A SPECIAL CHRISTMAS TAIL from San Miguel de Allende 2007
Subject: A CHRISTMAS TAIL Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 03:27:33 +0000 I am not sure where this "TAIL" begins or ends, as I am merely the "tailer"! I live in a very doggy Mexican village, founded by dogs who were looking for water to drink, hundreds of years ago. To this very day, this is a village, run by dogs, owned by dogs, and loved by dogs and their owners! Most everyday of the week about 5pm, the neighbors in my Colonia Guadiana, take to the streets for a little evening dog walking, or as we often refer to it, as our YAPPY HOUR! We look like the Pied Pipers on parade with our dogs! Some owners walk as many as three or four at a time, those being much better in the street, than the Edison poodles! I can only manage one at a time, so frequently during YAPPY HOUR I go home to switch out poodles. Never fails, someone will say, "didn't I just see you with a white one of those, and now the dog is black!" We love keeping everyone confused around here! During our walks, we discuss "the usual topics of the day" which frequently include a few good dog stories. Many of us volunteer and work with dog groups in town such as the Animal Shelter, the City Dog Pound, Save a Mexican Mutt, which handles adoptions locally as well as in the USA, Amigos de Animales, a free spay and neuter program, the SMA Kennel Club, and on and on! In our neighborhood we focus on strays, lost dogs, dogs needing medical attention, and even an occasional street dog with a litter of new born puppies. No one is more in the center of all of this dog activity than my neighbor Cathy Eignus. When you ask Cathy "Que pasa?" you are most likely to hear the dog story of the day! I would not know where to begin on what all she has done for the dog population here in our village. If there was a hungry or sick or lost stray, it would find it's way to Cathy's doorstep. This seems to be her karma! I have never known her not to do everything in her power to help an animal in need, so it will not surprise you that she is one of three characters in my Christmas Tail! The other two characters, I met just last week, even though we have all been in San Miguel for many years. Upon meeting last week, Howard and Lynne Gleason, and Fred and I , discovered we had even lived in the same 370 year old house in the Centro Historical District! The Gleasons lived in Pila Seca One, after it's restoration for the writer Vance Packard and his wife Virginia. Fred and I lived in the house after the Packards left San Miguel. Not only did we share the love of the same house we all had at different times, called home, but we shared many beloved friends, many stories and memories of departed pioneers, of the foreign community. It was such a surprise and thrill for me to meet the Gleasons! I was having a furniture sale at our Centro house and they dropped in to see what was going on and bought a cabinet to be picked up the next day. When I arrrived to open the door to the sale the next morning, I discovered that it was the day that the city had decided to begin restoration work on this historical home! They had put up scaffolding. sand bagged the front door, and basically had blocked traffic from the narrow cobblestone street! There would be no sale today, so I went home to contact the Gleasons with news that picking up the cabinet would have to be delayed. Thus began a week of emails and phone calls to my new friends updating them on the situation at hand! They were understanding and great sports and said "don't worry"! This is a phrase that most of us gringos have learned to use and adhere to, living in Mexico! So now you have the background history, of how I came to know the three characters in my Christmas Tail! The plot thickens! The "tail" begins..........! If you love dogs, you will love this story and most of all it's characters. For without these three people, it would be a very sad "tail" for this little doggy. It has made my day, my week, and probably my year! Janice Edison A VERY SPECIAL CHRISTMAS TAIL It is 5pm, time for YAPPY HOUR, so I go to the kennel to get a poodle to walk on this beautiful sunny, but cool evening, high in the mountains of San Miguel de Allende. I meet up on the street corner with Margaret Hanes and Tito, and Cathy and the three Eignus dogs, and another neighbor and her dog and we begin the parade of dogs through Guadiana, picking up other dog walking neighbors as we proceed up and down the streets. We have done this every evening for as long as I can remember, and it is one of my favorite unwinding activities, to what has usually been a busy day! This one started out as they all do, greeting the dogs, and the dogs sniffing each other like they have never met before! Then the usual chit chat, as we acknowledge all of the new construction projects, trying to guess what they are going to be, and who is going to live in them, and yes of course, they too will have dogs to walk, as we are the number one dog neighborhood in, as I said earlier, a very doggy town! The chat soon switched to Cathy's trip to the dentist in nearby Queretaro today, for what has been a week of extensive dental work. She told us that she did not drive her car this morning , as seeing the dead dogs on the side of the highway, is so distressing. We all agreed on that, as most of us do our major shopping in Queretaro, and often, I have