It’s a Whole New Playground

When was the last time you took a look at your neighborhood playground? Is the swing set in good operating order? Are the grounds nice and tidy or do you have trash strewn all over the place? Well, if the place is a mess, then you have a great opportunity to bring out the whole village and clean it all up! Recently, our own Village Emergency Committee organized a ‘clean-up and repair day’ at the playground in El Rodeo. Everybody came out to volunteer and all had a wonderful time.


Here’s a shot of Jose painting one of the playground roofs. In a matter of hours, villagers had transformed the playground into a colorful, clean, safe place for the kids to play. Armando teamed up with some of the stronger guys to install new fencing, and everybody else just pitched in where they could - cleaning up trash, repairing, painting, etc. Now the El Rodeo Playground is a delightful meeting place for the whole village. Memito supplied colorful new trash bins - one for trash and the other for recycling. Because, yes, El Rodeo now has recycling collection! Many thanks go to the Hacienda El Rodeo for organizing recycling and also for providing the bins.


Here’s a shot of Luisa Hughes painting at the Playground.
Have you noticed how much better maintained our soccer field looks? The village Equipo de Futbol committed to maintaining the ‘stadium’ grounds nice and tidy in exchange for uniforms and other support. A big thank you goes to Luisa and Robert Hughes for supporting our local team. It’s not just about buying uniforms, it’s about giving the kids responsibility and guidance - keeping them off drugs, alcohol, and other self-destructive pursuits…
We were still in New Orleans when the El Rodeo Emergency Committee carried out the first of a number of planned initiatives. Luisa wrote to me in New Orleans with the following information:
From Luisa to me in New Orleans:
Hi sweetie - Glad to hear from you. Lots of things have happened - We got our graduation certificates and our new sign, purchased a couple of more and installed several signs through out El Rodeo. Our road has been re-paved, We had a clean-up day a few weeks back with the committee members and our new El Rodeo football team, We installed new trash bins in Rodeo Centro, fixed the basketball hoop, fixed the Rodeo school fence, went to an event this past weekend with some members of the committee regarding Community peace, the District committee is getting all the merchants from the Canton to team up and see the possibilities of installing cameras in Ciudad Colon Centro. Sonia held a seminar for all the kids in Rodeo regarding self esteem this past Friday. So as you can see we have been pretty busy lately.
All I can say is a big THANK YOU SWEETIE! Thank you, Luisa, for taking the bull by the horns, for organizing so many projects large and small, and for making positive things happen in our beloved El Rodeo.
And many thanks to Maria Marta for spearheading the Red Cross Training Courses, now taking place at the Community Center.


We returned in time for the final Emergency Committee Meeting of the year, where Teniente Azucar – yes, his name really is Azucar - received a thank you gift on behalf of the Committee. You can take a look at all the latest details related to the Mora Seguridad Comunitaria at their blog:
www.comunidadesdeMora.blogspot.com
With Teniente Azucar’s help, we have accomplished a lot during the year. Petty crime has plummeted! People are more aware, proactive and interested in the well-being of the village and surrounding forest. Trash is always a problem, with weekend warriors leaving their trash wherever they go (walking, picnicking, biking, horseback riding, quadricycling, etc., etc) but many more volunteers have now started setting an example, by going out and picking up roadside trash more frequently.
Our neighbor, the University for Peace, paid homage to one of its founders this past weekend, after Costa Rica’s 40th President, Lic. Rodrigo Carazo Odio died on December 9th in the Hospital Mexico. Don Rodrigo Carazo served as President from 1978 to 1982 and, during his tenure, as part of his legacy, joined with long-term United Nations advisor, Robert Muller, to carry through a UN resolution to establish a University for Peace - an important statement during politically turbulent times in Central America. The University for Peace was built in Costa Rica, on partly forested land donated by Cruz Bennett Rojas in El Rodeo, just west of Ciudad Colon. The old growth forest in El Rodeo still exists to this day thanks to the combined vision of Carazo, Muller, Cruz Bennett Rojas and all those affiliated with the University for Peace. This forest survives because Costa Ricans - especially those living in El Rodeo - still stand committed to protecting it through their many individual efforts.
Gerry and I both volunteer whenever we are in town. We helped out with the party for Los Abuelos (the grandparents/senior citizens of the village). Apparently, so much has been done for the kids recently that many felt that we should do something for the ‘older kids’…


Here’s a shot of the gang from the Comite de Seguridad Comunitaria doing kitchen duty at the Fiesta de Los Abuelos.


Here’s a shot of some of the Abuelos making music.
Abuelos and Nietos played Bingo and enjoyed the feast. Everybody on the Emergency Committee helped out, bringing food, drink or a gift for the Bingo.
I brought a refresco concocted out of tamarind and clove basil that we grow in the garden - a nice refreshing, non-alcoholic drink. I got the idea from Maria Hon at her restaurant, Tin Jo, located in downtown San Jose. Maria is amazing at blending unexpected flavors into something very special.


The party attracted a large crowd from the village - everybody is either an abuelo or a nieto. I recognized abuelos from just about every family in the village (all five of them…).
Sonya, from the Emergency Committee, gave a nice speech about community spirit - working together - healthy village - Drug Free Zone.
So, in keeping with the spirit of her words, we did not offer alcoholic beverages at the party. However, I couldn’t help but notice that some of the abuelos slipped away early, right after eating. I think it was a simple matter of, ‘No guaro, No abuelos’! But, at their age, they’re entitled to do just what they want…
Yaneth made a nice bread pudding for dessert - much better than the version she served for dessert a few days earlier for Gerry’s Iron Chef Indian Culinary Extravaganza…


GERRY COOKS CURRY!
Gerry’s cooking now? Well, he watched a lot of ‘Iron Chef’ programs on television while we were in New Orleans and, of course, with all the John Besh (local NOLA character and world-class chef) influence, he decided that he was going to come back to Costa Rica and cook.
And, because Gerry is English and the English adore Indian food, Gerry wanted to cook various curries. However, here at Reserva El Tigre we have herbs and plants for all sorts of cooking, but NOT for Indian. Why couldn’t we just cook something simple from the fruits and vegetables already growing in the garden? But, nooo…
So, that meant going out and searching for the ingredients to make Garam Masala and for a whole assortment of other exotic spices. Not so easy in Costa Rica - where there is like one Indian Restaurant in the entire country… But Gerry does like a challenge. He called everywhere, trying to find what he wanted: Chinese supermarkets; Tommy Tomas from Ark Herb Farm; Corinne Aulak, frequent traveler to India (no luck with Corinne - Costa Rican Customs confiscated her spices at the airport). Finally, Gerry went to the Taj Mahal Restaurant in Santa Ana (the Indian restaurant previously mentioned) - where we have feasted with the other Horsemen frequently over the years - and convinced the owner to take pity on him and sell him what he needed (personally brought in from India): cumin seeds, coriander seeds, papad, etc. I believe they had a few drinks together at the bar and became very good friends…
So, Gerry cooked his first dinner in Costa Rica. Our invited guests included culinary artists, Robert Whittington and Phylliss Crist; botany pals Rob and Karen Arras; and botanists Barry Hammel (Author, MoBot and InBio) and Isabel Perez (InBio).
By the way, if you gardeners have already made pilgrimages to Kew Gardens and the New York Botanical Gardens, then don’t miss the incredible Missouri Botanical Gardens (MoBot). Back in 1851, MoBot’s founder, Henry Shaw, consulted with Sir William Jackson Hooker, previous director of Kew, on how to organize the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis. Kew Gardens is celebrating its 250th Anniversary this year and, with 40,000 specimens, is one of the largest botanical collections in the world. Only two gardens come close to Kew: the N.Y. Botanical Gardens (est. 1891) and the Missouri Botanical Gardens. (Ref. HerbalGram, American Botanical Council, Number 83, Oct. 2009, www.herbalgram.org).
Just about every student of botany in Costa Rica - and, for that matter, from the entire New World - consults the MoBot website at one time or another to search the database. Specimens found in Costa Rica get catalogued at MoBot and locally, InBio. I was very much looking forward to meeting a famous botanist from MoBot and, now, InBio. Would we find anything interesting at El Tigre?


