Feral cats and swine flu

I saw Carmen again this morning in the full light of day. She showed up about 9 am and was twitching her doubled up tail around in agitation, cruising around by Mrs. Moustache and Bruiser just like Puss-in-Boots. I think she was really looking for food or a way to get back into the guesthouse from the outside windows. Sour Pickle and I were watching her through the window, then she saw us and froze and just stared and stared. We just stared and stared back. Finally I leaned over to open the window so Winnie could go inside the casement to talk to her through the screen and she ran away again.

I have been putting cat food outside our door at night and someone is eating it, I think it is she. New Cook tells me that when we were away in Loreto she encountered Carmen one morning crouched outside the patio door by our bedroom, crying and crying. She told the cat we had gone away for a few days. (Likely she understood because Spanish is her native tongue). In any event I guess she has decided to forgive me enough to come and eat occasionally and maybe even mingle with the other outside cats.

Favorite maid didn’t come today, she was at home in bed with a fever. She and Oldest Maid are sisters and live in the same house, and Oldest Maid did come, I hope the rest of us don’t catch anything. I sort of feel like I might be catching a cold, scratchy eyes, a few sneezes, a throat that’s a little off. Of course my mind goes immediately to the new H1N1 virus. It seems there is a virus of some kind going around here in Santa Rosalia, but no one seems to know whether that’s it or not. When you land or leave the airport in Loreto they scan you for fever with a thing that’s almost like a cop’s handheld radar that a nurse who is standing about 4 feet away points at you. Two other little public health nurses sitting at a table in white uniforms and wearing masks and latex gloves gather the little form the you fill out about whether you feel ill and where you are going. They write your temperature down on the piece of paper, then hand it back to you. When you leave the airport it is collected by another healthcare worker. What with all the news about the H1N1 it seems inevitable that it will come our way.

Curses, foiled again

While I was in California I decided that we needed to plant a Sago palm in the yard at Casa Abeja. I have always admired them for their prehistoric quality in my brother Juan-in-a-Million’s yard. I looked them up on the internet and they grow on in mainland Mexico in the same climatic zone we are in here right opposite us on the Sea of Cortez. When my brother told me his daughter had a cute little tiny one in a group of potted plants, I figured I could fit that in my suitcase and sneak it into Mexico. So the two of us got in his car and zoomed around to every nursery near his house trying to find one. We probably spent about 3 hours looking. Orchard Supply Hardware had them in 1 gallon pots, and including the leaves they were about 2 feet tall and way too big for my bag. Each successive nursery had bigger and bigger trees until we were up to 20 gallons. The price went up exponentially too. That’s when I decided that I didn’t really need one after all. And then I remembered how the agricultural guy at the airport took Esperando’s corn husk nativity away from him last year because it was ‘organic’ matter, even though it came from Mexico so I pretty much really lost my enthusiasm.

When we were in Loreto a few days ago, we stopped at the nursery to see what they were selling. They seemed to have a lot more plants than they have had in the past and right before my very eyes were at least twenty 15-gallon Sago palms, all smiling up at me waving their fronds in an inviting way. I was so happy. We found several other great plants that we wanted to buy as well, but it was pretty hot so we decided we would drive by in the morning so the plants wouldn’t be cooking in the covered tail of the pickup. Alas we were foiled by mother nature as Tropical Disturbance Olaf trotted into town and inundated everything and flooded the streets. That nursery guy that had promised he would be open at 8 am wasn’t even open at 9 am when we trundled by. Got to hand it to these Mexicans for always being closed when they say they will be open, even in the middle of a tropical storm. I guess if I came from someplace where it never rained, I might be nervous when it starts to rain heavily, but I still think he should have been more excited about the big sale he was going to make to us.

In any event we still don’t have a Sago palm and just now Esperando read to me that they are seriously poisonous. To quote Wikipedia, “One disadvantage of its domestic use is that it is poisonous to animals and humans. One skin breaking scrape can lead to a hospital visit. Cycad Sago Palm is extremely poisonous to both humans and animals if ingested. Pets are at particular risk since they seem to find the plant very palatable.” So maybe there won’t be any Sago palm in my future after all since the dog is big fan of eating leaves.

Big appetites

Carmen came back last night at 3:30 AM. I heard miaowing outside at our bedroom door that opens onto the patio and saw her sitting there outside. The other two cats were sitting on top of my printer so they could look out the window and see her. I went into the bathroom and got some cat food, then I opened the door to see if she wanted in but the sound of the door opening frightened her and she ran away. I put the food on the ground. She never came back to eat it. Maybe eventually she will get hungry enough to come forward and let me feed her.

I don’t know if she will show up again tonight, but I am in Loreto at La Mision Hotel and won’t be able to answer her entreaties. I left some cat food with one of the vigilantes, Juan Manual, in case he should have better luck feeding her, not needing to open a door. How will I know this cat he asked? Well she is gray, has a bent tail, and I will give you a photo, I said. Then he told me he had talked to the cat in person the previous night and what she really wanted five hamburgers to start with or beef machacha in a flour tortilla—it is amazing what similar tastes he and the cat share in food.

The outfall of former Invest 91, now Tropical Storm Olaf, has reached Loreto where it has pretty much been raining all day. I think Esperando’s plans for a scuba dive and mine for hanging out in the sunshine may have been washed away for this weekend. When I looked at the weather report for today it was 40% chance of rain, tomorrow is 50%, and Saturday is 100%. How dismal!! In any event we will stay another night in Loreto, cruise the appliance store for a stove and refrigerator for Casa Abeja, do some food and curio shopping and have the chance for another gourmet meal here before heading back to Santa Rosalia. It is a nice break. Esperando returns again to Mexico City and the Bay Area for the rest of next week.