have anything for them? Me, I couldn’t. When I got down to the bottom of my bags, I hadn’t made it to the northern part of town yet. What was worse, by then, word had traveled fast and I had a following of many niños. I was in front of the school and had maybe fifteen gifts left and maybe twenty kids at the back of Green-Go. All the great feelings I had received felt like they were going to fly away and I’d be in my sled with two empty black plastic bags. I picked kids I knew were from Xcalak and from poor families and pretended those presents were especially for them. There remained a few who appeared extremely disappointed at my vacant bags, though most of the others had left to play with their friends. I opened my wallet and gave those others I had nothing for 50 pesos cash. After running out of fifties (I did have many), only one remained and I gave her a cien.
Before I jumped in my sled, I noticed tears of joy in her eyes just staring at me and her little cream colored note with red ink on it. I smiled, said “Feliz Navidad” and drove home.
Upon my arrival home, Toro was more than happy to see me. Taking a box from my refrigerator with Noche Buena printed scriptically on its sides, I went to my new beach table I built from a gift from the sea, sat down, opened a bottle of my strange brew and just watched the water change colors.
I went on sippin’ my cervezas for another week with meals of smoked turkey, wild rice and honey smoked ham I had made and froze after my trip to Chetumal in November. By January 1, 2010, I was halfway through my second case of Noche Buenas when Tom from Costa Maya Solar showed up with my new batteries on New Year’s Day! I now have electricity!
December 11, 2009 – An Anniversary To Remember In Xcalak!
I do not think I’d suggest calling it 12-11 due to the negative connotations involved in using such a name. After all, it is to be the anniversary of a happy event. On occasion, I get to witness the beginning of a great idea. I would like to tell you all about it here and now.
I went to Chetumal at the beginning of the month to both get robbed by Migration and buy a few things I needed for the month of December and into January. One of my favorite breakfasts here is huevosmachacado breakfast tacos. Basically, I buy chipped dried beef, onions, make a salsa (the most important part) and eggs. When I buy a carton of 30 eggs they are at the store not refrigerated. They’re fresh and much more fragile when stored at room temperature. I put the eggs I buy in a cooler with my other cold or frozen things and carefully pack with ice.
The road to here is treacherous from Xcalak. If it gets any worse, I may need a four wheel drive truck with Gumbo Monster Mudders on it just to get home. When it is dry, it is fairly easy as long as I drive the last three miles at 5MPH or less. When it is wet, it is difficult to avoid the huge holes that are covered with water. So, even at a crawl, I slam hard into a few I didn’t remember from my last trip into Xcalak.
In those instances, it is always a guessing game to see what survived the trip. I recall it taking six months to collect four margarita glasses that arrived here in one piece. And I accidentally broke one while washing it. Obviously, I do not get home with many eggs. This trip, Toro was very pleased to find out I only got home with three eggs after I scrambled the other twenty-seven for dinner.
By last Friday, I want my breakfast tacos so much; I go to town just to get eggs at Melchor’s. I buy another thirty. This time, I use a little more of the sense God gave me and pack them securely, double cartoned top and bottom on the front seat – their odds of surviving seem better there.
On my way out of town, I stop by Toby’s Restaurant with my netbook computer I named Bob Esponga because I carry it in a Sponge Bob children’s lunch kit. I had saved my web page so I could show it to him if I couldn’t get online in town.
Upon reading what I had written, he advised me I had put the day of his Mexican Taco Night as Saturday in error. (I have since edited the mistake.) I never make mistakes. I once thought I had made one but, I was mistaken. Since then, when I think I made a mistake, I lie about it.
Friday Night, December 11, 2009 was the first of what I certainly hope to be many – Friday Mexican Taco Nights at Toby’s Restaurant.
Several times, I’ve overheard tourists, after studying the menu at Silvia’s Restaurant saying, “I want Mexican food! Where, in this town, can we get some real Mexican food?” not being aware that they had gone to a Restaurante Yucateca. Being a gringo Texan in Xcalak, I knew what they were talking about – they wanted Taco Bell food – Tex-Mex. To them, what I had, a whole fried snapper cooked to perfection the Mexican way and most likely had been swimming in the Caribbe only hours before I stopped at Silvia’s.
