Category: Atenas

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Early Bloomers

Our “winter”  or el invierno (rainy season) generally goes through November with “summer” or el verano (dry season) starting in December, with some flowers like the yellow & orange below not blooming until January. Even though we still have some rain (less now) the flowers indicate summer. It has been a very wet rainy season, so I guess a very dry season coming!  🙂

Bougainvillea
 Atenas, Costa Rica

Yellow Bells 
 Atenas, Costa Rica

Triquitraque 
 Atenas, Costa Rica

Once de Abril 
 Atenas, Costa Rica
Flowers are restful to look at. 
They have neither emotions nor conflicts. 

~Sigmund Freud


All of the above flowers snapped on my cellphone in my personal garden yesterday. Love it!

And for more flowers, see my Flora & Forest photo galleries! Beauty year around here!


¡Pura Vida!
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Neighbor’s View of Atenas

Atenas as seen from higher up the hill from me in the morning fog.
This nice photo was made by Tom & Jessica, here for a couple of months on their trip around the world.
See their blog   http://www.worldwidewaftage.com/  Like most places you pay more for better view!
Of course they zoomed in on the church with camera – they aren’t this close!
Atenas, Costa Rica
Maybe call my view toward town “more natural” with more trees than even houses & no church.
I am barely on the side of a little hill while the other view is from twice as high & zoomed more!
Atenas, Costa Rica

BLOG STATS

I have now written more than 1,000 posts that have received more than 100.000 pageviews online from more than 20 countries. I guess there is a lot of random viewing of blogs by some people. 🙂

 

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Chachalacas in Guarumo Tree

Two Gray-headed Chachalacas in the Guarumo Tree at my Terrace
 My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica
Note that the orange blooming tree is more than 100 yards away on a hill.

Closer view of one Gray-headed Chachalaca 
 My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica


I realized that If I had to choose, I would rather have birds than airplanes. 

~Charles Lindbergh

And since it is Thanksgiving in the states, my American friends can pretend these are my backyard turkeys!  🙂  Though Thursday is just another normal day here! Unfortunately a few businesses are doing “Black Friday” here. Anything to make a buck! And a lot of these rich American expats here still can’t turn loose of the states and feel obligated to buy a $40+ imported American turkey and try to recreate an American Thanksgiving here. Not me. Just a regular day thursday!  So, happy Thanksgiving or happy regular day to all my readers!  🙂 
Cover art
And for the fellow birders, I just learned today that the Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab of Ornithology just released a Costa Rica Pack, so now you can use it to identify birds in Costa Rica and I’m hoping it will be better than the local app for identifying birds, but either way I will have two choices now!  You have to download the Costa Rica Pack separately to the app. Just got it today, so no time to test it yet except for one bird from the terrace.  Merlin ID is free from your app store and then within it you download the free Costa Rica Pack that includes info and photos of 750 Costa Rica Birds! Cool!
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Home Business Sign Replaced

The lady I use as my seamstress got a new sign this week.
The old one I posted in June is shown below.
Atenas, Costa Rica

Somehow this old sign seemed to have more “character,” whatever that means!
See my photo gallery of Home Business Signs – Atenas
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That Spot of Color is Joy!

Can you see it? In the fork of the guarumo tree on the distant hill. Red-orange.
It is a spot of color I see every time I walk out on my terrace and it brings a smile.
It is an African Tulip Tree I’m glad a neighbor planted!
Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

It is a tree like this one by our front gate in Roca Verde, African Tulip Tree, native of Africa
and brought here as an ornamental tree for yards that adds new color to the many natural colors here.
Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

And a little closer. 


The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love colour the most. 
John Ruskin

See my photo gallery:  Flora & Forest

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Yellow Warbler

Yellow Warbler joined me for Breakfast Friday
 My garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

I believe it is a migratory male from the states. The year-around male here has an orange/rust colored head. The female is usually lighter colored than this. This is not an uncommon bird, but all species are fun to see and to have in decent light for a photo. The next shot is not as good, but he’s flying and that to me is always fun to catch!   🙂

Yellow Warbler 
 Atenas, Costa Rica

My Costa Rica Birds photo gallery for more bird photos

THANKS for sending your birds south for your winter as our summer begins!  ~Charlie

North America has more than 50 species of warblers, but few combine brilliant color and easy viewing quite like the Yellow Warbler. In summer, the buttery yellow males sing their sweet whistled song from willows, wet thickets, and roadsides across almost all of North America. The females and immatures aren’t as bright, and lack the male’s rich chestnut streaking, but their overall warm yellow tones, unmarked faces, and prominent black eyes help pick them out.   ~The Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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Nashville Seniors to Help Children’s Home Here

One view of Hogar de Vida campus, Atenas, Costa Rica

I was recently contacted by a fellow senior adult in the church I attended in Nashville, First Baptist Church, Nashville, TN USA. They were interested in doing a mission trip to Costa Rica and so I contacted the director of the Hogar De Vida children’s home here in Atenas and in short the group from Nashville will be coming in April 2018 for a week of assorted service activities at the children’s home. If you are in First Baptist Nashville and are interested, talk to anyone on the SAALT Council or to the project coordinator Fred Linkenhoker. 

If you would like to know more about the non-denominational private Christian children’s home, Hogar de Vida:

Facebook page of Hogar de Vida: 
https://www.facebook.com/HogardeVidaCR/  (See photos of others serving there in the past.) And be sure to see the featured video linked on their page:  What We Do… Video  (I can’t link it here.)

And their web page is actually a Costa Rica section inside the web page of their larger program of children’s homes in multiple countries: 
The work is being directed & coordinated by the children’s home and I am just serving as one of the team members and sort of a local host to my old friends in Nashville, especially if some decide to stay over for some Pura Vida tourism in Costa Rica. 

Speaking Spanish is not required, though very helpful if you do! 🙂


Learn through on-the-ground moments about the world beyond your zip code.   ~Samaritan’s Feet Website
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Color Coordination ? Sun Protection ?

I like, thus my collections of caps and sunglasses for walking.
I almost never go out without a cap.
Here’s my collection!

Similarly I never go out without sunglasses.
 And my collection of those,
A green T-shirt just needs a green cap and sunglasses!
Common sense, huh? 
  🙂   Fun!  ¡Divertido!

And cheap (borato) sunglasses are plentiful here! 
Some less than $2  –  las gafas de sol

While most caps, la gorras, are more expensive (más caro)!
¡Pura Vida!
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Heliconius Hecale Zuleika

Heliconius Hecale Zuleika 
My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

This is not a new species, but It seems like I haven’t been photographing as many butterflies this year, so wanting to include one. I got a better shot of this Heliconius in August. Butterflies are fun!

Happiness is a butterfly . . .
 
~Nathaniel Hawthorne
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New Neighbors & Normal Weather

The cow and her growing calf were removed (sold?) and these four brought into pasture in front of my house.
The fourth is a brown cow on right edge of photo. Sorry I couldn’t talk him/her into joining group.
The abundance of rain has given a bumper crop of grass!
Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
There’s nothing like sitting back and talking to your cows. 
~Russell Crowe
And finally weather is back to “Normal” with clear skies in the morning!  
View from my terrace this morning at breakfast.
 Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
What I call “normal” weather during the rainy season is sunshine and clear skies in the mornings and early afternoons with showers in the late afternoon or evening. Perfect! We’ll see if we get the showers today. For the last few weeks we have had tropical storms come in first from the Caribbean and then this week from the Pacific, meaning clouds and threat of rain day and night. Being inland we did not get the heavy rains both coasts got, though we got a landslide from Nate’s rains, just on the edge of Atenas.