We have just returned from the Quinta. It has been very hot. There continues to be activity provoked by the need to recover from the heavy rains. While I was up here last, the Quinta received another 10 inches of rain and the mountains had picked up more as usual. The Rio Corona continues to run at above normal levels....but this is the time it should be running at above normal levels....a little early, perhaps, but still August, September, and October does constitute the second rainy season for our region there.
There is not a lot of heavy physical damage....but medium to large tree limbs will be being sawn and stacked for the next three months or so. Our losses were things like the blooming season for the flamboyans...so it's one year lost for that. Also, our big avocado tree just gave up waiting for a dry spate so it could set its fruiting blossoms. So that will be a season of avocado production down the drain. As well, our bouganvillas do not seem to be coming back with any great aggressiveness. Sometimes they are slower to recover, so I shall wait on them.
For those who inquire, my father-in-law actually seems a bit restored since I left and returned. He is still very much in need of constant supervision, but he has returned to walking a little....20 or 30 feet...and eating a little better. He still prefers, for some odd reason, for me to prepare things and bring them over to his table. He still eats very, very little....but he seems to enjoy what little I contribute to his diet and his day's activities. I told my daughter that it is something like "Meals on Wheels" meets Marie Osman's diet plan. Maybe we can set up a reality show for overnight television and have it sponsored by some kind of shouting sales-nut "But wait....we'll give you two more Bass and Carp Pulverizers ...ABSOLUTELY FREE!".....That way we can help the Red Chinese make even more useless junk that doesn't work to send over to us. On second thought...maybe I'll just let my father-in-law take his long siestas.
Our flooding situation has calmed considerably. The main danger now lies in weakened dams all throughout the drainage basin, and in the fact that all reservoirs are between 100% and 150% of capacity. So, the dams that are built to protect us from floods, provide prosperity through irrigation and adequate water for home and industry, and even allow for wonderful recreation sites.....also become sources for catastrophe.
More later.
The Old Gringo