Tacos here aren’t like those sold at “Mexican Food” places in the US. They aren’t served in hard fried corn tortillas artfully bent over so they break spilling all their contents when you pick them up. They aren’t made with some kind of mystery meat that somehow looks like watered down canned dog food mixed with spaghetti sauce topped with lots of finely grated American cheese to hide the true flavor of the mystery meat. And spicy does not mean served with an exploding thin plastic container of hot sauce that ain’t hot at all.
Toby’s Tacos are REAL MEXICAN TACOS! One might say they’re the same – only different.
These ain’t ‘yo mama’s Jack-In-The-Box Tacos! On Taco Night Toby serves an order of four tacos for 78 pesos. You have your choice of soft homemade flour tortillas or soft homemade corn tortillas. You also have your choice of beef (arrachera or what you might know as fajita meat), chicken, fish or shrimp for meat in your tacos. I ordered mixto for the purpose of the above photo. To some, the 78 pesos may seem a little pricey for four tacos in Mexico. But, Toby can justify his price because to make the salsas fresh from produce is an expensive undertaking. You can dress your tacos as you like from his table filled with delectable salsas as he did in this photo:
Toby also separates the “spicy” from the “mild” salsas and is more than happy to rate them for you. To me, there is not a lot worse than ruining an otherwise quality meal with a bit too much capsaicin. In the Yucatan, they do not use jalapenos as their spicy peppers. I personally like jalapenos and have great difficulty locating them fresh at times. Why? Because they prefer habaneros here. Habaneros are about ten times spicier than jalapenos. Capsaicin is the stuff in the pepper that makes them what we call HOT! or spicy. It is an acquired taste for those of you non-Texans. There’s nothing macho about having your mouth virtually on fire from too much capsaicin along with that burning sensation one usually gets on the following day. “C’mon ice cream!”
Cliff’s hint for those of you who err on the side of too spicy. The effects of capsaicin are markedly reduced by placing generous amounts of salt on one’s tongue immediately after feeling too much capsaicin. Salt almost instantaneously puts out the fire. Generous amounts of liquid makes the salt taste go away. Drink mo’ cerveza!
However, Toby’s “spicy” rating is a bit conservative compared to others I’ve neglected to listen to. I tried a taste of all of Toby’s salsas and found them each to be quite tasty with consideration given for the palates of the inexperienced gringo turistas.
The above photo is of the first tourists to have attended and dined at Toby’s Friday Mexican Taco Night. They had no idea who I was and how dangerous I am with a camera. They unknowingly went down in the history of Xcalak. I give you their proof they were the first ever at this event for future reference.
Also included in Toby’s 78 peso price is what Toby called “Cucarachas.” John called them “Poppers” And I, along with others, called them “Damned Good.”
I was the first to try one and didn’t capture the Kodak moment. But, I did manage to get the second, third and fourth and above are the guilty parties. No they aren’t eating cockroaches. They are being served a concoction of Sprite, Grenadine and the whole reason for drinking it – Tequila! Toby covered the tops of the shot glass to slam the shot glass on the table causing it to turn to a pink foam and quickly poured it down the victim’s throat. You can actually see what it did to Doran’s head in the photo.
A great time was had by all in attendance and everybody had a great meal along with lots of cervezas. As the evening began to wind down and a warm fuzzy feeling began to settle over all, the biggest surprise of all appeared reminding us of the season. Christmas carolers showed up as if on cue. Hmmm, I need to learn yet another Spanish term. I’m not certain what one would call them in Spanish. Nonetheless, these young niñas sang Jingle Bells, mostly in English for us. Ain’t they cute in this photo?
Little do these girls know, Santa Flaco will ride again this year!
Xcalak, this little drinking town with a fishing problem, has a new restaurant in the pueblo. On the main drag through “centro” Xcalak, right before you get to Silvia’s Restaurant, a young fella named Toby has just opened his newly built restaurant. And it is a welcome addition to the three other restaurants that have been the extent of the selection of “Where do we eat?” in this little town at the end of the road on the eastern coast in México.
I’ve known Toby since I first arrived here many years ago. At the time, I could not speak Spanish at all and Toby, who speaks very good English, proved to be a very big help. Naturally, I would like very much to see him succeed in his venture.
