BLACKBEARD, BLACK BART, and BLACK BUTT
The Muse has delegated this episode to your humble editor who will bring you up-to-date on some of the happenings as we head towards our last weeks at the Winter Residence.
First, as many of you know, we were burglarized and robbed in January. No, not here in Mexico, but at the Summer Estate in Philo. More than once. One or probably several miscreants broke into our house and made off with televisions, cameras, a computer, pocket knives and tools, cash and coins, and – most dearly – Rebecca's jewelry. Mrs.T even took a one-week trip back north to make a preliminary assessment and do some basic cleaning. She also got an alarm system installed by ADT. We will make a fuller evaluation of other missing items when we return. Like most folks, we were underinsured and can only hope for some compensation. However, the memories engendered in the trinkets of 45 years are now more fleeting. If any of you see the very distinctive items that R has worn over the years, please let us know. Many, many thanks are owed Jonnie E. and his family for their assistance in this entire ordeal. We cannot make additional comments because, as it is said, the case is still 'open'. Just don't believe what you see on TV shows.
The puzzle ladies have really been outdoing themselves of late. They have been plunking pieces down left and right, and completing puzzles at a phenomenal rate. A few pieces have even been added by the gentlemen. You see can the results in the linked pictures. Thanks to those who donated puzzles.
Several of the ladies also made their way to Puerto Vallarta for what has become an annual outing to stroll, shop, and lunch. I have been informed that Rebecca has a couple of items on order to add to her trousseaux. You will see Mrs.T with her new best friend; the editor apparently has been supplanted. Thanks go to JS the Taller for those pictures.
On the sports front, Mrs.T is concerned that your editor may be moving to Canada. I now have a more than passing interest in ice hockey. Courtesy of PS I have been learning the finer points of rugby. And most of all through the many Manitobans, I have become thoroughly acquainted with the intricacies of curling. We held a couple of sessions to watch the Canadian Women's Curling Championship, aka The Scotties, on our big screen TV.
Most of you probably have only the faintest knowledge of curling when you saw it during coverage of some Winter Olympics. And most likely that is when you either took a munchies break or switched channels. It is a deadly serious sport in Canada, particular in the provinces in the midsection of the country. It is somewhat like a cross between bocce and billiards but on ice. In the championship game Jennifer Jones, the skip for the team from Manitoba, won with the hammer stone in the tenth end. A lawyer by profession, she is considered the preeminent female curler in Canada; you won't see her in the courtroom too often.
The inevitable urbanization of Bucerias continues apace. From our bedroom window we can see where a new seven-storey condominium high-rise is projected to be in construction soon. The area has been cleared and a guard is on duty. You will see a picture of Juan Carlos, the man who brings strawberries and other fruits – we recently had mamey - to our front door, holding one of the escapees from the lot where the overgrowth was cleared. Many large iguanas had been thriving on this essentially empty piece of land.
And to the main part of this newsletter. You may have heard of Blackbeard the pirate, Edward Teach, who preyed upon ships in the West Indies in the early 18th century. And you might have heard of Black Bart, Charles Edward Bowles, the English-born gentleman bandit in the late 19th century American west. But only a few are familiar with The Black Butt, aka Culo Negro, who had recently emerged in the annals of Bucerias. And very, very few have actually seen it.
Apparently R was anxious for another visit to Dr. Victor. As you read in our last installment, she had begun horse riding at a stable in our area. She even bought a nice pair of tooled leather boots in Vallarta. And she was doing well the first few weeks considering she was riding an English saddle with which she had an earlier mishap up North. Well, a couple of weeks ago she had an incident at her lesson. The horse 'shied' and decided to suddenly do a hop to the East, much like the 'Time Warp' in Rocky Horror . However, the laws of physics being what they are, Rebecca remained in a northern trajectory whereupon she had a rapid and unexpected dismount from the horse, landing upon her backside and hip. It was a very, very bad bruise. And her abdomen was shaken like a concussion particularly with her hip banging her insides, per The Voodoo Doctor's analysis.
Unfortunately Dr. Victor was in Guadalajara for the weekend. But when he returned, and as the bruise grew in intensity as well as the pain in her innards, we headed up the hill where he confirmed the diagnosis. With several rounds of anti-inflammatory injections and antibiotics, Mrs.T has returned to her normal self and the bruise has almost dissipated. She even went horse riding yesterday and said it was more comfortable than the bus from PV. Although I suggested it, she did not permit any posterior pictures to document the Culo Negro; we only have eyewitness accounts.
Here are just a few pictures:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157651075916935/
We have observed that there really is winter up north. We hope you all are staying dry and warm. And don't get stressed moving snow around; it will melt soon enough.
Best wishes,
Dan and Rebecca
www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com
