My dermatologist (after 2 skin cancers) says I have to wear a wide-brim hat everytime I go out along with sunscreen. Bummer – but here’s my first one (a Dorfman Pacific Safari Hat) which is like what a neighbor wears everyday, so I won’t be alone! 🙂 Then with a Christmas gift certificate I ordered a Panama Jack Safari Hat which might be more stylish. The price you pay living close to the equator! ¡Pura Vida!
Merry Christmas!
HAPPY, HAPPY – – – to you and your family, friends, and communities this Christmas! While some of you enjoy a White Christmas, I will be enjoying the beaches and rainforests of Manuel Antonio National Park and the private Wildlife Refuge of Si Como No Resort there. – – – HAPPY, HAPPY! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Adventures of the Brig Charles Doggett
When Lee Holloway introduced me to and gave me a copy of the 1931 historical adventures storybook Yankee Ships in Pirate Waters by Rupert Sargent Holland back in the early 1970’s while at The Brotherhood Commission, I had no idea how far it would lead in my future research of an 1800’s ship with my name.
For a long time I have had the research website on The Ship Charles Doggett (the definitive website on the ship) and along the way discovered the relationships of the ship to Nashville and a friend there who is a descendant of the ship’s captain, William Driver. Driver is buried in Nashville. (Click above link for more info.) Also while there I learned of the U.S. Flag first being called “Old Glory” while flying on the Brig Charles Doggett with the actual flag at The Smithsonian Institute National Museum in Washington, DC. My web page above tells exciting stories of the flag, especially during the Civil War in a Confederate State Capital.
Then later I learned that it was this ship that rescued the survivors of “Mutiny on the Bounty.” Wow! The stories go on and are many and exciting as presented in this one 48-page Chapter 7 of the 1931 book Yankee Ships in Pirate Waters by Rupert Sargent Holland.
As I have always intended to do, I finally scanned or used a print shop in Atenas to scan the pages of the stories for me. I now include those pages here. The chapter on The Charles Doggett is titled “Children of the Sun” and was introduced with this summary: “How the men of the ‘Charles Doggett’ angered a witch-doctor, fought Fiji cannibals, and saved a sister-ship from yellow pirates in the gulf of Tongking.” You can read the stories online here now at Chapter 7: Children of the Sun. A fun read! And just one more bit of valuable information on this website. 🙂
The Header above is the book title page and . . .
Here’s the first page:
Continue reading at Chapter 7: Children of the Sun.
¡Pura Vida!
Rancho Humo: The Book
Check out the free electronic preview of all pages of my latest Costa Rica photo book at: http://www.blurb.com/b/9079446-rancho-humo or click the book cover image below. Use “full screen mode” to best see these photo pages. I think my books & photos are getting a little better. 🙂
- And my exciting exploration of Costa Rica continues!
- Christmas its a beach resort at Manuel Antonio
- And January a treehouse on the Nicaragua border
- See also my Rancho Humo Photo Gallery now completed
Charlie Doggett – Retired in Costa Rica
¡Pura Vida!
Lunch at Watsi Village
Experiencing the simple life of an indigenous people is a true blessing and learning experience!
Live a simple life; you will own the most beautiful treasures of the world!
~Mehmet Murat ildan
¡Pura Vida!
Building A New Info-Rich Website
One of my regular activities when not traveling and photographing nature has been to work on the total rebuild of my personal website while continuing to build a collection of Blog Posts or Articles about being “Retired in Costa Rica” which is now at the same location of my website, charliedoggett.net.
I moved my personal website that was Joomla-generated and continuing to give me technical problems to an easier-to-use WordPress.com hosting service. And since WordPress.com started as a blogging platform and is considered by many to be the best for blogs. I transferred/moved my blog from Blogger.com to WordPress. The blog part transferred everything but the subscriptions so that I still have my blog history of the big move to Costa Rica and now with many more ways to find articles about different subjects I have written on, though most are under “Nature” and the “Places” I have discovered here. But there are some practical articles about actually moving here, residency processes, healthcare possibilities, and even some more mundane daily life issues for the followers who are considering a move here.
In addition, as with my old website, there are many “static” (WordPress label) pages about me, my adventures, family and family history as aids to those writing and researching their own family history related to my family lines. i.e. I have several family cemetery inventories with photos, lots of old family photos and reports on family reunions, etc. I also have extensive research recorded on my Uncle Earl Doggett whose plane was shot down in World War II.
