How I'm learning to love not driving

I had a couple of minor accidents about a year and a half ago.  The result of one or the other or both is that I have some minor problems with stability that are not serious but could be dangerous if I'm driving, so I don't  drive. if I were disciplined about the prescribed exercises, I might overcome them, but I'm not.  I used to be disciplined about a lot of stuff I no longer am.  ANYWAY, so I don't drive I take taxis which I mostly get from a company in Xico called Impala.  My friend Cristy chose the company because its rates were not the highest.  Also, their taxis are not the newest, but they are fine and the drivers are generally quite friendly (not too).  Their rates are going up because the price of gas here is going up rapidly as is inflation.  This is fairly easy to see not only because you can tell it is quickly in stores but because more people are starting to sell things out of their houses, among other things,  

So what I like is that I learn more about where I live not only from taxi drivers but often from taxi drivers.  Yesterday I had a driver I've had before.  He is from Xico and likes me because I live in Xico and really see no reason to live any other place.  So we talk about, for instance, the people of Xico, whom he says are really good people because they still have a strong sense of community and family, are kind and don't fight and don't use guns. And we talked about all the fiestas and the food and what you'd probably expect.  He said that he bet there was nothing about Xico I didn't like.  

I had to tell him I did NOT like the cohetes, the fireworks, which can sound like bombs.  My big dog, my grandote, my protector, I said, hates them so much that if I am home, he has to be right next to me touching me.

Well, of course, he lifted his eyebrows and looked at me disapprovingly.  "But they are part of our tradition!" 

"But they weren't always this way when we came.Now they seem to go off every day even when it isn't a feast day!"

But as I knew and rediscovered, many, many days are saints' days.  Today, for instance, May 15, when we have been having a cohete symphony, is the feast of Saint Isidore, the patron saint of farmers, an important personage around here.

Anyway, being the kind person he is, he agreed that it was too bad my dog was so easily frightened and we agreed to disagree on the frequency of reasons for cohetes.