Morning Thoughts

Last night there was a big party across the street from me. The Pit Bull next door got freaked out at all the noise and tried twice to break through the barrier my landlord, Pepe, had put up. The first time the dog broke through,  Pepe took my broom and hit the poor dog in the face until he gave up and went back to his place. All he had gotten through was his head. Such a strange dog. He is built like a tank. He looks vicious. But he is afraid of everything and cries like a small puppy. For a year I thought they had a puppy over there crying instead of that muscular Pit Bull.

After Pepe swatted the Pit Bull down,  Pepe and his wife put two huge cement blocks over the hole. I hope they don't fall down on my head or my animals. Later on in the evening, the Pit Bull got scared again and jumped through another part of our black plastic barrier, getting his head stuck up there. His body must have been dangling on the other side because he was crying like he was in a lot of pain. Fortunately, the neighbor was arriving in the back of a pick up truck and came over, saw the situation and went back home and pulled his dog back to his side. This is the eleventh time that dog has done this and Pepe and I keep piling up the barrier. (It is quite a wall now. Trump would be proud.) I don't think my neighbor does anything from his side to keep his dog there.

On a different note, my friend who lives in downtown Ajijic, said that they closed off one block of her street, had a live band and lots of food. It was a birthday party for a Mexican woman who turned 106 years old. 

I have seen many very old Mexicans here. Maybe people live longer because it is less stressful than in other places. I spent about ten days dealing with banks in the United States as I tried to send my son and daughter-in-law some money for a down payment on a house. It was one blunder after another and it felt like hours on hold as the bank tried to fix problems they had created. I am thankful that Carlos Slim, the owner of the telephone company here, allows us to call the United States for free. But I can't call any 800 numbers on it. I have to use skype for those. I think I used up all my skype time this past week or so. 

I hope that is all done now. They close tomorrow morning, at the same time that I get the stitches out of my forehead at the doctor's office. If I had to choose between doing house buying paperwork and having stitches taken out of me, I would choose the physical pain. I am glad the choice was made for me. But all this stress also made me realize that I don't want to go to the United States this summer. I just can't handle it anymore. Maybe if I never go back there, I will be one of those over a hundred year old women having a birthday party in the street of Ajijic. That is, if the Pit Bull doesn't push me over the edge. 

Remember this photo? It was from the eighth time he tried to get over. I love the expression on his face. He is so happy that he managed to break through the plastic. But then he was stuck. He couldn't get his big body to go the rest of the way. Every time he gets scared, he tries to get over here. I don't know why because when he gets on this side, he becomes stuck on the roof of my washing area and can't get down. Or like last night, he got slapped in the face by my landlord with a broom. But the dog never learns. He gets freaked out and by instinct, jumps up to the barrier until he finally gets through. Makes me think of that AA slogan, Don't keep doing the same thing and expecting different results.....   Of course the dog doesn't think, he just reacts. How many of us do that?  I know I often do. Change is difficult. The older I get, the harder it is for me to change. 

I am sure there will be more to come on the Pit Bull saga.