Our pet project

In a feat of unabashed boosterism, I'm devoting yet another post to the San Carlos Canine Center, where I've been putting a lot of my energy these days.  If you find all this focus on four-legged fur-bearers frivolous, please turn the page and come back another day.

Here's a link to take you to the SCCC's Facebook page, where you can see a slideshow of all the dogs that have been rescued and rehabilitated there. (The website is under construction, so I'll link to it as soon as I get the go-ahead.) Every dog at the Center has a sad story...the litter of four pups found under a Dumpster...the chocolate lab that had been used for breeding until she was exhausted and the owner stopped feeding her...the mama who delivered a litter of seven and lost them all, partly because of her own serious health issues...the two sisters who spent their puppyhood locked up in a garage...

But their lives are taking a turn for the better now.  Since they first began three years ago in a high-overhead storefront location,  Kristin and Kiko have found new homes for more than 300 dogs, after medical care, neutering. socialization and training. Now that the community has become more aware of the Center, which relocated to an empty lot a month ago, donations of kibble and treats, towels, blankets, concrete, toys and cash have started trickling in to help support their hard work.

Last Monday we had our first Blessing of the Animals at the Catholic Church, with a surprising turnout: dozens of dogs, one cat and a turtle. In Mexico the Blessing traditionally honors St. Francis and brings farmers with their livestock, a sort of land-based version of the Blessing of the Fishermen. Father Javier seemed a little bemused at the sight of all those gringos with their flock of dogs, but good-naturedly waded out into the crowd with his censer and blessed every one, even a couple that arrived late and had to track him down in his office.

Next we're planning a 5k Walk to get  dog owners out into the gorgeous spring weather, and then a concert at a local hotel next to the beach. Our concerns are that during the summer, most of the supporters will be back in the States. Their exodus north will begin before Easter. There are a few Mexicans interested in our cause, but not nearly enough to keep the momentum going until next fall.

For now, the Center consists of a small trailer and a number of kennels, so there's no refuge from the heat. So fundraising needs to take place as soon as possible.  But here's a plan, created by Kiko, for the center we're hoping to create sometime in the future.

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up"

"The best way to get a puppy is to beg for a baby brother — and they'll settle for a puppy every time."

Doggie dramas

A lot of drama has been unfolding in our lives around the subject of dogs. The new Canine Center held its grand opening last week, complete with ribbon cutting, and now we're concerned with the fundraising that will help keep it open. We are all mindful of the fact that if it had to close, we would have as many as 15 dogs with nowhere to go.

So far, in less than a month, the Center has found homes for a dozen dogs. Yesterday there were only two adoptables left and I went to take photos of them to post here and on the local forum, Viva San Carlos. They're sisters, one a bronze-and-black brindle, the other black with touches of white.

Considering that they spent their first months locked up in a garage, I was amazed at how they've developed since the first time I saw them, only a few weeks ago. Mali, the brindle, used to be hyperactive and pushy, while Luna, the black, was so timid she'd run under the trailer if someone tried to touch her. Now they've both been taught to sit and lie down, they are much calmer and Luna comes up to strangers, still shy but much more amiable. They're sleek and graceful, sweet-tempered and well-behaved. All they need is a place to call home.

Yesterday afternoon a woman named Sheryl emailed one of our members, asking about the Center. She had found a litter of four very small pups under a Dumpster in her neighborhood. So the Capt and I met her in town and took custody of the litter, which we kept overnight and delivered to the Center this morning. They were crawling with fleas, and one had an eye infection.

When we first brought them home, they clung together in a tight knot, watching us with terrified eyes, but by this morning they were exploring (and pooping) everywhere. As you might imagine, we didn't get much sleep last night. We thought they might need bottle-feeding and started out giving them some nutritional paste in a syringe, but they were mature enough for solid food, and when I offered gourmet chow that Chica had refused to eat, they fell upon it as though they'd been starved.

Now they're getting baths and flea treatments at the Center.

But wait! There's more!  This morning I drove to Sheryl's house to pick up two more homeless pups, ten weeks old, one male, one female, with black and brown markings similar to a Doberman. She was able to point out the parents nearby; she had found homes for the other four in the litter. I put the puppies into a carrier I had borrowed from the Center, and as I was driving away the parents followed me out the gate, barking furiously. The father, a big handsome fellow, planted himself in front of my car, determined to stop me, but gave up finally and watched as the last of his babies were carried away.

Blanca's Feast

 Blanca had fun trying out the new mandoline slicer we brought her ~ it'll certainly come in handy

Yesterday our cooking club met for our monthly learning session and pig-out. This time it was at Blanca's house high on a hill overlooking the anchorage (I could see our boat from their deck). Blanca's a traditional Mexican cook who spends days on preparation, and we felt hugely blessed to partake of such a feast. Several of us remarked it was the best Mexican food we'd ever had.

Plus we learned some techniques. But most of them, such as making tamales, looked like way too much work for this bunch of gringas.

Go to our new blog, Chop Chop Cooking Club, for more...

Happy now?

As each new year begins, I always ponder about what would make me happier.

Many people seem to think happiness is too much to hope for in this vale of tears, and we should settle for being contented. Or at least not miserable. But others, like Gretchen Rubin, say that happiness is contagious, and that's reason enough to strive to be happy. And it was Abe Lincoln who said most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be.

Turns out he was right. Here's Dan Gilbert's take on how the brain (or as he refers to it, the "three-pound meatloaf")  synthesizes happiness. He puts a lot of things in perspective, with a generous dose of humor. How did Nature get us out of the trees and into the shopping mall?



Interesting, isn't it, how the prefrontal cortex can get bogged down with predictions of how miserable we're going to be, if we don't get what we want, if we lose what we have or don't survive a trauma completely unscathed. Think of all the leaders—Herod,  Hitler, Idi Amin, Saddam, Richard Nixon—who have squandered most of their time and resources bolstering their security and control, thinking all that power would bring them happiness.

Kurt Vonnegut's "Galapagos" is based on the theory that we'd be happier without all that extra brain matter, but here we are, stuck with it. So it seems a good idea to make better use of mine, while it's still functioning. I hear my guitar calling...

What, ANOTHER new outfit?

Nothing like a new getup to start the year right.

I did some shopping, picked some mellow colors, got a new "blogskin" and popped in a few favorite photos. That's our boat in the sidebar. We buddy-boated out into San Carlos bay with our friends Mark and Wendy, so we could photograph each others' vessels with all our canvas up. Now that they've sold "Sol Mate" and gone back to Canada, wonder if they'll be back this way again.

The other shot is our dear departed Salty Dog Sophie, grinning from the bow of my kayak. I wish I had taken her for more kayak rides, she really seemed to enjoy them.

Above is Barra de Navidad anchorage at dawn, my favorite time of day, in one of my favorite places on the coast of Mexico. Sweet memories.