News from Serenity Gardens EcoVillage
Look closely and you can see my head near the falls.
Several of us women have started going to the local river swimming pool with a beautiful waterfall. I go for exercise and a nice time to spend with our new neighbors. If I swim against the waterfall current, it is like a jet to hold me in place like a lap pool. It is so very refreshing and great exercise.
The local Ticos also swim at the river swimming hole. They have always been friendly and want to share anything they can be it food or swim goggles. Pictured here are a group of kids with me.
While at the river, I saw all these colorful “tall” dragonflies on a rock. After I took pictures and could see the pictures up close, we discovered it really was dragonflies mating. If you look closely there is a head at the top and also near the rock, two dragonflies! The picture doesn't show their true colors though, the long bodies are iridescent bright blue and top head it bright shiny orange.
What a huge surprise to get a mail delivery on our mountain! We didn't think mail could reach us here. Costa Rica is notorious for not using addresses so we have used a mail forwarding company for 2 years and recently rented a PO box in San Isidro. Much to our surprise Aldemar showed up with mail for John from US Dept. of Social Security. Guess if Uncle Sam wants to find someone, they will! Even on a remote mountain in Central America.
The Crested Guan is a native bird to Costa Rica but we had a special one visit our village. One day it showed up at Aldemar's house sitting on top of his truck. Her next stop was Mike's chicken pen, finding her way to the food. Mike named her Gwen (haha Mike-Guan, get it?) as she stayed around enjoying Mike's company and the chickens (and the food!) Pretty soon she was visiting more families in the village making a name for herself. Wildlife and nature in Costa Rica is extraordinary.
In this picture you can see Gwen's crest on her head.
John said she would flare up her crest if he got too close.
Some of our friends back in Michigan
were worried that Costa Rica's perpetual summer would get boring for
us. Looking “Autumn like” at times; this picture is of our yard
maintenance guy, Victor, raking up our leaves a couple weeks ago. It
really isn't “fall” here but what Ticos call "verano" or “summer”, the
dry season. Trees drop their leaves at odd times of the year but
rarely do you see a tree bare for long. Often times within 2 weeks
of a full drop, new leaves are reappearing while other trees never
loose all their leaves at one time but drop continually throughout
the year. Although it feels like summer 365 days, for the observant
person there are distinct changes throughout the year that are
fascinating to discover.
International life
Since moving to Costa Rica we have had
opportunities we wouldn't have experienced in our former lives.
Costa Rica attracts people from all over the world so we have had the
joy of meeting people with fascinating stories to tell. This is in
addition to the joy of meeting Ticos and spending time with them, and
learning about their wonderful country and many of their traditions.
We met an older guy from war-torn
Poland who escaped from Poland with his young pregnant wife by hiding
on top of coal cars at the start of WW11. It was fascinating to listen to his stories of
those many years trying to survive. After a lovely dinner he
entertained us with his homeland music on his accordion.
One day a young German couple stopped by and wondered if we had coffee, guess they were really tired hiking on our jungle trails, mountain roads and river walks. We were just starting to have dinner so invited them for a meal. I loved hearing their stories! They were young adults back when the Berlin
Wall was torn down allowing East and West Germany to reunite. They
each had their own version of what it was like during that tumultuous
time. Her family, who were against communism, sat crying for joy
while watching the news event unfold on TV. But 'His' family, who supported
communism, was terrified of what life had in store for them. Who
would have thought I would be able to sit down at my table and hear
about what it was like to live through this history making event
firsthand?
We had the pleasure of staying with some new friends,
Bob and Ione, in a lovely place called Hills of Portalon.
Bob and Ione came to Costa Rica 20 years ago and had
amazing stories of what it was like to move to Costa Rica back then.
No electricity or phones where they built a house in the southern
zone, roads were atrocious and life totally different than now. Although John and I might seem adventurous to some of you, would we have been able to move in such conditions? Moving here with internet, better roads, electricity and even smart phones sure made the move easier than they experienced.
Portalon is a bit lower elevation than our village and warmer,
so the pool is always a comfortable temperature and very inviting for a nighttime swim.
That tiny white dot was actually a big moon!
Pineapple
We have never eaten so many “pinas”
as we do now. We use about 3 pineapples a week and each top I put in
the ground so it will grow a new pina for us. Many neighbors do the
same, so we have hundreds of pinas growing in our village! At this elevation it will
take about 18 months to get a pineapple ready to harvest, at lower
elevations where it is warmer, about 1 year. After that first harvest, if the plant remains in
the ground it will grow a new pina for next year.
Kumquat
From the citrus family, kumquats are very tasty and make a refreshing drink. Some cultivators are sweet enough to eat the whole fruit, peel and all; while others are best used for juice or in dishes.
Bananas
We have bananas galore here in
Serenity, called bananos in Spanish.
Our own rack of bananos are
just about ready to harvest from our front yard.
Living in Costa Rica has enriched our
lives beyond what I ever thought possible. What a fascinating life
for the encore of our lives.
