My day in Fotos

I saw a bit of this looking out my kitchen window about 7:30 in the morning so I went outside to look down the street. Somewhere a few blocks away someone was burning so the effect was sunrise and smoke. Never know what you'll get shooting into the sun.

A little later I went out to shovel gravel into potholes in the entrance road but before I could get started along came the cattle herd. Don't remember if the owner was with them but they do get around by themselves from time to time. They never hurry and even the big water truck behind has to wait it's turn.

Not the best foto but come to think of it there may never be a better one. This is a Higuera Fig that has strangled another tree of some kind and is the only tree I know of that drops all it's leaves like it's fall. Looks like the sunny side is loosing them first.  The strangest thing about it is after it is totally bare it will be fully green again in about 2 weeks. It's a once a year thing.

Deadly embrace of the Strangling Fig

Very disappointed that seemingly no one has shown an interest in how the Higuera posts for palapas and ramadas are found, trained, cut, cleaned and preserved for use. I found one article on how they were made of cement so termites were not a problem (very expensive) and another of a tourist liking them in a resort. It has to be a real craft since the posts are so common here.

I translated the article below from a Spanish Blog with a link at the bottom .... only about the life of the tree. I also came across the bridge foto below that I just couldn't pass up.

The process begins when the monkeys, birds, squirrels and bats eat the fruit of a tree called, strangler fig. 

Certain fig known as [strangler] are parasitic, but with a difference. Of the many species that live in the tropics, some germinate and grow as a common tree, though, to help, usually require a host tree, and continue to evolve so that in the end can do without. But to achieve this independence, the parasitic fig gradually strangling his unfortunate host to death. 

The process begins when the monkeys, birds, squirrels and bats eat fruit strangler fig and casts the seed on the upper branches of other trees [dense palm fronds are most vulnerable]. There, the embryo takes root in litter and humus of leaves that collect in the corners and crevices of the bark, and develop other roots that penetrate and nourish the trunk and branches. As the roots proliferate they intertwine and envelop the host in what looks like a work of basketry. Once it gets a firm hold, the young plant sends more roots into the soil, to start an independent life. 

Thus begins the death of the host, as the extra nutrients the fig obtains directly from the soil gives more energy and strength. Still developing more roots, the hosts trunk is wrapped a labyrinth of troncucos, and these woody roots grow more and more, in a process that can last a century, literally strangles the host tree. The host trunk can no longer expand as it grows, also fig exhaust all the nutrients in the soil. 

The strange final show, after the host has died and has withered, is a robust and mature tree with innumerable [logs] forming a hollow cylinder around the space previously occupied by the original tree. Many strangler figs become real giants. - Eco-Journal-Alternative LA OROPENDOLA 100% 

EL ABRAZO MORTAL DE LA HIGUERA ESTRANGULADORA

Bridge made of Higuera roots

Very interesting but it's in India

Fig or Ficus on a post

Someone on the La Manzanilla message board posted the first foto which is a bit unusual but this type of support post for ramadas in front of stores or houses is not. They are actually very common around here even though quite expensive. I assume a special name for them but neighbors and Internet are not helping.

I have two examples on neighboring lots but they are way, way past the usable or attractive stage. This Ficus or Fig is very much like the Mexican Mistletoe in a previous post. They both start high in a tree with the droppings of birds and eventually strangle the host and become a tree in the same place. Roots either hang or "climb" down the trunk which is what the foto is.

Neighbor did say the attractive and usable ones are found in the mountains and there's a guy in Jaluco that gets them as a business. The cost comes from getting them out of the woods, stripping all the bark and garbage and preserving them with diesel and later varnish. You can't drive around with a truck full of freshly cut trees in Mexico without a permit but these may be exempt since they are really a parasite and a dead tree. Would be interesting to know a little more.

Just figured out that "higuera" is the generic Spanish name for fig but there are many, many varieties.

Ramada support post

Strangling fig has totally taken over on lot next door

Around the corner even larger with roots hanging

The majic Higuera tree and Dia de los Albañiles

Both of these are from my worker and neighbor today, Hugo.

Last night he walked his family into Melaque from Pinal Villa and on the way there is a large Higuera tree. The baby in a stroller was effected by the magic of this tree and didn't sleep all night, discomfort, headache, temperature and maybe bad dreams ... as much of a dream as a 6 months old can have.

I asked him if this was an issue for a doctor and he said no, only a curandero or bruja (witch doctor) could deal with it. "Muchos problemas con chiquillos" (little kids) is all he could say. I asked Silvia who is visiting from the Chapala area and got more or less the same story about the magic Higuera. The curandero breaks a raw egg over the childs forehead to help in the diagnosis.   Wish I could find some 'real' tales of the magic of ther Higuera tree ... maybe later.

The other item is that Tuesday of next week (May 3rd) is "El Día del Albañil" (day of the cement workers (masons)) and Hugo wanted me to buy some crape paper and his wife would make a cross to put up on my house that he has been working on for the last 6 months. That was easy and 3 colors cost 10 pesos ... but he also wanted something like Saran Wrap to protect the crape paper from the rain. Haven't found that yet. Ziploc bags just don't work the same.