Where the ´mummies´ go

This is a photo from the ´Jardin´ ie the ´garden´in the center of San Miquel. There are lots of ´gringo´retirees here, gringos who came here after WWII when the prices were so cheap. They are not so cheap any longer, though. The expression ´mummies´comes from the locals in discussing these elderly (many of them with facelifts galore) who sit in the Jardin and read the English newspapers. It also refers to the ´mummies´in Guanajuato immortalized in the memorable Ray Bradbury short story titled "Next in Line."

A famous ex-resident of SMA is Jack Kerouac, famous beatnik and writer of On The Road. His sidekick, Neil Cassady, is noted here for having gotten so drunk he fell asleep on the railroad tracks and was killed. The tracks run right by the campground here, and the young caretaker, Pedro, did the same thing some years ago, but was fortunate to lose only his arm, not his life.