rakeeter.com – Page 49

Dog’s life

Dogs don’t have names in the less prosperous areas of San Salvador, and maybe not generally. There are usually several nondescript examples of mixed heritage around and are ignored, left free to circulate among the legs in their perpetual quest for something to eat. The only attention they get is the occasional kick if they get in the way. These are half-hearted indignities though and inflict no pain. Dogs enjoy equal status to the flies and chickens. They seldom bark, perhaps because they have no claim on anything.

Tamales

by rakeeter

Today we made tamales from scratch, starting with shucking the corn and slicing it off the cob. It was only by chance that either Wally or I didn’t lop off a digit in the process. The women seemed more adept at handling the knife but you would expect Wally’s wife to be since she’s a chef. After adding a little water to the corn we trooped down the street to grind the corn into something resembling grits. Back at home we slapped the grits on a corn husk, added some chicken and wrapped our raw tomale in the husk for cooking. There were so many hands helping me when I rolled mine that I can’t really say I made a tomale but I am now familiar with the process. Cooking over a wood fire in an area, it couldn’t really be called a kitchen, with no chimney took over an hour. Fortunately there were enough gaps in the corrugated metal roof to vent most of the smoke. Neither the omnipresent flies nor the skinny chickens seemed inconvenienced.

The Emerald Isle

by rakeeter

It wasn’t easy but I finally finished mowing and trimming the place about 4 o’clock Friday afternoon. Abigail was having her drama class, including teacher, over for an end-of-school party and she wanted the place to shine so the pressure was on. Truth is, I wanted to get it done even if there were no party because, though I mowed the south end a couple of weeks ago, that was, well, a couple of weeks ago and the grass it be growing. My John Deere is a sturdy fellow but I still had to mow at a slower rate than normal and in some places slower still. Since I mowed the north end earlier in the week, I had the satisfaction of having the whole place mowed up all at once. Unfortunately it looks like I’ll need to go over it again in the coming week. Continue reading “The Emerald Isle” →

Recharging the aquifer

by rakeeter

Abigail's award — Abigail’s award ceremony

So far this month, approximately 1,466,330 gallons of rain have fallen on Six Acres. That is 50% more than all of 2011, the worst of the recent draught years. Though our temperatures remain mild, any savings on A/C bills will probably go to gas for the mowers. No complaints, though. This deep watering was much needed. The mosquitos teetered on the edge of extinction but have made a nice comeback and have been removed from the endangered species list.

Early in the week we got to see a performance of Tom Jones by Abigail and her merry band of thespians. It was entertaining. The next day they, along with the rest of the city’s eighth-grade theater troops, performed for the judges and I’m told they got the highest score the judges give any group, not to say other schools didn’t do as well in the scoring. Continue reading “Recharging the aquifer” →

the Alibates

by rakeeter

Most of the week was devoted to mowing the south end. Kari was having a bible study at her house and wanted her place mowed. No problem. I was going to mow it anyway. It only takes around three hours to mow the south end but it takes at least that long to trim it. That may not sound like a lot of time, but that’s a net figure. Add in time spent spraying weeds and a morning spent working at Wildcat Bluff and it seemed a lot like work. Wednesday I was rained out so those net hours were compressed into four days. However, even if I do say so myself, by the time I was finished the south end looked like J.A. his own self was back in action. The north end will get a similar treatment in the coming week. Continue reading “the Alibates” →