Everyone arrived early for a walk, which was just fine, because Gerry wanted us all out of the house so he could cook! We went out for a lovely wander on the horse and woodland trails, and Barry pointed out a lot of plants.
“No, that’s not a Morning Glory. It’s a Bignoniaceae”. And, “No, that’s not a Convolvulaceae vine either, it’s an Apocynaceae”. And he didn’t even need to check for the sap, much less leaf position! Barry could ID the lovely vines at a glance! He differentiated between the three leaflet Syngoniums and Philodendrons. Answer: the Syngoniums have white sap.
We had a swell time. Hiking in the forest with botanists is like going with kids - a continuous sense of wonder and new discoveries. “That’s not a lemon, it’s an orange”! Isabel, who is equally as impressive as Barry, suggested that we rename the property, ‘Reserva Bernoullia de Tigre’, after the Bernoullia flammea trees growing all over in the forest. A few are still in bloom, brightening up the canopy with orange blossoms.
Did we find anything special? Not on this day. Next time, we shall head down to the old growth, undisturbed forest - down to Las Cataratas.
We headed back to the house where we met up with Phylliss and Bob, who’d arrived after the hikers. But, Gerry wasn’t ready for us. He was running late in the kitchen and didn’t even want to stop to offer us a drink - he wanted us out of the house. So back outside we went, where we meandered around the gardens and through the orchards. I forgot to show Karen our latest garden with ‘All Nativos’.
And I forgot to show them the monster hedgerows! There’s this science fiction writer, Neal Stephenson, who wrote about ‘tangles’ - edible hedges - in his latest book, Anathem.
Well I’m doing ‘tangles’ - with Chayote, Passiflora, Hibiscus, Citrus, etc., and my plantings mix in with a slew of volunteers that the birds bring in. The whole thing is becoming an incredible, colorful, gigantic hedgerow - with all the associated buzzing and chirping that goes on in such a complex ecosystem. It’s a gardener’s version of a charral - abandoned pastureland, allowed to naturally regenerate back into forest. When we bought El Tigre five years ago, we stopped cutting over 8 hectares of pastureland and allowed it to return to forest. We didn’t plant anything – the seeds come in from surrounding secondary and old growth forest. We have observed over the years that the Charral is also a dynamic, fascinating ecosystem. Up in our garden hedges, Armando clips the edible Hibiscus as topiaries, but the rest we just let climb and grow into - tangles…
Anyway, we got back to the house rather warm and thirsty. Gerry, who normally loves to mix cocktails - the best martinis, margaritas, and manhattans - was still busy in the kitchen cooking and would not stop to serve us drinks. And why couldn’t I serve drinks as hostess in my own house? Because on this day, Gerry didn’t want me involved in anything in the kitchen at all! He wanted to manage everything! Well, hell, even the Iron Chefs don’t make drinks! We would be lucky to get a drink at all. Luckily, Karen came to the rescue, and we managed to scrounge up some wine, beer and orange juice.
Finally, Gerry called us to the table. And it was very good indeed. But the leftovers were even better! Karen brought a wonderful, aged chutney that we’re still enjoying.
Next on Gerry’s menu: Christmas Dinner for the Horsemen. Oy.
Farm Report:
Armando squeezed out 12 torselos from Eddie the Beagle’s back. Why do some dogs get torselos and others don’t? Because some dogs let the mosquitos bite! Eddie - like all the dogs and cats - normally eats any biting insect that gets too close! They rarely get torselos. I can only figure that somebody served Eddie a big plate of leftover something and he just fell into a gluttonous slumber and didn’t feel the bugs bite!
The mosquito deposits the Botfly eggs, which hatch under the animal’s skin as torselos - the larva stage. The torselo grows fat and big, causing discomfort to the animal and, if not discovered and killed, will eventually transform into a Botfly. And the cycle begins again. We break the cycle! Every dead torselo is one Botfly fewer! So we kill them all. Armando and Jose are both masters at feeling around the dog’s skin for the torselo and applying just the correct pressure to squeeze it out. Don’t try to extract torselos from your dog unless you know what you’re doing. You could well make a mess of it and cause a nasty infection in your dog.
Take your dog to the vet.
Horses rarely get torselos but, for some reason, cows let the mosquitos bite them! It took two long sessions to clear out the bugs from Lola La Vaca and her calf. We used Ivermectin on the calf to knock back the population but we still have to treat them both locally to kill them all - especially to reduce the potential of Ivermectin resistance. If you want a deeper understanding of how quickly resistance happens and why, read Richard Dawkins’, ‘Greatest Show on Earth’, a splendid book on evolution.
The rains have now pretty much ceased and the weather is bright, sunny and windy most nights, mostly calm during the day. The Sun’s rays feel much more intense than usual. The forest is still humid, and the springs below the house are still flowing well so far. Luehea speciosa, Tecoma stans and Senna papillosa are in full bloom all over the hillsides. Schizolobium parahyba and Guachipelins are just getting started. Leaves are beginning to drop. We shall see how El Nino affects us this year. It’s a fragile forest. Fire is never far from my mind.
World Report - Copenhagen: Nations join together to discuss climate change and take action.
It’s all about individual actions: recycle, reuse, shop for things that won’t end up in the landfill. If that plastic container won’t disintegrate within 500 years, then use it again!

A Magical Garden in New Orleans

Whenever my heart aches for the forest, I go to a very special garden in the heart of uptown New Orleans, owned by a dear friend and fellow gardener, Nancy Scholar-Adams. Take a look at what greets you even before you reach her front door.

You can’t miss Nancy’s garden as you walk down the street - the plants sing to you, raising even the lowest of spirits. It’s a joy to see! It never fails to lift me up when I begin pining once again for the countryside.

