Category: Art

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2022 – My Year in Books

Assuming they let non-members in to the Goodreads pages, see what they prepared for me as My Year in Books on their website. Fun stats! In short, my goal for the year was a book-a-month or 12 books and they have me down for 15 books which is not bad, but I read Little Women which is a part of one huge electronic book Ten Books You Must Read Before You Die and I haven’t read the others yet, so they did not count it. And I just finished the fifth book of The Chronicles of Narnia series which Goodreads has not counted because the electronic book is all 7 books + a bonus Lewis book all together counted as one. So that would make 20 books! Not as good as my 24 books in 2021, but that was a year of both cancer treatment and a world-wide pandemic! 🙂  Here’s this year’s list and I’ve already started the 6th book in Chronicles of Narnia, The Silver Chair!  🙂

  • Miss Marple: Greenshaw’s Folly by Agatha Christie
  • To Bless the Space Between Us by John O’Donohue
  • A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie
  • They Do It With Mirrors by Agatha Christie
  • Diablo Mesa by Preston & Child
  • Easy Spanish Step by Step
  • Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock
  • The Complete Fairytales of Hans Christian Anderson
  • Birds of Central America by Andrew Vallely
  • Trees of Panama and Costa Rica
  • The Photographer’s Eye by Michael Freeman
  • Niksen by Annette Lavrijsen
  • Rebugging the Planet by Vicki Hird
  • Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
  • Green Ember by S.D. Smith
  • The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis
  • The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
  • The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
  • Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
  • Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
Possibly my favorite read of the year!
Both a great adventure and a mystery!
But comparing books is like comparing apples and oranges! 🙂

And oh yes, I have a lot more to share about my Christmas trip to Arenal Volcano, but been swamped with things that must be done on my return, so more after the New Year is in!

¡Pura Vida!

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Red-eyed Tree Frog

My main reason for going on “Night Hikes” is to get more photos of this beautiful symbol of Costa Rica that almost looks “unreal” with his bright colors and “other worldly” look. But he is very real and best photographed with a cellphone as these two were, in the light of a flashlight. Just one more totally cool thing about living retired in Costa Rica!   🙂

I got a lot of other photos of other frogs, snakes, spiders, other insects, but these were my two favorite, so all for now with more to be shared another time.

 

Red-eyed Tree Frog, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica

Red-eyed Tree Frog, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

 

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2022 Christmas Parade Atenas

Last night, Friday, was the first annual Christmas Parade in two years thanks to the Covid Pandemic and the people came out for that and the fiesta in Central Park. I got too many photos to share on the blog, so just a sampling here and then please go to my:

2022 Christmas Parade Photo Gallery

I’ve divided the good photos into 4 sub-galleries which you can go directly to from the link on the 4 pix below representing the sub galleries. First a photo of the church just before dark and the beginning of the light parade, then the sample photos . . .

The Central Catholic Church, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica, Sunset before the Christmas Parade.
Continue reading “2022 Christmas Parade Atenas”
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Alajuela’s “STARRED” Park

While Alajuela is finishing the reconstruction of the bus terminal for buses from surrounding towns like Atenas, our Atenas bus drops us off downtown and then we catch the return bus between a cemetery and neighborhood city park that I haven’t found a name for yet. For Christmas this year they hung brightly colored stars from all the trees in the park which doesn’t seem that special, but their “Walk-through Stars” on one of the sidewalks is kind of neat to me. Here’s three shots of it from different angles.

Starred Park in Alajuela, Alajuela, Costa Rica.
Continue reading “Alajuela’s “STARRED” Park”
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Christmas Everywhere in Atenas!

During the last few days of my walks around Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica I have been cellphone-snapping photos of Christmas decorations and the slideshow below this one shot is just a sample of many in homes and businesses. Ticos love Christmas! And it is in our Summer break from schools with graduations the middle of December and new school year starting in February. It’s also the time for family vacations with all the hotels full during Christmas, especially on the beaches. I had to make reservations for my Christmas trip a year ago to get a room at Arenal Observatory. It will be literally full! Tomorrow night (Friday) is our Atenas Christmas Parade and I’ll have photos in a Saturday blog post. A fun and happy time of year here!

