Lake Zirahuen

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

The legend of Lake Zirahuen and how it came to be:

Many years ago, when the Spanish invaded Mexican lands, a captain with his troops came to the land of Michoacán. He was going to meet with the Purépecha emperor who was called Tangaxoan, who had a beautiful daughter who had been named Erendira.

The young princess Erendira was very beautiful, and at the same time, the captain fell in love with her. One day, the Spanish captain kidnapped the princess and hid her in a green valley surrounded by many mountains. Erendira was very sad and suffered a lot.

Now the valley has a lake named Zirahuen. Since then, the people who live near the lake, say that the princess swims some nights in the beautiful lake and that at wise men sell water to men who are evil and make them good.

I haven't posted since we have been so busy.  The weather here is beautiful.  The days are overcast with light sprinkles and afternoon showers.  We manage to go for a walk though and return just about 300 meters from the front gate when the rain begins.   The rain is good for hanging out and reading.  Unfortunately, most of the land around these parts is privately owned and not conducive to hiking.   However, the walks are on paved roads that wind through the pines so that is good enough for me.  I guess I do have an accent.  When we go for a walk and pass cows, I always moo and they give me the strangest looks.

Looking at the map there are many small towns within a 30 to 40-minute drive.  Sunday we chose Zirahuen.   Zirahuen, from what I have read has a large lake and invites many tourists throughout the year.   Well, for this area, many are a lot.  The lake is quite large but there are only a few small restaurants clustered together and they have a nice sized ferry style boat to take people for rides.  

I will say one thing about this lake.  It is one of the cleanest I have ever seen.  Although you may find litter in the small town, you don't find it along the banks of the lake or in the water.  At a brunch spot, I asked for the bathroom.  They aren't allowed to have drainage near the water so you have to go about a block and a half to find a public restroom.  

It's actually quite a small community and the people are very nice.  We arrived in the morning just as mass was over in the local church.  

I wouldn't call this one a day trip but it was a nice drive and a beautiful view of the lake and surrounding area.   Today, we took a trip to Ario de Rosales and I will post about that next.

The workers started planting corn today.  He brought his two horses, hooked them up and began to sow seed.  Last week, they plowed the fields to prepare them.  Funny, we forgot about the planting today and on the way back from the gym I saw a guy riding a horse with one in tow.  It was him.  

We will be flying to Boise, Idaho the last weekend of July for my brother Steve's memorial service.  Tickets are not cheap and I have checked from Monterrey, McAllen, San Antonio, Harlingen and more even flying to major cities and then beyond.