Luna's Jacal

I couldn't resist taking a couple of hours this morning to make one last try for the Nutting's Flycatcher. But I think it either found a better place to winter, or got eaten by a predator. I wonder how savvy it is around unfamiliar predators away from its normal range.

On the way back I stopped at "Luna's Jacal." It's impressive that Gilberto Luna, who built the jacal around 1890, lived to be 108 years old. Contemplating that, I noticed he had a view of Santa Elena Canyon from his house. I think I could live that long with the great view, plus eating nothing but home grown food like he and his family surely did. (He died in 1947.)

I'm not sure how authentic the walls and roof are these days but I'm sure the floor was wet and tamped like hard adobe, then swept occasionally. The Mexicans that built my house never slept indoors, so I'm thinking this structure was more for cool food storage than for actual living space.  For one thing, it's earth-sheltered for coolness, has thick rock walls,and no windows. He had a large produce farm and keeping food cool had to be vitally important to marketing it successfully.

Having said that, in an old photo taken in the 1930's there's a bed outside under a ramada attached to the front of the house. And protruding from the roof just inside the entrance of the jacal was a stovepipe. That undoubtedly was for cooking, but would surely have added warmth. Perhaps the cooler back part, by the wall consisting of a huge boulder, was the storage area.

Besides, can you imagine how hot it would be to sleep in there if it was full of warm bodies and no breeze during sweltering summer nights? By some accounts he had 11 wives and fathered over 50 children, but that could be an exaggeration. Some of his "offspring" may have been grandchildren, or poor relatives from Mexico who weren't faring as well. 

And you gotta love the view!