Banámichi November 2017

Insect Wars:
A month ago, tender green shoots were beginning to emerge from the soil. All was well in garden-land. Yes, I decided to hang in with the vegetables for one more year. 

But when we arrived in Banámichi a few days ago, only a few carrots, and some cilantro and dill were in evidence. What happened to the beets, spinach, chard, 3 kinds of lettuce and the other herbs? Had it been too hot? Did the grasshoppers get them? It was a mysterious disappearance. All the work to dig the plots and plant the seeds, not to mention the cash layout for seeds, soil amendments and drip tape. Those would be some damn expensive carrots! What a waste, and what a pain in the tushie!

Then we noticed that all the rose leaves were stripped off and the peach trees were  also stripped halfway down from the top. It became apparent that the culprit was "mochomos," aka leaf cutter ants. We've had them before, but never like this. 

Rose bush stripped of its leaves

Mochomo mound

We found several mounds that were obviously nest entrances. I saw online where some artists pour molten aluminum down ant holes and create amazing tree-root like sculptures. Not having any molten aluminum lying about, Dan W. got a Mexican product called "Trompa," little brown sticks that the ants carry down into their food supply in the nest that is supposed to get rid of them. It did slow them down, but the coup de grâce was when he poured a bunch of termite poison down the holes. Gone. I replanted the garden.

Aluminum Anthill Casting from anthillart,com

Then, we noticed termite tubes in our kitchen. One of them was actually free-standing between the floor and the bottom of the cabinet. We looked around and found that in places, the wood around the cabinets was gone and only the paint remained. One of the shelf supports actually disintegrated when Dan  picked up the shelf. Even the cotton rug in front of the sink was chewed up.

Some of the termite damage

So we had to take everything out of the cabinets, cut and drill holes in the sides and floor. The two Dans were lying on their bellies, half inside the cabinets, injecting termite poison into the cracks where they were coming in from outside. I am not a fan of pesticides, but thank God for termite poison. Gone. We put everything back into cabinets.

I have read online that the biomass of insects on the planet is actually much greater than the human biomass. That is scary!  They certainly have made a grab for our little corner of the world!

Our Banámich Cat:
Most cats in Banámichi are feral. They kill whatever they can and raid garbage cans to survive. Over time there are more and more cats, although the survival rate is low. For the last couple of years, a scrawny little brown and gray tortoise shell has consistently found hidey-holes in our back yard to have her kittens.

Mama Cat

Dan and Tracy always bring their two pampered pets down with them. They felt sorry for the skinny mama cat, and so when their cats left food over, they began putting it out for the stray. Gradually the cat became accustomed to the handouts and now she hangs out in the yard and shows up a couple times of day with her pitiful and piercing meows. She seems to know when one of our cars arrives, and within a few minutes is yowling in the back yard for something to eat. We always feel sorry for her and succumb to her wiles. Of course we are only here for a week or so a month, so this is intermittent reinforcement which is the most potent reward system.

Last time we were here, it was impossible to work in the garden because she literally followed me everywhere, meowing piteously. We actually went to Aconchi to buy some cat food so she would leave me alone. So now she has become a fixture of our visits. She gets nose to nose through the screen door with Dan and Tracy's cats. Remarkably, there is no spitting and hissing, just curiosity on both sides of the door. 

 Kitten With Hincky Tail

Now, Mama Cat has started to bring some of her older kittens with her, so we are beginning to feed the whole famdamily! The kittens are very afraid of us, hurling themselves at the garden wall in an attempt to get away if one of us comes near them. But Mama is letting us get closer and closer. Dan W. says she actually rubs up against his legs now when he feeds her. So we have us a part-time cat!

It's Papaya Time:
 Last spring, our friend Vicky gave me and friend Lynn a plastic bucket with a bunch of small papaya trees growing in it. I carefully cut them apart, and we each planted some. So now, I have a cluster of 4 fairly tall papaya trees, loaded with green papayas! One of them was ripe, and I have been eating it over the last few days. It is sweet and delicious...way better than any commercial papaya! Life is good!

Trya Papaya...they're delish!

