Thursday, July 31, 2014

Farewell Bean!
By Windy
LA PAZ, MEXICO


Bean glowing in his new home
aboard Nomatia.
This is a story about doing something good.
This is a story of a determined little girl.
This is a story of a broken-tailed, bat-eared, goat-legged pup, born on the streets of Guaymas, Mexico.
This is the story of Frijolito Negro De La Calle, more often called Bean.

On a dusty street, in a busy Mexican town between the desert and the sea, lived a broken-tailed, bat-eared, goat-legged pup.
When he was hungry, which he always was, he ate a wind-blown tortilla chip or a scrap of something dropped and forgotten.
When he was thirsty, he drank from the car washer's bucket.
When he was tired, he slept in the shade of a rusty blue truck.

At the tortillaria, the shopkeeper hissed, "¡Vas!" Go! and wielded her broom.
At the bus station, the buses surged, and roared, "¡VAAAAAAS!" GO!
At the tienda, an old woman paused with her bags of groceries and whispered, "Pobresito." Poor little guy.
But mostly, he was invisible.

Bean and Frances, about a
week after the rescue.
Frances liked to explore the dusty streets of Guaymas with her family.
She liked the icy paletas from the bicycle vendor.
She liked the steamy tacos from Julio's stand.
She liked the crispy churros wrapped in paper.
She didn't like seeing the broken-tailed, bat-eared, goat-legged pup.
To her, he was not invisible.

"Can we help him?" Frances said.
"I don't know sweetheart," said her mom.
"If we can help, we should help," said Frances.
And so they did.

She fed him chicken and rice.
She washed him, thrice.
Dr. Franzoni said, "He's too thin. Feed him more!" and gave him three shots.
"What shall we call him?" said Frances's mom.
"Bean," said Frances, "because he looks like a little black bean."
And she placed a shiny green and blue collar around his neck with a big plastic heart on which she wrote, ¡Adoptarme! Adopt me!

And the paleta man said, "¡Que guapo!" How handsome!
And the security guard said, "¡Hola Frijolito!" Hello Little Bean!
And Frances said, "¡Sientate!" Sit! and "¡Abajo!" Down! and "¡Hablas!" Speak!
And Bean did.
 
Dominga was a woman with a strong white dog.
Dominga saw Bean with his broken tail and his big, big bat ears, and his long, long goat legs and his big plastic heart with the words, ¡Adoptarme! Adopt me! and she said, "¡Precioso!" How lovely!
The strong white dog said, "WOOF!" and Bean said, "woof" and they played and played and then Bean went for a sleepover at Dominga's house.
And then another.
And then another.

And Frances said, "I will miss Bean."
And her mom said, "I'm glad we helped."
And Frances said, "Yo tambien." Me too.

--WR

NOTE: This is a very simplified version of Bean's time with us, written in children's book form, absent illustrations. The point is that Eleanor and lots of other folks were heavily involved, not just Frances. Though certainly it's Frances's sentiment that carries great weight when it comes to this family helping animals. Also, Dr. Franzoni, a Sociedad Humanitario de La Paz (SHLP) boardmember, volunteered his time and resources in terms of getting Bean vaccinated and fixed and cared for.


Frances and Bean kayaking.

Bean with his stuffed animal, just before he left
Del Viento for good.

 

6 comments:

  1. A bit misty eyed here. Well done Frances. I am sure that Bean will never forget you. You have changed his life!

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  2. Lo que es una hermosa historia sobre una pequeña haba perdido y una nina muy especial! That story reflects the compassion of your children. Good work, Frances!

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  3. I'm so glad you guys could find Bean a home! It's very interesting how everybody treated him differently when he was owned. I also want to thank all of you for taking and caring for Bean. He never could have made it out there on his own. And I love how you made his experiences into a little story, Windy.

    -Sophia

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  4. The lump in my throat is trying to take over the happiness I feel in reading this lovely poem of an amazing and good deed done well and it reminds me of one of my all time favorite quotes from Willa Cather:

    "Where there is great love, there are always miracles".

    Bean experienced this great love thanks to you stopping and doing the right thing….and I hope it encourages others to also stop and help and never turn their back to someone or something that cannot defend itself and needs our time, love and energy.

    Well done, each of you. Super proud to call you friends…..

    Nancy, Ethan and Zada
    s/v Eyoni

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yay for a happy ending for Bean! Your family does good in the world! -Carla

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment; we look forward to reading your feedback. Don't forget that you may also contact us directly at delviento@hotmail.com (please type DEL VIENTO in the subject line)

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