A Small Act of Kindness, In The Big City

Montevideo is a pretty big city having a population of over 1.3 million people and many of those people have dogs.  Here you will not likely see dog poo on the sidewalks or streets.  We have not seen dogs roaming free, all are on leashes and someone is walking them. And we have seen the people around our apartment using baggies to clean up after their pets.

While walking on one of the side streets just a block or so from our apartment, I saw an empty large gallon water container tied to a tree. I could not figure out what the purpose was until on another walk further away I spotted this.

Yes, you got it. Someone filled this empty jug with supermarket bags. Just the right size to pick up your pets poo. For a large city, it is pretty well maintained and I was happy to see the pro-active folks trying to keep their city clean.

Little Joe, The Latest Addition to Cindy’s Little Farm

Our niece Cindy lives in Texas. She has a little spread – really don’t know what to call it because she is really not farming it, raising cattle or anything so grand.  She has a beautiful horse named Spanx, two mature burros or maybe they are donkeys honestly I am not sure and one foal. And her constant companion Samson, a German Shepard.

For the past several months she has watched Uma as she grew into this huge bellied beauty. Uma was really waddling around for the past weeks and Cindy was waiting on the birth.

Today at 6:30am a new foal was added to her family, Little Joe.

I asked Cindy for clarification on what exactly Uma is and this is what she had to say:

Uma is A donkey n Little Joe has markings of Jerusalem donkey!!!  
Interesting. I believe Uma is called an Andalusian donkey! Joe has
the markings of cross along his back n down shoulders n legend 
is Jesus rode the Christian or Jesus or Jerusalem??  
Donkey in Passover !!!!

I had never heard this story so I found it on-line and added it below:

Have you heard the legend of the Christian donkeys? This is the story that has been told about the little donkey who was Jesus’ mount on Palm Sunday.

It is said that a donkey carried Mary to Bethlehem and is also referred to as a Nativity Donkey.   The Nubian burro has a cross on its back because it is believed that these donkeys carried Jesus to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

To ride on a donkey signified coming in peace, this symbolic event served to reinforce what Jesus had told the people of Israel: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he [is] just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon a donkey, and upon a colt the foal of a donkey.”(Zachariah 9:9 KJV)

Looks like Samson is going to take on the roll of daddy over this little one.

Nice to see Cindy’s dreams coming true.

Sunday Chillin’

Just a few pictures for a quiet Sunday.

Could This Be The Old West

Something I would never think to see on my morning walk.

I guess it was a cow, and guess some dog dragged the head to its final resting place near the side of the road.  Never know what you’re going to see. Yeehaw!

Lady and the Tramp – Ecuadorian Style

I know you all remember the movie where Lady is sharing a plate of spaghetti with Tramp.

These photos are not with spaghetti but were so cute I just had to share with you. We were having our breakfast and coffee / tea at the beach when these two showed up to play.

The cream colored dog is a female that stays part-time on our street and I was told her name was Blanche. The darker dog is a male and he lives one street over and his name is Yo. They are both young pups and really had fun chasing each other around that morning.

Soundproofing

When a great many people come to town for the holidays or vacation, the noise level is a bit of a problem. Our home is right on the street and our windows stay open all the time.  Mind you it is not a busy street normally but during this time of year many folks are in vacationing and the number of cars, trucks, and people walking by increases a great deal.  Joe found these little beauties at Fybeca Pharmacy in the SuperMaxi shopping center in Portoviejo.

If you are a light sleeper or have street dogs that just hate new cars on their street you may want to find these silicone ear plugs.  These are the children’s size because they did not have adult size. But they do the job and we get a good nights sleep using them. They did not block out all the fireworks but muffled it enough so that we were not awakened each time they were set off.

A good nights sleep is important to us old fogeys…

Nuestros Perros de la Calle

There are three dogs that protect the street we live on, The alpha dog Café is not as sociable as the other two. Beethoven and Baby Dog (my name for him as he has none that I know of) will sometimes come with me on my walks. That can be a good or bad thing depending upon the other dogs that are out and about.

This picture was taken from an empty lot near our home that overlooks the water. Joe and I bring our coffee many mornings and sit here just enjoying the water. This day the fishermen were dragging in their nets and two of our street dogs were very interested in the catch – or could it have been the birds?

They are working dogs and do an excellent job of informing all the neighborhood if something is not right. I did find that they do not like yellow taxis, have a true hatred for certain cars or maybe a driver who is driving too fast. Caution is necessary as they are not friendly. A friend from San Jacinto dropped by to visit one day while Baby Dog was sitting at our gate – Ken went to pet the dog and was snapped at. Thank goodness his reaction was fast or he would have gotten bit.  Because we have been feeding them for some time these two are very friendly towards both Joe and I. As soon as they realize it is us walking the street or disembarking the dreaded yellow taxi, they stop their barking and go about their business. It is good to be accepted!