At one of the many little shops in Central Atenas.
Continue reading “Christmas Everywhere in Atenas!”
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New Photo Book Published

CLICK this cover image for the bookstore and a preview of all 30 pages.

It is too late to get it for Christmas except in the states, but my reasons for publishing now is to have in January and February to share on trips. I have no ambitions to make money on my photography but operate with an almost obsessive desire to create and these little photo books provide that creative outlet more than anything other than maybe this blog! 🙂 The sharing of photos on this blog and in my gallery are two other outlets and to a lesser degree the sharing of bird photos on eBird and butterfly photos on butterfliesandmoths dot org. 🙂 Right now I’m the biggest contributor of butterfly photos from Costa Rica! 🙂

Check this book out with the free preview and let me know what you think! And I hope you are exploring the world where you live! There’s a lot to discover literally everywhere!

¡Pura Vida!

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THANK YOU BLOG FOLLOWERS!

I was both humbled and joyed by the number of people who came up to me during the art show and told me they enjoyed reading my blog and especially appreciated the four who asked for me to sign one of my photo books. It helped me to feel like I’m not wasting my time with the blog preparation time. And it reminded me of the experience at Hotel Banana Azul in September when a woman came up to me at my dinner table one night and asked, “Are you the Charlie Doggett of the Retired in Costa Rica Blog?” I said, “I sure am!” She replied, “My mother and I have followed you blog for several years now and we both love it!” Then she got my permission for her husband to take a cellphone photo of us. 🙂

The art show was excellent with a continuous flow of people through it all three days and I sold a lot of stuff, and particularly enjoyed meeting and talking to a lot of people, both Ticos and expats. Its beginning to feel like the pandemic is over here in Costa Rica and of course everyone hopes so! We will have our Atenas Christmas Parade next week, the 16th, which I look forward to; then I return to Arenal Volcano National Park Christmas week, so a busy but happy month! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

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Children’s Author at ART SHOW!

CLICK the cover image above to see book on Amazon.com.

Denise Gilien will be at this weekend’s ART SHOW with her children’s book (above) Where the Wild Sloths Roam and other work. Don’t miss this opportunity to see 21 local artists together in one room and possibly find a creative Christmas gift! At Hotel Colinas del Sol in Atenas on Avenida 8.

  • Friday 9 December – 3-8 pm — Jack, Piet & Syl, Fire Music at 5 pm!
  • Saturday, 10 December – 10 am to 8 pm — Poison Dart Frogs Band at 5 pm!
  • Sunday, 11 December – 10 am to 4 pm

¡Pura Vida!

And be sure to stop by my Nature as Art table!

Wall Art, Greeting Cards, Books & more!

🙂

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CafePress for Unique Photo Items

CLICK this image of my home page at CAFEPRESS to see the few items I now have available.

I have quit using them 2 or 3 times because I didn’t like something they did or didn’t do, but they are still my best source for a few quality novelty items that I will have 3 of this weekend at ART SHOW: Tote Bags, a T-shirt and a Mouse Pad. I’ve found no other source for the quality of their tote bags, T-shirts or mouse pads that no one has anymore! I was upset when they quit doing the wall calendars that I wanted for this show and ordered 2 from another source that are okay, but I will not use again, and so I’m back with CafePress and will keep just a few limited items on my page there with a link to it from my web page. Just click CafePress on the menu. And if you love tote bags and miss getting one this weekend, you can go to my CafePress page and order one. 🙂

AND if you want a different one of my photos on something, just email me and I will add it to the CafePress page! 🙂

Note that my Gallery has a few novelty items like the coffee mugs that you can also order with any of my gallery photos on it as well as prints, the metal wall art I have this weekend and canvas wall art. So if you’re willing to shop online, my photos are available in many ways from several places! 🙂

Also be aware that many of these online sources in the states require a U.S. address for shipping, like my bookstore. I prefer to use Aeropost even though I have to go to Alajuela to pick up packages. They are faster. In Atenas there is the new Atenas Webshop and the more established Costa Rica Shipping, both of which will give you a Miami Address just like Aeropost. They are both slower than Aeropost but you can pick up the packages at their offices in Central Atenas. 🙂

Costa Rica Photo Art

¡Pura Vida!