Into Every Life...

Never have I experienced rainfall as intense, heavy, and prolonged as a weekend thunderstorm that blew into Managua on Saturday afternoon. For nearly a full hour, the tormenta raged, flooding the gardens and bending the eucalyptus boughs hither and yon.  It simply would not let up, though eventually it gave way to a steady lighter rainfall that persisted for hours. I reckon at least four inches fell in that first hour.

Friday, when the daily "no progress' report came down from the customs agent, I was discouraged to learn that the coming weekend was to be followed by a Monday holiday to observe the anniversary of the July 19, 1979 revolution. So no progress is even possible until Tuesday. Interestingly, the celebration would be held close to sunset, which comes early here, at about 6:30. Why? It seems that Commandante Ortega has a sort of lupus, which makes it difficult for him to tolerate sunshine. I looked it up; perhaps he has the condition known as Subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus,  in which lesions appear due to sun exposure.

And there he is, with his wife, Rosario Murillo, on the broadcast of the celebration. In the second photo, there's a bit more red and black (colors of the Frente Sandinista Liberacion Nacional party) than the blue and white of Nicaragua. Plus those lunatic trees...

Friday evening, I was killing time playing computer mah-jong when I heard Brynn shrieking with terror in the front garden. I ran to her. She was on the ground, wriggling in pain, and when I put my hand on her she bit it hard. Apparently, Yogi had finally had enough of her attempts to play with him, and he had responded by hurting her. She was in awful pain as I gathered her into a towel and into the car. Parzy drove to a local barrio vet, and my heart sank to see how very basic were its amenities. No x-ray, no scales, only a few bottles and jars of medical products. The vet was a very gentle older fellow who examined Brynn very thoroughly, bending her legs and testing her joints, even lowering his ear to listen to the moving parts of her body. She cried out once or twice, but he concluded that no bones were broken. She did have a couple of scrapes on her abdomen, and a clear tooth mark on a front leg. The most obvious problem was her limp left hind leg. The vet gave her injections of an anti-inflammatory and B12 complex. He ordered rest, and more anti-inflammatory on three successive days.

Two days later, she has not recovered her happy demeanor, but at least she is starting to walk and show some interest in her surroundings. She has had a trauma, and I am very concerned that the hind leg appears to be no better. The vet  ordered hourly massages of the thigh muscles, along with some daily calcium pills. Her appetite is good, and I will carry out those instructions to the letter. My poor little Brynn. I hope her youth works in her favor.