Poor Bijou

The weather has been a bit strange. After 8 straight days of rain, day and/or night, we are now into the 4th day without rain. Each afternoon about 4 - 5 p.m., it clouds up, we hear thunder off in the distance and we even get a few drops; then it clears up. This afternoon, it actually started to rain; Barb had clothes on the clothes line (we don’t have a dryer). She rushed out to get them; just as she finished bringing them in the house, the rain stopped and it appears to be clearing up again. This is apparently unusual for the rainy season. The earlier rain had made a good start and raised the level of Lake Chapala by 2 cm. As a result of drought and overuse of water flowing in, the lake had gotten pretty low. However, in the last few years, it has been regaining higher levels. Last year the rainy season raised the level of the lake by 1.7 meters; the dry season lowered it by 1.1 meters. Thus, it started off this year about 0.6 meters (just under 24 inches) above last year. They are hoping and expecting that this year will raise it more again.

Today Bijou was attacked by another dog. It was a surprise because they had met and played on a previous occasion. The owners of the dog (a standard poodle and thus quite big) were surprised and said that it had never happened before. Bijou ended with a gash in her shoulder. We took her to the animal hospital to get stitched up. The vet had left for the day and a technician did the stitching. We have to take her back in tomorrow. This was the second time she was attacked, although she was not hurt the first time. Barb is getting a bit nervous; she and Bijou go for long walks almost every day.