Category: Charlie Doggett

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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!

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    Photo Gallery of Bosque del Cabo Trip

    As much as I hate to omit it, I was not well during my week on the Osa Peninsula, still tired or low on energy with limited taste due to 7 weeks of radiation treatment and not my usual “gung ho” self! I chose to not talk about how I felt and I still got a lot of photos, and some are pretty good in spite of my limited mobility on the trails (I fell twice). You can find my efforts in the Photo Gallery, under Costa Rica TRIPS, or click the seascape image below or this web address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2021-07-22-28-Bosque-del-Cabo-Osa-Peninsula

    Click Image to See My GALLERY: Bosque del Cabo Rainforest Lodge 2021.

    “Climb up on some hill at sunrise.  Everybody needs perspective once in a while, and you’ll find it there.”

    ~Robb Sagendorph

    ¡Pura Vida!

    🙂

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    Overdoing it? Exhaustion?

    Feeling tired is a common experience. It can be caused by disrupted sleep habits, a change in routine, or the appearance of stressors in your life. No matter the reason, tiredness can push us to our limits emotionally and mentally. In some cases, extreme tiredness sets in. This is called exhaustion.

    ~https://www.webmd.com/

    Or in my case, I think I was just doing more physically than my healing body was ready for. When I finally got home Wednesday night, after a delayed flight and 7 days of hiking up and down hills through the rainforest, I collapsed in my bed and slept for 11 hours! Of course I had errands to run yesterday and then today I’ve just chilled, not leaving the house, with laundry my most strenuous activity. 🙂

    Tree on the Creek Trail, Bosque del Cabo Rainforest Lodge

    I still recommend Bosque del Cabo Rainforest Lodge, but now add the disclaimer that it is an “active place for healthy people” that requires a lot of walking just to and from your cabin, not to mention all the trails and other activities, etc. My cellphone said I walked more than 14,500 steps one day – which normally is very good! But I was not healthy enough for that, not fully recovered from cancer treatment. But I will be soon! And by the September trip to the Caribe, I expect to be my normal active self, enjoying more walks wherever I am. 🙂 Pura vida!

    “If you would know strength and patience, welcome the company of trees.”

    ― Hal Borland

    And oh yes, more photos yet to come from this trip!

    ¡Pura Vida!

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    Getting Social at Dinner

    Some of you know that I prefer traveling solo; maybe it’s selfish or maybe it’s the results of 20 years of marriage. 🙂 I also enjoy eating solo, reading my Kindle or just observing what surrounds me. Occasionally in the informal lodges people invite me to join them at their table and never wanting to offend, I often accept. This group from Florida asked me to join them on the second night and I think I told them I would, but for dinner only, since I liked to read at breakfast and lunch. They have also invited others to their table like this couple from St. Thomas with a teen son. It’s been interesting as long as I ignore political statements! 🙂 Our waitress made this image on a couple of our cellphones for us last night.

    Like pretty much everywhere in Costa Rica (except San Jose) all our meals here are open air, just under a roof because of mucho rain! 🙂

    ¡Pura Vida!

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    I’M HERE! — In the Rainforest!

    I got here in time to dump my stuff in my cabin before a delicious lunch that I was able to eat all of! Yay! 🙂 It’s overcast with some scattered showers but I explored the trails a little and scheduled 4 activities this week with the rest of time exploring on my own! And the 4? Well, boring old-man activities compared to some available here: Morning & Afternoon Birding hikes in 2 totally different locations, a sunset/night hike looking for night creatures, and a morning Primary Rainforest 3-hour conservation hike. The rest of the week is photographing a lot, resting, and finally eating real food for a week! My radiation taste is not totally gone, but greatly improved and I’m eating just about everything now! 🙂

    My thatched-roof open-air hut with a cool breeze off the Pacific now! 🙂
    The Pacific Ocean View from my room porch on an overcast day.

    I’ve seen a Crested Caracara (on the road here), and here: lots of Scarlet Macaws, lots of little birds not identified and a family of Spider Monkeys, all by my thatched roof cabin. And I’m looking forward to happy hour snacks before a great dinner. There are about 25 tourists in this lodge (from all over the world including children), which is not bad with Covid still raging around the globe! And it is a 45 minute drive (fording streams) from the primitive landing strip in Puerto Jiménez to the lodge or if you must, an 8-hour+ drive from the San Jose Airport. 

    On the Road to Bosque Del Cabo.

    Bosque del Cabo Website

    And finally . . .

    My Rainforest “Internet Cafe” for the Week!

    The “Boa Bar” at Bosque Del Cabo Rainforest Lodge . . .

    Your nightly report from the rainforest will be uploaded each afternoon from the above poolside location! And oh yes, the internet connection is great (at least today!).

    🙂

    ¡Pura Vida!

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    New Ranking of Birding Lodges

    On January 5, 2020 I did a Blog Post 2020 Ranking of My Birding Lodges, which is now out of date and it even included Nicaragua and Panama lodges, where today’s is only Costa Rica and I have included the multiple trips to places I repeat with each bird count, but only those with 10 or more birds photographed by me. Even on eBird I count only the ones I get a photo of. These are from my birding visits since 2015, my first year living in Costa Rica.

    Montezuma Oropendola at Arenal Observatory

    The Feature Photo at top is my Treehouse Room at Maquenque Lodge, Boca Tapada.

    And the 2021 Rankings by number of species are . . .

    Continue reading “New Ranking of Birding Lodges”
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    “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

    🙂

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    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!

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    My CANCER Adventure Book

    Mostly my real time journal and blog posts plus photos and other information that is meant to be inspirational for someone else going through cancer, especially my specific Parotid Tumor Cancer with 68 pages and 87 photos, including a few of my nature posts during that time. 🙂

    I also emphasize the value of nature in healing for me. And the title “True Grit” is explained in the book and on back cover, kind of funny! 🙂

    You can see a free electronic preview at https://www.blurb.com/b/10778284-true-grit Or click the cover image below:

    Me in front of Radiation Machine on book cover.

    You can also browse through all my nature photo books while in the bookstore or click on Bookstore on the menu bar above.

    ¡Pura Vida!

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    Flowers! – what more could I ask?

    When I walk through my garden of by others in the neighborhood, I think of Victor Hugo’s statement in Les Misérables . . .

    “A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in–what more could he ask? A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars.”

    ― Victor Hugo

    Torch Ginger or El bastón de emperador, My Garden contrasting dead and vibrant one.

    See my little Gallery of Saturday’s walk among the flowers, 8 in my garden and 3 from the neighborhood . . .

    Continue reading “Flowers! – what more could I ask?”