charliedoggett.net
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39214757-the-power-and-the-glory
I read about a third of the book and quit because I found it rather depressing. It is very good writing and descriptions of rural Mexico in the 1940’s, but at my stage of life I do not care to read hopeless, depressing stories of misspent lives and that is how I see the story or life of this outlawed priest. Others will see it as an adventure!
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| Corcovado is the largest protected coastal rainforest in Central America Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica |
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| My Room is basically a wall tent on platform with mosquito netting on bed. Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica |
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| Lobby and Dining Room feature rustic furniture and I will eat lots of beans & rice, other basic Tico food Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica |
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| Hope I get this close to an Anteater! And maybe a Tapir! Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica |
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| Night Hike promises frogs, snakes, insects & surprises! Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica |
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| It is one of the few places for the endangered Squirrel Monkey Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica |
My days will be filled with hiking on the lodge trails on my own, and tours with professional guides
for a birding hike, interior of park hike, kayaking a river, a night hike, and possibly a visit to an indigenous people village, panning for gold, or I might even be ziplining above the forest. This could be one of my most adventurous trips since moving here. All of the above photos were copied from the internet, but I hope to return with many more of my own! They are suppose to have wifi in the lobby, but I doubt it will be strong enough for regular nightly posts. We will see! I had scheduled 5 nights, but this afternoon, Monday, Sansa Airlines canceled the Sunday flight, so I now come back Saturday evening. Adventure is good! said Aesop
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| A pastoral vista like this sometimes requires a trip far away from a busy town, yet I found this one maybe 500 meters from my house as the crow flies and maybe twice as far walking the streets to this spot. Calle Nueva, Atenas Costa Rica |
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| The cow pasture across the street from my house. A stream runs under that row of trees on opposite side. On the other side of the stream and to the left is a little known street, Calle Nueva, Atenas Costa Rica |
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| First I walk into town on Avenida 8 and turn left on Calle 1 making another left turn at next street, Avenida 10 for 2 blocks where I walk past our technical high school above. The pavement stops just past the school and I’m on a gravel road called Calle Nueva, Atenas Costa Rica |
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| It is so cool to suddenly be in the country! Past Roca Verde it becomes a dirt road going on to Rio Grande village. Calle Nueva, Atenas Costa Rica |
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| After 200 or 300 meters on a rise you see Roca Verde up ahead, those roofs. Before I saw this, I saw the pastoral scene photo above, my opening photo. Calle Nueva, Atenas Costa Rica |
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| Then down that hill to a bridge behind the Roca Verde duplex facing the pasture. That house is about one block from my house! But seen here from behind on Calle Nueva, Atenas Costa Rica |
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| The little stream opposite the cow pasture in front of my house. Which the above bridge crosses over behind the duplex. Calle Nueva, Atenas Costa Rica |
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| At the foot of the bridge I snap this shot of the cow pasture in front of my house from the backside. The duplex and two single family houses are to the right of those shrubs, all facing the cow pasture. Calle Nueva, Atenas, Costa Rica |
–JOHN MUIR, US naturalist, 1838—1914
If it the link works, here is the Google Map showing where I walked:
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| My Conversational English Club at a local high school. Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Cover Plates of the first edition in 1719. |
As much as I might like to compare my adventures in this tropical rainforest to a story like The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, possibly the first English novel, my modern conveniences and friendly natives are a completely different world than the one Daniel Defoe described on the little island near Trinidad & Tobago for Robinson’s unique adventures of surviving on the island for 28 years before rescue in the 1600’s supposedly. But I too “came to the woods” just for a different purpose.
I just read it almost as a parallel to my last year’s reading of Don Quixote, the first Spanish novel. Though lacking in many modern writing skills, it is a simple and hardy adventure story that is easy to read, with fewer boring moments than Don Quixote. Here is a good synopsis or description of the book found on Wikipedia:
Robinson Crusoe[a] /ˌrɒbɪnsən ˈkruːsoʊ/ is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work’s protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a travelogue of true incidents.[2]
Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is presented as an autobiography of the title character (whose birth name is Robinson Kreutznaer)—a castaway who spends twenty-eight years on a remote tropical desert island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and mutineers, before ultimately being rescued.
