Limes

Limes. I like limes. Fresh lime juice in a cocktail. A wedge of lime amongst the garnish for a plate of Pad Thai or bowl of Pho. Little sections to squeeze over your tacos, or finely chopped on a plate of fillings for Miang Kam.

Last year when we spent a month in Mexico, we bought them by the kilo. We'd get back to our rental and I'd take the next hour juicing them and making sour mix for Margaritas. You could get a couple kilos of limes and a bottle of damn fine tequila for less than $10.

We got spoiled.

Shortly after getting home we stopped in on a shopping trip to Whole Foods. We remembered paying 5 for $2 before. Now they were over $1. EACH. We went without limes for awhile, relying on bottled lime juice that, while it used to taste pretty good in the past - tasted slightly off in these lean lime times (while the price per bottle hadn't changed).

The reason? Drug cartels in the lime producing regions of Mexico. Far from the area where we were staying, but a sign of some of the troubles in rural areas where tourisim and foreign investment don't help incent the government to bolster stability in the region.

I followed this for awhile. I admit to having lost track of the story, and the knowledge of what's happening down there as time has moved on and it's impact on the lime prices has diminished. A somewhat sad statement about our disconnection to what doesn't directly involve us.