The Vilisar Times

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX; SIGNS AND INDICATIONS; HURRICANE RITA; DUTCH COMES BACK EARLY; A SWIM IN THE RIVER; OUTLOOK FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS
Friday, 23 September 2005

Autumnal Equinox; Signs and Indications

This is the autumnal equinox. Kathleen discussed this with Simon over desayunos (breakfast) but it seemed to carry no meaning for him. Kathleen was sure that, as a Pima Indian (he’s actually part Apache as well), an important season milestone would be recognised by the native people with some sort of ceremony. I guess not.

Another indication of sorts for the passing of time is that we are through the yellow pages of the El Paso/Juarez Telephone Book and into the city maps section.

Hurricane Rita

Hurricane Rita is currently causing more high winds, rain and another huge storm surge in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast. While the eye of the storm is likely to pass over Port Arthur/Galveston region on Friday/Saturday (leaving Corpus Christi to the left of the eye and therefore in the safe quadrant of the counter-clockwise high winds), the Gulf Coast from Port Arthur/Galveston will get the brunt of the storm north to New Orleans. The hastily repaired dikes (levees) in New Orleans are not holding and the city is being inundated again.

Antonia (15) and William (13) are staying with their aunt in Corpus Christi and should be all right since the house is not on low ground. Andrew (18) is back at college in Hattiesburg, MS. The town took a shellacking during Hurricane Kristina. The town lost power and had some flooding. But it is on the fringe of Hurricane Rita’s path so, one hopes, will be spared. Elizabeth, I understand, remains at her job between New Orleans, LA, and Picayune, MS, and I guess is continuing to stay at her house in Picayune. Antonia told me that, during Hurricane Kristina, Elizabeth thought about evacuating to the prison where she works as a social worker. In the end she and three children stayed on in the house. It sustained no damage although many or all of the nearby trees were knocked down around them. Again, according to the forecasts I have seen, Picayune should be on the fringe, get lots of rain and wind but be safer than the Houston-Galveston area. I have sent emails to Elizabeth to see how she is doing but get no reply. Antonia said last week there is no internet access at present there.

Dutch Comes Home Early

Bob tells Simon and Dutch to ride out yesterday to one of the not-so-distant ranges to check on cattle there. They leave about mid-morning, Simon as usual on a mule and Dutch on the ranch’s biggest horse, a bay called Chip.

Not long afterwards, Dutch comes into the ranchhouse looking hot and very annoyed. His shirt is dirty and his white hat Stetson hat is flattened on one side. He flops down in disgust on the sofa by the window and tells his story.

Leaving the corral by the rear gate, the pathway leads steeply down to an arroyo where there is also a stream. Chip follows the mule to the stream and then refuses to climb up out on the other side. Liberal smacking with the lasso by both Simon and Dutch finally gets Chip moving. But at the next arroyo the scene repeats itself. This time, however, all the whipping and kicking availeth not. Dutch even gets off and tries to drag the stubborn beast using his lasso. Dutch is big but Chip is bigger. Chip refuses to budge. Or at least refuses to budge any farther away from the corral. Finally Simon tells Dutch he should just ride back to the ranchhouse.

Now Dutch feels like a failure. We cheer him up. Bob reacts philosophically and says he will have to break Chip again and says he himself would just use the spurs on the horse till it finally moved. I suppose we should be thankful that the ornery creature did not try to buck Dutch off into the stream or to swipe him off by riding too close to a tree. As it is Dutch has a big red abrasion and is stiff and sore where a tree branch actually caught him across the ribs. Today he is doing some more carpentry work.

Bob decides it is time for a bath. So in the afternoon Eli, Dutch Bob and I walk down to a lovely swimming hole at the river. The water is slightly silted and is moving at about one or two knots as it sweeps around a bend and before it runs over natural dam of rocks. On the outside of the curve the water has scoured the bottom to a depth of about six feet even with the river level down a bit after a couple of days without heavy rain. You can swim or just sit in the middle of the river on a big submerged even. The water is probably 75°F (ca. 24°C). Air temperatures of late have been getting up to around 80° F. This is hot around here and you feel it hot when you are in the direct sunlight. But otherwise it is perfect weather. The skies are sunny all day unless in late afternoon it threatens rain (and sometimes delivers on the threat). The rainy season is nearly over, Bob tells us. The river will get smaller but runs with water all year.

Outlook for the Next few Days

Bob left early this morning taking Eli with him. The boy is eager to see his mother and siblings. They in turn are on the way in to the ranch and bringing with them a cowboy family of four (I think) with them from El Paso. The family has their own van and caravan. But the road is impassable at the moment for anything but 4-wheel-drive vehicles and they will drive in today with Cindy and her children (including Eli) in Cindy’s pickup. By tonight the ranchhouse should be jumping with kids and adults alike.

