Looking out my Backdoor: Homer gets a make-over

Poor Homer. He started to look disreputable. Rather down in the mouth, long in the tooth, rusty around the edges.

Sadly, I had reached the age to consider procuring a companion. While Homer is not exactly a cabana boy, I was attracted to him the first time I saw him. His price was mind-boggling. It took me a good year of back-and-forth trips to Tonala, home of huge artisans bazaars, before I made the purchase.

This was back in the first couple years I lived here, when each trip to Tonala was a treasure hunt for fun and artistic touches for my casa and jardin. Every year I visited that corner s...