We walk through her home, filled with lovely collections of objets d’art that she and Don have collected over the years, pausing to admire her own latest painting. The canvas calls to her at times - that timeless instant of her vision. Then we continue through her bright sunroom, with Gerry, her big German Shepherd dog, pacing agreeably along with us and on out to her garden. I can’t possibly describe all the curves and corners of that magical place but it never fails to fill me up with joy at first sight. A few years ago, she and Don bought the lot next door and expanded their garden, allowing room also for a pond and larger trees.



Take a look at the cascading yellow blossoms of a Cassia species in full bloom overlooking the pond.

We sit out there for hours, chatting and enjoying the scene. Nancy understands how therapeutic her garden is for me. She is a fellow gardener and understands the healing magic of nature. I feel very grateful to have her as a friend - she opens up her garden and heart. It makes the urban lifestyle so much easier to love.

Gerald loves the city - born and raised in London, he feels more at home living the street life. And there’s no place like New Orleans. We love this city more than any other city in the States. New Orleans is a place of daily celebration - almost everyday, we see a Second Line party rolling down the street, marching brass band playing, followed by a crowd of festive spirits (often imbibing festive spirits also...). Yesterday, a sizeable group of Buddhists marched by, complete with a large float and a long-robed guru sitting with legs crossed in the middle of it.
The Saints are playing Tampa Bay even as I write this. Score tied. They have to battle for every game, but are still undefeated thus far this season. Geaux Saints. Who Dat?

I fell in love with this city way back when Gerald brought me here for our first wedding anniversary. It rained the whole time but we had an absolute blast. We returned most years for a visit and finally went all out and bought a flat in the Vieux Carre. We never tire of this town - even with all the problems and corruption. The Big Easy has so much in common with Central America that it just makes us feel more at home. Reading the ‘scandal du jour’ in the Times Picayune is very much like reading La Nacion back in Costa Rica - lots of laughs and, sometimes, even spluttering howls over the morning coffee.

WhoDat! WhoDat!

The press talks about the special relationship between the New Orleans Saints and their fans.

Just from one perspective:
I've never cared much for American Football - used to give away my U.Michigan student season tickets to delighted friends. Gerry prefers Cricket and Soccer - Arsenal is his team.

But here in New Orleans
... When the Saints go Marching in,
Oh when the Saints go marching in,
We want to be in that Number,
When the Saints go Marching in...

Lastnight the Saints fought long and hard to beat the Atlanta Falcons. We watched the whole thing with a visiting English chum from Costa Rica - who doesn't normally like football either. And there we were, perched on the edge, then jumping up and cheering, sometimes howling;
then during halftime, we went out on the street joining big crowds of fans watching the game at assorted bars around the Quarter. Everybody shouting WhoDat! WhoDat!

Then the Streets emptied up as we all went back inside to watch the 2nd exhausting half. What a physical game. What spectacular plays. The Falcons wouldn't let up even up to the last few seconds of the game.

But in the end, the Saints won their 7th straight game of the season.

Soon, Saints and Falcons fans alike, poured out from the Superdome and joined those from every bar, just swarming the Quarter, where everybody celebrated together just for the pure joy of it all. The Falcons fans had as much fun as the Saints, everybody drinking beer together, toasting each other. Everybody was a Saints fan lastnight.

October Berries in the Forest

There are so many fruits and berries now peppering light and color in the forest.
Taxonomy experts, Agustin Contreras of Ark Herb Farm and Orlando Vargas of Organization for Tropical Studies – OTS-, helped us to identify the following trio, which had me stumped:

Chiococca alba F. Rubiaceae – Zorrillo or Snowberry









Here’s Another Rubiaceae, probably a Palicouria. Berries leave a bright purple dye on your fingers that won’t wash off easily.











Witheringia solanacea F. Solanaceae.

Usually found at higher elevations, common in Monteverde. We found this volunteer at aprox. 900M altitude down the mountain at Tigre Hill.





We’re still not sure what this is. Stay posted!






Right now, I’m in another sort of Jungle called the Big Easy. WhoDat Saints still undefeated - playing Atlanta on Monday here at the totally renovated Superdome. It's just crazy in this town right now! Can you blame me for finding solace in pictures of berries back in Costa Rica? Here’s a shot from the Krewe du Boo parade last Saturday.


Just a prelude of what’s to come tomorrow. I just hope they don’t smash the front door like they did Halloween night two years ago.

Nov.1st: Frontdoor survived halloween but elevator out of order. Somebody squeezed in one too many ... so now we have to climb four flights of stairs up to the flat, building an appetite for breakfast.

Let Mother Nature improve your Garden

Now, just sit down there, senora, and I’ll show you how it’s done!

Yaneth then shows me how to make tortillas, Salvadoran style.

Everything I try to do in the kitchen, Yaneth can improve on it. Her latest batch of orange marmalade is the best yet out of El Tigre!

Many plants are blooming and fruiting earlier than usual this season - species of Asteracea, Fabaceae, Malvaceae, Rubaceae, Myrtaceae and others. Bernoullia flammea (F.Bombacac) are currently in full bloom all over Reserva El Tigre. We’ve had enough rain to keep the ground moist, thankfully, but not the drenching rains normally expected at this time of the year in Costa Rica. Clouds descend as mist on the forest at night, cooling everything down. In fact, temperatures are cooler than usual, which helps mitigate the drier season.
Still, we decided to postpone any further planting until the start of rainy season, next May 2010.

And now to the point. Why plant at all, when nature does so much of the work for us? It’s taken me years of gardening to realize that the most beautiful and healthiest plants seed themselves right where they need to be. No matter how beautiful your garden, nature will improve it - if you can recognize the treasures popping up all around. Why are you weeding out everything? Why are you battling with plants that want to grow there! Take a close look at what’s popping up all around your prized Cordylines and, in many cases, you will find good company for your garden plants. If you let some of the natives grow, you will find that your cultivars now combine gracefully with the native volunteers. At a certain point - at least, this is what happened to me - you have this insight that the native plants look more, well, natural and beautiful in the garden, and the cultivars start to look out of place. And you get the urge to remove plants that you bought in a garden nursery.

I think most tropical gardeners - those living close to a forest - go through this transformation sooner or later. You start out by designing gardens and buying plants. Then you notice how the native plants popping up seem to accompany and ‘help’ the purchased cultivars. During times of drought, the natives hold up much better and so you start to expand the natives - going with the flow. Soon, you begin to identify native species in the forest that look much sturdier than the cultivars of the same Genus you bought in La Garita. This has happened to me over and over again. Armando has found species of Lantana, Morning Glory, Justicia, Hibiscus, palms, ferns and many others growing in the El Tigre forest, and we’ve brought clippings up to the gardens to see how they fare. They do well. Better, in fact, than the cultivars bought in the garden centers.

Take a look at this lovely Petrea species we brought up from the forest.



