Good Times and Bad - April 2019

April started out with two wonderful settings for lady friends to relax and paint a few last times, before most leave for the season.

Piedras Pintas
We wonder what is going to happen to this beautiful beach as there is a development going in here.

We found an abandoned building on a hot day up at La Manga 3.  We
hope to come back here many times.  Yes, that's Susan trying her hand at
painting with pastels.

A great spot for getting out of the wind

I'm going to paint this scene next time.

We had a cocktail party with Susan and David and Janet and Vecinos (Neighbors and fellow Clams - we live on Almejas), Tracy and Charlie, and Tibby and Gary Levinson.

A beautiful sunset

Tracy and Susan

Charlie and Janet

Tibby and Gary

 I took Susan out to see the Giant Cardon Forest in San Jose one day.

Cardon, Susan and Organ Pipe

Ocotillo

Cardon

Old Man or Bearded Cacti

Creeping cactus

Just mesmerized by the trunks of these things

April blooming time

Prickly Pear

And then we ate lunch and played cards in the local restaurant.

Kayaking the estuary with Susan .  The terns were migrating through this area on their way north.  The cacophony was similar to hearing the cranes move through Nebraska!  It was magical to be in the water right with them!

Great Blue Heron

Sandy walkway through the estuary grounds-so well kept

Sunset happy hour
Janet couldn't come with us as Molly is sick and she needed to stay with her.

Now comes the very hard part of the story!  Janet's dog, Molly, was not eating, losing weight and having difficulty peeing and pooping.  Saturday, we made an appointment with the vet, Edgar-the best, from Obregon.  He felt her all over, said she was not in pain, might be diabetic and something was going on with her lymphatic system.  Sunday he came to town again to take a blood sample which he took to Obregon for test results.  Molly continued to decline and by Tuesday, we got the results indicating that she was in renal failure and had some kind of gastric distress.  He ordered some medicine and we brought Molly to our house where we all sat with her for hours, tried to give her the medicine (which she just threw up) until around 3 o'clock, when we all knew she was suffering too much.  She was trying to vomit and nothing but a little bile would come up, she tried to pee and poop but couldn't and she couldn't walk well.  We called Suzanne Pinto who got in touch with Edgar and he said he would come up the following day ("just for Molly"), but Janet decided that one more day was too much.  We agreed.  We asked Suzanne for advice and she found us a lovely lady vet in North Guaymas who would stay to help us say goodbye to Molly.  Several friends advised us about the most humane way to put a dog down (two shots, one to anethtasize and one to put her to sleep).  It was painless and quick but we were all devastated.  I can't describe how hard this was for Janet-losing her husband and her beloved Molly within the space of 7 months. The vets cried with us.  We came back two days later to pick up Molly's remains, which they gave us in the most beautiful little pink box with her name spelled out in gold glitter and they gave us more hugs.

Rest in Peace Molly McBean

We took her to the beach where we had a little wake for Molly and threw her ashes to the wind.  We still can't believe that she's gone.