Summer has descended on Mazatlan like a fat, sweaty wrestler smothering his opponent with the sheer audacity of his presence. The heat and humidity seem to be in constant competition for the high number of the day and it’s still only June. The resorts are almost empty and the cruise ships are rare, even the time share and condo sales people have only themselves to converse with. Soon the spectacular tropical thunderstorms will light up the night sky with their piercing bright tendrils of lightning randomly stabbing the landscape. We have already had our first rain that flooded a few streets and flushed scattered pieces of trash and debris to who knows where. The deciduous jungle is starting to leaf out in anticipation of the coming monsoon, the vines are adding inches per day and the mangos are ripening nicely. The flowering shrubs and trees are starting to put out colorful displays that will never be seen by the seasonal residents. The perspiring Pulmonia drivers are vainly searching the streets for small herds of souvenir laden tourists and some restaurants are closed for the summer.

At some point during the day of the summer solstice, the sun will be exactly 90 degrees above the Tropic of Cancer, almost at a right angle with Mazatlan……….cosmic, dude! The solstice is the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere and the traditional beginning of the summer season; however latitude plays a significant role as to when full blown summer arrives. Summer arrived in Mazatlan around the third week in May. Day time temperatures were upper eighties, the ocean hit 80 degrees and night time bottomed in the high seventies; time to think about AC. I am finding that to prepare for the Mazatlan summer is a far more pleasant experience than preparing for a winter in the mountains. I am also comforted by knowing that during our “severe” season, if I happen to lock myself out of both my house and car, without adequate clothing, I won’t lose fingers or toes.

The summer solstice is also exactly 6 months to the day, since I rescued 2 tiny street cats down at the Stone Island Embarcadero. These two coal black instruments of destruction are still under my care and protection at my residence in Old Town and both creatures have become very sophisticated little parasites. The male I have named Bandito and the smaller female is Lupita, these are not domestic cats, but I still have my hopes. They both display the body type and personality traits that are very Siamese in origin, each a unique and vibrant persona. I have observed that an uncanny number of Mazatlan street cats and former street cats are Siamese or obviously Siamese cross. Even within the bevy of street cats that inhabit my immediate neighborhood, most have either blue eyes or large ears above very triangular faces. It appears that the oriental gene is a strong factor in the evolutionary processes that have developed a breed of quite smart and very durable Mazatlan street cats; this could be good material for some ones doctoral thesis.

When I moved into my new place, I noticed a few cockroaches scurrying here and there across the recreantly scrubbed tile floor. As soon as my two growing predators discovered these relatively slow moving insects, the game was on and the problem solved. Every morning for the next several weeks I would collect the cockroach carcasses dispatched during the night by my pair of panthers and recycle them. My efficient team of hunters would always leave the dead and wounded in the general area of the north east corner of my bedroom, all collected and ready to dispose of. I would then take the dead or stunned bugs to my second story window, directly above the collection area, and toss them down through the wire top of the neighbor’s chicken coop two and a half stories below. I have never seen chickens move so fast to eat something so disgusting. My initial thought was to use these bugs to bribe the rooster not to crow until sunrise, but I am now convinced his internal clock is on Bulgarian time.

Actually, the presence of all insects within my humble abode has been radically diminished by the constant patrolling of these fiercely feral felines, even the flying ones. The neighboring chickens probably miss the buggy delights falling from the sky, but I am pleased to go for days with out discovering a belly up cockroach. Of course when I return home from a trip to the shrimp market, I have two sweet purring companions suddenly demure, submissive and attempting to manipulating me for treats. This act is only because they know they could not possibly over power me and commandeer all the shrimp for themselves; plotting, planning and collective decision making are within their capabilities. So far, adopting a couple of Mazatlan street cats has been a thoroughly entertaining undertaking; their antics are quite inventive and always constant.

The locals are now discussing the summer’s heat and humidity in a way similar to farmers in North Dakota talking about the coming months of intolerable cold. Personally, I am looking forward to summer, with its pleasant ocean temperatures and the seasonal excuse for some afternoon sloth…………….plus it cleans your pores.