Headed South: Lyle, Lyle Crocodile

Fall/Winter 2020: A Blog That Didn't Get Published on Time.

So, Why Haven't We Blogged?

A total lack of motivation to do almost anything but watch Netflix and eat popcorn in our pajamas;
An endless stream of illnesses, conditions, hospitalizations etc. that we won't bore you with. Well, we will but in the next blog;
A complete lack of festivities in our little village to report on. No Globos Balloon Festival. No Day of the Dead. No Virgin of Guadalupe veneration, no San Andres patron saint nine day bacchanal, no posada with Jesus and Mary, no live nativity scenes, no raucous New Years celebrations (well, a few), no Three Kings Day, No Mardi Gras;
We have gone nowhere interesting. Wait, edit that. We have gone NOWHERE. I canceled our four day get away to Bacalar (the Lagoon of Seven Colors) because our friend Patti went there and said that is was filled to the brim with foreign tourists and you know the pestilence that comes with them;
We have been so busy improving ourselves by losing weight, learning several foreign languages and training for the Senior Olympics that we had no time to blog. That is a lie.
We were dancing, dancing, dancing at the defeat of Trump;
When not watching Netflix, we have been glued to the TV watching the fall of the empire. Each day we turn to each other in wonder as civilization continues to collapse around us. (See Co-vid and Capitol Riot) This depresses us so thoroughly that we are unable to blog,
We have had to work hard to amass good photos (best part of the blog) because who wants pictures of us in our pajamas, or in hospital johnies, or standing on an empty street where a parade should be, or yelling at the TV every time Trump stopped playing golf and gave an unhinged press op.

It's Getting Weirder by the Minute....

I swear even the animals are getting weirded out by Co-vid. We haven't seen so many animals and insects and birds (friendly or unfriendly) ever since we arrived here. Is it climate change? A decrease in fossil fuel emissions? An inability to afford to feed your crocodiles any longer? Well, let's start there. The headline of the Guadlajara Reporter a while ago "Chapala Harbormaster emits Crocodile Alert". Hmm. Yes, a crocodile (8+ feet) has been reported lolling off the Ajijic pier amidst the lireo (water hyacinth) that accumulates at the end of rainy season. Well, actually it could be two crocodiles. Or perhaps more. We've heard they've already caught two. So, as Michael (that tender little morsel) headed off to kayak this morning I issued a stern warning to avoid the crocodiles. He shrugged. I mean it is weird. Crocodiles like salt water or brackish water not pure, fresh (well kind of) lake water. So maybe someone let them loose after they grew too large and hungry. But two or more? That seems excessive. I can't just ramble on about them. Next blog we will report if there is a plague of crocodiles or just "exotics" as they term birds who have become undone directionally.

God This Pump House Tastes Good!

And then there are the cows. Our neighborhood is strictly residential but it is not uncommon to find a few horses or a small herd of cows wandering our streets and munching on the grass in our median strips. There was a massively pregnant cow taking a siesta on the sidewalk down the hill a couple of weeks ago. The other day, Michael was headed home towards our street when he glanced to the left and saw several cows avidly licking the pump house that functions with the neighborhood well. Their massive tongues couldn't get enough of.... well, we have no idea. The pump house and piping had recently been upgraded and all we can think is that some element of the repairs involved salt. They sure were happy cows.

The Small, yet Mighty Insects and Arachnids

During the pandemic you are in closer touch with nature. You have no choice because you can't go anywhere but your yard. Things we barely noticed have become sources of great interest to us in that we are bored out of our minds. Thus, item #1, the Cutter Ants. These ants display precision and teamwork that allow them to decimate your plants at an amazing rate. They work at night to avoid detection. The other morning we were going to the car and noted that overnight they had eaten at least 1/2 of our very large jasmine plants. They also like geraniums. There are plants they won't touch but they are the ugly ones.

We have been lucky that we don't have a lot of scorpions. There is no rhyme or reason as to who has scorpions-- your house just does or it doesn't. I used to call our friend Alex's bathroom the Scorpion baño since it seemed there was invariably a scorpion there. In our six years in this house we've seen two. One was this week in our bathroom. They like bathrooms. While performing my toilette I glanced to the side and saw a BIG one in (predictably) the shower. No need to rush. They are really slow and stupid. Eventually I called Michael and he dispatched him. Our old house specialized in Black Widows but Nancy our housekeeper knew their tricks intimately and I never saw one that was still breathing.

After our last blog that featured the Walking Stick insect we heard from our friend Wes that it is also known as the Horse Killer. This is because it looks like a piece of hay and likes to hide in a pile of hay and if a horse ingests even one it is as dead as a door nail. We will be careful not to eat one.

And then there are the Velvet Ants which are really wasps. The females bite and it hurts like hell. One dropped off the ceiling onto Michael while napping. That wasn't fun. Then one got him on the couch. I have remained untouched for the moment. I just feel that while we have dodged the bullet so far on co-vid and since our weather is mild, breezy and lovely year round that I should come clean and tell you that we have some really bad creatures. Not as bad as Australia but not great.

The Walking Stick

The Velvet Ant aka the Cow Killer because of its very painful sting.

One of the more unusual arachnids spotted around our house.

This unusual insect decided to hang out on Alex's jeans.

Snakes

We don't have them. There was Snake Lake of course and it is rumored that there are water snakes in our Lake. Well, maybe but I've never seen one and don't plan to. Mexicans have a low tolerance for snakes which is OK (if unenlightened ) with me.

Butterflies, Hummingbirds and Dragon Flies

Keep it up Canada and the U.S.! I think the reduction in emissions and the planting of butterfly friendly plants is paying off. We have never seen so many, or such varied, butterflies. Of course we have to endure the caterpillars first but only a few are poisonous. And the hummingbirds and dragon flies are numerous and behaving well.