At Cancun Canuck's post today I discovered a new website I'm going to really enjoy referring to: the Double-Tongued Dictionary. As much as words and the tricks we humans play with them fascinate me, this is like being handed a new toy. Thanks, CC!
Her post, though, is a little grim: there are kidnappings going on in Cancun, what they call levantones. The most recent incident was only a half-block from her house.
Here in Guaymas kidnappings are still rare, but there have been four muggings reported on the Viva San Carlos forum in the last couple of weeks, the most recent victim being a gringa who was near the Mercado in Centro. No details, so I don't know if it amounted to a purse-snatching, brandishing of a weapon, a knockdown or what? I was mugged once decades ago on my way to a night class and the guy stole my homework, which happened to be my final exam! Caramba! Picture explaining that to the prof!
It's a jungle out there for someone like me, cozily ensconced in my comfort zone.
And tonight I'm going to have to venture out into it. At 5pm I'll catch a Tufesa bus which will travel up to the border (yes, here I go again!) where I pray I'll be able to get my FM-3 book stamped without the bus leaving me behind (this happens to passengers all the time, apparently). The bus is very comfortable, I'm told, with movies and air conditioning and comfortable seats. I'll arrive at the bus station in Tucson somewhere between midnight and 5 am. That's quite a time discrepancy, but I've been warned that the bus can be delayed at the border as much as 5 hours. Not Tufesa's fault, but because of the US checkpoint.From the bus station I will take a taxi to the airport and wait until 6 am when I'll board a plane to go see my mother and sister who live near Tulsa, OK.
The lovely, refined assisted living home she moved to last year has notified us that her dementia now makes her an unfit resident. She's losing her table manners, getting lost in the lobby, falling asleep in the lounge and alarming other folks who are not yet ready to be confronted with the symptoms they themselves may be dealing with in another five or ten years.
My stoic sister has found a new place where the majority of the residents are in Mom's state or worse, where considerably more care is available and it's actually cheaper! Today Mother moves in with considerable assistance from my sis, and when I arrive tomorrow my job will be to help her adjust. She gets panic attacks in new situations. I'm hoping that giving her lots of hugs, holding her hand, singing to her and tucking her in at night will help soothe her. Mothering my mom.
I was feeling sorry for myself about having to make this grueling journey and having to see my mother so helpless, but everyone I've vented to has had similar situations. The fact is, if you still have a parent or two at my age, the parent has issues.