The Buck Starts
Here
"Meant For Each Other"
By Marge Van Ostrand
With
Lake Chapalas acceptance by Living Lakes of the World as a candidate
for revitalization, the superhuman efforts of Aurora Michel, Sociedad
Amigos del Lago De Chapala, and the many dedicated individuals who continually
donate their time and money, have at last been rewarded.
This happy news brought to mind the first
time I ever saw the glories of Lake Chapala, and how happy I was to
live on her lovely shores. Of the many experiences during my first years
in San Antonio Tlay., one favorite is about a brown stallion named Lassie.
Why he was given that name is anybodys guess. I recall wondering
at the time if he might be gay.
Lassies home base was an adjoining
plot of land whose stony dirt was sparsely populated with a blade or
two of grass, and one lone tree. Our property was separated by a chain
link fence which played an important role in the Romeo-and-Juliet-like
romance to come.
One of my dogs, a female Siberian Husky
named Ninotchka, immediately fell wildly in love with the horse. This
was quite something, since Ninotchka is an aloof creature who chooses
to associate only with other Huskies, the occasional Malamute, and my
longtime Ajijic buddy, Tom Faloon.
From the minute dog met horse, it was
true love. It mightve even been obsession since, for the first
time, Ninotchka refused to come when called, insisting instead on remaining
at the fence and French kissing Lassie through the openings between
the chain links. Lassie was even more intensely enamored and kissed
back with a tongue longer than the red carpet on Hollywoods Oscar
night. Doubting human friends came to witness this phenomenon and walked
away true believers.
Soon Lassies enthusiasm broke all
boundaries of civilized behavior and his ardor was aroused for all to
see. He whacked frantically at the fence for immediate admittance, leaving
hoof dents in the chain link as mute evidence of his passion. Those
depressions in the fence are still there because I recently looked.
Lassie was, it seemed, frequently without
water or food. Being the kind (spelled n-o-s-y) person that I am and
since he was practically my son-in-law, I filled water buckets, lowering
them by rope over the fence. They should have named that horse quick
draw because he slurped the entire contents with one pull, requiring
my frequent return to the spigot for refills.
Since what I know about horses you could
easily put in your eye and still have room left over for a dozen cataracts,
I repaired to SuperLake, returning with a carton of Quaker Oats and
a carrot. Lassie must have taken lessons from Man O War, for,
when he caught sight of the carrot sticking out of the groceries, he
raced at me so fast, I hastily hurled everything over the fence, and
he all but inhaled not only the contents, but the bag they came in.
I respectfully asked for and was granted
permission to continue feeding and watering Lassie by the owner, who
was father to a schoolmate of my housekeepers son. Next day, on
Lassies side of the fence, mysteriously appeared a magnificent
carved stone basin. I learned that Lassies owner had said, if
the Señora is kind enough to feed our horse, she should have
something beautiful to put the food in.
Encouraged, I found a feed store in town
which delivered hay. Im certain Lassie appreciated this nutritional
improvement, since he had been enjoying his Quaker Oats dry. (Got
milk?)
Whats Romeo and Juliet-like about
this story? After returning to the States for work reasons, I learned
that Lassie had been sold to someone in Chapala, though I have been
unsuccessful in attempts to locate him. I hope he is happy.
Ninotchka never loved again. Ive
often wondered what their offspring mightve looked like, had the
separations in the chain links been large enough to accommodate Lassies
rising desire for Ninotchka.
Our California mountain cabin is near
the village stables and, to this day, the only time Ninotchka springs
into action is at the sight of a horse, any horse. She does not rest
until she has sniffed to her satisfaction that it is not Lassie, and
dejectedly turns away.
Certain living things are meant for each other, whether it be a caballo
and a canine, or a lady and a lake.