The new family will be living in the bunkhouse about a half mile up river from here. It is a relatively new adobe building with solar power, running water (I think) and outdoor plumbing. It has its own river-swimming hole right there next to the house. Cooking will have to be done on a camping stove for the present but that is basically what we ourselves use aboard Vilisar. Kathy, Dutch and I are trying to make everything presentable for Cindy after her absence of several weeks. Bob said we should cook up a big pot of beans for everybody to eat tonight. Although we like them well enough, Bob is bigger on beans than the rest of us. There are alternatives, is what I am trying to say.

Yesterday afternoon, for example, Israel and Roberto from the fencing team show up on horseback to meet with Bob about ongoing work. We make two huge frittatas in two big frying pans with potatoes, onions, chorizo sausage and tomato sauce topped off with the nine fresh eggs. Instead of risking disaster by trying to flip these monsters in the pans, we stick them into the oven to cook the eggs on top. And, while Israel and Roberto work to repair their chain saw, Simon comes in and makes corn tortillas. (Am I the only one in Mexico who thinks corn tortillas taste like cardboard?) The cowboys scarf it all down and wash it down with instant coffee. The little bit that is left is eaten by Bob and Eli this morning before departing for the outside world. You can tell they are cowboys, I think, because they leave their Stetsons on while they are eating.

I had considered driving out to Chihuahua with Bob for a couple of days. I have been to Chihuahua before (last July when we travelled on the Chihuahua Pacific Railway through the Copper Canyon). It is a lot nicer than, say, Guaymas. There are several museums that I did not have time to visit when we were there before since we had to catch an overnight bus to Dallas (18 hours express). It would also be fun to spend a couple of days travelling with Bob since he is a really interesting guy. I would love to hear more about his upbringing on an Indian Reservation in South Dakota and how he came to be a rancher there before moving to the Sierra Madre Occidentale (Tutuaca Mountains).

