bats about melaque

The year was 1971. The president was withdrawing ground troops from Vietnam, but the number of air sorties increased.


I had just entered flight training at Laredo, Texas, arriving in the fall.


Southern Texas in the fall has weather unknown to a boy from Oregon. Heat. Humidity. Muggy nights stretching to dawn.


I recall one evening walking back to my quarters from one of those easily-forgettable movies of the early 70s. The temperature was in the 80s. So was the humidity. I stood watching moths, cockroaches, and other unnaturally large insects fly in and out of a street lamp's light sphere. A schizophrenic's version of a snow globe.


Now and then, bats of various sizes would swoop through, as efficient as any shark grabbing a herring, and disappear into the night. As a pilot trainee, I almost envied the bats for their ease in finding and destroying their targets. Of course, for the bats, it was merely a trip to the dining hall.


Those memories popped up on my memory screen Tuesday evening. And I immediately knew why. The temperature. The humidity. The pause under the street lamp. And those marvelous bats.


I probably became reflective because on Tuesday I started thinking about plans for the second portion of my adventure in Mexico. I will be staying where I am until mid-December. But I need to start thinking about where I am going then, and where I will be staying.


Here is my blog plan for the next week.

• I have been promising to publish photographs of the house where I am now living. I will do that.


• I am going to take a look at the criteria that brought me to Melaque, and evaluate those factors.


• I will show you some of the various rental options available in December.

As always, something more interesting may pop up, but that is my publication plan for the week.


Who knows, I may actually find where all of those bats hang out during the day. They certainly make my evenings interesting.