‘El viento’ created havoc ‘por doquiera’

Estos primeros días of late summer habían estado bien ventosos and Canutito struggled to get home without being blown away by the wind. As he slammed the door de la cocina shut, Grama Cuca was standing there con un canasto en la mano. She handed him the egg basket and she said: “M’hijo, ¿por qué no vas out into the chicken coop and gather up todos los huevos so that I can make you un

omelet para la cena?”

Canutito hesitated un poquito

because of the strong wind pero al fin he put on su gorra securely on top of his head y salío, fighting against the wind, walking hacia el gallinero. He disappeared into the chicken coop yla Grama Cuca peered through the window cada rato para ver if he was alright. Esperó y esperó cerca de la ventana, getting un poco nerviosa because he hadn’t come out del gallinero

yet. Finally Grama Cuca saw him come out pero without any eggs en su canasto. She wondered if the wind had blown away los huevos en el basket and they were all broken.

In the meantime, Canutito came in, todo out of breath, and Grama Cuca slammed la puerta para que no entrara el viento. She looked at the empty egg basket que traiba el muchachito and she asked him: “M’hijo, ¿qué pasó con los huevos de las gallinas?”

Canutito looked at her, todavía sin resuello, and he replied: “Grama, I feel so sorry por las gallinas; there they were –las pobres- trying to lay eggs pero cada vez that they tried to lay one, llegaba el viento from behind them and it would shove el huevo back in. Hacían fuerza poner otra vez and the wind llegaba y les soplaba the egg back inside. The poor chickens estaban todas redfaced from frustration.”

Grama Cuca went to make atole para la cena siendo que no tenía any eggs para el revoltillo. As Canutito sat down en la silla para comer un poco de corn meal mush, Grampo Caralampio came in desde afuera, todo wind-blown también . He said, “¡Ay qué tarde que perra! Este tiempo is not fit for man nor beast.”

“Why do you say that, grampo?”

Canutito asked him, as Grama Cuca brought una pila de tortillas frescas pa’la mesa. “Is there any danger que se vuele la casa?”

“Yo no pienso que the house will blow away,” replied grampo. “Eso nomás pasa en el ‘Wizard of Oz’ pero no en esta parte de Nuevo México.” Luego he added: “pero

I did see something strange en este tarde ventosa: I saw that the wind overturned una troca grande en el highway. It was a truck full of medical supplies y todos los medicamientos se caeron por todo el camino and the wind blew them all over the place.”

“What kind of medical supplies habían en la troca, grampo?”

Canutito asked him.

“Habían plaster gauze strips y medicina de la tos y crutches y una wheel chair o dos,” he said. “Pero la cosa más interesante was the fact que en la troca there were cases and cases de botellas de Vicks y Mentolato that got smashed por todo el highway. It smelled of Vicks and Mentholatum everywhere, y la carretera estaba toda lubricated and slippery.”

“That must have been muy

dangerous para todos los carros, ¿qué no grampo?” he asked. “Estaría bien peligroso.”

“Sí y no, m’hijo,” Grampo Caralampio said todo sneaky. “Sí because el Vicks y el Mentolato are slippery pero no porque because for the next twelve hours no hubo

any kind of traffic ‘congestion’.” He smiled at his own joke.

“Congestion,” Canutito repeated. “¡Qué mal, grampo; nada class! …