This month has absolutely flown by, just as we knew it would! Just like in the States, autumn fluctuates; some days are quite chilly and some days are warm again. In the States, we’d call it Indian Summer. Here, it’s veranito, (little summer).
Did we mention we have 2 dogs? Well, they’re not ours; they are street dogs, but cared for by Pablo, the head maintenance guy at the Regional Office grounds. Most often, though, they hang around Campo 2, and our house in particular. I call them Chico and Chica, and they spend lots of time napping in our carport. In the mornings, they join lots of other dogs yapping at each other at the fences – every morning! After lots of morning running around, they are sprawled out in our yard when we come home for lunch, and usually they’re just too tired to get up! Other times, if we make any move to pet them, they flop down for a belly rub instead! If we venture out after suppertime, they are right there too, hoping for a bone, since I’ve treated them to a few in the past. There’s a third dog too, Number 3, who hangs around. It’s obvious that he’s had a hard life already, but he’s a real survivor! 
Occasionally, we’ll see a cute family of cuy (say KOO-ee) – guinea pigs – in our back yard. They’re real delicacies in Ecuador but we’re not interested in eating them! The dogs are though...
We’ve enjoyed watching the native birds too, from tiny warblers to robins and other birds that size (especially the ones with yellow bellies and black-and-white-striped heads!), to pigeons to hawks and burrowing owls. I think the owls are my favorites; they seem to have lots of personality. They’ve been living in the culvert at the end of our driveway, disappeared (migrated?) for a couple of months, then appeared again just before we left for a couple of days!
We spent our time, in the final weeks, gearing up for being back home in the States, making plans to visit friends and family, and scheduling routine doctor visits as well. And winding down our work in Argentina, trying to be caught up with our work, and figuring out what to leave here for our next visit.
We’ve certainly enjoyed lots of nature here – the moon in the clouds, the sunsets, and the dawns, especially now when the fog accumulates in the night and hangs low until the morning sun burns it away.
In the final days we had to concentrate on our lists – what to pack up to leave, what to give away to the other missionaries, and what meals to eat to use up what we had in the fridge…
God has certainly blessed us with peace, beautiful sights, rich experiences and meaningful work to do. He always provides more than we need and we know Who to praise and thank for all of it. We pray that we are useful as He desires and that we always allow His Love to shine out through us.
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