August 2017 Banamichi Update

The days seem to fly by now, each new one chasing the tail of the previous one. It is hard to believe that 8 months have passed since I last wrote about Banámichi. Despite the tone of my last post, we are indeed alive and well, and still enjoying our home away from home on the Rio Sonora. In fact, we just returned to Tucson from a short visit.

Mexico still holds surprises and continues to delight.. Some surprises are fun, and others...well, not so much! As we entered Mexico through the Mariposa border crossing a week ago, a monstrous piece of machinery was parked right where we needed to go to get on Route 15 south. It took up nearly two lanes and there was no way to get around it. The only choice was to hang a right and go through the customs booth for Nogales Centro.

The left two lanes were completely blocked (Photo from https://www.theknot.com/us/victoria-revel-and-xavier-rivera-nov-2016/details)

We did our best to convey to the border official that we needed to be on Route 15, and asked how to get back there. He mumbled something really fast about the periférico (ring road) and waved his arms around in a random direction. Neither of us had a clue what he said, so off we went into the black hole of Nogales Centro.

If it really had been the center of town it would have been OK; we would have recognized the streets. But it was just some random road on the outskirts of town with road construction going on. I turned on my cell phone and asked Google to navigate to Hermosillo. Google in its infinite stupidity took us to Calle Hermosillo. Who even knew there was a Hermosillo Street? Now we were really lost...in an impoverished neighborhood water ran in rivers down the streets from the recent monsoons.

OK, Google, try again. Navigate to Hermosillo, Sonora. Long story short, after several more ridiculous  directions and about half an hour, we finally stumbled upon Route 15. Phew! Surprising, but really stressful.

It was really good to arrive, but with all the rain, the backyard was full of weeds that needed pulling. That was lots of hot, sweaty work between 6:30 and 9:30 AM each day we were there, and necessitated two major dump runs. Finally the yard looked like its gorgeous self again just as we had to leave for Tucson.

backyard looking all spiffy after days of work*

About a year ago, our friend Vicky gave me a 5 gallon bucket with a bunch of small papaya trees. I planted several of them in the yard, and now there are a number of nice looking papayas waiting to ripen. A lovely surprise!

Try a Papaya! (when they are ripe)*

When we left the last time the avocado tree had one lonely avocado. We looked everywhere for it, but it was gone...victim to some unknown fate. While we were staring at the tree, Dan W. saw another avocado that was still there....coolio! It might even be ready by the next time we go down.

One lonely avocado*

One evening, the two Dans, Tracy and I decided to go out for dinner, but without a real destination in mind. There is not too much to choose from in Banámichi. We drove south down  the road to the town of Huepac, where we found the remnants of a festival in honor of San Ignacio. There were pop-up restaurants, bouncy-castles for the kids, shooting galleries, and booths selling all the plastic stuff made in China. Very colorful!

We decide on food from Dany's Restaurant, which seemed just right since we had our own two Dannys along. We ordered Sopes Al Pastor..thick corn tortillas with spicy cooked pork. Then the flies descended.  Hordes! Millions! Must be due to the season and all the rain. The food was tasty, but we gobbled it up  quickly while flailing our arms about to fan away the flies and praying that we wouldn't wake up with Montezuma's revenge. (A pleasant surprise...we didn't.)

Two Dannys (and me) at Dany's*

Afterwards, we wandered about the carnival and were just in time to see a gigantic Sponge Bob Square Pants bouncy castle arise from a heap of rubber in the road as it was inflated.  Hilarious! Tracy wondered how Saint Ignacio would feel about Sponge Bob making an appearance at his festival!

Sponge Bob rising from the dead*

Next was the mechanical gorilla. It was so grotesque that a picture was in order. Then, as we turned to walk away, someone activated it, and it roared and shook the cage. The sound was so earsplitting that we all jumped in surprise!

ROOOAAARRRR!*

We left just in time, because as we drove back into Banámichi, there was lightning and thunder all around us . The sky was magnificent, with the red and orange sunset and the black clouds...a beautiful end to another interesting day in Mexico. Overall, an interesting adventure.

And one last update..Tracy seems to have hired herself a cook...an older woman (look who's talking!) named Maria Jesus.This almost guarantees more interesting surprises in the future. Hooray for Banámichi!

*Photos courtesy of Dan and Tracy Williams


.