For both fun and to get to know me better I have an extensive About Page full of details and fun “Life Stories,” “Biographies,” “Schools,” “Doing Good,” “Art Lover,” “Photographer,” and more! And a lot of fun and interesting history is wrapped up in my extensive research on the ship or Frigate Charles Doggett in the 1800’s with ties the Mutiny on the Bounty, the nickname of “Old Glory” for the American Flag, the American Civil War, Nashville, and South Sea Island adventures! As I approach the end of my life I will have it all documented or reported on right here on this website and along with the failures and disappointments, some great experiences and accomplishments to help me see that my life did have value. And maybe a tiny bit of inspiration for someone.
So, for a boring, rainy day you might want to explore my website which is still being built. The Header Menu or Top Menu could be divided into these three sections: (1) BLOG, (2) LINKED PAGES, and (3) STATIC PAGES
BLOG
- Home – has an excerpt from the most current blog post and I may add some more introductory information there later. I have 8 or so favorite Costa Rica Photos that pop up in rotation here full screen which was how I wanted people to enter my website.
- Blog – This is where all my blog posts reside in reverse chronological order, most current on top, going all the way back to my June 2014 emphasis on “The Costa Rica Decision Process” where I debated the pros and cons online and made the decision to move here publicly on this blog. The drop-down menu has “Categories” (WordPress term) and sub categories to help you find the articles of your interest. Plus the right sidebar or right column has several ways to search for articles by category, tags/subjects, and by date.
MY 2 LINKED PAGES
- Gallery – My Costa Rica Photo Gallery, “Charlie Doggett’s COSTA RICA” is my pride and joy and located on SmugMug.com which simply has a better presentation than I can currently get within my WordPress site. That could change later and reside on the website, but for now I encourage you to see my images of Costa Rica and for birder friends I have quite a collection of about 270 Costa Rica bird species that is growing! Plus more birds from neighboring countries! – – – For those familiar with my old Pbase photo gallery, it is still up now with all my past commercial and Tennessee photos, travel photos and family photos. But I am slowly moving them to this website in the simple galleries and slideshows that my template provides here, which will help liven up my family and travel articles and will be the new residence of my historical photos, in time!
- Bookstore – Since before my time in The Gambia I was trying out different online photo book publishers as a way to preserve my many photos which otherwise got lost in closets, computers, or scrapbooks. By around 2003 I settled on Blurb.com as my book publisher of choice, mainly because they provided me with a free “Bookstore” of just my books that continue to be available for order indefinitely. Here you can see the many subjects and trips I have produced books on and even “Review” every page of every book on your computer. Pretty cool! No pressure to buy! 🙂 These books and the above Photo Gallery are the only places for my photos.
“STATIC” PAGES
- Travel – is where all my many pre-Costa Rica trips will be reported with those photos from Pbase.com, but more than that, with pages on places I lived and about my jobs in these places and just about everything else that doesn’t fit somewhere else on the website! 🙂 I have not started this page yet.
- Family – I have started with Family History pages and will work back through both my family or origin and family of marriage, probably first with photos, but just barely started at the time of this post writing. Only Family History now.
- His Spirit – In some ways I no longer want to be considered “religious, Baptist or Evangelical,” but maybe “a man of faith” or better yet a “Follower of Christ.” I try to explain this here with more writing than photos, though it seemed to be the best place to report on being a missionary in The Gambia, West Africa, thus one of my most exciting adventures is recorded here with lots of old photos or copies of print photos and some of my best stories! It is still in progress, but a lot already here!
- About – Biography, personal interests and hobbies, and the beginning of a collection of “Life Stories” that I hope will be both entertaining and inspirational. I am still in process of writing these! 🙂 It is my personal history and hopefully not too much ego!
- Contact – Your basic online contact form and all my addresses and one phone number. At the strong encouragement of WordPress, I removed my email address from this page which they say spammers and bad guys know how to harvest. The form will give you a response on my email and you can collect it that way. 🙂
I’ll try to make future blog posts shorter!
But I felt like I needed at least one thorough explanation of my new website/blog combination. You got it! Contact me with any questions and I try to respond quickly to all comments on blog posts.
Interesting Link
Why we need to break down the barriers between us and nature.
