Cloudy Day

Cloudy Day

It was unusually cloudy for here yesterday, which made it cooler than normal also. We headed to our favorite taco stand for shrimp tacos and then we went downtown to the plaza to feed the pigeons and people watch. It was nice to sit and just enjoy the coolness for a change. Our cokes gone and the pigeons fed, we headed back home.
It rained for awhile and then drizzled on and off for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Very strange weather for us. We also got another shower sometime during the night. We have been having some clouds the last few days; but until yesterday no rain. It is cloudy today and cool enough that we have our air conditioners off again, that makes 2 days in a row. CFE (power company) will not like that. Smile.

Here's a couple of cloudy sunset photos. Take note of the crazy wiring system we have on the pole right beside the apt. and this is only part of it. Yet everything works well and our power rarely goes out and when it does it is just for a minute or so. Go figure.

Roy figured out a way to get some of the high limes off the tree yesterday and of course the trees are still loaded with mangos. I should be making cake using either one today while it is cooler, instead I am being very lazy and doing nothing. Oh well, it is Sunday, isn't it?

An Unusual Happening

An Unusual Happening

Street dogs are a common phenomena here and I think all over Mexico. On our street there were 3 dogs when we moved here and since then 1 more joined the trio. They don't bother anyone, they know everyone in the neighborhood and only bark at the strangers. Everyone throws out their table scraps for them and as street dogs go, ours were in pretty good shape. This is not the case for all street dogs. Most of them live a very sad life. We have seen many with their ribs sticking out, patches of hair missing and awful looking growths on them. Some of them are not a sight for the faint of heart. From what I have seen it seems that the poorer the neighborhood, the worse shape the street dogs are in. "Our" street dogs were only a problem a couple of times a year when lots of other dogs would come "visiting". For a week or so we would have lots of noise at night and then things would settle down and the visitors would go home. They are just kind of there, people pet them as they walk by and are greeted by their wagging tails as they come home in the evening.

This peaceful co-existence ended today. This morning we heard the dogs making a lot of strange noises and looked out of the windows to see what was going on. There was a truck and 2 men attempting to catch the dogs and put them in their truck. This truck was equiped for the job by having 5 cubicles to put the animals in after they were caught. It looked like any dog catchers truck would look anywhere else and we couldn't believe it. We never imagined that the city actually owned or used a truck like that. We have not seen this happen before and just stood by the windows, watching with our mouths open. They managed to catch the 2 female dogs, loaded them up and drove away. The 2 males disappeared for the day; although this evening they are back and looking very lost. They keep wandering the street as if looking for their missing companions.

I don't know whether the plan was just to capture the females to reduce the number of babies born or if the males were just quicker and warier. I should add that although we know that puppies were born once, none of them ever survived long enough for anyone to see them. One of the neighborhood ladies informed me via phantomine through our windows (we were both watching the capture), that they would be put down.

I realise that this is probably a necessary occurance; but I could have told the men several other neighborhoods where their services are more needed than they were here. For some of the dogs that we have seen, it would be a kindness to them to be put to sleep to end their suffering. These dogs were healthy and causing no one any problems or maybe I should say, they weren't bothering us. Perhaps they were bothering someone else and they phoned the city to have them come and do their job. Who knows, they are gone now and the street seems different.