Joe and Margie are newcomers to Mexico. (Names have been changed to protect the unaware.) They bought an older home along the Lake, east of Chapala. (Locations have been changed for the same reason.) It was a modest home but they felt just like Goldilocks - it was juusstt right. Having read all the possible literature on aging and health they soon had a dog. If they hadn't procured the dog I wouldn't have a story to tell.
You see the dog wasn't much of a homebody and soon took to gallivanting all over the new neighborhood. They were good neighbors and tried their best to control the beast, but as luck would have it, one day he turned up missing. The unfortunate part is that by the time he decided to go AWOL the missus had developed a certain attachment to the precious thing. The mister wouldn't let on, but he missed the pooch, too.
They spent a sleepless night worrying about the pooch, even getting up early to drive around and around looking for any sign of him. After several hours of hand-wrenching agitation, they finally hit on the idea of making up a missing dog poster. It took the better part of the day to scan the only photo they had with the dog in it. It took even longer to blow up that part of picture so that what got printed actually looked like the missing mutt. By the time the artwork was done it was well on into the evening. Too late to do much posting, but they started the distribution process anyway. By the time the sun went down there were flyers up on every telephone pole for miles around.
Late on the third day of puppy's big adventure, the (by-this-time) very distraught newbies finally stopped by the local corner grocery. They only had a few flyers left but they dropped one off for the lady who runs the store. She didn't pay any attention to it because it was written in English but just as they were about to leave with their jug of milk and loaf of bread, she stopped them. It was obvious that she wanted to tell them something but she didn't speak English. Holding her hand up in the cross-cultural motion of "Wait!" she went out on the street and called a young man who just happened to be hanging out in front of the store.
He came inside and listened intently to what the woman told him then turned to our heros and said, "The lady wants to know what you want the wife of her brother to do with your dog?"
"You know where little Poodleums is?"
"I don't know nothin' about no Poodleums but her brother's wife is keeping your dog." She was afraid to bring it by your house because you guys don't ever say adios to nobody."
"How do you know that it's our dog?"
"Well, I guess because everybody knows it's your dog. This lady's sister is your neighbor on one side and my cuñado is your neighbor on the other side. Why wouldn't we know whose dog it is? Besides, see that guy outside? His brother is your gardener. So why wouldn't we know all about you guys?"
By this time ol' Joe and Margie were beginning to see the light. It was slowly dawning on them that they really didn't live in a vacuum after all. As wonderment began to spread over their faces, faint stirrings of memories of their childhood began to surface. They began to remember how people used to be, back home.
And so began a new chapter in the life of the barrio. From that day on, the barrio had new members. From that day on whenever Joe and Margie drove down the street they always took the time to wave and say, "Adios" to everybody. From that day on, the people in the barrio started to think of Joe and Margie as part of their extended family, and all because poor little Poodleums wandered off to visit the little -- how to put this delicately - female doggie (?) that belonged to the wife of the brother of the lady who runs the store.
