What a grand morning for Christmas songs on the calle!

 

I hit the ground running — er, walking — at about 7 this morning. The first person I encountered at that hour was Homer, on his way up to Calle Los Angeles to deliver oranges to the part of his family that lives somewhere else in the neighborhood.

 

I saw him walking ahead of me about 500 paces or so. By the time I caught up with him, he was already standing on Calle LA holding a small sack.  I hugged him and said good morning to him in Spanish.

 

He pointed at my hiking boots. I guessed he had only seen me in tennis shoes before,  so I smiled and explained, “Botas fuertes y pesadas para proteger mis tobillos.”  (“heavy strong boots to protect my ankles!”)

 

Then I let him know  that I absolutely loved the oranges he gave me yesterday, not knowing he had more in the sack he was carrying.  He smiled and said he could have more for me tomorrow, then offered me two of the ones he was carrying in his sack, explaining that he was taking those to “la familia.” I waved the oranges back into his sack, and said,  “Manana es bueno. Muchas gracias!”

 

Oranges right from the tree are DELISIOSO!  I squeezed them all and made a cup of orange juice, then placed some of the orange peels in the windows.  (Insects don’t like citrus.) I placed another bowl of peels on the setee that’s on the porch overnight and some critter got in there and chewed on them some.  That was cool to see!  I sleep right near that window, with it open, and didn’t hear a thing, but Charli probably did.

 

After I had finished half of the walk this morning  — five laps from my driveway to Calle LA and back — I headed down Calle Esteban Salas in the other direction and spotted Noelia and Luz on the road.  I said hello, hugged them and asked if I could walk with them.  Luz indicated “yes” and we headed back toward Calle Los Angeles.

 

Before too long, I started singing Jose Feliciano’s FELIZ NAVIDAD.  Noelia smiled and squeaked her delight, and then Luz joined in for the Spanish parts. I sang the English and Spanish parts. Noelia was beside herself,  truly enjoying the serenade.  I was holding her hand and swinging it in time with the song.

 

Then Luz played a Spanish language Christmas song on her smartphone and I listened to that, understanding some of the lyrics.  Then she turned on a Latin American version of FELIZ NAVIDAD (also with the English verse) so we sang to that version.  It was slightly slower than Feliciano’s.

 

At one point, I showed them a photo of my sloth-in-Santa-cap cloth.  Luz smiled, Noelia didn’t respond much.

 

They never walk as far as I do, so when we got back to their place on Calle ES, I bid them adieu, wished them Feliz Navidad, and Luz hugged me and said, “Hasta luego!”

 

I returned to the walk I had started before encountering them and did my five laps in that direction. By then I had exceeded my daily steps goal (6,000 steps minumum), and it was only 8:30, so I headed back home.  It’s 9:14 now and I’ve put in 8494 steps already.  Gadzooks!  I am a walking fool!

 

SNAPPER — NOPE!

 

Last week I bought a package of frozen snapper (fish) not knowing it would come with two fish with their heads still on and their eyes wide open. Determined that they should not have died in vain, I thawed one overnight. Then I tried to cut its head off and its dorsal and other fins off.  Holy smokes, what a freaking chore.  I don’t have the right tools for snappers.

 

Then I tried to filet it.  I ended up shredding it, but figured it’d taste the same anyway. Shredding it took at least 20 minutes.  I fought that freaking dead fish for at least a half hour before it was ready to put in the frying pan.

 

Then I looked up how to cook it.  Didn’t have all of the ingredients for the seasoning, but used what I had, which was most of what I needed.

 

In the meantime, I was cooking brown rice to mix it into when it was cooked.

 

Needless to say, I will not be getting snapper again unless it’s already in filet form!  I am not accustomed to spending an hour preparing a meal, unless it’s in a crockpot so I can do other things in the meantime.  I don’t enjoy food prep or cooking one iota. Not doing it again.  But I guess I have to, as I have one snapper left, eyes and all. I looked on youTube to find out how to de-bone it properly, but I don’t have the right tools, so I’ll have to mangle it again.  But never again after the last one is gone.  It’s trout and salmon for me from now on!

 

BODY DONATION FORM RECEIVED

 

Costa Rica Correo let me know last week that my body donation form was delivered to the University of Costa Rica. So, I should be getting an email with something to download or print out to put on my fridge and in my wallet.

 

But tranquilo!  Just because the University received it doesn’t mean they’re gonna jump right on it. Nothing happens fast down here. If I don’t hear from them before 2026 I’ll inquire, but CR pretty much closes down between Christmas and New Year, and I don’t expect to get anything any sooner than that.

 

I just go with the flow. Learning to take life a lot easier. It’s a relief to be able to do that. I feel sooo relaxed down here!

 

(My blood pressure this morning was 114/56, heart rate 50, while lying in bed before getting up. It has always been within normal range, so this isn’t exceptional, but it’s a wee bit lower than it was in the U.S. No surprise there!  No T-Wrecks here!)

 

I no longer feel like I’m waiting for another shoe to drop.  All is well.  All is swell.

 

It’s lovely living this way!