This week's Photo of the Week was taken by Juan Perez Simaj of Santa Cruz la Laguna. Juan shot this image around the 18th of April, 2014 looking down on the picturesque village of Santa Cruz
View the Photos of the Week archive at: http://santacruzlalaguna.weebly.com/photos.html
- 13 June, 4-6 p.m., Itadakimasu - Japanese Food Photography of David Anudas Burrows, Restaurant Hana, Panajachel (see blog post of June 2 for details)
- 13-14 June, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., IMAP Taller on appropriate technology and bioconstruction, Caserio Pachitulul, San Lucas Toliman (see blog post of June 2 for details)
http://ev-cal.com/fb/106177
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Our most recent Santa Cruz Community Service Award goes to Mona Naimark for the work she had done on the lakeshore path in front of her property and even a bit beyond! This had become a bit tricky walking and she greatly improved the infrastructure there. Thanks Mona!
Now it seems that the lakeshore path is pretty good in most places, but there are a few areas that still need work and maintenance. I stress the word maintenance because it is an ongoing thing especially the board walk ways where the wood boards rot and deteriorate making for very dangerous situations. If you notice an area that seems particularly dangerous, please notify the owners (nicely!) that it needs attention.
I love giving out Community Service Awards! Please let me know if you know of someone who should be nominated through the Contact Form.
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CECAP has released it's list of courses for the month of May - August. There will be courses in:
- Sewing - Basic
- Sewing Level 2
- Beading Level 3 (Jaibalito)
- Beading Advanced
- Carpentry Level 2
- Carpentry Advanced
- Pastery and Confections
If you know of anyone who is interested in taking any of these courses, please tell them to come to CECAP during office hours (Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.) or call: 5287-1391, 5388-5883, or 4649-9953
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Conred (Coordinator National for Disaster Reduction), Guatemala's disaster prevention and relief agency, has published some timely disaster procedures that all people in Guatemala should be aware of.
Prepare your Family Response Plan by engaging children and adults without forgetting pets.
- Have on hand a backpack with 72 hours of supplies for each family member.
- Do not forget the emergency kit for pets, including food and vaccination card.
- Remove garbage from the curb and inlets near home to avoid water stagnation.
- Look after your garden. Keep tree branches away from the structure of the home to prevent damage to walls. Trim branches if necessary to prevent them from falling on power lines or clogging gutters or reposaderas.
- If you live near rivers or stream areas, be aware of the potential of flash floods. Do not attempt to cross or walk near the edge of these. Do not forget that in areas with poor drainage or slopes there is a possibility of landslides.
- Be aware of any cracks in the ground, shift or tilt of objects around the house, including the same, because usually the biggest shift is preceded by debris flows of mud and small stones.
- In the rainy season, your vehicle may become necessary. Make sure it is in good condition, remember to check lights, tires, oil, windscreen and wipers. Avoid driving at high speeds. If visibility is reduced or difficult, it is recommended that you wait in a safe place.
- If your transportation is by motorcycle, avoid driving in the rain. If you must drive in the rain, drive carefully using protective equipment like helmet and drysuit to prevent accidents and health complications.
- Do not throw trash in the streets. Remember that 50 percent of emergencies are caused by rain are caused by the waste.
- If possible, arrange with neighbors and cleaning crews in your community, and verify that gutters and storm drains are not clogged. This could cause flooding.
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Joel and Joyce Munoz are fairly new part-time residents of Paxanax. Of their many talents, Joel is a musician and plays in the LA area including at the House of Blues on Sunset Strip. Recently while here at the Lake, Joel wrote this song for the Valley of Paxanax. Now how many places can say they have their very own song! Thanks, Joel! Take a listen. . . . . . .
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10152440650164487&id=696499486
(Even though it is on Facebook, Joel says that it is available to the public at large.)
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Have no idea how this escaped me the first time around, but thanks to Deedle for informing me!
Santa Cruz la Laguna
- La Iguana Perdida - Certificate of Excellence!
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This has nothing to do with the Lake or Guatemala, but I thought it was cool and wanted to share it. The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) now has a live streaming, HD video of the earth from space via the International Space Station (ISS).
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/iss-hdev-payload
From this page you can also have a Google map to pin point the location of the ISS: http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/HDEV/
The ISS travels from West toward the East and orbits the earth every 90 minutes. One can also find out when the ISS will be over your particular city from this NASA webpage: http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/sightings/index.cfm#.U5NAml6YWc8
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By John Berry
"I am a believer in other forms of life, where ever they may be. The universe is too vast for that not to be the case. However in regard to other life forms visiting Earth, I am a bit more skeptical. Mainly because of the realities of speed measured as light years and how many light years the other universe’s are from us. It takes thousands and thousands of light years for light to reach us from other worlds. The same would certainly hold true for a space vehicle.
That said, I did see an unidentified flying object last week. It was small, it had a light that changed from red to blue/green, it moved very fast, and not in a random way. I saw it first on the Eastern outskirts of San Pedro and it moved about half way across the volcano San Pedro, then turned and headed North for Santa Cruz. Eventually I lost in behind the mountain. Then twice more it raised itself enough for me to see it. I got excited, as did Cynthia, as we had no idea what it was. UFO says it all. Doesn’t mean it’s from outer space, but I certainly didn’t know what the hell it was. Best guess? UAV. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. A drone of sorts. I think that’s just as scary as spacemen coming from other life forms!!!"
Note: Photo was NOT taken by us! It is a free stock image via Morguefile.com.
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The question has come up from a few people as to whether we could have some community forums on this website. The answer is YES. With my "free" Weebly subscription, we can have up to 5 different forums with a maximum of 15 topics each. The forums would NOT be password protected, however, so anyone could access them. In order to have a password protected forum, I would have to upgrade my account and pay for that feature. As I am already doing the blog and website for free, I am not inclined to do it. And not having used a Weebly-styled forum, I don't know how well it works.
Those caveats aside, however, suggested Forums or topics have been Community News, Blog Discussions, Movies (who has seen what and where is it available). My question to my readers is, would you use these forums if they were created? Or do you use Facebook instead? Please use the "Other" field to give me your thoughts. Thanks!
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AMSCLAE reported that they measured the level of the Lake on June 1 and then again on June 3 after the heavy rains and recorded that the Lake rose by 20 cm or 7.87 inches for those of us who are Yanks.
For several years now Santa Cruz resident, Jeanne Mendez, has been making her own self-described "unscientific" measurement of the rise and fall of the lake. Jeanne reports that her measurements are pretty much on target for that period as well.
Interestingly enough, our Rainfall Report recorded 7.5 inches during that period.
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Rainfall in Paxanax for the week of June 2 - June 8: 9.75 inches or 24.765 cm.
This was quite a week. On Tuesday morning June 3, we recorded 6" of rain for the previous 24 hours!
I have now embedded the Rainfall Report into the Santa Cruz website. It is on this page:
http://santacruzlalaguna.weebly.com/rainfall-report.html
Or you can click this link to view it on Google Drive: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1b6pM1oRFAZl-UdQzrF7a4XzKMDCb8V36it5Fcj4859I/edit?usp=sharing
*** The Mayan glyph Kawoq symbolizes rain, lightning and thunder, water and air. It also represents the collective consciousness. ***
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