posted by rjb,
1:41 pm

<$BlogRSDURL$>

		News From Ron and Kathy Bird__
For more pictures of Ron and Kathy Bird and the Vilisar, see these beautiful photos by Albert Pang Click here to e-mail Ron Click here to e-mail Kathy Archives January 2004 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 February 2007 March 2007 Vilisar Translation Expert German-English translation available; business and finance our specialty. SachverstÃ¤ndige Deutsch-Englische Ãbersetzung; GeschÃ¤ft und Finanz unser Spezialgebiet.	Friday, September 23, 2005 AUTUMNAL EQUINOX; SIGNS AND INDICATIONS; HURRICANE RITA; DUTCH COMES BACK EARLY; A SWIM IN THE RIVER; OUTLOOK FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS Friday, 23 September 2005 Autumnal Equinox; Signs and Indications This is the autumnal equinox. Kathleen discussed this with Simon over desayunos (breakfast) but it seemed to carry no meaning for him. Kathleen was sure that, as a Pima Indian (he’s actually part Apache as well), an important season milestone would be recognised by the native people with some sort of ceremony. I guess not. Another indication of sorts for the passing of time is that we are through the yellow pages of the El Paso/Juarez Telephone Book and into the city maps section. Hurricane Rita Hurricane Rita is currently causing more high winds, rain and another huge storm surge in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast. While the eye of the storm is likely to pass over Port Arthur/Galveston region on Friday/Saturday (leaving Corpus Christi to the left of the eye and therefore in the safe quadrant of the counter-clockwise high winds), the Gulf Coast from Port Arthur/Galveston will get the brunt of the storm north to New Orleans. The hastily repaired dikes (levees) in New Orleans are not holding and the city is being inundated again. Antonia (15) and William (13) are staying with their aunt in Corpus Christi and should be all right since the house is not on low ground. Andrew (18) is back at college in Hattiesburg, MS. The town took a shellacking during Hurricane Kristina. The town lost power and had some flooding. But it is on the fringe of Hurricane Rita’s path so, one hopes, will be spared. Elizabeth, I understand, remains at her job between New Orleans, LA, and Picayune, MS, and I guess is continuing to stay at her house in Picayune. Antonia told me that, during Hurricane Kristina, Elizabeth thought about evacuating to the prison where she works as a social worker. In the end she and three children stayed on in the house. It sustained no damage although many or all of the nearby trees were knocked down around them. Again, according to the forecasts I have seen, Picayune should be on the fringe, get lots of rain and wind but be safer than the Houston-Galveston area. I have sent emails to Elizabeth to see how she is doing but get no reply. Antonia said last week there is no internet access at present there. Dutch Comes Home Early Bob tells Simon and Dutch to ride out yesterday to one of the not-so-distant ranges to check on cattle there. They leave about mid-morning, Simon as usual on a mule and Dutch on the ranch’s biggest horse, a bay called Chip. Not long afterwards, Dutch comes into the ranchhouse looking hot and very annoyed. His shirt is dirty and his white hat Stetson hat is flattened on one side. He flops down in disgust on the sofa by the window and tells his story. Leaving the corral by the rear gate, the pathway leads steeply down to an arroyo where there is also a stream. Chip follows the mule to the stream and then refuses to climb up out on the other side. Liberal smacking with the lasso by both Simon and Dutch finally gets Chip moving. But at the next arroyo the scene repeats itself. This time, however, all the whipping and kicking availeth not. Dutch even gets off and tries to drag the stubborn beast using his lasso. Dutch is big but Chip is bigger. Chip refuses to budge. Or at least refuses to budge any farther away from the corral. Finally Simon tells Dutch he should just ride back to the ranchhouse. Now Dutch feels like a failure. We cheer him up. Bob reacts philosophically and says he will have to break Chip again and says he himself would just use the spurs on the horse till it finally moved. I suppose we should be thankful that the ornery creature did not try to buck Dutch off into the stream or to swipe him off by riding too close to a tree. As it is Dutch has a big red abrasion and is stiff and sore where a tree branch actually caught him across the ribs. Today he is doing some more carpentry work. Bob decides it is time for a bath. So in the afternoon Eli, Dutch Bob and I walk down to a lovely swimming hole at the river. The water is slightly silted and is moving at about one or two knots as it sweeps around a bend and before it runs over natural dam of rocks. On the outside of the curve the water has scoured the bottom to a depth of about six feet even with the river level down a bit after a couple of days without heavy rain. You can swim or just sit in the middle of the river on a big submerged even. The water is probably 75°F (ca. 24°C). Air temperatures of late have been getting up to around 80° F. This is hot around here and you feel it hot when you are in the direct sunlight. But otherwise it is perfect weather. The skies are sunny all day unless in late afternoon it threatens rain (and sometimes delivers on the threat). The rainy season is nearly over, Bob tells us. The river will get smaller but runs with water all year. Outlook for the Next few Days Bob left early this morning taking Eli with him. The boy is eager to see his mother and siblings. They in turn are on the way in to the ranch and bringing with them a cowboy family of four (I think) with them from El Paso. The family has their own van and caravan. But the road is impassable at the moment for anything but 4-wheel-drive vehicles and they will drive in today with Cindy and her children (including Eli) in Cindy’s pickup. By tonight the ranchhouse should be jumping with kids and adults alike. The new family will be living in the bunkhouse about a half mile up river from here. It is a relatively new adobe building with solar power, running water (I think) and outdoor plumbing. It has its own river-swimming hole right there next to the house. Cooking will have to be done on a camping stove for the present but that is basically what we ourselves use aboard Vilisar. Kathy, Dutch and I are trying to make everything presentable for Cindy after her absence of several weeks. Bob said we should cook up a big pot of beans for everybody to eat tonight. Although we like them well enough, Bob is bigger on beans than the rest of us. There are alternatives, is what I am trying to say. Yesterday afternoon, for example, Israel and Roberto from the fencing team show up on horseback to meet with Bob about ongoing work. We make two huge frittatas in two big frying pans with potatoes, onions, chorizo sausage and tomato sauce topped off with the nine fresh eggs. Instead of risking disaster by trying to flip these monsters in the pans, we stick them into the oven to cook the eggs on top. And, while Israel and Roberto work to repair their chain saw, Simon comes in and makes corn tortillas. (Am I the only one in Mexico who thinks corn tortillas taste like cardboard?) The cowboys scarf it all down and wash it down with instant coffee. The little bit that is left is eaten by Bob and Eli this morning before departing for the outside world. You can tell they are cowboys, I think, because they leave their Stetsons on while they are eating. I had considered driving out to Chihuahua with Bob for a couple of days. I have been to Chihuahua before (last July when we travelled on the Chihuahua Pacific Railway through the Copper Canyon). It is a lot nicer than, say, Guaymas. There are several museums that I did not have time to visit when we were there before since we had to catch an overnight bus to Dallas (18 hours express). It would also be fun to spend a couple of days travelling with Bob since he is a really interesting guy. I would love to hear more about his upbringing on an Indian Reservation in South Dakota and how he came to be a rancher there before moving to the Sierra Madre Occidentale (Tutuaca Mountains). posted by *rjb,* *1:41 pm* Comments: Post a Comment
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Friday, September 23, 2005