Life in the Borderlands

Yesterday while Alan and I walked one last time in the canyon before the Forest Service closes it indefinitely, illegals hit our home. I suspect that the door, swollen from the rains and hard to close, didn't latch properly when we left, but at least that allowed the intruders to break in without damaging the house.

Some of what they took was amusing (to me) –– all of Alan's stash of sweets, from ice cream to ginger cookies. The list was considerable. Some of the theft was not so amusing –– spoons that my grandparents gave me 45 years ago, and Alan's cell phone. We feel that we were very lucky in what was stolen. However, a frequent pattern is for illegals to break in for food, case the place, then return on their way back to Mexico for small valuables that they can carry with them. So we are understandably on edge.

We suspect very strongly that these illegals, probably drug runners, are holed up above us on the mountain, as has happened so many times over the years. They watch to see when someone leaves home, and then prey on that home. So a message to all our neighbors: at least one group is here, now, yet again. The sheriff and Border Patrol know, and will try to catch them. We were able to give the deputy a couple of items that can be used for fingerprinting.

Tomorrow was supposed to be a town day for us. Now I will go alone, and Alan will stay here to watch the house. I told him that I could look up some choice words for him to say to them, if the illegals show up again when they see me driving away. He said, "That's okay. I'll just say 'Vaya #@#&*!'" I hadn't realized that his command of Spanish was so extensive.

Update:
After talking to neighbors and checking homes of people who are away, we find that there have been at least 6 other break-ins close to Portal in the last few days. Border Patrol is here today with a horse patrol.

Make that 8 more break-ins: two cabins at Cave Creek Ranch were also hit. Border Patrol and the sheriff both reacted with "You're getting hammered out there!" and promised a concerted effort to bring the rampage under control.