This native vine usually climbs high into the trees but we got a hold of this clipping for the garden.

The plants that do best of all are the volunteers that seed themselves.

Here’s a shot of a Cecropia that popped up in the garden below the pool.



This volunteer has transformed the garden. You can walk right up and see the visiting birds eye to eye.

Here’s a Montanoa species, one of many ‘Tora’ species in flower now at El Tigre.


This one is a sweet, vanilla-smelling variety.

We recently dumped a truckload of red volcanic rock at the edge of the driveway to stabilize the area. Normally, a gardener would think, “Let’s design and plant a rock garden”. But not us, not now. We just waited to see what would pop up there naturally. It didn’t take long. Soon we began observing ferns and mosses taking hold in the rocky crevices.
Take a look at the first fern to pop up:


What will be growing there in a few more years? The retaining rock walls around the house hold clues.


An incredible diversity of plant life nestles amidst the rocks, much of which goes dormant during the dry season, but which provides a lush carpet for the walls.
Many forest plants also have important culinary or medicinal properties. You can eat the leaves and flowers of the nutritious Hibiscus plant, but the natives are the sweetest and most sought after by the hummingbirds. And by humans too!
Take a look at a few charming Malvaceaes in bloom now at El Tigre:




Here’s a shot of Armando tasting his favorite Malvac. He calls it Amapola.



There are so many native edibles! Here’s a shot of one of the Passiflora species growing on the fence row.



We do also cultivate native, edible fruits, grains and vegetables. Here’s a shot of Danny with the latest crop of frijoles.


And yes, we still have a place for exotics in the garden - especially the edibles!

Here’s a shot of tea - Camellia sinensis - in flower:


Here’s our very first fig - Gerry’s favorite fruit:

Edibles aside, we have awakened to the natives in the natural world. The forest reaches up to the gardens, mixing and merging. And, inexorably, the Exotics decline as the sturdier natives move up.

Making Tortillas

Margarita Ramirez Rojas smiles for me as Rosa teaches us how to make Tortillas. Yaneth and Ana working at the counter - preparing a picadillo using the chicasquil that we grow in the garden.

Getting back to basics. Living the simple life - dolce vita - here at El Tigre.

It was Worth Every Bite

Emergency Committee, El Rodeo
Remember that huge landslide a couple of years back? Remember all the El Rodeo people getting stuck in the muck trying to cross over the abyss on their way to work/school in Ciudad Colon? One neighbor sank up to her shoulders in the muck, handing her baby up to bystanders who rushed to help. Our construction workers wore huge plastic bags over their boots and legs to wade through the mud, determined to get to work…

Well, the road is still a mess. Soon after the landslide, a group of neighbors formed a committee to get work started on the road. It has been a long, steady haul for some dedicated people, but it looks like, after two years and a lot of meetings, involving the mayor and a whole parade of public officials, work is about to begin on Monday. As always, the issue comes down to money and, with municipality coffers nearly empty due to the construction slow down, they need donations to finish the road. We are raising funds to get the job done right, once and for all. Can you kick in a hundred dollars or so? Please contact me as soon as possible if you would like to contribute towards our road works. Someone from UPAZ has generously offered to handle the admin on roadwork donations. We all need the road open to Ciudad Colon! Even the most reclusive people need to get out for supplies now and then.
Meanwhile, Teniente (lieutenant - but everyone calls him ‘Capitan’) Azucar, from the Mora Police Department, has been meeting with a small group of villagers, on Tuesdays in the Village Hall, to discuss a wide range of community security issues, and is now helping us to set up an Emergency Committee for our village and environs. After the recent forest fire, I realized that we are living a fragile, precarious existence on a forested mountainside in Costa Rica. Over the past 3 years, our area has suffered fires and landslides, and we can only expect more emergencies in the future, including even the terrifying possibility of an earthquake - a big one! Thus, we decided to be proactive, rather than reacting to the next event, and form an emergency team of people living in the community, ready to act.

Our first task is to invite everyone in the village to join a telephone network, so that they can receive immediate information in the event of an emergency. Anyone in El Rodeo reading this who has not yet been contacted, please e-mail me if you wish to be part of this network. Over the next several weeks, we plan to work on emergency protocols, resources, etc. A key aspect of this is to have direct contact with professionals: police, Red Cross, MINAET, fire fighters, etc. Thank you.

Newsflash: The Little Theatre Group is presenting ‘Twelfth Night’ (Yes! It’s Shakespeare) on weekends all this month at the Salon Garbo Theatre. See www.littletheatregroup.org for details/reservations. Get on out and support your local thespians!

It was worth every bite!

Gerry took this shot on Sunday, two days after the root canal. It looked even worse before, ghastly. I appear much better in the picture, but still very much as Gerry now likes to call me: his wife, ‘The Hamster’…

The tooth started to ache last Thursday, so I called our dentist to have it sorted out the next day. The receptionist told me that she could fit me in the same day at lunchtime. Unfortunately, however, that wouldn’t do. I had a lunch date! Didn’t she have anything on Friday or even the following Monday?

Why would I not go to the dentist right away given the chance? Because we had been invited, that same day, to the lovely garden home, adjoining Braulio Carrillo forest, all the way across the valley, of some dear friends, Robert Whittington and Phylliss Crist. They are both culinary artists of the highest degree, and dining with them is always a memorable event. Couldn’t Dr. Gil see me tomorrow?

Lucas Gil’s receptionist responded in the usual, sweet, Costa Rican way and insisted…
“I can get you in today at 12:15. You have an aching tooth. You need to get in here.”

Luckily, Phylliss was able to organize a delay to the lunch until 2pm. Thank you Phylliss!

I got to the appointment and barely got seated, when Dr. Gil came in and banged on the tooth with some metal instrument. “Does that hurt?” He asked?

“Yes.” I replied, while inside my body, I howled, “OOOUUUUUCH, …!”

A quick glance at the chart and Dr. Gil reminded me of a chat we had several months ago. I remembered it well. He had to do a deep filling, and in choosing a treatment plan, advised me that the root only had a 50/50 chance of surviving the filling. I was feeling invincible back then - never say die, keep innervating for as long as possible. What is health, but clinging to the back of the Titanic - staying alive as along as possible. Well, it turned out that I was on the wrong side of the 50%. The root died and began to decay, causing my jaw to ache. I needed a root canal.

Could Dr. Gil do it the following day, I asked, brightening at the prospect of arriving at Phylliss’s in time for the first course! No, Dr. Gil doesn’t do root canals. But he would refer me to a specialist for the next day, Friday.

Delighted, we left the dentist’s office and began the beautiful drive up to Braulio. On arrival, we were introduced to our dining companions, and then spent a lovely afternoon, dining, imbibing and enjoying good conversation with fascinating people. As always, I learned several new things, including solvents and distillation techniques for extracting citronella essential oil; and even how to make sour dough bread. Phylliss gave me a starter for sour dough to add to my growing bacterial collection - for yoghurt, cheese, etc.!

