Home Sweet home....in Costa Rica!

I’m back in sunny Costa Rica and I am sure glad to be here! While I enjoy visiting the United States, even if it is primarily for my surgeries (one more left and hopefully that’s it!), I think I enjoy it less and less each time. This time was particularly interesting considering during my time in the states President Ford died, Saddam was executed and most sadly, my good friend/Godson’s brother died. I think I’ll stay away for a while.

I definitely don’t miss the hustle and bustle of the U.S. I actually tired very quickly of so many people where I was (mainly New York and Washington, DC) coming and going, traffic, noise, and more often than not, general rudeness. I know not everyone is rude in the U.S., heck I lived there for the first 40 years of my life,

I did, though, have a great time running around Washington, DC, going to some holiday parties, celebrating New Year’s Eve there and seeing friends. My Godson is working on a paper for his landscape architecture class so the pictures for this blog entry are the various sites in Washington. I lived there for 15 years, made some terrific close friends and will always remember my time there.

First things first….

What does one do when he returns home to Costa Rica? Well, there are many things but the first and most important thing is to hug my dogs Reina and Osita. I wanted to talk with them while I was in the U.S., but I still cannot understand barks (it’s tougher than Spanish believe me). When I first saw them, they were eating dinner and while they turned and took note of me, they promptly went back to eating. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, interrupts their meal time! They did eventually come over and climb all over me but they were not as enthusiastic as the last time I was gone (for two months and they were at the vet’s office). Perhaps it is because I was gone for less than a month. It could be that they are finally maturing into adults and slowly but surely breaking away from their “father.” Whatever it is, I was sure glad to see them.

The second thing one does when returing to such a stunning environment is to reaquaint oneself with the scenery. Fortunately, nothing had changed on that score. The mountains were still many shades of green and right where I left them. The valleys were deep and busy with animals and all sorts of flowers, trees and plants.

After the first two things to do upon returning to Costa Rica, the rest of them don’t seem to matter as much, except to remember to enjoy living in paradise despite how busy we may get. It is going to be busy year for me—tours, real estate, and more—but I aim to “smell the coffee” at least once each day no matter how busy I may get.

Trying again on gardening….

Last year we tried our hand at having a vegetable garden and were mildly successful. It could have been a bigger and better garden but I think our timing was off for some of the vegetables and other issues got in the way of keeping it up. This year, however, I hope it will be different, and no matter what is going on, I plan to find the time to keep it up.

I have this wonderful greenhouse that I’m starting to use again. I’ve got 35 pots with seeds in them and I’m hoping that this year—a few months from now—we’ll start to see plants ready for the garden. While I like a variety of vegetables, I’ve started out with the basics this year: tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, onions, carrots, herbs and other items I’m currently forgetting. We’ve mastered the chickens by getting up to ten eggs a day so I’m hoping the garden will provide our salad stuff. If it all works out, I suspect I will have more vegetables than I’ll need, but giving them away is part of the fun of it—or I could set up my own roadside stand—well, maybe not. Now, if I could only learn how to maintain a few cows and pigs, our farm would be almost complete. We’ll see as I have enough time doing everything else!

Dry Season?

I made some predictions in an earlier blog about the dry season being here but I was flatly wrong about that. During my first few days home it has been sunny and warm and I hope this trend continues. It’s supposed to be the dry season and I suspect it is, but I’m not making any predictions any longer. I’ll just enjoy our 75+ degree weather and leave it at that.

Thanks for reading and for your comments. More soon!

Pura Vida!

Andrew
andrew4cr@gmail.com
www.BoomersInCostaRica.com (4-day/3 night relocation/retirement tour!)
www.CostaRicaRealEstate.typepad.com (Boomers in Costa Rica blog!)
www.AngelValleyFarmBandB.com (the B&B!)

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