wished for blinders...as there are many dead dogs, hit by cars and trucks while trying to cross this busy highway. And so it was that Cathy decided this morning, to take the bus, and be able to lay back and close her eyes, and leave the driving to someone else! A great plan, so it seemed! When she got off the bus at the bus station, what was there to greet her, but a little lost stray dog with what appeared to be two broken legs. Cathy was just sick, but also soon going to be late for her dental appointment, so she found a taxi, and set off for the appointment, still worried about this little dog. After the dental work, she walked across the street and went into a tienda to buy some ham, just in case this little dog might still be at the bus station! She hopped in another taxi and set off to catch the bus back to San Miguel and upon arrival at the bus station, sure enough, there was the little dog! With the enticement of the ham, he came to her, and she took off her jacket and wrapped the little dog up and carried him to a taxi in her arms! Like all good doggy people, she just happened to have in her purse, the address of the best veterinarian in Queretaro, and gave the taxi driver the address. They arrived, to find out that the vet was out of the office, and so she asked directions to another vet. Since the taxi had already left, she carried the dog two blocks to the address she had been given, only to discover that this vet no longer had an office there. So what does a dog person do then...she walks many blocks to Costco, carrying the injured dog in her arms. Why Costco? That is where all of the gringos in San Miguel go to shop and she thought maybe, just maybe, she would see someone, who would give her a ride back home, so she could take this dog to one of our local vets for treatment. Cathy said she set down with the dog outside and waited to see who was coming out of Costco. The first friend she saw and asked for a ride back to SMA, said her car was full and she did not have room for Cathy. The next person she asked had other errands to run and would not be heading back anytime soon, and on and on the stories went. Cathy is not one to give up, especially when an injured animal is involved, but with the pain she was experiencing from the dental work, all of the walking involved in getting to Costco, and the unwillingness of getting someone to give her ride, I would have to guess she was a little discouraged! Suddenly, out of the clear blue skies, she said , a couple walked over to her and asked if they could help her in any way. In a world where strangers no longer say hello to each other, more or less give another stranger a ride, these people offered to bring Cathy and the dog back to San Miguel! Who said dogs do not have their own angels? And these angels who appeared out of no where...were a couple by the name of Howard and Lynne Gleason! Cathy asked if I knew them? At that moment you could have picked me up off of the cobblestone street! Did I know them???? I had been trying to reach Howard all day to tell him that the scaffolding was down, and the door was again open, and he could come by to pick up the cabinet Lynne had bought last week! I had left a message on his answering machine! As Cathy said, the story does not end here! Upon arrival back in SMA, the Gleasons insisted on taking Cathy and the dog to the vet! First stop at Edgardo Vasquez office, found him out of his office, the second stop at another vet's office, found him out also! This group did not give up, they went back up the street and saw one vet returning to his office and finally at last, with lots of help from new friends, Cathy had reached the end of her journey. She finally had found a vet to tend to this little injured dog. As of this moment, the vet is probably setting two broken legs. Cathy hopefully, has taken a few pain killers for the dental work , and has gone to bed early! I am writing the story that made my day, my week, perhaps my year! The Guadiana dog walking gang, were all as amazed as I was, and I am sure are passing on todays great story to their friends tonight also. If this is not a Christmas miracle, than I have no idea, what a miracle is all about! I am so thrilled to hear a story like this, when most of what I hear on the news stations from around the world is pretty bleak. This certainly brightened my day, and restored my faith in people, total strangers, dog angels, and heroes, my kind of heroes! I am proud to know all the characters in this story, and it is an honor to be the "tailer" of such a Christmas Tail ! May your holidays be blessed with all things bright and beautiful, and may this be the beginning of the end of animal suffering in the year 2008. We certainly have a good start on it here in San Miguel, with people like Cathy, Howard and Lynne. Thank all of you for your kindness and goodness and faith in each other. I will update all of you on the final outcome of this little doggy, his condition, and hopefully a new home for him. If I could write the end of this story myself....well we shall see! I do believe in miracles, and I have a feeling there are more to come! |
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| What an awesome community! Hope that little dog is OK. Bless those people who helped. |
| A wonderful story, Ali. Merry Christmas from Barney, Maggie and me. |
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