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This past Christmas I got a potted poinsettia for my terrace as usual, but the only one they had at the time I purchased it was the strange red with white flecks or variegations in the petals. :-)
More of my flowers in My Home Gardens GALLERY.
¡Pura Vida!
As always, my faithful driver, Walter, got me through all the Christmas traffic going around San Jose and up to my mountain hideaway in Hotel Savegre, San Gerardo de Dota. This time his wife Gabby and their year old daughter got to ride with us through the traffic of one wreck, lots of Christmas shoppers and half of Costa Rica beginning their summer vacation this weekend! I treated them to a late lunch at Savegre and the waiter made this photo. And believe it or not a Resplendent Quetzal visited us in a tree by our outside dining area. And my camera was not with me! 🙁
Mountain flowers are different from those in the lowlands, so one of my first shots was of flowers and there will be many more! :-)
¡Pura Vida!
My laptop computer just went into the local repair shop and it takes 24 hours to get the needed part from San José, meaning it will barely be ready before I leave Friday morning for my Christmas trip to San Gerardo de Dota, thus no posts until Friday niģht from the mountains. This is the only post I will type on this tiny phone screen! I hate it! :-) And I can only figure out how to include a photo already used – sorry!
See all the good photos in the GALLERY: 2023 Christmas Parade Atenas. And to introduce the gallery, here’s 5 shots from the 4 sub-galleries . . .
If you live in or near Atenas, I hope to see you this weekend at the “Just in Time for the Holidays” Art Fair at Calle 2 Plaza and Gallería Artenas.
Get the one of a kind gifts for everyone on your holiday list, or for yourself at the third annual Just in Time for the Holidays Art and Artisanal feria. Over 20 local artists will be featured this year, including many of the past year’s favorites. The art fair will be held December 8th, 9th, and 10th at Calle 2 Plaza, located next to Linea Vital in Central Atenas. As in past years 10% of all sales will be donated to Rescate Animales Atenas, the Atenas Red Cross, Animales Atenas and the Atenas food bank. Hours are: Friday 3pm-7pm, Saturday 10 am -7pm and Sunday 10 am -2 pm. This feria is sponsored by Galeria Artenas.
NOTE: This may be my last time to offer my “Nature As Art” in this show (still debating on my future in it) but I am definitely leaving the Gallería Artenas January 14, so now is the time to get my artwork in person in two places at once! My greeting cards and accent pillows will be only in the Gallería Artenas while everything else will be just outside on the beautiful new Calle 2 Plaza at my Art Fair table! This year I’m featuring a new Calendar 2024 of beautiful Costa Rica Butterflies! Plus a few new “Feliz Navidad” nature Christmas Cards! Come check it out!
In the future my photo art will continue to be available online through multiple sources by way of my website/blog! On my website/blog menu just click Gallery or Bookstore or CafePress for Wall Art & Books to Coffee Mugs & Accent Pillows! And my Nature As Art will continue to be available on the internet! Hey! I’m retired, 83 years old, and keep trying to make myself slow down! But I will never stop photographing nature! 🙂 And I’ll continue posting the photos on my blog! Sign up for that if not already subscribing. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
¡Pura Vida!
And if you like my Christmas Card photos, see all of the ones I’ve sent from Costa Rica in my Christmas Card GALLERY.
The annual weekend art fair that I have been participating in for 3 years now is next weekend, December 8-10 at a new location, Calle 2 Plaza, in the same plaza as the new Galería Artenas which is now the sponsor of the art fair. That means you can find Charlie Doggett “Nature as Art Photography” next weekend in both places! Side by side! 🙂
I will continue to have 6 wall art photos, all of my greeting cards and floral accent pillows plus 5 photo books in the Galería Artenas through 13 January, my last day as a member of that cooperative, which I will explain later. But I WILL HAVE 7 DIFFERENT ITEMS IN THE ART FAIR! (1) A new CR Butterflies 2024 Calendar, (2) Atenas Tote Bags, (3) T-shirts, (4) Coffee Mugs, (5) Mouse Pads, (6)several different Wall Art Photos, and (7) a few different Photo Books including my brand new Pura Vida Butterflies, Second Edition with more than 240 species! (Linked to a free preview of it!)
¡Pura Vida!
You may remember that I posted a photo of this poinsettia in my garden before Christmas last month (Dec. 18) with only 3 large red petals. Well, those tiny ones near the center kept growing, and I believe they will even more!
It was my indoor potted poinsettia for Christmas ’21 that I planted in the garden last January and someone told me that those potted ones would never bloom again when put in a garden. Well, maybe some don’t, but this one did! 🙂 And it just keeps blooming with a smaller flower coming in beneath this larger bloom, that I’ve been told are actually leaves that turn red. Just another fun experience with flowers and a garden! 🙂 One of those “little things” in nature that a retired old man finds joy in – while “Retired in Costa Rica!” 🙂
And I’m not finished sharing photos from my Christmas trip to Arenal Volcano National Park, but I may continue to throw in an occasional “local” blog post to keep Atenas in the news! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
For more flowers, check out my Flora & Forest GALLERIES! And stay tuned for more butterflies+ from Arenal!
From the top of a volcano to the mangroves at the ocean’s edge and even in the tiny garden behind my casita, I’ve daily photographed nature for 8 years here and called that photography “Nature as Art!” and shared it in this blog. 🙂
I like this Collins Online Dictionary definition:
Nature is all the animals, plants, and other things in the world that are not made by people, and all the events and processes that are not caused by people.
Thus in nature I worship God and find my peace & inspiration from Him, the creator of it all!
Each year I find it difficult to select only 12 photos from the year and I first tried to come up with 12 “categories” of nature to make sure I selected a variety, but that became as cumbersome as trying to have a “photo-a-month.” So I decided to just stick with “12 favorites,” even if more than 12 are favorites! 🙂
So, however labeled, here’s 12 photos I made in 2022!
Happy New Year and Pura vida! 🙂
To the nearly 500 email subscribers: I hope you read on for the other 11 favorite photos . . .
As I celebrated living in Costa Rica for 8 years, I had a very special Christmas Eve Dinner and this morning went to the Butterfly Conservancy in El Castillo on the lake, then hiked one of the trails here at Arenal Observatory and after another great dinner of baby back ribs, I’m going on a private Night Hike, just me and the guide! It was their suggestion since with the regular night hike of a group of 10 they knew I would find it difficult to make photos. Most of “my” lodges here really take care of this old man! 🙂 Photos from the night hike will come tomorrow.
And I haven’t had time to process photos of butterflies or anything else today, so here’s photos of the great sunny weather we had today and my first view this week of the volcano! The lake shot was at about sunset time, though the sun is not seen there this time of year, it’s still more pleasant with clear skies! 🙂 Much more to share tomorrow!
¡Pura Vida!