An inquisitive old fart with a camera
General observations, generally during dog walks
Remember the pond-digging last month?
After a few days of heavy rain, we have a pond which almost looks like it’s always been there.
And you spotted the local wildlife enjoying it? This is locally called Tero-Tero for its call. Up north, Southern Lapwing. Same bird exists in Australia: very territorial, spurs on wings. Rather aggressive if you happen upon them with young.
Some days, walking on the beach feels like a chore: crowds of fishermen and their litter, a punishing wind. Others, like yesterday, warm and still and uncrowded, make me feel like I’m walking into an art gallery, created just for today, just for me.
No sooner do I witness heavy frost and order a ton of firewood, than the temperature gets positively balmy outside. Remember, July 27 here is the equivalent of January 27 in the northern hemisphere.
Yes, I did polish our car’s scratched windshield with cleaning wax, as I mentioned earlier, and it worked! Reduced the glare probably 90%. Much safer now.
Morning sun makes quick work of the heavy frost on the roof of the car, while the temperature hovers in the low single-digits Celsius. One more day I won’t be using my new polisher to get scratches off the windshield, I think.
First time we came to Uruguay from Mexico, we were amazed to wake up to passport covers curled by the humidity. Where we lived in Mexico, March was so dry it might have been called Parch. It was refreshing; our skin felt moisturized.
It has a down side, though. In many parts of the world, locals build houses adapted to the environment. Not in Uruguay: a typical house is a single wall of brick, stucco, and no insulation, as if the objective were to grow mold. Ironically, now mostly-eschewed traditional building with adobe rarely has problems with moisture, as long as the walls are protected.
Today, the temperature is almost balmy, but the humidity continues to be incredible. They’re reporting it at 88%, which I’m tempted to disbelieve. I delivered the bases for some kitchen cabinets to the chacra, and almost got stuck just inside the gate.*
I’ve never had this happen before. Our mason has had a tough time the last few days; each coat of paint on the kitchen light fixture I’m making takes a couple days to dry.
* Called a potera; were I to bring that gate 10km to town, it would become a portal. Go figure.
A couple of large zapallo (squash), each about 16″/40cm long:
One I only spotted from the road the other day, growing behind the chiquero (pigpen; unoccupied). It had wedged itself into the fence; I removed it, maybe damaged stem. If so, it becomes dinner.
Finally, two of the loofahs (which I did plant), joined on the left by an even larger zapallo, which I didn’t.
Ten days ago I posted a short video about comfrey.
Five days ago, my son stumbled steps in the centro (at 5 AM, ahem), creating what turned out to be a nasty fracture of the tibia that required surgery and several screws.
He spent three nights in the hospital, during which he spent some money for outside food and TV rental in his double room. Retrieving him, I paid 719 pesos (USD 38.45) for at-home anti-coagulent, antibiotic, and pain meds, and 1,410 pesos (USD 75.40) for 15 daily in-home visits to administer the anti-coagulent shot. That was it.
What would this cost in the USA, $25-30,000?
Today I made a poultice for the first time, using comfrey I transplanted from a friend’s place over a year ago. He said it felt good!
Also interesting: we’ve been here over three and a half years; he’s only had medical insurance in the last six months or so.
Muy tranquilo.
Unseasonably pleasant yesterday (think October in the north), beach empty. Shorts and bare feet, mesmerized by lazy churning of barely-waves which continue to amaze me because look at how much open ocean they have in which to develop:
Reminiscent of our first stay in Uruguay in March 2009, when walking on the beach brought an especially peaceful feeling after the tension of living in Mexico. I could have fallen into a trance watching the swirling water….