The story has since been thought to be based on the life of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish castaway who lived for four years on a Pacific island called “Más a Tierra”, now part of Chile, which was renamed Robinson Crusoe Island in 1966,[3] but various literary sources have also been suggested.
Despite its simple narrative style, Robinson Crusoe was well received in the literary world and is often credited as marking the beginning of realistic fiction as a literary genre. It is generally seen as a contender for the first English novel.[4] Before the end of 1719, the book had already run through four editions, and it has gone on to become one of the most widely published books in history, spawning numerous imitations in film, television and radio that its name was used to define a genre, Robinsonade.
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| One of many illustrations from many editions of the book. Here he saves Friday’s life from the cannibals & gains a servant. |
I went on to begin reading Defoe’s sequel to his very popular book, The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. In short, not as good! (As most sequels!) He tries to take Robinson back to the island and populate it and much is an unrealistic stretch that is more boring and less adventure than the first book. I put it down and have not finished reading it, which came as a bonus with my Amazon digital copy of the original book.
But I hardily recommend the primary book as a classic representation of adventurous & religious men of the 1600’s! To be honest, I liked it better than Don Quixote, maybe because it was shorter and easier to read and less complicated development of characters. Devout Christians will like the ultimate confessional and faith elements included in Crusoe’s story.
And how cool is it to have read the first English novel AND the first Spanish novel?! History! Life insights! Fun!
The more I read, the more complete my life feels! 🙂
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| We come to the woods for many reasons! |
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| Montage of “Overlooked Classics” from Christianity Today |
Nope, not my next trip! The Lost City of the Money God, A True Story is a book I’m reading right now on my Kindle Fire and it is fun! It is mostly about the 2012 and 2014 explorations of a totally uninhabited rainforest in eastern Honduras mostly to see if there really was a “lost city,” “White City” or “City of the Monkey God” of legends and what they discovered just might become the largest of all pre-Columbian indigenous cities in Central America. It will take years to know. It will certainly rival the Mayan city of Copán now attracting tourists to western Honduras.
Here’s the National Geographic summary story by the National Geographic writer who also wrote the book with photos by the Nat Geo Photographer who traveled with him.
Or here is a different summary by CBS News online
And some additional bits on the National Geographic Website with a little video
This is in one of my neighbor countries now and really interests me. The new Mayan city discovered in Guatemala is suppose to be the largest one yet, though this one is sounding like a possible rival and it may not even be Mayan. They don’t know yet what culture.
This also interests me because the jungle there is so like the jungles here that spark my sense of adventure and exploration. Their encounters there with a Fer-de-lance Viper like one I found dead on my street as starters. And I look forward to another new adventure this coming Saturday, Tenorio Volcano Park and Canon Negro. Though I do hope the vipers keep their distance! 🙂
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| Panama Flycatcher Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
For the birder readers, this is my first sighting of one of these here and in Costa Rica they are found only along the Pacific Coast. They are also seen in most of Panama. They look most like the Nutting’s Flycatcher which has more of a rufous tail and in Costa Rica is found only in the Northwest corner or Guanacaste Province and also in most of Nicaragua.
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| Blue Boat Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
Anytime I’m near water I look for what might be considered a “picturesque boat.” This one only barely qualifies, but really stood out against the brown water and bank with green trees.
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| Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Atenas, Costa Rica |
Photographed this little guy before breakfast this morning when I walked out and saw two hummingbirds flying in and out of my garden. I try shooting them in flight but very difficult! And as good fortune continues to smile on me, this Rufous-tailed Hummingbird landed on a flower. I guess they do have to rest occasionally! This is my 5th species of hummers to photograph in my garden, almost as many as the butterflies. I have a total of 13 species photographed in my Costa Rica Hummingbirds Gallery. This milestone was before breakfast and my movie adventure today.
And if you can’t add it up in your head, that is $15.50 each for all but lunch which was about $7.50 or $22 USD for the whole day. Not bad for being in Costa Rica! And it would have been less than $20 if we had been wise enough to choose the regular movie instead of 3-D DBOX. 🙂