Football, cold fronts and flowers

The extreme weather news is now coming from the other side of the world as a massive cyclone is bearing down on the Bay of Bengal and India. Apparently some 600,000 people have been evacuated as the weather threatens homes, families, agriculture, towns, etc. We know how they feel but it’s looking like this cyclone is mega enormous, it is awful. Fortunately, we have had no more hurricanes here but the rain is still with us, as the first of the cold fronts start to arrive. Our roads are absolutely appalling now and you have to drive with your eyes on the road and become an expert at negotiating all the holes. There are some that are so deep that it’s really easy to get a puncture or damage the axel. The motorway is now open to Acapulco, as of yesterday, and life is getting slowly back to normal. However, there are still thousands of people without homes, food and electricity and the reconstruction will take a long time. Needless to say news about their suffering is no longer making the news, especially as football has become a bit of a national issue and the passion is coming to the fore…

www.abc.net.au

Did you know that hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons are all the same weather phenomenon? What distinguishes them is their description that indicates where they occur. You will have a hurricane here but a cyclone in India.

Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons get names but cold fronts get numbers and we can expect a lot of them over the next months. In some places up north the temperatures go right down and there is even snow. Here, we just feel the chill at night but will always have bright sunshine and lovely temperatures during the day.  I love this time of year as everything is so green and the day of the dead flowers start appearing all over the countryside, not just the cempasuchitl that you can buy in the nurseries but also the wild versions covering the hillsides, it is a really beautiful time of year. I spent the morning picking almost the last of the calendulas and putting them in vases all over the house, along with the first of the wild cempasuchitl that grow in my garden. I love the colours together and the smell.

But back to the football and the World Cup; Mexico has not been doing too well and their qualification is very much in the balance. Last night they played against Panama in the Aztec Stadium in Mexico City and they had no option other than to win, if they are to have any chance at all of scraping through in their group. Well, fortunately, they did manage to win, 2:1, and there was relief all round. The whole country was watching as Chicharito managed to miss a gift of a penalty and it was only after the final whistle was blown that celebrations began. They have one more game ahead of them, against Costa Rica, and then we shall know if they manage to qualify or not. Since the World Cup is in Brazil this time it would be awful if Mexico were not to participate; football is a huge sport over here and having this mega event in Latin America has raised all sorts of extra expectation. I understand that England have to play Poland next week and if they win will automatically qualify, fingers crossed they do.

Every 4 years we get excited about the World Cup over here and I end up, together with my dear friend F, supporting England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, as well as Mexico and watch as many of the matches together as we can. Fortunately, there have never been matches between Mexico and England so far; we would probably lose friends if that did happen at some stage. Anyway, I find that these major sporting events are fascinating and am an avid watcher and supporter of the World Cup. I hope that Mexico does indeed qualify. Football is a great way to unite people; it also provides relief to those people who have had to suffer so much as a result of the hurricanes and tropical storms this year.