People: Dona Juana

Dona Juana is my belle mere. I married my wife because I really liked Dona Juana. I thought that since most women end up being like their mothers, it was a safe bet if I got to know my girlfriend's mom before making any long-term commitment. In fact, several candidates failed the test, whenever I disliked the mother-in-law-to-be, I stopped completely dating that girl.

Fifteen years ago or so, Dona Juana got very sick and was taken to the hospital. I decided to use the occasion to teach my sons a lesson. I gave each $100 or so in cash - they started immediately to make plans to spend the money. Then I told them that Dona Juana was hospitalized and that the entire clan was expected to chip in whatever money they had. Although with some initial resistance, they chip in all they had to buy medicines for their grandmother.

Dona Juana certainly deserved that. I wish all her descendants were loving, tender, generous and fine ladies as Dona Juana.

Fauna of my backyard

As of today, I watched there

Deer
Coyotes
Foxes
Groundhogs
Cottontail rabbits
Skirrels
Chipmunks
an unidentified turtle
an unidentified snake
Canadian geese, waterfowl (wild ducks), cardinals, crows, owls, hawks, woodpeckers, among many other birds

Roadkill near home include racoons, opossums, and skunks.

Very near our home black bears, beavers, wild turkey and lynxes have been spotted.

Since there is so much prey, I guess cougars and wolves will soon recolonize this place.

People- My mom (2)

Since mom did not marry a good provider, she was forced to sell her family heirloom. She sold her diamond earings to buy antibiotics for my baby brother Pepe. To make ends meet, she sew baby outfits all night in addition to her regular activities. Much later, Mom sold her gold -her only savings- to pay for my registration into a private medical school. I was privileged, even more considering that my siblings attended public colleges.

After registering, mom and I returned home in a battered, empty bus. I told her I appreciated her support. Mom responded stiffly that she had just done her duty. I told her she had done much more than that. Only then she sat back in her seat, patted my hand and smiled.

Sibling competition in Google

In Latin America, we use our paternal surname followed by the maternal surname. In the US people usually employ only the paternal surname. I "googled" both my paternal and maternal surnames combined in the same search to see which sibling appeared more frequently. In the first 15 pages I counted

Miyaray 33 times
Myself 9 times
Willy 7 times
Yadira 2 times
Lili 1 time
Pepe 0 times
Chalo 0 times

People: Miguel Reynel

See his last sculpture


at
http://www.reynelsculpture.blogspot.com/

How to (just kidding): Eradicate Japa inacue

Jose Miguel visited the Peruvian Amazon basin and got this itchy bug, locally called izango. I advised him to rub the skin with Peruvian pisco (a kind of brandy) and after a few minutes dust the affected area with sand.
The rationale for this "treatment" is this: first, the bugs get drunk and become aggressive. They start throwing sand particles and stone themselves to death. [Disclaimer: I haven't tried this, and its efficacy is more than dubious. When I got izangos near the Amazon river, I just let them die out naturally, they will not reproduce outside a tropical area].

Saying farewell is a little, like, dying

I gave my son Jose Miguel, going back to his college, a ride to the airport. Once he passed security and waved goodby, bitter tears filled my eyes and I had to hide in a secluded area. First I thought I was worried my son was going to be alone and far from home. Then I realized it was self-pity, what I really felt sad about was being far from him, unable to feel closely his warmth and love. I had thought he needed me more than I needed him, and I was wrong.

How to: revive a drowned hemoglobinometer

Grace, my secretary, greeted me a morning with a report that a female voice had called saying that "the tin can sunk" before the communication was cut. What could it be? Grace assumed she was one of the nurses working for a Child Survival project in the Amazon Basin of Peru I directed. Later, we learned that a boat -with the pet name "tin can"- transporting the nurses had sunk in shallow water. Nobody was hurt and everything that was on the boat was recovered. However, the portable photometer used to monitor hemoglobin concentrations had also been submerged under water. The nurses put photometer, wet clothes and backpacks to dry under the sun. To their surprise, when everything had dried and they turned the photometer on, it ran like new. This Hemocue photometer continued operating without trouble up to the end of the project. [this blogger does not have any financial relationship with the Hemocue company, nor recommends cleaning photometers of any kind by throwing them into the washing machine]

People: Granddaughter Isabella

Updates: My 1st grandchild, Isabella, was born in Winchester VA on Saturday Jan 13, 2007. She weighted 6lb 3oz.