Andrew showed us incredible photographs of birds from all over Costa Rica: the Resplendent Quetzal; hummingbirds in full flight, feeding on - hey, isn’t that bird hovering over that invasive plant Justicia aurea? Well, at least the hummers love it! No wonder it escapes all the gardens!

We spoke at length about New Orleans. Did you know that there are more restaurants open today in New Orleans than before the Storm? The city is just as vibrant as ever, despite the lousy economy. Fun New Orleans Fact: The inquisition came to New Orleans and New Orleans sent the inquisition packing!

Phylliss and Robert are spending a few days in the Big Easy in September, with Larry and Dorothy Boone. Sadly, we will miss them there, as we arrive in town later, but we did have plenty of restaurant suggestions, including our favorite, August, the flagship of should-be Iron Chef, John Besh. I just wish we could enjoy the Vieux Carre with them! Dorothy and Phylliss are both very dear to me, like older sisters; they had a huge impact in my life at a time when I needed it! We worked together as volunteers, and I learned much from them: courage, honor, loyalty, grace under fire, compassion - anger management… and lots of laughter and fun times… I believe I became a better person, though still hopelessly flawed, by aspiring to be more like them. And we met other fascinating women along the way…

It was a leisurely, culinary, delightful afternoon that wound up at twilight. And then, as we drove back home off the Braulio mountain, I could feel the tooth starting to throb…

The infection flared up overnight. I couldn’t sleep for the pain, and could feel my whole face on one side puffing up. I woke up on Friday morning looking like a hamster eating, and feeling just horrible. However, even so, even while groaning in the depths of misery, it was still worth every bite of that wonderful lunch. The tooth would have flared up anyway, right?

So, we hightailed it to my appointment with endodontist, Dra. Ana Lucia Perez Clare, M.Sc. (Baylor College of Dentistry), at Cima Hospital. She quickly reassured me that, even though I was shocked at what was happening (and how I looked…), she saw cases like mine every day. She said, “It’s my work. We are going to fix this.”
And she did. Thank you Doctora Lucy!

It’s not fair. I’m diligent about dental hygiene but still end up with the toothache, whereas GRAK is far more neglectful but doesn’t suffer half the problems. He goes to the dentist every ten years or so, whether he needs to or not…
By the way, it’s true that you can get excellent healthcare for a fraction of the cost in Costa Rica.

Spotty and Grandpa died.


Photo from 2007, shortly before Samantha was killed by a Terciopelo.



Armando holds Samantha - a poodle/pekinese mix with a killer hunter instinct, and Armando Jose holds Samantha’s offspring, Spotty (not an inspired, creative name to be sure but, at least, descriptive...). Spotty inherited Samantha’s hunting instinct and it was only a matter of time before she ate the wrong thing and followed her mother to an early grave. Sure enough, very sadly, Spot died of liver failure a short while ago, on August 23rd.

Years ago, back in Ciudad Colon, Samantha surprised us by delivering two pups on the bathroom floor. The father was a mut living down the road. Spotty was the second born, and it appeared that Samantha had abandoned her after birth. She wouldn’t even chew off the umbilical cord. She just groomed her first born, Dillan, and ignored poor Spotty who just kind of dangled there by the cord. I went to the internet to figure out what to do, and there learned about using dental floss to tie and cut the cord. But then it took another hour or so before the tiny Spotty could open her mouth and feed. She couldn’t, just didn’t have the strength. I was at the desk, crying. I called Beth and she called a dog expert and the dog expert said that some new born pups just die. We were going to lose her. Suddenly, Janet ran in and said that she had got Spotty to feed. Thus, she survived and thrived, looking every inch like her father, the mut living down the street. Sammy was promptly neutered, so we would have no further surprises…

Spotty died peacefully and Jose helped me bury her out back. And yes, like everybody else, as well as feeling sorrow, also feeling no small degree of relief. Spotty was such a ‘necia’- barking all the time at nothing! Such sweet solace there is now here, silence. Gerry used to mutter at Spotty all the time, “She’s such a coward”! She used to bark at something and attract the other dogs, and then skulk off leaving the other dogs to face the poor beleaguered bufo toad, for example. Luckily, nobody touches the toads - dogs vomit up anything that doesn’t suit them. And like humans, dogs are pretty much one trial learners, if they survive the lesson.

The day after we buried Spotty, Grandpa died peacefully in Florida. Mom and Cy were with him. We had already posted a card with a daily “Hi Grandpa” greeting, to help keep his mood up while convalescing from congestive heart failure. However, his lungs got too congested, he needed too much Lasix and his heart just gave out. But Grandpa had a very fine run on this planet. We loved him so very much. Grandpa was healthy right up until the end. As mom said, he used to take fewer medications, and had fewer health problems than most people half his age. We used to joke with him that he would outlive us all! I still treasure those summers with him and Grandma at the lake. And, yes Grandpa, you were right, I was too young to go to the Grosse Lake Rock Concert Festival.

We cannot say thank you enough to dearest mom and Cy, who took care of Grandpa and Grandma with total dedication over so many years. In fact, it has been four years since they last visited Costa Rica, because they didn’t want to leave Grandpa alone for even one day.

Janet’s girls, Karla and Geovanna have grown up in those 4 years. Take a look at this shot of Geovanna and Karla, with Eddie the Beagle.


The girls have grown up but still can’t wait for mom and Abuelo Cy to come visit again. Nobody reads stories to the kids like Abuelo Cy! And he will find new kids eager to sit down with him for story hour: Armando Jose, Amanda and Bayron.

Here’s a shot of Marcia with Danny and his very fast growing hermanito, Bayron.



Everyone is doing well and, after a lot of training, all the domestic animals wander together in relative harmony - dogs, cats, chickens, and now, Lola the cow, join the horses when they go out to pasture. We’ve managed to control the biting insects this season after many years of trial and error. It’s a strange El Nino season of less rain and, thankfully, less bugs! However, Flopsy has a torselo in his hind leg, but raises such a yelping howl that he won’t let us squeeze it out of him.

I trot the dogs daily down the public road in order for them (and me?) to blow off steam. We keep moving to keep them out of mischief. If I want to botanize or birdwatch, I leave all the dogs at home, except Flopsy of course. Flopsy never strays from my side and doesn’t harm anything, not even a nestling fallen from the nest. He does kind of look at me first, “Is it okay if I just sniff at the little bird?” Flopsy is my constant companion.

Here’s a shot I took of a pair of hummingbird nestlings.



Birds are such amazing camouflage artists! I never would have even seen the nest, hidden well amongst the palm leafs, had a gusty wind not blown one of the lowest palm leafs way up almost vertical, and I could see the nestlings hunkered down in there and holding on. I took the shot quickly - when no curious dogs or cats were around to see what I was doing, and then I stayed away from the nest and watched it from afar. The parents would not feed the nestlings if they saw me watching. The fledglings grew up and flew away safely, despite being raised in a most vulnerable spot, just off the ground and very close to the terrace, where numerous dogs and cats lounge for much of the day. But none of them had the slightest clue.

