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| Margie's famous pickles |
In case you missed my last post, I had to leave Costa Rica less
than a month after our return from California, heading for Texas this time to
help my mom through a health crisis. When I arrived just over two weeks ago, she
was still quite ill, very weak and exhausted from fighting a harsh urinary
tract infection for some time. Why had she not gone to the doctor sooner? You'd
have to ask her. She has her reasons -- none of them very good, in my
not-so-humble opinion. But fortunately within a few days after my arrival, she
began to improve and after the first week or so was almost back to her old
feisty self, heading off to her one-day-a-week job at the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce
Visitor Center and her half-day volunteer work at the same office, plus making
a big batch of her "famous" pickles to give away. She remains an
inspiration to me in her unflagging devotion to duty and in pushing through a
lot of pain and discomfort to keep being active.
I also want to express my deepest gratitude to my
stepsisters-in-law, Cathy and Theresa, who went out of their way to help mother
in the weeks of her illness prior to my coming here. From mopping floors and
washing dishes to making chicken soup and driving her to doctor appointments,
they made sure that my mom was taken care of when she was unable to care for
herself.
One of the major stresses Mother and I have faced involves
her "poor white trashy" neighbors and the cats they have allowed to proliferate in the
neighborhood. These people are really a disgrace to the community, with trash,
plastic, toys, mattresses and other litter all over their yard. In contrast,
Mother and the other people on the street keep their modest homes attractive
and clean.
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| Unsightly front yard... |
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| Even worse back yard |
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| In contrast, the Latina neighbor's house... |
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| And Mother's nice historic home |
But a worse problem with these neighbors is that their three
unspayed females have had liter after liter of kittens this year, each
generation maturing to make still more babies. And since these people don't
handle them nor even seem to feed them, the animals turn feral very quickly and
run wild through the area desperately searching for food and water. Since my
mom has a tender heart for animals, especially cats, she tried to feed the
first few kittens that showed up in her backyard but soon realized, as more and
more came for food and took up residence under her house, there was no way she
could manage 15 or 20 cats on her own.
Soon after I arrived I began trying to deal with the problem,
eventually contacting the city's animal control and learning that if I trapped
them in Mother's storeroom, the city would come pick them up. I also learned
that the Humane Society is overrun with cats and in fact the woman there called
the problem "a crisis in the city." So, as sad and hard as it was to
do, a few days ago we managed to lure seven of the little fellows into the
building and an animal control officer took them away. My poor mom has grieved
over one of the older kittens, a beautiful golden male that she had somewhat
befriended and after the fact, wished she had kept. Unfortunately, he was also
one that had scratched a hole in her back door screen to get into her house and
had jumped up and climbed in a open window as well, so the chances of his ever
being a good pet were slim. Still, I feel very bad about having him taken away
to be put to sleep. There's no easy answer for such irresponsible owners. The
only solution is for people to spay and neuter their pets.
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| Concho River |
So now that life is more or less back to normal here, I have
managed to get out for a little golf and for a walk down to the Concho River. The
huge orange and red flowers on these large bushes in the park attracted dozens
of honeybees, which I was thrilled to see, given their threatened existence in
recent years from Colony Collapse
Disorder (CCD).
Despite the drought here in West Texas, these plants seem
to be thriving. Being right next to the river may be part of the reason or
perhaps the city waters this area adjacent to a charming garden and gazebo as a
lure to tourists. In any event, the colorful flowers and active wildlife, lively
squirrels and this rather unusual bird perched over the water, made for a
pleasant hour-long stroll.
Now I look forward eagerly to Layne's arrival next week and
to our return to Costa Rica at the end of the month. It's wonderful to be with
my mom but Pura Vida calls!
Don't forget Layne's book "Moral Turpitude" is available for only $2.99 at Smashwords.com. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/159570