An article on the BIRDLIFE website. I have to include a little nature in all posts! The birds require it! 🙂
Saw Güilas movie again today
Boy in another story “Amor de Temporada” – Fun! |
I went back to Alajuela today (Friday) to see the movie Güilas a second time. It is soooooo good! It is fabulous art and photography! It is seven stories about kids, one in each of the seven provinces of Costa Rica making it almost a travelogue movie and it is very entertaining, very funny, and very delightful as all kids are! My favorite movie of the year already!
Old Charlie Doggett with the Young Han Solo & Chewy! Cinemark City Mall, Alajuela, Costa Rica |
“Nature As Art” Business Card
- For Wall Art the Smugmug Shop has good options (click “BUY” at bottom of enlarged photo) and my new favorite is the wall art photo printed on metal in the glossy format.I’ve ordered several for my house walls here in Costa Rica – birds of course! 🙂 There are several other items available with any of my photos printed on them under the headings of “Keepsakes” and “Phone Cases” and the best part is there are more photos to choose from on my Smugmug gallery!
- The Cafe Press shop THIS SHOP CLOSED was set up years ago with Tennessee + USA photos you can still order if you like and one old Costa Rica Birds Calendar. I am slowly adding new Costa Rica photos here and items not available on my newer Smugmug Shop like T-shirts and calendars. See the direct link to Costa Rica Birds T-Shirts below. I plan to add some new bird calendars soon, then other items. Slowly! I’m retired! 🙂
- My Bookstore is another animal! I mainly make the photo books for my own personal enjoyment and a way to show some of my photos to other people here locally. One of each is available to see in my Living Room. And all are available for purchase and include more than just reports on trips. I have even put a lifetime of scrapbooks together photographically in a 4-volume biography set of books for family history buffs. And yeah, there may be a fifth volume eventually about my retirement in Costa Rica. 🙂
Though I have this wall too full (cluttered), here are examples of both metal and canvas wall art photos. Atenas, Costa Rica |
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THIS SHOP CLOSED
Squirrel Cuckoo Men’s Classic T-Shirt |
Sunbittern Women’s Classic T-Shirt |
Wear Nature!
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2017 Photo-A-Month & HAPPY NEW YEAR!
January 2017 My garden was a constant joy! Blue Plumbago contrasted against a Heliconia |
February 2017 Two nights in San Jose was a fun and different trip for me. |
March 2017 The birds in my garden continue to amaze! Lineated Woodpecker |
April 2017 The bird sculpture by my former neighbor Anthony Jeroski will always be a special garden memory of him. He died in July in states. |
May 2017 One of my guides at Drake Bay, Carlos, with baby boa. Everywhere I go great guides make the trip memorable! |
June 2017 My gardners on break at my house, a tradition we have. I love my gardners and my garden! |
July 2017 At Rancho Naturalista I finally get a photo of a Sunbittern! This is a rare bird and rare photo that I’m proud of. |
August 2017 Butterflies are second only to birds for me and I saw a few this year. Most, like this one, in my garden of course! A Heliconius Hecale Zuleika. |
September 2017 This Squirrel Cuckoo was on edge of my terrace for a favorite photo at home or maybe my “Photo of the Year” or at least tied with the Sunbittern. 🙂 |
October 2017 My high school “after school club” for Conversational English was my most rewarding activity of the year! Fun & hard work! |
November 2017 This Triquitraque is one of the smallest and favorite flowers in my garden. |
December 2017 Everything about my Christmas trip to Tambor Bay was super good, but this photo of a King Vulture is the big prize! Another rare find & photo! |
BROWSING My Photo Gallery
To get to gallery, click above image or title, then click Browse or scroll down to the above.
Each of the 9 titles/images above take you into a folder of photo galleries on that subject.