Nature never ceases to amaze me.

Meanwhile, on the home front, Janet discovered a line of ants leading up the outside wall to a tiny hole into the utility room. You can build a fortress against insects but they shall simply invade you from within - up the drains or through gaps into crawl spaces between the walls. No matter how clean you keep the house, one dead moth on the floor will attract the clean-up squad - tiny ants which just seem to appear from nowhere. We make them run with squirts of vinegar or borax. But lately, I’m beginning to rethink my approach to ants. Rather than adversaries, I’m beginning to think of them as friends. They clean up after us. They dismantle the moth and take it away. Army ants are welcomed as natural fumigators. And we maintain a laissez-faire or ‘without harm’ principle to all species, as advocated by my tropical nature mentor, Alexander Skutch. However, the forest is one thing and the house is quite another, and tiny ‘sugar’ ants will settle in the house if given the chance.

And if you tolerate one species in the house, next thing you know, you’ve got monkeys swimming in the pool! It’s a continuous lesson, keeping the insects out, harmonizing with the forest, and doing no harm. It all comes back again to good housekeeping.

Here’s a shot of Janet and her helper, Laura, dusting down the library.



Laura is raising money to return to University in Nicaragua, where she studies Civil Engineering. Remember all the odd jobs you did while at school, trying to make ends meet (or, at least, to buy a bottle of wine…)?

Since the economy has gone to hell, I’ve been thinking of new ways to save money at the grocery store, and am having lots of fun learning new things in the kitchen. Apart from drinking it, we also use Lola’s milk to produce both yoghurt and cheese. The starters keep getting better the more we practice with them.

Margarita and Janet have helped me experiment with orange preserves. We tried several recipes, until finding a Seville Orange Marmalade recipe, which we only use as a rough guide, adapting it to our own citrus fruits, both sweet and sour, growing at Reserva El Tigre. My first attempts produced truly nasty concoctions. I recall taking one bitter-tasting jam down to the forest for burial, where even the chickens couldn’t get poisoned by it. The next try ended up too syrupy, but had an interesting, intense flavor. I added alcohol to it and produced a perfectly drinkable liqueur (much to GRAK’s delight). Tomorrow, we shall try another batch. I think that we’ve now got the sugar balance right for this crop of oranges, we know the right amount of seeds to make the pectin, and how much of the white pith to remove to avoid a bitter taste. And then it’s just experiment after experiment.

There is no greater pleasure than orange preserve spread on sourdough toast!

Menguante de Mayo

Introducing the latest arrival at Reserva El Tigre! Bayron Jose, son of proud parents, Jose Parra and Marcia Porras, born on May 4th, 2009, weighing in at 3.275 kilograms and measuring 51 centimeters (no mistake: Bayron was that big!).
As with Danny, Marcia carried Bayron for 41 weeks! She delivered at the hospital but left ASAP for the healthy countryside back at El Tigre (H1-N1 infection scare at its height!).


Here’s a shot of Marcia, Danny and baby Bayron a few days after birth.
Other Reports from Costa Rica:
The generator needed to be put on for an hour or so very early this morning - the day GRAK had to return to the Labor Court, of course... What a way to start the day! Why? Because the cats had been playing on the solar panels, leaving dirty paw prints all over, thus reducing solar power to the batteries; the consequence being - no electricity… Armando was cleaning the panels just as poor, frazzled GRAK left home at 7 o’clock in a taxi (he hates mornings at the best of times) so I asked him if the cats were also scratching the panels. Certainly not, Armando answered. Nunca! Just dirty paw prints, that’s all, easy enough to hose right off! Armando will always protect the clan and take the heat himself. There is so much of GRAK in Armando, though the two will always deny it. I see GRAK mannerisms in husbands of girlfriends. Men are so alike in so many ways! But they will always deny it! “I am nothing like him at all!” We gals just nod sagely.
I have felt for a while the need to get better acquainted with the neighbors. After the forest fire fiasco here, I realized how fragile this world is and how we really need each other as a community. We might have continuous, petty disagreements, but we need to stand together for common threats - earthquake, fire, landslides, adolescent troublemakers, etc!
I realized that, apart from Margarita and the Gloors, our Swiss neighbors who are even more reclusive than we are, we didn’t really know anyone well in the neighborhood of El Rodeo. So, I decided to hold a small lunch; then one of our neighbors, Luisa, held a lovely tea for some of us girls - all lovely and fascinating women; then we organized riding and hiking mornings; and, suddenly, I am getting much better acquainted with the greater world of the hamlet of El Rodeo (employees, problems, troublemakers, etc.). And now things are beginning to happen, as people start connecting. We’ve had our first meeting on security, hosted by the Ciudad Colon police officer, Capitan Azucar (Captain Sugar…) unfortunately poorly attended (major football match on TV) but it’s definitely a start. Tonight, we attend the second attempt, to be held in the village community center. Will anybody be there? Stay tuned! A recycling center is also now being talked about. Poco a poco.
Other good news is that, at long last, I now have Permanent Residency here in Costa Rica - Libre de Condiciones - which means no more visits to Immigration until 2012. Visiting the Immigration Office here is a lot like visiting a Drivers’ License Bureau anywhere else in the world (The Driving License Office here is another thing altogether…). You get a look at people that you would not normally ever come across - a complete slice of humanity - except this is at a global level, people from all countries wading through the crowds in search of the correct queue. When Gerry and I moved here 12 years ago, his company assigned us to an immigration lawyer - Esther Rodriguez. Over the years, even after Gerry retired, Esther and husband and fellow attorney, Alfredo Bolanos, have guided us skillfully through all our legal matters in Costa Rica.
With respect to immigration, Esther loves her job and does it well - with heart and joie du vivre. It’s her attitude that is really special - with Esther, Immigration becomes the most wonderful place in the world - nodding, greeting, gliding right through, occasionally queuing up for each other, talking about all sorts of things, especially our mutual passion - gardening. Esther has a lovely garden in Ciudad Colon, where she is always experimenting: bromeliads, agaves, orchids, and many other tropical delights. Actually, we both rent the same truck guy for garden expeditions to La Garita and beyond. Someday we’ll get a pickup truck, Esther! Who will be the first? For me, only after we drive the Jeeps into the ground. After retirement, you rediscover basic survival skills - reuse everything, never say die. But, one day, I shall get that Ford Pickup Truck!
With typical, immaculate timing, I officially retired from pharmacy practice last year (placed license on inactive status, Sept.08) just as the world entered the worst economic cycle in my lifetime. Gerald retired back in 2006. I was first licensed in Michigan and, most recently, in Pennsylvania, but haven’t worked in Pharmacy since moving to Costa Rica back in 1997.
After moving to the Tropics, I shifted my focus to the study of tropical plants. However, after years of courses and fieldwork, I still just totter along as a beginner. As Tommy, a friend who owns an herb farm, says, “Plant people can’t resist getting together to talk Latin over a bottle of wine” - unless we’re all talking Spanish with Costa Ricans, of course. And then we all fall back on the common names for native trees - Jorco, Guanacaste, Targua - we all do it! Even you, Maestro!
Every new gardener to Costa Rica takes the courses and makes the rounds: Lankaster Gardens, InBio, C.A.T.I.E., Monteverde, La Selva, Wilson Gardens, Ark Herb Farm, private gardens and the national parks, both above and below sea level… But, in May, you will always find gardeners at home in their own gardens, feverishly planting during the most critical time of the year, El Menguante de Mayo. All planting/pruning is done during the menguante, the waning moon, when, according to local lore, energy is drawn down to the roots. However, if you wish to collect sap, flavor or fragrance, then you collect the plants during the creciente, the waxing moon. Have we verified this with experiments? No. Armando comes from the Huetar indigenous line, where, traditionally, lunar activity guides garden planning. And for planting, the May waning moon is THE time!
This year, the rains began late - not until the second week of May - which coincided with the menguante. This meant that we really had to hustle to get everything planted. Armando finally convinced me that we didn’t need to go to Garita to buy more plants! Everything we wanted was already growing beautifully somewhere in the forest at El Tigre. We simply needed to collect/reproduce a few of these plants to harmonize the garden with the forest. Also, it appeared that the sturdiest trees had seeded naturally, dropped by a bird - we simply needed to recognize and tag the important species that had popped up all over the place. Is that weed really a treasure? Armando is a master at recognizing valuable species that just sprout. Just as one example: we have tagged 3 species of Cedrela seedlings that have popped up: odorata, salvadorensis and… Expert botanists and good friends, Agustin Contreras and Luis Poveda, are helping us to finally nail that mysterious third species. It’s not easy…
We’ve also had a productive planting season: Zapote, Nispero, Psidium, Bread Fruit, Papaya, Cashew, Coco, Citrus, Ingas, Cacao, Chicasquil, Zorillo, Mangas, Zapotillos, Eugenias, Actinus, Ardisia, Jorco, Picramnias, Syzygiums, figs, and a few exotics from La Garita, like Averrhoas and Pitangas. And, after the horses ate all the Poro Gigante seedlings last year, this time around, Armando hid the tasty Erythrinas well inside the charral…


