Point South Mexico - Real Estate and Lifestyle Magazine

Mocha, Joe, mud, kopi, Java - no matter what you call it, coffee is not the first thing a Mexican reaches for in the morning. Probably born from its Scandinavian antecedents, coffee - with perhaps a little milk and sugar - is the breakfast of preference in America. The Brits prefer tea with sugar and milk. In France, a short shot of vin blanc is not unusual. In Italy, cappuccino con grappa might be preferred. To Germans, breakfast beer is a delight. Elsewhere, in Vienna for instance, strong coffee is poured simultaneously into a heated cup with scalded milk. The Mexican might prefer hot chocolate or vanilla-flavored atole.

A wise old man from a nearby village once told me, "The hills are alive and I have seen the mountains grow over my lifetime." I chuckled at the musings of this weathered man who had toiled the soil all his life. That was 16 years ago but the hills are not the only things that have changed. Urban sprawl has etched its mark on the hillside and his words haunt me. How many farms or green spaces do you see along the lake? In his lifetime he had not seen what most of us take for granted. When we take that scenic drive around the lake, we are thankful for our piece of paradise. Yet I wonder how deeply our presence here has affected the villages and how it has affected the villagers' ability to maintain a sustainable lifestyle.

Between Tequila, Jalisco and "Lakeside," Jalisco

In December 2007, our REVIEW cover and centerfold was devoted to COFRADIA TEQUILA....probably the best Tequila in the country of Mexico, at least from this writer's point of view.

My apologies for the December issue. I DID want to wish you all a very happy holiday season, however you celebrate.  Now I can wish you the very best in 2008.  Sincerely.

With about one-fourth the land area of the United States, Mexico has as many plant species, estimated at over 20,000. With 300 different species of oaks, 600 to 800 kinds of orchids, more than half the worlds cactus specimens and more varieties of native bulbs than the Netherlands, Mexico is a vast Botanical Garden. Growing wild along Mexico's highways are many flowers that we painstakingly cultivate in our northern gardens. In September you may find pink and yellow cosmos, orange and pink dahlias, three species of marigolds, white and yellow Mexican poppies, blue and white salvia, a small red zinnia, mauve and pink hollyhocks and others.