The easiest subject to discuss with other people has always been the weather, and the reason for that is, of course, that every day we get some kind of weather to talk about. That is, unless you live at Lakeside where the weather is about the same most of the year, give or take a couple of months when the good Lord or someone else in charge blesses us with often more rain than we know what to do with. Folks in other parts of this world get different kinds of weather all the time and thus can talk at length about this never-ending phenomenon.
So, on a hot day in January, I found myself joining a small group of experts who debated the merits and pitfalls of the Lake Chapala climate. We had gathered at the poolside of Manzanillo's hot little pink Hotel La Posada, right along the shores of the Pacific Ocean, clad in various types of beach or swimwear, shlurping local rum or tequila concoctions and being of one or the other mind about our favorite subject.
There just wasn't a better place than Lakeside for year-round weather anywhere else on this planet, we all agreed, but then, what on earth were we doing some 200 miles south-west of Lake Chapala, at zero feet altitude compared to our paradise some 4,500 feet further up?
Someone suggested that we all needed a well-deserved break from the perfect weather monotony along Lakeside, with Manzanillo being the closest ocean-front get-away offering plenty of sunshine, miles of hot sand, persistent surf breakers and refreshing breezes. Yes, we all chimed in, how true, even though Manzanillo's climate was already a bit humid for January, and the smog-blanket across the bay was less noticeable last year. February would probably be a lot hotter, someone predicted convincingly.
We normally don't knock the weather when talking about El Paraiso Chapala. Let us not forget that every day there feels like absolute spring. Sure, we could use some rain now and then, what with the wet season being half a year or so away, and yes, there's quite a lot of dust on our cars right now, and on and on.
Then one squeamish voice amidst us piped up. Some shivering soul dared to hint at the extremely cold Chapala nights of January and February. You know, the freezing cold bed and bathrooms in our lovely homes up there. The dark and shady living-rooms with their drafty wood fireplaces that suck in cold and smoky air when lit the wrong way? The freezing leather lounge-seats with an arctic bite that slowly eats into the back of our thighs and midriffs as the evening wears on? The mornings when we wear two sets of "sweats" while quickly cleaning the kitchen before the maid arrives? When we can't wait for the first rays of sunshine to defrost our furrowed faces? Whoa, stop right there and get Monica, the bar-belle, to bring us another round of shlops. Yours was what?
Of course, not all is perfect; not even in Ajijic on Lake Chapala. Why even bring it up? After all, there's always that little pink hotel on the south end of Manzanillo's tourist-strip where every God given morning the ocean-surf bangs the living daylights out of the beach while the effects of last night's libations slowly wear off. Time for another balmy day away from the chilly nights up on Lake Chapala .
