The drought

The cows are so hungry and thirsty they are eating my hedge

Forget about the international financial crisis, my crisis is the drought, and it has taken over my life. Uruguay has been experiencing below-normal rainfall since 2007, but this year things got bad. The usually rainy winter and spring were bone-dry, and now the ground is hard as rock, the grass makes a crunchy sound when stepped on, and cattle are dying all over the country.

At home, I was unaware that the sprinkler system was not up to the task of hydrating the couple hundred shrubs and trees we planted this winter and spring, and woke up one day to find a whole section of the yard the color of mayonnaise in addition to severe wilting affecting everything else (the sprinklers´ reach is one thing on paper, and another when fighting strong winds in the opposite direction of the stream).

That was about a month and a half ago, and my life since then has been devoted to manually watering every shrub and tree, not to mention my beloved vegetable garden. The obvious idea of just increasing the sprinkler cycle does not work, because the sprinklers are set up to spray a wide surface of lawn and plants so we would soak the lawn, waste lots of water and maybe still not provide enough for the shrubs. Also, there is the risk of just draining the well dry if we pump water too many hours a day. Although I was told that my well had an extremely abundant flow of water that would never run dry, after two years of drought things may be different.

The vegetable garden, with tomatoes duly staked... It´s obvious now that I´ve overplanted and overcrowded the tomato patch... beginner´s over-enthusiasm I guess.

And on to the real family crisis, Barbi´s hand, he´s due back on the 30th from one month of physical therapy in Turkey where he made lots of progress, He is now able to use silverware with his left hand, able to drive, etc. Still many months left of rehab but he will continue in Uruguay. Between the accident, the two operations, the 7 weeks spent in Turkey in two different stretches, etc., we´re ready for some uneventful time this summer, looking forward to returning to our routine. Also, Marabierto desperately needs Barbi back so Mirtha will be happy to have him and has declared that accident season is only between April and June.

On the festivities front, we had a lovely family brunch at Conrad, meant to be the last one of the year, although we may have a last-last one with Barbi... As usual, our bolero singing friends Los Románticos livened up the proceedings, with much help from our table and especially from Aunt Myrtha who now dances with baby grand-daughter Josefina who is scarily well trained to party at her tender 8 months.


Brunch with Mom Mirtha, Aunt Myrtha, Josefina and Rosina...

Christmas is never a big thing in our family, what with everyone working like crazy till late on Christmas Eve, but this year we had better logistics thanks to Aunt Myrtha, and ended up having a lovely dinner at Las Ostras, with the two Mirtha/Myrtha, plus brother Rafa and friend Coco. The location at Las Ostras is superb, the food was very good, the service too, and there were other friends in other tables as well, so we had a nice evening.

Mirtha on the terrace enjoying the fireworks

Coco and Rafael

Besides wielding the hose, my other new activity preventing me from blogging is Oso´s vocation, fetching the ball that requires throwing all day long. I fear I will develop whatever elbow injury baseball players get from so much ball throwing. While the others collapse in the shade, groggy with the heat, Oso is still up for a good run and will prod me (bring the ball to my hand, require that I wrestle it out of his mouth, or faced with complete indifference, drop it at my feet.) Every 10 or 15 fetches he goes for a swim in the pool and comes back refreshed and energized... Maybe if I had not cut his hair he would be a bit more lethargic, who knows...

Oso sporting his summer cropped hair style. Actually the hair is growing out fast... Tulu is all of a sudden getting bulkier.