Random Musings – GringoPotpourri

Hungry, Hungry Hippos

I survived my surgery.

Of course I did! Those of you who’ve been following this blog may recall that I was due to have surgery to remove an anomaly on my parathyroid, a quartet of glands near the throat that control calcium distribution throughout the human body (you can read my last post here). The parathyroidectomy was performed at Vanderbilt on September 16^thwith minimal pain afterwards (much to my relief). I still have occasional discomfort that feels like a sore throat; a steri-strip bandage remains over the stitching, said to fade in time. And good news: doctors were able to save my thyroid itself, which means no unexpected weight gain, squeaky voice, or hormonal imbalance.

And yet as I write this, I’m on day 15 of a post-op hospital stay. So what happened?

Four Grains of Rice

The above picture, taken peak-pandemic, circa April, 2021, finds your favorite gringo blogger struggling to wake up and greet the day. Post-morning fart, with noteworthy bedhead and spectacular beardage courtesy of local hair salons being shuttered due to coronavirus, I blearily imbibe coffee. I don’t recall what prompted me to stage this photo, but I remember those uncertain months and that very, very long spring, when hoarding toilet paper became a stock-in-trade and when hand sanitizer was seemingly more valuable than a pot of gold.

Fast forward a little more than five years, and no one talks about the pandemic anymore—almost as if it never happened. As for yours truly, I’ve moved to Knoxville and am five months into a new job with a company that genuinely values its employees. I still have that bathrobe and coffee mug, as well as the facial hair. The beard is less unkempt, though speckled with lots of gray. Beneath each eye: matching crow’s feet, or laugh lines, if you will.

Also, I’m two inches shorter than I was when this picture was taken.

A Rare Gringo Sighting

When last we spoke, I was going on six weeks of having lost my job and was ~500 pages deep into writing my first novel. I wrote about visiting family in Memphis, TN, about road trips to Savannah, GA and Hilton Head Island, SC, and about hikes taken along the Blue Ridge National Parkway, NC. Though less than a year has passed since that post, it seems like yesterday and ages ago at the same time.

Where the Heck Has the Gringo Been?!?!

¡Felices fiestas! Happy Holidays! It has nine months since my last blog post, and while I don’t exactly get a surplus of messages asking for more content, I figured those of you who consider yourself Loyal Readers may wonder what the heck I’ve been up to. The answer – that I’ve been up to quite a lot but also not much at all – may seem contradictory, so bear with me as I explain.

Bidding Adieu to 2020

What a year it has been! (And I don’t mean that as a compliment.) Indeed, if I were to call 2020 a “crazy year,” that would be, by most accounts, an understatement. From COVID-19, cases of which continue to climb as news of rival vaccines suggest that hope is in the not-so-distant horizons; to seemingly-endless California wildfires; to dual hurricanes ravaging the Central American countries of El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua; to meth gators, murder hornets, and giant Saharan dust clouds – and to one exhausting presidential election in which the candidate that officially lost still refuses to concede – it seems that planet Earth has been on its collective toes since the year began.

Election 2020: All Bets Are Off

Eight years ago, I began this blog as wide-eyed expat who had just arrived in Mexico City. While the occasional post might have been about movies, family members back in the U.S., or travel memories to other parts of the world, the general theme was about my new life abroad – settling in, taking in the sights, navigating my blossoming relationship with a CDMX local, etc. Content was added, on average, once or twice a week.

Fast forward to 2020, the year to end of all years, and I hardly write at all, and just once about Mexico City. I am finishing up six years of Tennessee residency, and wondering what my employer’s recent announcement, that our Knoxville office will be permanently closing next year and all employees in it remaining 100% virtual, means in terms of remote living possibilities should a fish-out-of-water such as myself want to move to a different city.

First things first, though: we have an election to contend with…and it is sure to be a doozy. With a general sense of anxiety in the air, with a pandemic that seems to be rising in new cases, with a passionate #BLM movement that has staked some equally-passionate flames on the other side of the aisle, I feel that the stakes have never been higher.
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For My Mexico City Friends

See those pictures above? They are of Mexico City, a teeming mass of humanity and my favorite city in the world.

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Remembering Molly

It has been one month since I lost my best friend.

I am talking, of course, about Molly, the world’s best golden retriever, who died unexpectedly while supposedly on the mend from a bladder infection.

We mourn the passings of our beloved fur babies because they are in our lives for such a short period of time, and because they ask us for so little, yet give so much affection in return. I grew up with dogs from infancy, and, like my parents and sister, have always treated them like part of the family. They sleep inside, not out (and on our beds much of the time). They have Christmas stockings and receive birthday cards. They go with us on family vacations.

But Molly was even more special. She was the love of my life.

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Merry Christmas!

2019 has been an interesting year both nationally – presidential impeachment, drought-like conditions for much of the country throughout the summer – and internationally – Brexit woes for the U.K., Chinese trade tariffs, and a hurricane-ravaged Bahamas.

On a personal level, it was a pretty good year. I explored more of Tennessee and the Carolinas, spent time with my precocious nephew over Thanksgiving, and ended the year with a bit of good financial news.

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Greetings from the Nadir

It was six months ago this month when I announced my intentions to more or less hang up my blog hat, so to speak. The post had a “goodbye-but-hopefully-not-forever” tone about it, and I did hint at the end that I may pop up every now and again with the occasional update. Aside from today’s entry, and from my February 18^th Oscar predictions post – an annual rite of passage that began in 2012, all has otherwise been silent on the blogging front.

I still send the occasional Tweet courtesy of my @gringopotpourri feed, although ceasing production on the blog while simultaneously suspending my Facebook account all but derailed any substantial Twittersphere engagement.

All of that having been said, I thought I’d pop up from the void to let you know that I am still alive and well.

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