Here’s a shot of Armando leading the way inside the charral to one of the Poro hiding spots.
We also planted several first-year Ceiba pentandras, second-year Ceibo verde (Pseudobombax septenatum), third-year Jabillo (Hura crepitans) and many other plants down in the charral.
We are now into June, and are ending this menguante de Junio with herbs and vegetables in the garden, and sugar cane in the pastures for the horses and - cows… Take a look at our new bovines!

Lola La Vaca and her 3-month-old calf.
Marcia has been craving fresh milk, and now we can also make cheese and yoghurt. Pharmacy is most fun in the kitchen! Lola is a small (perfect for mountain living), young, Jersey-mix, milk cow. She came home to El Tigre with her first calf, and carrying her second. Jose built a byre for them, reusing materials from the house reconstruction. As with all the other household animals, we secure them at night.
We learned early and well, that native (criollo) is best for all flora and fauna! Locally bred animals - hens, horses, dogs, cats and cows - are already well adapted to tropical living and rarely get sick if you maintain parasite/hygiene control. They won’t let insects alight on them, much less bite them. In fact, the dogs and cats eat, with great gusto, anything that buzzes too close to them. Here, all creatures must adapt to the ubiquitous insects. And with the late start to the rainy season, the bug season has been much more intense than usual.
We have all sorts of organic techniques for breaking the insect cycle, and are very old school in our approach, using the food chain where possible to keep everything in balance. Criollo chickens are the best for feasting on larvae around the stableyard. The horses get lots of help from the birds, especially the Anis, flocking around them in the pastures, feasting on insects that the grazing horses disturb. Matchi often walks around with an Ani perched on his back. It’s a symbiotic, truly natural scene to observe. I have learned to use repellents sparingly, and then only plant-based whenever possible. I have found citronella by itself too short-acting, so am still working on finding the perfect safe/effective repellent, experimenting with mixtures of citronella, lemon, rosemary, lavender, Siparuna, etc. In my experience, the most effective product you can buy here (sold in agricultural stores and by vets) is called Scavon - a mixture of Linseed, Eucalyptus, Natural Camphor, Acorus calamus and other pleasant, exotic-smelling, Indian herbs. The insects hate it. Oh Joy.

Forest Fire, Zona Protectora, El Rodeo

Photo of fire from house, Saturday:



We dodged the bullet. The fire is contained. The forest stands. But this vernal equinox changed me forever. As Dr. Bob says, it is one thing to see a conflagration on television, fires burning in Australia or California, but quite another thing to be in one…

Here are a few salient facts about what happened to us, summed up by Carlos Arguedas C and published on Sunday by the newspaper, La Nacion (translated by me):

…Fires started by unknown person destroyed 15 hectares of Zona Protectora de El Rodeo, Canton de Mora. The first fire started Thursday afternoon was controlled by Friday morning; but then another fire was started that same day and was controlled Saturday around 2pm, according to officials from the National Fire Management Section of the Environment Ministry (Minaet). This is the fourth forest fire so far in the El Rodeo Protected Zone. There have been 43 fires this season, destroying 430 hectares of Protected Zone forests and 9,000 of private lands… (Ref. La Nacion, March 22, 2009).

We were involved in fighting this fire from beginning to end.

The fire was started on Thursday, March 19, 2009 around midday, by an agricultural worker attempting to clean up pasture for planting (the easy way is to simply burn the pasture…). When the flames started licking at the forest, Armando arrived with trained & equipped staff from the University for Peace (UPAZ) to help control it. However, the worker did not want Armando’s help, and treated him more like an intruder, rather than a concerned neighbor rushing forward to help him control his fire. A fire starter will always insist that his fire is under control until too late… and believe me, as you have seen on TV, fighting a forest fire is hard, scary work. The UPAZ guys and Armando used shovels, axes, soil and brute force, to contain the fire.

Then the following morning - the Vernal Equinox - the winds started up again, whipping smoldering ash back into fire. That’s the problem with forest fires. The fire looks tamped down and you turn around, exhausted, going home But five minutes later, the wind gusts and the fire is back, often worse than ever!...

Or, maybe, somebody set a new fire…

Why would anyone start a fire in such dry, windy weather anywhere in this country - during an intensely hot equinox - much less near a forest containing countless innocent species of fauna and flora?

Remember Yogi the Bear? “Only YOU can prevent forest fires!”

We called for help and Ciudad Colon firefighters responded. But it was getting late, and Costa Rica doesn’t have the resources to control forest fires by using planes from above like you see on TV in the States. They fight it on the ground. And fighting a forest fire on mountainous terrain is exhausting enough during the day - way too dangerous after dusk.

