An inquisitive old fart with a camera
Cutting a plastic barrel in half to make planters, I noticed the angle grinder (almoradora here, called la máquina by Mexicans) was slowing down. I also noticed pain in a fingertip that I couldn’t quite place.
Turns out it was heat, and moments later I saw a bright flash and smoke.
After 12 years, la maquina is dead. Long live la maquina!
I think this is my favorite sign ever. There is literally one letter of it that is completely correct: y.
Queso cacero hongos y más. Homemade cheese mushrooms and more.
Brilliant. I’ve never actually stopped at the stand. I think I need to.
UPDATE: Syd of the Dog Walks: The Keso Kasero is as bland and tasteless as all the others of the genre. She has never had fresh hongos in two or three stops we have made. Y mas is preserved morrones, hongos, too sweet jams, et al.
Last weekend there was a flurry of activity in our local park, building these things.
It’s not clear to me what they’re supposed to be, but I’ve seen people sitting on them. Maybe balance beams?
And then there’s this: a concrete block wall. What’s this all about? Well, I guess one could make the argument that I might know if I actually read the Whatsapp neighborhood group messages.
For anyone who doesn’t use Whatsapp, this means there have been 2,928 messages since I last looked. Hmmm….
A flowering epiphyte in a little shrub I transplanted from the backyard years ago, which has turned out to be quite the tree.
I’ve had this photo a couple months; never got around to trying to find out why a fire-damaged pine tree was foaming one day.
“…what you were looking at is a common bacterial disease among deciduous trees called slime flux. Now, if that is not a disgustingly descriptive name I do not know what is. Another name is wetwood because of the water-soaked marks on the trunk of infected trees.
“There are several bacteria that are associated with this disease and no one single organism has been identified as the main culprit. As the bacteria grow inside the tree (usually in damaged areas of the wood), carbon dioxide gas is released as fermentation occurs.
“This release of gas increases the pressure in the tree and forces sap to the outside, resulting in wet areas on the trunk. This is called fluxing and results in large, dark regions on the trunk once the flux is exposed to air. These wet areas become breeding grounds for other microorganisms – as alcohols are produced in this mess, bubbles or foam form as well as foul smells.
“I am surprised you did not see many insects feeding on the “brew” because this alcohol mixture attracts many bees, beetles and other larval forms to the concoction. Fortunately, the insects do not do any harm and there has not been any indication that the insects can act as a vector for the disease and spread it to other healthy trees in the area.”
source
Toward the end of the dog walk (inland from the coast highway), we saw some black smoke, and we couldn’t figure out where it might be coming from. It was in the direction of the origin of two forest fires where we walk. And it seemed farther away than the beach. So on the way home I stopped at El Águila, one of several eccentric local constructions, and there it was. I asked the car park attendant if it was a boat. He assured me it was. I don’t remember where the island is, I said, He again assured me it was a boat.
But I checked when I got home, traced my line of sight, and lo and behold, it very well could have been the Isla de Flores. Which begs the question: what is there that could burn?
UPDATE next day: it was a boat
Aggressive pruning or butchery? I guess the avocado tree will decide. Yesterday, looking at this angle, you would see virtually no sky.
Second and final load. Even though taking them less than a block, using the vehicle made more sense than endless trips on foot.
Though I had removed the only three smallish avocados I could find before, I did find one more on the ground as I cleaned up, and one on the ground behind the car—885 grams.
I ordered something on Mercado Libre. It was shipped from Lascano in Rocha Department, ~230 km away.
Here’s how it played out:
Three days to get 230 km. Ridiculous, right? Well, at least it was on its way to Atlántida, so I could expect delivery on the 28th, no? Wrong. Late afternoon on the 28th I went to the local office, where they retrieved my package and I paid the postage. Why wasn’t it delivered to my home, as directed? We were going to do that tomorrow. This reminds me of getting documents expressed shipped from Europe several years ago. They got to Montevideo in two days. I received them seven days after that. I literally could have walked to Montevideo and back in less time.
On the other hand, today I received a wireless keyboard and mouse I ordered two days ago.
As with so many things in Uruguay, the only consistent aspect is their inconsistency.
This is the most ridiculous vehicle I have seen in … in … maybe ever.
Our avocado harvests are always a crapshoot. One year, both trees producing; one year nothing; and this year one producing and one not. This year’s relative paucity has not diminished the appetite of the birds. Before mowing the lawn, I picked up the remains of 19 paltas, probably 10 kilos worth originally.
Two days later, there’s this on the ground. It would have weighed 600-800 grams before the critters.