The hills opposite my hill looked like they had whipped cream on them this morning. A photo cannot replicate what I saw but here’s my effort with a 6-shot panorama. And this was late, like about 7:00 AM.
See larger image at top as header of online post.
“The sun always shines above the clouds.”
– Paul F. Davis
I look forward to totally different sunrises next week on our Caribbean coast, where I spend Monday to Monday on the beaches of Hotel Banana Azul, my favorite September retreat place.
As with any good coffee farming town, Atenas is in the hills below the big mountains and away from the plains of the big city of San Jose. Yesterday as my taxista drove me back home from a doctor appointment in the city, I cellphone-snapped these photos of the approaching hills as we neared Atenas. No great photos but they bear testimony of the terrain of my little pueblo.
The Hills of Atenas Costa Rica from Ruta 27.The Hills of Atenas Costa Rica from Ruta 27.The Hills of Atenas Costa Rica from Ruta 27.And by the time we were at my house, the clouds had moved in for the afternoon rain. 🙂
“We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us.”
It was cloudy before the rain (better for my radiation-damaged skin) but I could see, hear and smell the rain coming. Soon after I was back from my “Country Lane” Walk, our afternoon shower started which has become regular now, meaning that the rainy season has really started, after severa false-starts. 🙂 The above feature photo is from my terrace with rain in the hills behind Atenas Centro and soon it came all over. I never tire of trying to make a photo of those hills which are never the same. This one is a 4-shot panorama.
. . . and so am I, almost! I’m redder or pinker now on my face from the radiation 🙂 and also ripe at the point of being almost finished. Today, Tuesday, I lack only 2 more radiation treatments, meaning I’m finished by noon Thursday! Yay! Starting Thursday afternoon I’m home to stay for at least 5 weeks before I have a trip planned. And hoping I have some taste and swallowing ability back by then (the lodge food is said to be excellent!), though my doc says to not count on the taste totally returning that soon. She says it can take up to 6 months for some people to have it totally but gain it little by little, week by week. Since my radiation was only on the left side of my mouth, maybe I will get it back sooner. Hoping! 🙂
The red berries are on the big tree at the hotel that had been yellow berries for weeks but now red, ripe and ready for the birds and other creatures! The blue or black berries below are in a yard I walk by everyday to and from the clinic and Walter, my driver, says they are sweet and if people can pick them before the birds and animals, they add them to dishes for sweetness or just eat as berries.
Bird of Paradise Flower(Wikipedia link). It’s another of the many flowers in the hotel garden and this one was not included in my first flower post from here. Though they can grow in gardens here, I rarely see them. Some have one small plant in a pot (like at Xandari), but this hotel has a flower bed full of them with many blooming right now. First time I’ve seen this many together. Another plus for this hotel.
Bird of Paradise Flower, Best Western Plus, San Jose, Costa Rica
And finally, Rainy Season has started in the Central Valley, first week of May like normal. You may remember that I thought it was starting early this year with multiple rains the first week of April, but that was a false start with little more until now! 🙂 “Rainy Season” (May to November) is also called “Green Season” here and it is my favorite time of year, plus fewer tourists, since northerners like to come when it is cold & snowy up north and is the “Dry Season” here (December-April). See more flowers in my Flora & Forest Galleries.
Looking out of my living room front window during a hard rain today (so glad rainy season is here!), the big tree is a Strangler Fig Tree with an unknown smaller one beside it plus a strangled one and then on this side is the tall, skinny Ylang-ylang Tree still growing up through the canopy of the larger trees. And all much wetter than the photo shows! 🙂 See also my May 11 “Rain Trees” post for a different look at wet trees! 🙂
My Front Window View in the Rain with the street a temporary river! 🙂
Of course it was right after I watered my gardens that the big downburst of rain came and just kept raining like one of those good rainy season afternoon showers. Yeah, we were hoping the same with our March 22 rain but it was not this big of a thundershower and didn’t have the Pacific Ocean storms we’re having now. I checked the Accuweather long-range forecast and, if accurate, we are beginning rainy season early (most typically it starts in May). It is also called “The Green Season” and is my favorite time of year!
Except for rain pounding down on the driveway, I haven’t been able to photograph rain around my house so it shows up very well in the pix, but here’s two from past trips that show up a little better. That one from Selva Verde (feature photo at top online) shows rain pouring off the roof of my cabin by the river, while my house here in Atenas has gutters all the way around, thus never having that same effect.
Seen from the Restaurant on the Corobici River, Guanacaste.
Seen from my Cabin at Selva Verde Lodge, Sarapiqui.
I Feel Most At Peace When It Is Raining For It Reminds Me That The Sky Is Alive.
Is it a freak “Dry Season” once-off rain or a very early starting of the “Rainy Season” this year? We will see! The Jigüirro or Clay-colored Thrush (CR National Bird) has been singing his heart out recently and indigenous tradition is that they are the ones who “sing in the rain!”
It is generally said for the Central Valley (where I live) that Rainy Season is May-November and Dry Season December-April. My first few years here we did not see our first rain until mid to late April and not a lot until May. Last year the first rain was March 24 and this year now March 22, so is it starting early? Almost certainly not daily afternoon showers now (usually by May) but at least I do not need to water the garden for a few more days! 🙂
Always Trying to Capture Rain in a Photo!
And never very good at it! 🙂 The featured photo at top shows the dark cloud this afternoon shower came from and some of us hope it will be regular now (though very early)!
First Darkness – Then Rain!
The first drops on an Elephant Ear plant.
Vertical white lines are blurred rain drops.
Vertical white lines are blurred rain drops.
Raindrops bouncing off driveway.
I’ve always preferred the rainy season because it is greener with fresher air and the wind quits blowing! And most of the time we get rain only for an hour or two in the afternoon. Lowland rainforests along both coasts get more rain than we do here and it can be year-around, especially South Pacific and South Caribbean. For more weather information, check out your favorite weather channel or these websites:
And to let you know that this first rain is a real rain, since it started I have loaded and processed the photos to web-size, prepared and written this blog post, all in an hour or a little more AND IT IS STILL RAINING – HARD! 🙂 Love it! The tropics! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.
And my first afternoon walk was cut short because the clouds literally moved in as shown in earlier post with a sort of mist, not exactly rain, but my camera was getting wet and time to go in! 🙂 See all 8 photos from the walk . . .
This afternoon the clouds slowly moved in until I was in a mist it seemed.
El Silencio Lodge and the nearby pueblo of Bajos del Toro are in the Cloud Forest in mountains much higher than where I live in Atenas though not as high as my January visit to San Gerardo de Dota – but still the clouds move in sometime as they did this afternoon after my arrival and during my first walk around the property.
