From the Publisher's Desk
Summer in the Fast Lane
Here it is June and our friends, the Snowbirds, have now left Mazatlán for cooler climes. In past years that usually signaled an hiatus from a busy social season with a long, lazy summer stretching out before those of us who are full-time residents.
But this summer we are in for something different.
 
With the recent influx of retirees who have chosen Mazatlán as their home has come a wave of suggestions to keep us hopping over the summer. Either in progress or in the planning stage are: a theater group, craft group, artists´ association, convertible club, First Fridays Art Walk, Hash House Carriers, non-denominational bible study group and Orchid Society. In addition, meetings and events sponsored by Friends of Mexico, Hands Across the Borders, Amigos de los Animales, the American Legion and other service clubs keep rolling merrily along all summer come rain, shine or hurricanes.
 
At the Pearl we spend our summers hunkered down in the air-conditioning working on our Spanish edition, English issues and brainstorming for the coming season. This year we will be even busier preparing an updated version of Christine Yerbic´s popular Cooking in Mexico cookbook for release in November, and the 2008-09 issue of our comprehensive Official Guide & Directory to Mazatlán.
 
Both at the office and at home, the coming season used to be prime time for hiring the best plumbers, carpenters, painters, floor polishers, aircon repair companies and gardeners because, with the Snowbirds gone, they were available and eager for work. But as Bob Dylan wrote, “the times they are a-changing.” Mazatlán´s construction boom has swallowed up our most reliable painter and electrician. Our gardener, who always brought along his wife as his assistant, now has a crew of four with responsibilities far beyond pruning a simple bougainvillea hedge. We´re happy for them but miss sharing their jokes and a cold beer after a hard day of work.
This year our summer will probably be spent at Home Depot looking for electrical switches, researching orchids, catching up on eight months of Spanish homework, watering the grass, attending planning meetings, scraping ceilings, painting walls and editing books. I think I may have to go away for awhile just to rest from summer in the fast lane.
Maureen Dietrich
Editor