"For liberty and honor, one CAN AND SHOULD RISK IN LIFE!" - Benito Messeguer
“I need a wiener!… Give me one now!” This I urged the man behind the counter to expedite. “How much is it?…Okay, give me then three, and also fill this cup with water, hurry please!” I reiterated my urgency.
The day was unbearably hot. In the evening the heat lingered still, although not as furious as earlier. This was the type of day when your shirt adheres to your back, and one perceives a mirage of an azure pool beckoning seductively.
When ever I visit Mexico City, I always make the time to visit the Basilica of the Virgen de Guadalupe. This is situated on the same spot in which Juan Diego was instructed to build Her shrine.
Making my way there, I perceived a black labrador coming towards me. It was not strutting…rather slouching with its head down, at a slow pace, as if it were pulling a heavy cart; its tongue hanging out. Like I said, the day was sizzling hot.
Who knows how long had it been since this creature had eaten or drank? It could not say it in words, yet its beaten down demeanor, told me more then an eloquent phrase.
“No! I don’t want hot dog bread…I just want the wieners!” I said.
Before the man at fast food place thought I was deranged, by bursting in and clamoring for wieners in a gringo accented Spanish; I shared with him that this was for a dog, and that I did not want to lose track of him.
I still had to run in my high heeled shoes to find my raven coated friend. He was a block away, in a close ended street. “Hey! Come here!” I yelled, and I took out a cold wiener from a plastic bag and waved it like a magic wand.
It turned around and slouched towards me…while licking its tongue like window wipers. He picked up the pace, with the anticipation of such a treat. We met half way; he slowed by malnourishment and age; I limping along impaired by high heels.
We met halfway. It came close to me and smelled the wiener, yet hesitated. “Hey,” I said…"here buddy, it’s for you!” I placed the cup of water on the ground near him, and the wiener near its muzzle. After a bit of hesitation it grabbed the processed meat, and then it laid down on the side walk under the shade of a tree to work on this.
Then I realized the cause for the hesitancy. It only had four teeth, two on top, and two on the bottom; it was a slow process to consume even soft meat.
It used its paws to hold the meat at an accesible angle, and then slowly break it off, one piece at a time. I brought the water close to him, and the rest of the wieners I laid out in front of him on a plastic bed.
I let him be, and proceeded to the Basilica. In the entrance, an old man was on his knees on the hard marble floor. His face reflected deep anguish, as if trying to make sense of it all. By the look of this clothing, perhaps he too had not eaten that day?
I could only sit down and pray as well.
"Por libertad asi como por honra, se PUEDE Y DEVE AVENTURAR LA VIDA." mural and quote by Benito Messeguer
