A day in Mexico with life, death and the sounds of music

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - The dichotomies in Mexico, at least where Admiral Fox and I hang our respective Tilley hats, are striking. Some people have Internet and drive nice new trucks,  others live in huts with dirt floors and ride burros for transportation. Some folk are very educated, others have very little schooling.

But perhaps the greatest dichotomy is the ability of the Mexican people to struggle with serious problems, dust themselves off and move on - often smiling as they do so...

Case in point:

Admiral Fox, CEO Laura and I went to Tenacatita Beach Thursday for lunch. Adm. Fox and Laura bicycled (into a strong south wind it turned out) while I drove the support vehicle with the boogie boards and snorkel gear.

And, as always, it was fabulous there, with great food and the water temperature quite nice. (CAPTAIN'S NOTE: Thursday, a bus runs from Melaque to Tenacatita so be ready for lots of gringo company...)


Oscar the vet and Julien with a sick dog

But at 2 p.m., we returned to meet with Oscar the veterinarian from Miguel Hildago. He was there to give distemper vaccinations - and most likely to put down a dog that clearly had distemper. The street-side passion play over whether to put the dog down went on for nearly an hour. The owners weren't sure, other residents (especially those with pooches who had been in contact with the sick dog) were very sure. And after a long conversation with a half-dozen adults and many more children, the vet went into a secluded yard and gave the dog a single shot, while I stood by.

The dog was gone in probably 30 seconds and was buried on the beach by our amigo French surfer-dude Julien, who helped calm the dog while the injection was given.

That would have been quite enough for me, except that another family brought over their sick puppy for Oscar to take a look at, a puppy who seemed to be having serious coordination problems and who had stopped eating.

Yup, distemper, too, the vet said.

And so within another half-hour - and much more talking - veterinarian Oscar took the puppy into the yard (away from the owners' eyes) and gave it an injection to end its suffering. And it was suffering, clearly, I could see.


Puppy with distemper

At that point, with Julien headed to the beach to bury the first dog, I scooped up the now-passed puppy and headed to the beach myself on our quad, shovel in hand to bury the pooch, all wrapped up ingloriously in a black trash bag.

After my experience last year - having to put down our dog Lucky - it was extremely hard to witness the first dog's injection and death, even harder to witness and then take charge of the deceased puppy. But it was obvious that the puppy had to be taken away quickly so the family (including a two-year-old, who obviously loved the animal) wouldn't have the body as a reminder.


Puppy grave on the beach
 
All of this would have sent me to the wine bottle early, except we had scheduled a night of music for the children in the village. Many of the children are taking English classes from Laura. And all of their much younger siblings were interested in the notion of gringo music.

And so, two hours after working with a shovel on the beach, I was setting up cameras and helping Myranda O'Byrne, Michael Hearn and Adm. Fox get ready for the 50 children (and a handful of adults) who came flooding in the Pink Flamingo gates at the appointed hour for concert and music lesson.

Some of the children (and adults) were the same ones who had been involved in the decisions earlier about the dogs.

But you would never have known it. They listened to the music with pure joy.


Music night audience


Myranda with the children

So what are the lessons here?

Well, for one, dogs need to be vaccinated for distemper. That doesn't happen often here, though with Adm. Fox on the case, things are likely to change in this hamlet.

But the second lesson is that death and life are sooooo close to the surface. There is no sterile vet's office where a dog is put down behind a closed door by white-coat-clad medical staff.

And at the same time, the joy of life is so close to the surface, too.

I have never heard such enthusiasm from children singing 'Bingo' or 'Five Little Ducks.'

Even I was singing Quack Quack Quack by the time it was over last night.

And yes, it made me feel a lot better.

Quack!

Music, fog, and unusual visitors all arrive in Arroyo Seco

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - When Sanders and Pat Lamont arrived a few days ago, one of our biggest concerns was that the heat might be a shock to their Northern California constitutions. Their life in Camp Connell since November has been largely in cold, often snowy conditions with skiing as a major form of exercise. Evenings have often been spent huddled around their woodstove keeping warm.

We didn't really need to worry. Since they arrived, we have had nights down below 60 degrees and came within an inch of lighting a campfire last night.

A campfire, no kidding.

And then this morning, in the hours preceding our second animal clinic in a week with Rocio (the vet from La Manzanilla), the hills were shrouded with fog and everything was soaked with dew.


Fog over Arroyo Seco hills

The clinic was a success again, with Rocio treating four dogs, including the rapidly improving Capitan. Several young neighbor girls, including Brianda from across the street, came to observe Rocio at work. And Brianda jumped in to help with the last dog, handing Rocio the various instruments, hypodermics, and medicines as needed. The girls also went along when Rocio hopped on the quad to make two house calls away from the Pink Flamingo.

They seemed a little in awe of this professional woman who has her own successful medical practice in La Manzanilla (and Arroyo Seco, obviously). She received a gift of two baby ducks from Brianda as she left.


Anna holds a neighbor's rabbit at one vet stop



A puppy's first time on real grass

The Lamont's - as the Admiral and I had hoped - helped spark us to play some music, an activity we never seem to have time for after days of projects. After realizing that all three restaurants in Arroyo Seco were closed last night, we opted for reheated leftovers and getting out the musical instruments.

Sanders and the Admiral played a half-dozen instrumental tunes while Pat and I - and neighbor Juliett - provided enthusiastic drumming, and the occasional dance step.

Perhaps tonight I might drag out my ukulele and see if the group can stand a reprise of The Letter by The Boxtops and maybe even a chorus or two of Rodney Carrington's Dancing With A Man. That's a tough song to translate, but perhaps best left untranslated, now that I think about it.


Juliette and Pat handle percussion duties

Ironically, perhaps, we have barely made it to the beach, other than a quick foray two days ago to Tenacatita for lunch and to check out the new electrical connection at our Tenacatita beach lot. With the cooler weather, it hasn't seemed quite right to break out the boogie boards and snorkel gear, though both are standing at ready. I'm also not sure how warm the ocean water is at this moment.

But Sanders and Pat have been getting some serious quad time in, zooming around the village and last night to Playa Chica to check out the sunset. The sunset was shrouded in marine-layer clouds, though even at that, the colors were dramatic.


Heading for the beach to see the sunset


Sanders, Pat and the Admiral on the quad

But of all the adventures and strange sights of the past few days, this morning's visitors to the village were a first in a winter and spring of firsts.

The front gate was wide open - an invititation for villagers to come in and bring their various animals for our vet friend Rocio to examine and treat. And while there wasn't exactly a steady stream of people, quite a few folks did stick their heads in, in some cases just to check out the place and get a quick look at the now very-green grass in the center of the property.

But one group late in the morning looked a little odd - dressed waaaaay too well for people interested in getting dragging in their pooch for a vaccination or a flea treatment. The men were dressed in pressed white shirts. The women wore longish skirts. And they were all carrying a lot of pamphlets in their hands.

No way...

Yes way...

They were part of a truckload of about 15 Jehovah's Witnesses who had descended on the village making the rounds to give out The Watchtower.

Larry, an amigo from La Manzanilla who had accompanied Rocio to Arroyo Seco (and who is a big booster of Cisco Amigo's) quickly told the Witnesses that the clinic was very busy at that moment and we really did not have time to placticar (to chat...).

And that, in fact, was quite true.


Witnesses canvass Arroyo Seco