Osprey - 1-24-2011 at 11:41 AM
Last one. I swear it.
Awakenings
From my warm bed I watch the day begin – the ocean wears the color of old tin, the tangerine horizon slowly fades to a muted mauve while the wet part
takes on the semblance of blueish oil as I come awake, begin to plan my day. Winter here on the Tropic of Cancer is cool in the evenings, warming to
almost perfect by mid-afternoon.
After strong Mexican coffee and some fresh fruit I walk a mile or so through the village. Today, Sunday, I am starting early and I can sense maybe
only this particular day I’m an early bird; not a sound as I plod the dirt streets.
Over time these walks have given me views of how the animal world awakens. The wrens and sparrows and thrushes I encounter are quiet but animated –
furiously foraging, staying ahead of me, bush to flower to tree. Larger white-wing dove, their greater body weight demanding more from the sun than
the smaller birds, still sit on the wires waiting for their blood to warm and stir. Cinnamon no-breed puppies move from protected spots where they
spent the night to any safe sunny patch of street or yard where they can snooze while they shake off the night’s chill – so serene and vulnerable they
become tiny brown cachets, poster pups for life in the tropics.
It seem the bigger the bird or animal, the more sun they require to get started. Today the palms are heavy with zopilotes and cara cara, what the
Mexicans call Gelele, while the cows that roam the village streets are still asleep. I guess if it weren’t for the fact that I can wear clothing to
protect me from the morning chill, I would be forced to sleep away the whole morning – I have tested that theory many times and I am satisfied it is
very close to being factual.
Iguanas and Chuckwallas will stay in aestivation for another couple of months while other smaller rock lizards, whiptails and geckos will be seen
sneaking out to get some sun and some food except on the coldest, windy days. So I guess you can class me most closely with the geckos; I don’t move
around much when it’s cold and windy but I do peek out on calm, cool, sunny mornings then scurry back to the protection of my patio (rock).
When I got back to the house both my dogs were asleep in a warm patch of sand in the yard and did not bother to arise and greet me. On a whim I
stripped off my sweater and shirt, curled up in the sand in my own space. The experience was unique and as pleasant as you could expect a dirt nap to
be. At my age it was a preview of my inevitable resting place and I can tell you it was not exactly heaven but a lot nicer than the alternative. My
dogs, Tino and Fea, both a lot smaller than me, were up first and pulled me rudely up and away from my rustic laboratory by licking my face.
I shoulda been a scientist.
BajaBlanca - 1-24-2011 at 01:08 PM
you woulda been a good scientist - using yourself in testing - just like Jonas Salk did.
Osprey - 1-24-2011 at 03:22 PM
Blanca, thanks but not that dedicated. I would be more like my uncle Earl who used to say
"Be not the first by whom the new is tried
Nor be the last to cast the old aside"
Uncle Earl was pretty wishy/washy
[Edited on 1-24-2011 by Osprey]