Tag: morning

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Cloudy Morning Hills & Gallery Opening

The Hills of Atenas the other day (October 2). I tried to do a panorama that didn’t “catch” or all match, so this is just one section that depicts the clouds or fog in the hills surrounding Atenas many early mornings, as seen from my terrace. There seems to be something “magical” or “mysterious” happening when the morning air is like this. 🙂

Cloudy Morning in the Hills of Atenas, Costa Rica.

¡Pura Vida!

Report on Galería ARTenas Opening

Gallería ARTenas Opening

We had a great opening to our little art gallery yesterday with hundreds of people coming to see (and some buy) hundreds of pieces of art. I think it was a big success and that many people in Atenas will become regular visitors and customers. We have a VIP Opening November 5 (government officials, etc.) and the JIT or “Just in Time for Christmas” arts and crafts fair the second week of December, so lots of things planned to motivate return visits. I plan to work with the gallery until sometime in January and then I am going to phase out this old man who is finding it a little too much now at age 83, but after that I may have an item or two in the gallery on consignment but will go back to photography just for fun and sharing it on the blog. So keep reading this blog for my usual flow of nature photography. 🙂 ~Charlie

And a few shots from the Gallery Opening . . .

  • My 6 Wall Art Photos
  • Gallería ARTenas Opening
  • Gallería ARTenas Opening
  • Gallería ARTenas Opening
  • Gallería ARTenas Opening
  • Gallería ARTenas Opening
  • Gallería ARTenas Opening
  • Gallería ARTenas Opening
  • Young Tico Singer

¡Pura Vida!

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The Cattle on a Thousand Hills!

God is speaking . . .

For all the animals of field and forest are mine! The cattle on a thousand hills! And all the birds upon the mountains! 

~Psalm 50:10-11 The Living Bible

On that overcast morning of so many other hazy photos of birds I see this group of cows on a nearby hill just waking up. Yep! I’m up before the cows! 🙂 At least the ones on that hill shot below on my cell phone. The cows above were zoomed in on my big camera. It was truly an inspiring morning as I tried to photograph “all the birds upon the mountains (the last few days of photos) and the cattle on a thousand hills!” God provides a lot for me to photograph! 🙂

The sleeping and waking cows are under that central tree on the horizon. A nice wake-up scene! 🙂 I zoomed in on that central tree for the feature photo at top.

And God concludes that Psalm and my walk by saying . . .

But true praise is a worthy sacrifice; this really honors me. Those who walk my paths will receive salvation from the Lord.

~Psalm 50:23 The Living Bible

And with that I’m preparing to spend time with God in Nature for Christmas next week, my favorite kind of worship and photography that I will share daily. 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

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Flowers

On the bird walk Sunday with my big camera I got a few nice flowers to share with the last one an Anthurium in my garden which I also show.

  • My Garden
  • Looking over a neighbor house down hill.
  • Unidentified
  • Blue Trumpet Vine, Thunbergia grandiflora
  • Unidentified
  • Coral Honeysuckle among unknown white flower
  • Maybe a Santa Lucia Flower
  • Anthurium

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”

– Audrey Hepburn

See also my Flora & Forests of Costa Rica Gallery.

Weather Update

The Hurricane Iota rains started yesterday afternoon in Atenas which we expect to continue day and night for 3 or 4 days, but at least no big winds here. The now Category 4 Hurricane is slamming into Nicaragua and Honduras and could go straight through to the Pacific Coast and little El Salvador and/or turn north for Mexico & the U.S. For English weather updates on conditions here in Costa Rica, see TicoTimes.

¡Pura Vida!

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Saturday’s BIRDS!

I got usable photos of 19 species of birds from my little one-hour walk yesterday morning, 6-7 AM, in the neighborhood on Calle Nueva, the little country gravel/dirt road that separates Roca Verde neighborhood from the adjacent farmland. Nineteen is not bad and as good as some longer walks I take when at expensive birding lodges!  🙂   PLUS, if my identifications are correct, I got 3 new species, “lifers,” for me, though I may get corrected by an eBird expert reviewer after I post them on eBird.   🙂   The new ones are Giant Cowbird, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher and a Yellow-green Vireo.

This road and my own street uphill above my house always yield a lot of birds early in the morning. And I have another neighborhood further away that I intend to try for even different birds, a place my birding friend Margaret found to be good.

Saturday AM Birds

 

 

“Every bird, every tree, every flower reminds me what a blessing and privilege it is just to be alive.”
― Marty Rubin

¡Pura Vida!

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Crimson-fronted Parakeets

My breakfast treat on my terrace this morning was this pair of Crimson-fronted Parakeets passing through on their way up the hill – most usually fly over rather than stop. They first started pecking into the trunk of my big palm but the Clay-colored Thrushes with a nest in that tree chased them away to my neighbor’s big palm where I made these photos. Here’s just 5 of many shots made:

Crimson-fronted Parakeets

 

I still get more excited by the more colorful birds like these.

“Color is a power which directly influences the soul.”

~Wassily Kandinsky

You might also enjoy the other birds in my BIRDS Photo Gallery

¡Pura vida!

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In the Garden This Morning

Some mornings start out cloudy, but usually not all day.
Atenas, Costa Rica

EXTRA TIDBITS ABOUT COSTA RICA

Teatro Nacional Celebrates 120 Years by Planning Renovation
And I personally will celebrate it by attending a special presentation of “Swan Lake” by the 72 person ballet of Havana, Cuba on October 15.

Read this interesting article on “The Origin of Name Costa Rica AND phrase Pura Vida.”

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This Morning in the Garden

White-winged Dove
In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

Blue-gray Tanager 
 In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

One of my favorite things to do is to sleep until I wake up, shower, eat a liesurely breakfast on my terrace admiring flowers and the visiting birds. So, after a busy, early, hard day hiking yesterday, I had one of my relaxed mornings today (23rd) and recorded part of it in the above photos. There were other birds and more flowers, but this is a good sample for today.

Enjoying Retirement in Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!