The Weather and Other Things

I haven't blogged in a few days, because nothing is really happening.  It has been raining since Wednesday, the 18th, except one short 2 hrs on Friday.  We took that opportunity to go to the produce market and stock up.  You have not seen rain until you see it rain on the North Coast.  We get a yearly average of 142 inches, amd most of it happens during, of course, the rainy season.  Duh!!!

The problem with the rain is not only  that you have to stay inside.  After a couple of days, even the quietest little creek becomes a raging flood.  This results in bridges being washed away on many rivers.  When that happens, Trujillo can get cut off  from the rest of Honduras until the bridges are replaced either with a make-shift made from wood, or a Bailey bridge.  This morning's La Prensa shows a picture of a big, gaping hole in the road between Tela and La Ceiba which looks to be about 6-8 feet deep in places, and covers  all of one lane.  The road from El Centro up to Buenas Aires is so rutted that it almost takes 4WD to get up here.

                                                Photo Courtesy of La Prensa.hn

The other problem is that the rain cools everything down, including the 6-8 inch  thick walls in most homes, the concrete floors, and the rocks that are everywhere.  This results in no radiant heat.  When coupled with us having only screen in the windows, it is an unpleasant, wet cold.  Casa Ramirez will have glass windows.

The good news in Buenas Aires, our colonia, is the nice breeze that comes down off the mountain, making AC unneccessary most of the time.  The bad news in Buenas Aires is the stiff breeze that comes down off the mountain during rainy season, causing a chill factor that can be as low as 40 degrees. 

OTHER THINGS:  The rain chases mice into the house.  These mice are so smart!!  How smart are they?  They can do anything except read and write, all the time they are stealing the bait right out of the trap.  It is against the law to teach mice to read and write.  At least the mosquitoes are not so bad.

I actually found broccoli, cauliflower and green beans in our local market. along with the regulars, chayote (a squash), camote (a sweet potato), and yucca.  What a gift or me!  Macho Man, on the other hand is very disappointed.  He is a rice and beans man, and only eats other veggies because he knows they are good for him.

We had a scare about the Grandbrat.  Daughter called Thursday night and said they had been to the ER because she had a virulent allergic reaction to some unknown agent and was covered with hives and a rash that was threatening to swell her eyes shut.  After IV steroids and Benadryl she seemed to get better, so they let her go home. 

Friday she broke out again, and her mother called  me to ask what to do.  I told her to give her the meds the ER doc prescribed and add some OTC Benadryl to it.  Daughter took her back to the ER and told them her mother, the nurse, wanted to know why they didn't give  Princess Baby Girl a Dose-Pak.  They hemmed and hawed and gave her a Rx for prednisone if she needed it.  Saturday she was completely clear.  Monday she goes to the allergist to see what caused this.  The RN in me feels helpless.