Top 10 List from December-January

Hello All!

Well it has been a long time since a blog. Our house here in Nosara was broken inton on December 5th and our laptops stolen. We then went tech-free more or less for 25 days, until the arrival of my Mom and a new laptop. In that time, we also moved houses and the new home was internet-free. We recently acquired a 3G connection and we are off and running.

Lots to tell. I will try to do it in a Top 10 list sort of way with photos. Herewith, then, are

The Top Ten Things in the Lives of the Costa Rica Casagrandes

between December 5 and January 8.

#10.  We had a great trip to Nicaragua in which we visited Masaya Volcano, which was spewing a noxious brew of gases that necessitated a "twenty minutes or fewer" visit for health reasons and the potential of an eruption required that we park the car rear-end-in so we could get out quick in case she blew! Here is Riley on the brink of the crater. Don't Jump!

#9.  Tara was graduated from the Nosara Yoga Institute's Yoga Instructor Course--she is now a certified yoga instructor! As one of her first students, I must say she provided excellent guidance to me on my Warrior poses and others. She also led this group of youngsters (what an unused word these days) on beautiful Playa Guiones.

#8. We downsized our house and now live in this modest home on the left. Though small, the open floor concept really compensates and gives a real airy feel.   Seriously, we did move into a somewhat smaller house but with the best view in all of Nosara. We can see the full length of Playas Guiones and Pelada. Check this view below to the right, including the faces of some wonderful youngsters (there's that word again...).

#7. Here is one of our new neighbors on the left. This is a Howler Monkey, which is an appropriate name. Other appropriate names would be Rooster Monkey, Alarm Clock Monkey, or the quite specific "Hey Monkey, I'm trying to get some sleep here!" Monkey. We see them almost as frequently as we saw squirrels back in Alexandria. They are in the trees around our house all the time and we are lucky enough to have a mom and baby around often as well!

#6. Tara and I are on the run from Child Protective Services for allowing our three year old to go on a zipline that was 600 feet above the tree tops. This photo was taken near Rincon de la Vieja volcano in Northwest Costa Rica. We have become sort of zipline experts--Riley has ziplined six times in two countries--and this zipline was pretty cool. Really, really high and very windy. Really a questionable choice to do it. But, we lived to tell the tale.

#5. In an unexpected development, Baker is slowly petrifying. Compare him in the photo below to this ancient stone artifact and you'll see what we are talking about. One can already see the places around his eyes and mouth that are permanently cemented. At least, he is smiling.

[Really, taken also at Rincon de la Vieja, where there are Yellowstone-like boiling mudpots. Visitors have the chance to cover themselves in the steamy mud.]

#4. We paid a two night visit to Macho, Lucia and Family in Alajuela. "Our Tica family" was doing well and we enjoyed an early Christmas with them. While there, I (Jerry) had the opportunity to help Macho and his 19 year old son, Victor, hoist a thrashing, squealing 220 lb pig into the back of a truck. Macho had thrown a burlap sack over the pig's head to "dominate" her. While we ultimately got the pig in the back, "domination" (at least human over pig) would not be the word to describe the scene. Anyhow, I am vegetarian again...

#3. Santa visited! He made the trip all the way to this snowless place, carrying a somewhat lighter load than normal. We had a wonderful, if quiet Christmas. A nice development was that the kids seemed to get more into the giving than the receiving this year. During our trip to Macho and Lucia's we each did some gift buying for one another. Very nice. In an revealing conversation prior to Christmas, we asked Baker what he would like for Christmas and he said, "I don't know. There are no catalogs being mailed to the house and we don't watch TV here, so there isn't really anything I want." Does one need better proof of the power of advertising?

#2. Las Tres Senoras visited us. My mom, Tara's mom, and my Aunt Letty just visited us for a week. They particularly enjoyed the dust and bumpiness of Nosara's roads. But, also a nice dinner at Luna Azul restaurant, the Arribata (see #1), a hike in the Nosara preserve, and most of all visiting their grandkids/nephews & niece. And we loved having them here. We rang in the New Year a couple hours early, when I trickily set the clock ahead 2 hours! Riley and Baker protested substantially but we had a fun night, played some killer Yahtzee (which Riley run handily) and were in bed by 10:30

#1. TORTUGAS!!! We went to an awesome Arribata with the Tres Senoras. About 2000 Olive Ridley turtles showed up on Ostional beach last Tuesday evening. We went to check them out and had a fantastic guide in the form of Diana, a young Tica who loves the turtles. Among the more bizarre, but really interesting things we learned: a female Olive Ridley turtle can hold the sperm of male turtles with whom she mates for up to one year. She then chooses the strongest sperm among the many in her body and fertilizes her eggs when she chooses. We are not able to take photos during an Arribata, so this is a stock photo from the web. The sight of so many turtles coming in and out of the water and laying on the beach was really incredible. And the incredible feel of bumping into a turtle who was not there just a minute before was fun!

And, that is the top 10....

Pura vida!!