Wednesday October 1, 2025

 

I’m dog-sitting here on the east side of the valley today while Jon, Francisco, Clarkie and Dale take a trip to la playa to enjoy a full day of surf and sand. Good for them!

 

As for me … I firmly believe that the beaches here would be too hot for me to enjoy. I dehydrate too quickly so high heat is not my friend.

 

Alice and Thio, Jon’s and Francisco’s two dogs, are still barking at me every time I leave the kitchen table or move my chair, almost an hour after the gang departed for the beach.

 

Alice

 

Thio

 

I’ve just bribed Thio with a snack.  That worked for about a minute and a half while he scarfed it down, but it didn’t cause him to drop his guard; he still thinks I came here to upset the apple cart in some nefarious way.

 

Geez! I’m just here to let them out to pee and poo every few hours.  I don’t think they got the memo!

 

They’re territorial about the couch.  They can keep it. I like this chair just fine…

 

15 minutes later

 

I’ve discovered that as long as I don’t make any noise, they remain quiet. But move the chair, or get up to get something, and they go off again, in semi-excruciating stereo!

 

90 minutes later  

 

We’ve established a negotiated peace. That’s because I invaded their space, sat down, and pulled out my Kindle to read. (I figured I had to sever their territorial imperative to reach an impasse with them that was easier on my ears.)

 

They think reading passes as peaceful coexistence. They fell asleep on the couch next to me. I’m delighted with that. We’re buds now. I can even scratch their ears and hold their paws.

 

Noon

 

First pees and poohs accomplished. They wouldn’t go out at eleven, so I just waited until one of them made a move for the back porch and tried again. Success!

 

Gosh, it’s absolutely beautiful here, in a different way from El Cajon and even Villas Escondidas.  I took some photos so you can see…

 

These two plants are growing directly out of their pods!

No pots required!

(They remind me of moose antlers! LOL!)

Update: Lynda Colclasure Lien and Helen Schofield say this is a staghorn fern,

so I was real close with “moose antlers”!

Pretty butterfly feasting on citrus pieces and peels

 

There are two butterflies in this image.

Enlarge it to see both!

Jon calls the above a Queen of the Night Plant (Reina de la noche)

He says it smells heavenly after nightfall.

The front porch —

perfect for growing a variety of plants!

 

There’s a view across the valley toward what I believe is west, El Cajon way. I think Volcan Poas (the Poas Volcano) may be visible from here, too.

 

 

The home is surrounded by gorgeous native foliage, carefully orchestrated in spots by Jon and/or Francisco. It’s paradise.

 

The home itself (I won’t share pix of its inside, as I didn’t ask for permission) is so artfully  decorated. It feels like a home.  It’s delightful, with mementoes from their travels in it including wooden masks and shields from Colombia.

 

The potted plants outside are uniformly healthy and gorgeous, except for one that the leafcutter ants completely denuded in a single night. Jon thinks it will come back, and it does have growth on it again, but it will definitely take a while even in this fertile, perfect place for it.

 

My One-Month Anniversary is Nearing

 

I’m just three days short of being here in Costa  Rica for an entire month.

 

It feels longer,

 

It feels almost like I never lived anywhere else.

 

I’ve adapted (in near record time, I think!) environmentally, physically, emotionally, diet-wise and culturally, although I’m still learning to communicate in Spanish. That seems to be my chief remaining hurdle but Ticos are so kind and patient, they go with the (flawed) flow and thank me for being in their stores, banks, and lives!

 

The internet is a little slower, but waiting a few extra seconds for it is fine, since there is no rush to do anything more here… Tranquilo, bebe!

 

I have a private driver who lives very nearby and picks me up and drops me off whenever she can. When she can’t, I can catch a bus to Grecia for under a dollar or an Uber for three to four dollars.

 

She is a delight. She drove me here to Posada Mimosa this morning at 6:45 and will fetch me at 2:30 today to take me back to my casita, all for around $16 USD round trip. For her, that’s almost two hours of travel since she must return to her usual route across the valley in between and then come get me this afternoon and take me back home to “our” neck of the woods.

 

Having her drive me here today saved me hours on a bus.  I would have had to leave home at 5 a.m., probably – if the bus even runs that early in El Cajon. (It leaves hourly, and then I would have had to catch a bus from Grecia to here, and God only knows where it would have dropped me off!)

 

Yeah, it’s decidedly less expensive to live here if you move from a blue state in the U.S. providing you decide (or absolutely need) to live frugally! Not sure about red states, as their cost (and standard) of living is substantially lower in most instances…

 

Charli had to stay in all day until I got back, and I got back in a torrential downpour, so she probably won’t feel like going out any more today. The rain has stopped, though, so she might! Whatever she wants, she gets now that I’m back home!

 

I had a wonderful day. Truly!  Even with stereo dogs. Totally understood their attitude and stand. They are watch dogs. They were watching out for Jon’s and Francisco’s place, as all great watchdogs do.

 

SPRING TIME VISITORS!

 

I just heard that a good friend of Edward Smith’s has offered to buy him a round-trip ticket to fly to Costa Rica for a visit in the spring. This means I might have two good friends visiting after the first of the year.  Not at the same time, though. I don’t have room for more than a single person or a couple.

 

The best month to fly is February, as far as airline rates are concerned. In March, they bump up astronomically, as that is the beginning of the tourist season. And mid-week flights are the least expensive, too.

 

The best airline between Sea-Tac and here (as of this writing) is United Airlines. They have one-stop options (through San Francisco and Houston) and the layovers between flights aren’t onerous. The one I took through SF had a two-hour layover, which was perfect for me.

 

Anyway, I’m eager to start welcoming friends to Costa Rica along about February. Sooner, even — if you’re willing to put up with the rainy season. (I love the rainy season. It’s usually lovely until around, or after, noon and sometimes even later.) Getting around to see sights can be dicey – roads can wash out – but if you just want to hang with me, come sooner! My door is open!