Hurricane Danielle heads west, Hurricane Dog remains here

Strela and Filippa in a rare moment of calm
Originally uploaded by mralles

“According to AccuWeather.com Tropical Expert Dan Kottlowski, Danielle is a fairly classic Cape Verde storm, which is one that originates near the Cape Verde Islands. Typically, Cape Verde storms have a good chance of developing into major hurricanes due to their long paths over warm waters and minimal interaction with land.”

While we did experience quite a bit of heavy rain this past Saturday morning (complete with thunder and lightening rousing even me out of bed around 4:30 am), you would never know this information living here in Cape Verde. Cape Verdean Hurricane Danielle could be the biggest hurricane of the season in the Caribbean and Florida (right now a Category 2). Though it really has very little to do with Cape Verde, it is the most news-worthy information out of the islands this week. Ah, island living.

In other news, we are dog-sitting which has created quite the hurricane in the Ralles household. Our friends Paola and Ivan found themselves in a pinch this weekend, with plans to head out on a long weekend vacay and no one to take care of Filippa, their own Cape Verdean mutt a few months older than Strela. With good Karma as motivation, we took in Filippa Friday afternoon and it has been non-stop action for the two pups ever since. At first it was fantastic having Filippa around for Strela as they kept themselves busy playing and running around our garden out front. But hours upon hours of play, the two puppies were clearly exhausted but unwilling to rest. Forced separation has helped encourage relaxation, but now it is Tuesday and Strela is showing signs she is ready to go back to being an only child. Up until now, she has played a happy host, allowing Filippa to take her toys, eat and drink out of her bowls, and even sit with Mike and me. But just as I was writing this, Filippa took Strela's prized rawhide. Teeth were bared, growling began and the claws came out...literally. Luckily they decided to fight right beneath my desk chair so the confrontation was quickly split up, and the dogs were sent to their corners. We will welcome back Paola and Ivan with open arms this evening when they come to get Filippa, but are happy we were able to help out.

As the rain keeps falling on Praia, we will monitor Hurricane Danielle while cleaning up after Hurricane Dog.  See below satellite footage of Danielle's beginnings out here.  Much love from a few rocks in the middle of the Atlantic!