Old Enough to Read Fairytales

The WingFeather Saga

You may not know that my favorite kind of books or stories are the ones written partly for children or maybe it is “the young at heart!” JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis and JK Rowling. I was about to start re-reading Tolkien (the most difficult of the above) when through the sharing of friends in the Goodreads club/blog I discovered The WingFeather Saga (link to author’s description of the books). They are children’s books in this general fantasy/adventure style of the above three mentioned authors, with it quickly obvious that the author, Andrew Peterson, admires CS Lewis the most and would like to create a Narnia.

The 4 Books of The Wingfeather Saga

My Review of Sorts . . .

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Slowing Down

“There is more to life than increasing its speed.”

– Mohandas K. Gandhi

So what does an old man “Retired in Costa Rica” do with his time? Especially since cancer and the dreaded cancer treatment forced a slowdown? In short, I have slowed down! And those who know me well may find that hard to believe. 🙂 It is easier said than done for the hyper-active little boy who is sort of who I am. So this blog post will be My “Essay on Slowing Down” or more accurately on “what it is like for me to slow down.” I have now learned to “Enjoy the Moments” here in Costa Rica and hopefully I can share the joy of living slow in Costa Rica! 🙂

My Terrace Where I “Enjoy the Moments” Daily
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Resilience

From my “Merriam-Webster Word of the Day” email today:

resilience – noun | rih-ZIL-yunss

  • the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress

  • an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change
  • And this is the effort or goal of my body right now, much longer after the radiation treatment than I expected, as my trip the last week of July showed.

    For the rest of the year I have only 2 trips, both very relaxing places that I have already explored, so I plan to truly “take it easy” in September on the Caribbean or Atlantic Coast of Costa Rica in maybe my most relaxed hotel here, Banana Azul. I have reserved “The Howler Suite,” like a tree house on the second floor with a large private deck overlooking the forest and the beach where I plan to hangout more this time, with my “hikes” limited to beach walks and I may even use room service for some meals in my room and use the in-room Jacuzzi this time! 🙂 I was “too busy” the last time there! 🙂 Maybe read two books this time!

    Christmas week I’m back on the Pacific side at another favorite hotel, Cristal Ballena in Uvita, overlooking the bay of whales and the “Whale’s Tail Beach” (feature photo at top) along with a lot of birds right outside my room and with even better food! As much as I love where I live, I function better with a change of scenery every couple of months or so. And I believe both these places will help me immensely with my continued efforts of “Resilience” after cancer! 🙂

    Two Trees beachside at Banana Azul Caribe say “resilience” to me.
    And “Feature Photo” at top is a Pacific View at Cristal Ballena, Uvita.

    “The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived.”

    ― Robert Jordan

    🙂

    ¡Pura Vida!

    “TRANQUILO” – My Favorite Spanish Word!

    Tranquilo calm, quiet, peaceful, relaxed, laid-back, unfazed – are some of the English words the online Spanish Dictionary (spanishdict.com) lists as equivalents.

    Above: Tranquilo Sunrise at Macaw Lodge, Carara NP
    Feature photo at top: Tranquilo Sunset on Calle Barroeta, Atenas

    At first I wrote a lengthy essay on my need for “tranquilo” and how it has changed me, then decided it was “too much.” 🙂 So I’ll just let the photos speak for . . .

    A “TRANQUILO” life of “Retired in Costa Rica.”

    ¡Pura Vida!

    Blog, Website, Gallery, Bookstore

    Or Just the Photos

    🙂

    The Blessing of “Heart Treasures”

    This beautiful Sunday morning I allow nature to wake me with the sunrise and sounds of a variety of birds in the trees around my casita. I eventually walk out on the terrace to witness the golden glow of distant hills around Atenas as the sun rises and I feel the refreshing cool morning air enter my lungs. I scan the trees and flowers for any creature stirring and then I prepare my breakfast to eat on the terrace, absorbing more of God’s natural beauty.

    Morning on my terrace.

    “The true blessings of life are the treasures hidden in the reservoirs of the human heart.”

    ~T. D. Jakes

    Let me tell you about more heart treasures including a big new one coming this week . . .

