I'll place notes on this page that explain terms that might not be familiar in no particular order.
Charco Spanish: puddle but also pond or perhaps swamp.
Shrimpery The abandoned shrimp farm behind our house. We have now rented it.
The Brethren Three male dogs, all brothers, who were born near us and live as wild dogs in the monte around here. They are Rufus' siblings, although he doesn't remember. He was the runt of the litter, and either got separated or was kicked out of the group because he was little and sick. You can read about the day Rufus showed up on Roni's blog. I'm fairly certain none of them remain now but I do see wild dogs around on occasion that look like them (and Rufus).
Monte Spanish: scrub-land, woods, wilderness. When I say "the monte" I'm specifically talking about the monte around our house which stretches far to the north and east and a little to the south.
The Brothers Originally we used this term to mean Oscar and Otto, who are literally brothers and who arrived one day apart when a local man told us he was going to get rid of them many years ago. Since then, the term "The Brothers" has expanded to include a few honorary "brothers" that are not related by blood, but that are all obviously cut from the same cloth: Archie, Chester and Rufus. Oscar died in 2011 and we miss him very much.
The Sisters Alice, Lucy and Ginger, who all wandered up to our house as puppies, along with another sister (Lola) who died a few years ago.
The Sibs Reggie, Tuesday and Gowron (aka PupG). They washed up here in 2008. They certainly don't look related but they obviously are once you get to know them.
The Good Boys Club our name for some or all of Rufus, Jack, Reggie, Truman, Archie, Lex and sometimes others. All very sweet, mostly obedient, sometimes a little noisy.
Au Soleil Couchant An abandoned property on the beach about ~3km north from our house. There is a beach access road there (incorrectly labeled as a private road by a sign on doce), which runs east into the monte for a long distance. We frequently run on this road.
Doce Spanish: Twelve. On this blog, however I use it to refer to Calle Doce (12th Street) as it is known in Celestún. This is the beach frontage road in the town, the last road you can get to before you finally hit the water. At some point north it stops being called "doce" and starts being called the road from Celestún to Xixim, but everyone around here calls it "doce".
Xixim Mayan: the name of a place where there are some abandoned buildings ~12km north of Celestún, near an eco-resort/hotel named "EcoParaiso". Fishermen still use it occasionally, and it is a commonly referred-to landmark, even though hardly anyone goes there. The road north from Celestún goes past Xixim on its way to the lighthouse, about 25km north of town, where it finally peters out. Any road heading north past Playa Maya will eventually go by Xixim. N.B. The Latin letter "X" is pronounced "sh" by Mayan-speaking people, so this word sounds like "Sheesheem" when spoken.
The Tribe A group of six dogs that arrived here together as puppies: Zoot, Mega, Lex, Petey, Amber and Steve McQueen. I nearly ran them over in the road near our house - who knows how they got there; Roni posted on her blog about it shortly after it happened. Their names come from a mystical source I will not name here - you'll have to ask us.
The Swimming Hole a depression in the salt swamps that frequently holds water, along a mostly unused trail. Many of the dogs like to swim here and it is a convenient reference point for runs.
The Hidden Trail a narrow, frequently overgrown trail that runs east/west from the northern charcos to the beach. It crosses Doce fairly far to the north so there is less traffic there than closer to our house. It makes a nice run if I want to hit the beach far to the north for a stretch. I call it the hidden trail because you cannot tell where it comes out on the beach unless you know exactly what bush you're looking for.
The Long and Winding Road a road that starts and ends ~3km to the north of us and that forms the central part of my most frequent 10k route. I call it the long and winding road because it hits all points of the compass if you stay on it from beginning to end; you start out going north, wind around to the west, then slowly back to the east and end up going south, about 1km east of where you started as the crow flies.
Southern Charcos a group of charcos that are directly to the east of us and that range from ~1km south of us to ~2km to the north. They are worked heavily for salt but then go through long fallow periods while the salt people allow it to build back up. We frequently run on the trails around them.
Northern Charcos the next group of charcos to the north of what I call the southern charcos; they are divided from each other (at least in my mind) by the Au Soleil Couchant access road which runs all the way from the beach to a "T" intersection where you can head north (northern charcos) or south (southern charcos).
~ (tilde) "at least," e.g. ~8k means "at least 8k." As far as distances go I will call anything less than 9k but greater than 8k "~8k." I've mainly checked distances on Google Earth although I have other means as well.