Many of you, who have been Xcalak fans over the past years, recall Alan & Adolfo’s Xcalak Caribbe Restaurant & Bar on the beach in town. Adolfo went to help build Buena Vista and Alan ran the bar everybody referred to as, “Alan’s” for a few years. Back then, Alan was paying $1,200 U.S. Dollars per month for rent – twelve months per year. In a town where tourists only come three or four months per year, it is easy to surmise it would be very difficult to be profitable with rent like that. Alan finally succumbed to the overhead difficulties and with the help of Mark and Rachael started the “Chicken Nights” at the Maya Village. Yamira reopened the Xcalak Caribbe, remodeled it and made it into a “Class A” restaurant. Tom and Yamira moved to Majahual to pursue their solar power business nearer to their larger client base. (And a fine job they’ve done with it! Visit www.solarcostamaya.com ) Toby and Moises (aka Moy) took over the Xcalak Caribbe and successfully continued the excellence Yamira had established. The slow season’s overhead ate ‘em up. Now, a new proprietor, Raul, is attempting to make ends meet in the high rent district.
Moy decided to reestablish the once weekly gathering of gringos for “Chicken Night” at Maya Village that Alan founded. Moy has had sufficient success during what we call “High Season”. At least he and his family can eat the eight or ten chickens he barbecued when only two or three folks showed up. Moy wizened (or his family got tired of chicken) and he discontinued Chicken Nights through the slow season.
Toby, on the other hand, decided to slap together a few boards on the side of his family’s home, put a couple of tables on it and open a small open air restaurant adjacent to their family home (no rent). At the beginning of the slow season, Toby tore it down and began building a real brick and mortar restaurant. Late in the Summer I feared he wouldn’t have time to get it built before tourists started arriving in town. No tropical problems to speak of came this year to foil Toby’s restaurant building efforts and he successfully built his dream.
Unfortunately “High Season” is about a month late now. Where are you folks? I feel the economy has something to do with the lack of tourists here, but I am certain there will be at least a few of you who can and will come down here to enjoy this little piece of tropical paradise. If and when you do, I do hope you will plan to put Toby’s Restaurant on your itinerary.
Please note: All prices are in Mexican Pesos so, do not have a heart attack reading this menu! Currently you can get about twelve pesos for a US dollar.
This copy of Toby’s menu exhibits the selection you will find available to be made to order for you. Toby’s Restaurant is scheduled to be open Mondays through Saturdays from 9:00AM till 9:00PM.
A few weeks ago, Toby had his grand opening by hosting the “Chicken Night” festivities for a couple of weeks prior to Moy’s actually resuming the traditional “Chicken Night” at Maya Village. I was on my way to pick up my monthly supply of purified water and Toby came out to meet me at my truck and invite me to come for Chicken Night dinner. I was only too happy to accept and attend before I made the terrible drive home.
Unprepared, I did not have my camera to photograph the excellent presentation of the plate I received for your viewing here. Know, it looked as good as it tasted and it tasted GREAT!
In discussing my intention to post a story about his restaurant on my website, Toby revealed some of his near future plans to add to your list of things to do in Xcalak. ¡Friday Night Tacos! What a better way to enjoy a Friday in Xcalak than to enjoy fresh Mexican Tacos with your tequila or favorite cervezas. Did I mention Toby is a master at making Piña Coladas, Margaritas and many other well known drinks of Mexican traditional flavor and ambiance? I doubt you could be disappointed with the fiestas Toby has in his plans.
This ain’t yer’ typical Taco Bell Mexican Restaurant. And you can order in either English or Spanish as you prefer. The food is great. You do not need reservations. Formal attire not permitted (broma). The prices are moderately low. Service is attentive and very friendly. I highly recommend Toby’s Restaurant as a Xcalak must visit destination. ¡Bien Provecho!
Thanksgiving on this date (the fourth Thursday in November) is, as far as I know, celebrated only in the United States. Canada observes their similar day on a different date already passed for this year – SSDD. In Mexico it is known, but as a gringo holiday. Many gringos do celebrate “Turkey Day” here. I do. My turkey is currently smoking on my water smoker. Me, I’m waiting for its twelfth hour to begin carving with an eye on the clock in salivating anticipation of my piña colata pavo.
