SOME LOCALS, MOJARRAS, FOUND FLOATING IN THE RESACAS

Special to La Cebolla

Several reports indicate that as a result of frigid temperatures last week, numerous barrio residents were found floundering belly up among cold-stunned mojarras in local resacas.

Volunteers who fished them out of the water said they stacked them like cord wood in a garage heated with three large tubs filled with red hot mesquite coals and that most remained there until they dried up and the cold spell dissipated.

"We couldn't take them in the house because it was freezing in there without heat or lights," said a barrio volunteer. "They were shivering until they dried off. It was not a pretty sight. Estaban empapados, bro!"

Much like the sea turtles pulled out of the waters off South Padre Island and fish in local resacas, the people pulled out if the water were suffering from hypothermia.

Many were said to have gone to the water to fill cans to use for domestic purposes after the water supply failed or their houses' pipes froze.

"They underestimated how cold it really was and got disoriented and fell in," said a relative of one of the victims. "It was mucho frio."

 Volunteer spokesperson Yanila Chingas said the effort would not have been successful were it not for the fact that just about everyone in the barrios had an ample supply of firewood they used to grill meat during the recent Cowboys football season.

"Too bad about the Cowboys," she said. "But everyone around here keeps a stack of mesquite by their grills for the football season and they came in handy. These fans are the heroes here. The victims smelled like grilled pollo afterwards, though."