The misfortunes of Ziva – and of Karin, Samuel, John-Paul, and Ecuador
I feel much better, though I’m still coughing and blowing my nose. Karin and Samuel also have got bad colds. They probably caught the germs from me and then compromised their bodily defenses on Wednesday night.
We were outside in the cold for several hours because little Ziva had escaped through a hole in the screen door.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
It was a desperate time. We searched the yard and then the neighborhood. Then we heard Ziva mewing under our porch. She couldn’t come out the way she’d gone in: either she couldn’t remember how to, or she was obstructed.
We removed several boards nailed to the edge of the porch, only to come up against an even sturdier barrier of wood and concrete. This barrier had a gap in it, however, which Ziva approached. She mewed and looked out at us. We reached in and petted her. We gave her food. But the gap was too small for her to squeeze through.
We decided to tear one of the planks out of the porch floor. But it had been screwed in too tight, and so we had to wait a few more hours until a friend could bring over an electric drill so that we could make a hole large enough for Ziva to fit through. The drilling terrified Ziva.
An hour later, she finally mustered enough courage to climb up onto the porch. By this time it was about 11:00 at night.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
And so, ever since, Samuel and Karin have been sick. It didn’t occur to us to go back inside the house and leave Ziva in her despair – or to put on jackets. At the time, I hardly felt my own illness or the cold.
When a loved one is making desperate little cries, it’s easy to forget about yourself – and other loved ones, I’m sorry to say.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Last night, then, Karin and Samuel lay around, pretty miserable, as I’d done earlier in the week. I spent the evening web-surfing until I was able to find a video stream of Ecuador’s first qualifier for the Qatar World Cup.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
I remember how, in 2004, Ecuador lost 1–0 to Argentina in a thrilling World Cup qualifier played in Buenos Aires. Hernán Crespo was the goalscorer.
They were two good teams, two mature teams.
Last night’s fixture in the Boca Juniors stadium had the same scoreline but lacked virtuosity and excitement.
Messi scored with a penalty kick and gave a few good passes.
Lautaro Martínez did nothing.
Ecuador’s lone striker, Énner Valencia, was stranded.
Our shining young talent, the left-back Pervis Estupiñán, gave away the penalty.
Alexander Domínguez had to tend goal rather too well for the comfort of the nation.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Ecuador did improve as the game went on. I hope that, in the coming months, the team will be afforded more practice sessions with its new manager (so far, only two sessions have been held). The other South American teams also have been severely disrupted by the pandemic.
Ecuador will play the next game, against Uruguay, in Quito on Tuesday. Five substitutions will be allowed, which will enable more Uruguayans to come off the field once they’re short of breath.
We were outside in the cold for several hours because little Ziva had escaped through a hole in the screen door.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
It was a desperate time. We searched the yard and then the neighborhood. Then we heard Ziva mewing under our porch. She couldn’t come out the way she’d gone in: either she couldn’t remember how to, or she was obstructed.
We removed several boards nailed to the edge of the porch, only to come up against an even sturdier barrier of wood and concrete. This barrier had a gap in it, however, which Ziva approached. She mewed and looked out at us. We reached in and petted her. We gave her food. But the gap was too small for her to squeeze through.
We decided to tear one of the planks out of the porch floor. But it had been screwed in too tight, and so we had to wait a few more hours until a friend could bring over an electric drill so that we could make a hole large enough for Ziva to fit through. The drilling terrified Ziva.
An hour later, she finally mustered enough courage to climb up onto the porch. By this time it was about 11:00 at night.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
And so, ever since, Samuel and Karin have been sick. It didn’t occur to us to go back inside the house and leave Ziva in her despair – or to put on jackets. At the time, I hardly felt my own illness or the cold.
When a loved one is making desperate little cries, it’s easy to forget about yourself – and other loved ones, I’m sorry to say.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Last night, then, Karin and Samuel lay around, pretty miserable, as I’d done earlier in the week. I spent the evening web-surfing until I was able to find a video stream of Ecuador’s first qualifier for the Qatar World Cup.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
I remember how, in 2004, Ecuador lost 1–0 to Argentina in a thrilling World Cup qualifier played in Buenos Aires. Hernán Crespo was the goalscorer.
They were two good teams, two mature teams.
Last night’s fixture in the Boca Juniors stadium had the same scoreline but lacked virtuosity and excitement.
Messi scored with a penalty kick and gave a few good passes.
Lautaro Martínez did nothing.
Ecuador’s lone striker, Énner Valencia, was stranded.
Our shining young talent, the left-back Pervis Estupiñán, gave away the penalty.
Alexander Domínguez had to tend goal rather too well for the comfort of the nation.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Ecuador did improve as the game went on. I hope that, in the coming months, the team will be afforded more practice sessions with its new manager (so far, only two sessions have been held). The other South American teams also have been severely disrupted by the pandemic.
Ecuador will play the next game, against Uruguay, in Quito on Tuesday. Five substitutions will be allowed, which will enable more Uruguayans to come off the field once they’re short of breath.