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Along the Natchez Trace

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Small Town Life.....

Not much going on here....  we had water problems again this morning....  not sure if our new neighbors took long showers while the water was turned off...  for that matter, we don't even know when the water was turned off...  our new holding tanks and pump are supposed to handle all that...  but... as we expected, those little 55 gallon drums just can't handle 4 people taking showers, doing dishes, flushing the toilet etc.  

Whatever....  we'll survive....

The washer started doing some crazy things.  And it's one of those top loaders that the lid locks when the water starts...  if you manually make it unlock, then the cycle starts all over again.  Bill reported the problem to Robert....  the washer apparently is new and still under warranty.  The repairmen just left a few minutes ago... said it's fixed.  Now....  wonder if I have enough water to do a load of laundry ;-)

On to the daily sightseeing tour....
We heard the howler monkeys as we were walking to Coco...  didn't expect to see any as the howling came from the other side of the hill.  But as we got to "the corner", this lone female was working on finding a meal up in that tree.  Usually the monkeys are in a group....  but twice now we've seen a loner right here.

And...  the biggest surprise!
Someone has done massive work on the Rickety Bridge!
There wasn't any tip-toeing or high-stepping today....
WhooooHoooo!  Bet it's good for another few weeks!

Just on the left of the above photo, we saw....
This cormorant was fishing in the creek.
There are tons of fish, from minnow up to about 6" (inches!!!!) in this creek.  We see cormorants hanging out on tree branches over the banks of the sea, but this was the first we've seen one our little creek.
(I stand corrected...  this is an anhinga..... that's what I get for being in a hurry)

Our daughter Michelle's birthday is today.  Happy Birthday Michelle...  hope you enjoy it as much (or even more) than you did your last one.  Now...  scroll past real fast, because we saw a snake on the beach today, and I just have to show it.






This is a "Yellow-bellied Sea Snake"
It was alive...  and apparently had gotten washed up with the tide.
I read up on them when we got home...  sounds like they are poisonous...  but there is an anti-venom serum and so no fatalities have been recorded.
Hmmmm..... comforting, isn't it?
He was maybe 18"-20" long (INCHES!), and had a neat pattern.  But... we left him alone and moved on past.

On into town...
Remember me writing that Guadalupe picked up our recyclables yesterday?  Well, I also wrote that he had a bicycle with a trailer attached....

WRONG!
He's quite modern....  has a motorcycle (small engine...  maybe a 125 or less?) with his trailer behind.  We saw him in town again today...  looks like he has a regular route as this was around 9am this morning and his trailer is nearly full.

One funny thing about walking into Coco...  we've "lived" here 2 months...  we often see folks we've come to know.  Today we saw Ann and Steve bicycling down the main street...  flagged them down and talked for a while.  We speak to Nelson at the Jardin Tropical...  saw Elvis walking into town and talked with him a few minutes.  Often we'll see Robert, our landlord....  or maybe Francine and Greg walking.  There are folks we always speak to but don't know their names....  
There's a lot to be said for living in a small town.  It's kinda nice!

That's All For Today!





12 comments:

  1. I like the small town we live in...one paved street which is actually a state highway that runs north out of town...runs out of pavement about 10 miles out. The rest of the streets are gravel, one stop sign...well, you get the picture. Speaking of that bird photo, but are you sure that isn't an Anhinga? It just has such a long slender neck and no hook on its bill like Cormorants have.

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  2. Love small towns, we lived in one 900 people for 25 years.

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  3. I grew up on a farm, swore I would never live in the country again, moved to the big city, spent most of my early adult life living and working in the big city, moved to WY, met Michael, moved to Montana and now I live 22 miles from absolutely anything!! The nearest town is 1500 people.

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  4. My towns are progressively smaller. Currently population 598.

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  5. Your photos and posts about that bridge probably brought it world wide attention, so "somebody" thought they'd better "do something". See how much influence you have on things, Sharon. Now, if the water problems would only straighten out, and the hill would flatten out, and the monkeys would come out, and ......... HAHAHAHAHA

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  6. Thank you for the warning about the snake--had to look anyway. Trying to de-senstize myself... So glad someone has done upgrades to the rickety bridge--no more fears of tumbling into the water. Small towns are great for developing a community--you've accomplished that in a very short time! I wonder if the monkey is an outcast for some reason or just doing her own thing? Take good care!

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  7. I grew up in a small town, but luckily it had no poisonous sea snakes!

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  8. That is a beautiful snake. I have never seen one like that. You are showing me a lot of things I have never seen or ever will.

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  9. You obviously can make yourself friendly and make contact with others. It would be very lonely if you stuck to yourselves. Now I have to look up to see if the sea snakes survive when it's left high and dry.

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  10. We just returned from our two week cruise through the Panama Canal…so nice to have internet again. We had it on the ship, but it as so expensive and slow it was almost impossible to do anything but check email (at 55 cents a minute!) I'm working my way through the blogs and looking forward to seeing what you're up to. We enjoyed our stop in Costa Rica but only had time for a quick trip to a zip line through a rain forest. We were excited to see pairs of red macaws (it was mating season) in the wild. I'd never seen one in free flight before. You are fortunate to have time to enjoy the wonders of that beautiful country.

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  11. I absolutely hate those “sensing” type of washers. The last two refuges we have volunteered have had them. They take forever to start washing. I like to add my soap and let the water run a little before I add my clothes. Have to unlock the lid and, like you said, start over again, to do that.
    I think I will always remember street entertainer you blogged about in Spain that had all the different costumes. People come and go in your life and some you will never forget.
    Teri
    Markteri.blogspot.com

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