Before I hit the hay tonight, I MUST report on my 75th Birthday Dinner courtesy of my delightful friends/Costa Rica family, Dale and Crystal Garrison.

 

I was invited to dinner at the Andaluz Restaurant in downtown Grecia by the Garrisons a day or so ago. At the appointed hour, I walked down the hill to their place under a big umbrella because the skies decided to open up as soon as I stepped out the door.  Which was a good thing because by the time I reached the Garrisons’ place, I got to hear the rain coming down on their metal roof, which is heaven to me (and to them).

 

They’re having a new wall put in in front of their place to mitigate the traffic noise problem where they are, so the gate was open and the workmen were just finishing up for the day.

 

DAISY

 

Daisy, the Garrisons’ adorable dog, barked at me and almost unilaterally decided to visit my lap, but as soon as we noticed that and I encouraged her to try it, she decided to wait for another time.  She’s standoffish with new people, so we didn’t force the issue. We want it to be her idea!

 

While we waited for the workmen to clean up and move out, we chatted a little bit.  As soon as the workmen left, Dale called an Uber and we waited for its arrival for about 12 minutes, then hopped in and rode down to the restaurant, only stopping for a moment at Davidienda for them to get some colones out of the ATM (I’m assuming for the feria tomorrow).

 

AT THE RESTAURANT

 

When we walked into Andaluz, the Garrison were warmly greeted by their usual folks. They told me they’ve been there about 20 times and everyone knows which table they want, so they always get it.

 

I was introduced to the waitstaff right away and then Crystal divulged the fact that today is my 75th birthday. I quickly mimed to the greeters to hush about/ignore that comment so they wouldn’t make a huge deal out of it.

 

(Ahem.  That didn’t work very well.  Read on!)

 

THE DRIFTWOOD HORSE

 

We were escorted to “our” table but before sitting down there, I spotted the magnificent driftwood head of a horse and headed for the railing to get a look at the whole creation from above:

 

That wasn’t sufficient, so the Garrisons pointed toward a ramp that would take me right in front of the sculpture:

 

Not long after that, Dale and Crystal joined me there. Crystal asked one of the waitstaff if they would take some pix of us with the statue, and he willingly obliged:

 

 

Then we sat down and Dale and Crystal told me to choose any appetizer, meal and drink that I wanted from the menu.

 

I chose a stuffed avocado (got two of them on the plate, so I shared one of them with Dale) and a cordon bleu meal with mashed potatoes, onions, stewed tomatoes and baked cucumbers. Every bite was sensational. I also ordered a limonada and eventually a Coca Cola and two cups of Costa Rican hot chocolate because we were having such a terrific night that we didn’t want it to end, and because Dale was as crazy about their hot chocolate as I was.

 

 

After a  while, the waitstaff stopped by again and sang (ahem!) happy birthday to me.  But they did it quietly, and the place wasn’t at all crowded, so it wasn’t excruciating to me. (Dale grinned and reminded me, “You only turn 75 once, man!”)

 

They also  delivered vanilla ice cream to Crystal and strawberry cheesecake to Dale and me.

 

Yeah, we ate and drank too much.  We’ll have to walk it  off over the next few days, but oh my God!!! It was the best meal I ever remember having. And the dear people I was with made it all just that much more perfect!

 

“Happy Birthday Christ?!”

(all righty, then!)

DENTIST INTRO

 

Oh!  And I met Crystal’s dentist and got her business card, too, since she only charges $88 (USD) for teeth cleaning and speaks excellent English (a real plus when it comes to medical and dental issues). She, too, is a delightful person. She just seemed to glow with kindness.

 

MY “CLINICAL” DIAGNOSIS

 

Crystal assured me that she doesn’t believe I’m neurodiverse, even though an online test I took indicated that I’m on the autism spectrum. (Anyone who scores 60 or higher is considered on the spectrum. I scored 80.)  She is a trained psychoanalyst, so I am certainly not going to argue with her!

 

She said that if I am on the spectrum, I certainly found a way to navigate over time without encountering most neurodivergent people’s challenges.  I do have a terrible time with higher math and some left brain/analytical functioning, but since I never entered fields that required those assets, I never encountered any obstacles that prevented me from achieving what I set out to achieve. Creativity is right-brained, and I have all my ducks in a row there, for sure! LOL!

 

We settled on that topic for so long that Dale finally joked, “I will be billing you for your session this evening!”  I reckon that was his signal that we should change the freaking subject!  But then he wasn’t enamored of the subjects we chose (US politics among them!), so hey… quit’cher bitchin, Mister!  LOL!  

 

I adore this couple.

Watching them together makes me believe

that some marriages can be great!

They are living proof!

They have sooo much fun loving each other!

 

I kept this birthday candle as my souvenir,

since I ate everything else that was in sight during the event!

LOL!

 

 

As we neared the end of our time together, I called Adilio to see if he was available to come and drive us home. He wasn’t, so Dale called an Uber and we waited outside until it arrived.

 

A kind employee at Andaluz took this picture of us outside…

I took this lovely nighttime image of the church spires…

The driver arrived and drove us all home, dropping Dale and Crystal at their place and then proceeding up the hill to my place about 500 meters higher up.  He dropped me at the gate. I walked home in the dark from the gate to the hill above my apartment, hoping I wasn’t going to step on a viper or some other creature on the way up the long driveway.

 

(I didn’t or I wouldn’t be writing this right now, would I?)

 

I texted the Garrison’s when I got in — they asked me to do that — and thanked them again for the wonderful evening.

 

It couldn’t have been any more wonderful. Truly.

 

And tomorrow I meet them again to ride with them to the feria and back again afterward.

 

My Costa Rica family/neighbors are just the best!

 

THANK YOU AGAIN AND AGAIN

CRYSTAL AND DALE

FOR CELEBRATING MY

75TH TRIP AROUND THE SUN!!! 

Your kindness and counsel

will never been forgotten

OR taken for granted.