Summer cleaning

Posted on by Felipe Zapata

MY CHILD BRIDE  encountered a nasty allergy in March — first ever — shortly after we started staying home due to the Kung Flu. That staying at home lasted till May 10 when we wearied of it. Now we are out and about since it’s become patently obvious that it’s just another pandemic like the world sees now and then. You die, or you don’t.

Most don’t.

She’s been to two doctors, and various solutions have been offered. The allergy has calmed down about 90%, but she still has occasional flareups, but nothing like what was happening in March, which coincidentally was when she stopped going to the gym religiously, again due to the Kung Flu. She returned to the gym about two months ago.

She imagines a new cause of her problem — sneezing and runny nose — on a daily basis. One, of course, is dust, so she’s been on a cleaning campaign that comes and goes. Today was one of those days, and she tackled the downstairs terraza.

cleaning
Wall stripped of hats. Shelves stripped of clay pots.
bowls
Pots get a good wash.

Inside one of those clay pots, she encountered — much to her dismay — a mummified bat that had gotten himself trapped. That whole pot went into the trash barrel. She also tossed most of the sombreros that had been hanging on the wall for about 15 years, including the cowboy chapeau of my old buddy Al Kinnison.

But I was no slacker this morning. Swallows had built one of their nasty mud nests high on a second-floor overhang in the service patio. A family was there before I noticed it, so I left them in peace to raise the kiddies who tossed plenty of poop to the patio floor. They finally grew up and flew away. Good freaking riddance!

An extension ladder and a broom put me within range, so I knocked the nest down this morning. I’ll be more vigilant next year. I also climbed to the roof of the kitchen-dining room to sweep accumulated dirt that gives algae and weeds a happy home.

I was surprised to find the roof completely dry. Usually, there’s a pool up there throughout the rainy season, but it’s been raining less this summer. Must be that climate-change thing. If so, I favor it. We’re getting plenty of rain, as you can see in the video, but not so much that it causes problems. I shot that video about three days ago.

We’ll be having green pozole for lunch today. Come join us.

22 thoughts on “Summer cleaning”

  1. La Doña de Zapata’s pozole verde is the best! I would be there in a flash if I didn’t already have a weekend fully booked with activity. It’s strange that you should mention Al Kinnison, because a) he was at your house when I last had pozole verde there, and b) his name came up in conversation last night over how he was reading a physics book six months before his demise.

    Like

    1. Ms. Shoes: Again, your memory needs to be in the Guinness Book. I did not remember Al being here on that particular day.

      Your comment first went to moderation. Got no clue why.

      Like

    2. Ms. Shoes, P.S.: I just went to the terraza to check out her handiwork. She has replaced all the clay pots on the shelves but upside down. Looks a bit odd, but I understand it because it’s not the first time a bat has ended up dead in one of those pots.

      Like

  2. I cringed at the mention of a mummified bat. Imagined that I would not have been as calm as your wife (dismayed) had I found one. Faint comes to mind.
    Impressed with all the ambition in your household.

    Like

    1. Perry: I would rather deal with a dead or mummified bat instead of a live one. That in spite of my being bat fan.

      Yours is the second comment to go to moderation. This morning I made a WordPress domain change, so I think all comments will be seen as a first comment from everyone, which means they’ll all be moderated for a spell. First comments are moderated here.

      UPDATE: Or not, as the case may be.

      Like

    2. Marco, P.S.: A couple of hours later a light bulb sparked to life above my noodle, and I realized you were addressing the allergy issue. As far as I know, we have no mold problem here.

      Like

  4. It’s interesting how allergies come on later in life sometimes. I’m lucky to have none, but my wife has gotten very allergic to cats and dogs in the last few years. No bird or bat issues here, but we went out to the coast for five days and in that time the hornets had built a nest outside my gate through the wall. I opened the door this morning, and the hornets’ nest was pushed off the door frame. As the saying goes, they were as mad as a bunch of hornets. That door was closed quickly and left that way for a few minutes until they all departed for parts unknown.

    I’m still doing the outside gym thing. Don’t think I would last an hour with a mask on inside.

    Very nice collection of videos.

    Like

    1. Kirk: I’ve never had allergies. Knock on wood. And I hope that good fortune continues.

      I’m guessing you followed the video to the Vimeo website where I have plenty more. Thanks for the feedback.

      Now, watch out for those hornets.

      Like

    1. Carole: Had to look that one up. It’s a fancy way of saying hay fever. I see that it affects up to 40 percent of the population. Were that it, I think the two doctors would have said something, but who knows? The good news is that it’s far reduced from the big problem it was back in March and April.

      Like

    2. Carole, P.S.: I also see that hay fever tends to be seasonal. My wife’s issue began in spring. Now we’re in summer, and it’s significantly reduced, so maybe. But it has not vanished entirely.

      Like

      1. I am perpetually plagued with hay fever coupled with mold allergy. More so as an adult. San Antonio has it all and now African dust.

        Like

Comments are closed.