Caribbean Coast
Pacific Coast
Talamanca Mountains
Monteverde & Arenal/Poas
Rancho Naturalista Flowers
Guanacaste
Villa Blanca Cloud Forest
Walking in Atenas
VISTAS, BEACHES, SUNRISES, SUNSETS
From my Roca Verde Terrace
From the Hill Above my House
From Hacienda La Jacaranda Apartments
Caribbean Beaches
Pacific Beaches
Miscellaneous Costa Rica Vistas
Neighboring Country: Nicaragua Vistas
Neighboring Country: Guatemala Vistas
Neighboring Country: Panama Vistas
Neighboring Country: Mexico Vistas
WATERFALLS
Campesinos Waterfall, Quepos
Cloudbridge Reserve Waterfalls (2)
Corcovado National Park (3)
Hanging Bridges Waterfall
La Paz Waterfalls (5)
Manantial de Agua Viva Waterfall, Carara
San Gerardo de Dota Waterfalls (2)
San Luis Waterfall, Monteverde
PLACES AND THINGS
Costa Rica Lodges & Hotels (33)
Nicaragua Lodges & Hotels (5)
Panama Lodges & Hotels (4)
My Rent House in Roca Verde
Hacienda La Jacaranda Apartments
Atenas General Shots
Atenas Public Art & Grafitti RAN OUT OF TIME LINKING TITLES!
Atenas Home Business Signs Sorry!
Churches Costa Rica
Churches Nicaragua
Alajuela, Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa Rica
Small Towns Costa Rica
PEOPLE & FIESTAS
Tamale Making Class
Independence Day Parade 2017
Independence Day Parade 2016
Oxcart Parade 2017
Oxcart Parade 2015 & 2016
Day of Cultures 2017
Other Fiestas in Atenas Central Park
Atenas Easter Processional 2017
Granada, Nicaragua Easter Processionals 2016
Atenas Easter Processional 2015
Cuban Swan Lake Ballet, San Jose
My Visitors from the States
My 75th Birthday Party
My 76th Birthday Party (Let’s wait until 80th now!)
Photos of Me
TRIPS
2017-Dec-3–InterNations at Zooave
2017-Nov-14–Atenas Expats Tour San Jose
2017-Nov-6-10–Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort
2017-Sept-Oct–Three Day Trips Nearby
2017-Sept-4-8–Caribe Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo
2017-July-29–Tarcoles River Day Trip
2017-July-3-7–Rancho Naturalista, Turrialba
2017-May-1-6–Drake Bay & Corcovado
2017-April-22–Camino de Costa rica Day Hike
2017-April-13–Tarcoles River Day Trip
2017-March-18-22–Tenorio Park & Celeste Mtn. Lodge
2017-Feb-16-18–San Jose City Visit
2016-Dec-23-27–Sarapiqui Selva Verde Lodge
2016-Dec-16-Tarcoles River Day Trip
2016-Sept-15-20–Manzanillo Tent Hotel
2016-Aug-21-24–Flamingo Beach & Palo Verde Park
2016-Jun-28-30–Western Nicaragua
2016-Jun-18–Zooave
2016-May-22-23–Carara Park & Cerro Lodge
2016-May-20-22–Campesinos near Quepos
2016-Mar-22-30–Nicaragua Bird Tour
2016-Mar-10-13–Monteverde
2016-Feb-15-17–Tortuguero
2016-Feb-14–Toledo Coffee Farm Tour
2016-Feb-13–Zooave
2016-Feb-12–Atenas Railroad Museum
2016-Feb-11–La Paz Waterfall Gardens
2016-Jan-27-30–Healthcare Tour & San Ramon Visit
2015-Dec-30–Visa Run to Nicaragua Border
2015-Dec-6-9–Rancho Naturalista, Turrialba
2015-Oct-8–Visa Run to Penas Blanca, Nicaragua
2015-Sept-25-27–San Gerardo de Dota
2015-Sept-23-25–Chirripo & Cloudbridge
2015-Aug-21-24–Bribri Yorkin Reserve, Caribe
2015-Aug-20-21–Puerto Viejo de Talamanca
2015-Jul-29-Aug-1–Tarcoles & Carara
2015-Jul-8–Visa Run to Nicaragua border
2015-Mar-29+–Five CR Towns Visited w/ Kevin
2015-Mar-28–Zooave
2015-Mar-25-27–Manuel Antonio Park
2015-Mar-25–Tarcoles River
2015-Mar-23–Poas & La Paz Waterfalls Garden
2015-Mar-22–Toledo Coffee Farm Tour
2015-Mar-15–Visa Run to Nicaragua
2015-Feb-28–Tope de Mercedes
2015- Feb-19–Tarcoles River Day Trip
2015-Jan-22–Zooave
+10 Latin American Trips BEFORE moving to Costa Rica
HAIKU PHOTOS