    Continue reading “The Blessing of “Heart Treasures””

    Mid-day Walk “Leaf Collection”

    Tuesday I had a morning doctor’s appointment in San Jose, getting back a little before noon and took a walk on my nearby “Country Lane” extension of 8th Ave. As I entered the road I asked myself, “What can I photograph today?” Almost immediately my eyes fell on a leaf! And so I tried to see how many different leaves I could make photos of with my cellphone. Here are 13 that were accessible and I purposely did not include fern fronds since I did a post on them last week, nor palm fronds because most are too high to reach with my cellphone! 🙂

    Here’s one for the email and then you go to the full post for the gallery of 13 leaves!

    A leaf growing alongside a country road.
    Continue reading “Mid-day Walk “Leaf Collection””

    The Beautiful in Life

    I always receive much inspiration from every walk up the hill behind my house . . .

    Parroquia San Rafael Arcángel Church, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica seen from hill behind my house.

    The Beautiful in Life

    The beautiful in life…
    Some talk of it in poetry,
    Some grow it from the soil,
    Some build it in a steeple,
    Some show it through their toil.
    Some breathe it into music,
    Some mold it into art,
    Some shape it into bread loaves…
    Some hold it in their hearts.

    ~Bernard Meltzer

    ¡Pura Vida!

    See my photo gallery of the main Catholic Church in Atenas.

    And/or the WEBSITE of Parroquia San Rafael Arcángel

    Note that I’m not a Roman Catholic but this church is the only one in Atenas that inspires me to seek God – whether photographing from a distance like above or up close from Central Park or going inside their beautiful sanctuary to just sit quietly and pray. I’m inspired by the architecture, the ambience, the tranquility, the beauty, their music and even the church bells ringing! I thank God for this Catholic Church!

    Cows Upon A Hill

    To describe part of my walk last Saturday morning early, I found this nice poem:

    Cows Upon A Hill

    There is nothing I like better
    In the sunrise of the day
    To see cows on the hill
    It’s the perfect time to pray

    ~Marilyn Lott

    The Costa Rica University Systems has a special agricultural university campus on the edge of Atenas and these cows I frequently see and like to photograph are a part of that student farm on the next hill over from mine. 🙂 Students study here from all over Central American as the best of Latin American agricultural schools! And they learn a whole lot more than just our local coffee farming! 🙂 And next door to where I live!

    Cows Upon A Hill, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

    See all four Photos . . .

    Continue reading “Cows Upon A Hill”

    Experiencing Nature

    My newest photo book is my cheapest ($8.83), smallest ( 6×9 in, 15×23 cm) and shortest (30 pages) as an introduction to why I retired in Costa Rica with 47 photos demonstrating my nature photography here. It’s not exactly a portfolio because of the cheaper paper, but . . . it actually is a cheaper version of a portfolio 🙂 and it also describes the 5 ways I experience nature and share it. As with all my books there is a FREE PREVIEW electronically of all pages in the bookstore at:

    https://www.blurb.com/b/10782574-experiencing-nature-retired-in-costa-rica

    Or click the front cover image below:

    My Newest Book

    This will become my “give-away” book to guides, lodges and others here in Costa Rica, since some of my other books are too expensive to keep giving them away as I have been. But I’m still not in the photo-selling or book-selling business. I’m retired! 🙂 I make my photos to share with others online and the books become ways to do that physically on occasions. Prints and wall art are available in my gallery with no profit for me, just a good service of (and profit for) my gallery host. 🙂

    And while you’re in my bookstore, check out some of my other photo books! They have free previews too!

    🙂

    ¡Pura Vida!

    Unidentified Moth or Skipper

    I have the largest book I can find on butterflies and moths in Costa Rica and yet I continue to find and photograph live specimens not in my books nor can I find on the many websites – a little frustrating for someone who likes to label everything! 🙂 But anyway, here’s my newest unidentified butterfly/moth found in my garden in Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica:

    On the outside wall of my house by the garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

    Because I expect to be able to identify all my butterfly/moth photos, I’m frustrated:

    “Expectation is the mother of all frustration. “

    ~Antonio Banderas

    🙂

    ¡Pura Vida!

    All my CR Butterfly/Moth Galleries