I spent last week in Chetumal. Before I leave here, I’ve learned to check the calendar for a holiday I am unaware of. Sure enough, Monday the 16th of November was listed as the day of the Mexican Revolution Celebration. The following Friday was listed as the actual Day of the Mexican Revolution. For me, Monday was definitely out for traveling with a good possibility of Friday being a day I wanted to be back by. I should be able to accomplish my chores by leaving here Tuesday morning and returning by Thursday afternoon.
As most of my regular readers know, Mr. Murphy picks the worst times to apply his law to my best laid plans. As I come around the curve nearing Bacalar, I step on the brake pedal to slow my rapid pace. I can’t really say nothing happened. But, the brake pedal went straight to the floor with no resistance whatsoever.
Green-Go, my truck with ‘Ole Blue’s heart, transmission and rear axle transplanted into the body of a very bad but fairly clean bodied green’82 Cheby truck, had absolutely no brakes at all. I had spent the past many months completely rewiring the truck and had noticed that more than half of the emergency brake cable was missing. Dumb ‘ole me, I figured I could wait to replace it – thar ain’t no hills here where it would be needed to be parked and secured by a parking brake. With foot off the accelerator and as rapidly as possible pumping the brake pedal, Green-Go kept on truckin’ but at a reduced rate of forward velocity. Shifting into neutral, I came to the first reductorde velocidad in Bacalar. With a Dukes of Hazard leap into the air and the subsequent slam to the pavement, the giant tope performed as advertised drawing stares from all around at a crazy gringo driving stupidly. Barely rolling, I bumped reverse and came to a complete stop at the side of the road – thanking God I hadn’t hit anyone or anything. Hey, Thanksgiving’s soon anyway.
Looking under my truck, I discovered the right front tire was completely wet with brake fluid. Under the hood revealed an empty master cylinder reservoir. Luckily, I carry more fluid, but further inspection revealed the plastic hose had been cut very slightly and would quickly drain any fluid I put into it with the pumping of the brakes. I decided to try a bit of tape and a few zip-ties to temporarily seal the leak until I could get a new brake line in Chetumal if I could slowly get there.
Slowly driving toward Chetumal with only one stop to refill the reservoir, I made it through Huy Pix and on past the glorieta that turns toward the Free Zone at the Belize border using slow speed and topes to stop Green-Go. I had minimum brakes if necessary and felt confident I could safely make it to the refracionariaValdemar for a new brake line.
Imagine my surprise when I came upon the State Police checkpoint on the approach to Chetumal and a policeman steps out in front of my truck signaling me to suddenly stop! That was when my pants got dirty and the brakes miraculously worked. He stepped aside after the truck stopped and let me continue without a word. Never, in my life, have I been more thankful to get parked at an auto parts store – Tuesday was shot to Hell.
My theory of the Mexican Revolution being celebrated as the calendar indicated proved to be wrong. Every morning at 8:00AM for the entire week kids dressed as revolutionaries paraded down Heroes Ave. By Friday, I had become used to it, but it was the finale and school was let out for the morning and the parade lasted until 11:00AM. I couldn’t leave the hotel with my truck, but somehow I managed to accomplish all I planned and made it safely back to Xcalak and beyond toward the end of the road here – There and back again by Bilbo Baggins.
So, you see, even in the darkest of times, somebody can find something to be thankful for on any day of the year. It is this day, Thanksgiving Day, we have set aside to count our blessings and not be concerned by things beyond our immediate control. Save them for a different day.
I am thankful for my children and those they chose to bring into our family. And I am especially thankful for the little miracle my son, Cliff and my new daughter, Magann brought into my world, my grandson, Christian. Candice and Seth also know how much I am thankful for them and their union.
Giving thanks is what this day is all about. I raise a toast to you, my readers in thanks for your all too kind words both in person and via e-mail. You might find it quite surprising there have been more than a half million of you unique visitors to Portillas.com according to both Google Analytics and the previous Tracker I used earlier when I founded this site. All of you folks in your ninety countries around the world and in the 2,694 cities you surf the net from have my most sincere thanks for inspiring me to write here. I do enjoy hearing from you.
Coming very soon:
There’s a new restaurant in town – a review of Toby’s Restaurant.
A Special Note: While the following
links are the best I have found, they are commercial sites
outside my domain. Some do put spyware on your computer.
It is how they are paid for what they do. As a rule, it
is generally harmless but, those who are concerned should
do a scan after visiting. Search for AdAware from Lavasoft
on the internet, it is free.