Gerry and Armando watched the forest burn out of control from the road below, together with the firefighters. They stood there watching the fire run up the line, parched dry scrubland igniting like a tinder box, flames racing with the wind, engulfing tacotal, charral, and … trees. Gerry watched tree after tree burst into flames like huge, oil-soaked torches, shooting fiery debris up into the sky and feeding the fire. Once fire has engulfed a massive Guanacaste tree, unfortunately, you can do nothing but let it burn and clear the area around it to contain the fire. But when tree after tree ignites, resources are few, and night is coming on, there is nothing anybody can do.

Gerry stood there with the firefighters watching, helpless to do anything to stop it. It was now dark and one of the firefighters had already gotten jabbed by a snake fleeing the flames. Luckily, he was suited up safely in protective boots and pants, but nobody else was going back in there before dawn.

The firemen told Gerry that we needed to be ready to evacuate immediately if the winds shifted eastward. We needed to remain vigilant all night.

Photo taken by Jose of fire on Friday, Vernal Equinox, 2009:



I was already exhausted. Jose and I had hiked down the mountain earlier in the afternoon on Friday to try to reconnoiter the situation with the fire below El Higueron. However, on the way back, we got separated because of the fire and smoke, and I was never so glad to see him as when he came back for me - even though I’d told him on the mobile to find his own way out, that I was okay. He still came back for me. And later, as I followed him at a quick trot up the mountain, we stopped and ate an orange. Never has an orange tasted so good! You can get some idea of how scary these fires are by watching the tall, strong firefighters on TV coming back from the frontlines, covered in soot, completely exhausted, eyes blank from hours of focused activity, staying calm, working in a team.

Saturday at 5:40AM, Armando began fighting the fire from above the mountain with our other employees and Jorge from Finca Hamadryas. Also, dozens of Ciudad Colon firemen and Minaet volunteer forest firefighters tackled the fire from below, supported by Memito and his team from the neighboring finca where the fire started. They worked hard all day, eating nothing but oranges provided by El Tigre. Had I known, they would have had big piles of sandwiches, and anything else they wanted. That was another faux pas and a new lesson learned: never forget to feed and support the firefighters - be proactive! When they left late that evening, both the fire chief and the head Minaet man really felt confident that this time they had got it under control. Gerry spoke to them when he drove down there to pick up our guys, who were also just coming off the mountain. They all piled into the car, filthy, scraped up and utterly exhausted.

Early Sunday morning, however, our guys had to return to the frontlines again, as flames had reappeared and an apparently new fire had started and was approaching the Finca - and, this time, we were on our own…

We made at least four calls to 911 that morning but nobody showed up. Gerry’s last phone call was at about 2pm, hoping against all hope that professional firefighters were on their way.

However:

Gerry to 911 Operator: “I phoned hours ago. Is anyone coming to help us?”

911 Operator: “Please hold while I check with the firemen….no, nobody is coming.”

Gerry then called Carlos at Minaet again, who was also frustrated - nobody wants a forest to burn: “I’m really sorry but we have nobody working on a Sunday.”

Luckily, Armando was being more productive. Gerry had called Armando during the morning and told him that he feared that the professionals were not going to arrive, and that he should try to recruit (persuade, bribe, cajole, whatever was needed) volunteers from the village to help Jose contain the fire from encroaching further up the mountain - and closer to us...

And, amazingly, that’s exactly what he did. He recruited six guys from the village and, together with Jose and himself, they successfully managed to keep the fire from reaching Reserva El Tigre! They worked all day and they worked smart! You can’t just charge into a fire like horses out of the stable yard. You need a strategy, tactics and resources, carving out a fire barrier, sometimes fighting fire with fire, choosing which fires to fight, always working together as a team. Always Safety First!

Now, on Monday, I wish to say a huge THANK YOU to all of you who helped us save our precious woodlands at Reserva El Tigre. Here’s the team who worked so hard yesterday, and who managed to contain our fire damage to mostly charral, 200 meters inside El Tigre, when so many hectares on the other side were destroyed:

Photo taken by Jose of Sunday team on his mobile:



Armando, Jose, Victor, Alejandro, Armando Jose (who fetched water and supplies back and forth to the firefighters), Israel, Joaquin and Jaime, thank you.

And then, we really got lucky. Last night, the wind died down to almost nothing, and Mother Nature gave us a cool, completely still night, which meant that, by this morning, only a few puffs of smoke remained - although Jose and Israel returned to the fire-lines again early, just to make sure… Thank You Mother Nature.

And a final thank you to anyone else who helped in the fight, who either we forgot to mention, or who we never knew was there. Thank you for helping to save a forest this past equinox weekend, March 20-22, 2009.

And now, an apology.

I am sorry if we seemed a bit rude to all of you innocent weekenders, hiking, riding, biking in El Rodeo or Piedras Negras. All you wanted to do was escape from a hellish work week and enjoy a nice day in the country. I am sorry we drove so fast, spraying up road dust. But, when there is a forest fire, and nobody works on a Sunday, things get a trifle fraught…

But, Never Again on a Sunday. We - that is me, Yaneth, Armando, Jose - plan to sign up for firefighting training with Minaet. If we can recruit a larger group of committed locals to be volunteers, trained and equipped, then more people will be available, and able to respond faster and more effectively to the next fire - although Yaneth thinks I’m too old and Minaet won’t have me!

Everybody felt the weight of possibly losing the forest this weekend; everyone cried, aching and feeling helpless to stop the fire. All weekend long I cried, wept, sometimes howled in despair, whenever I watched another magnificent Guanacaste tree burst into flames. Once, I actually screamed in empathy. But for Gerry’s sake (“I can do nothing if I also have to worry about you!”) I took the proverbial deep breath, focused, smiled, encouraged the kids, and tried to be useful in any way possible. Yaneth even saw a large troop of monkeys down at the massive higueron tree, waiting out the fire, very quiet but with some of them whimpering. Everybody felt it.

The Zona Protectora of El Rodeo is the last remnant of primary forest extant in the Central Valley of Costa Rica, and much beloved by all nature lovers. Why should anyone care? El Rodeo is just a remnant, not even connected as a corridor to anywhere! Well, there could be corridors soon, if we humans would just stop burning and cutting in forest areas; if we would just let nature connect the dots: corridors of forest, like highways for wildlife.
This remnant forest recharges untold gallons of mountain-fresh water back into the Jaris and Virilla rivers. And it also clears tons of carbon dioxide from the air, with carbon-fixing giants like, Ceibas, Pochotes, Balsas, Bernoullias, etc.

Now, on Monday, after the fire this past weekend, I feel more strongly than ever that I was born to protect this forest - and to become a firefighter, if Minaet will have me…

Also, our firearms training is still on! The training will do us good. Just like with firefighting, using firearms requires a zen-like calm.

In other news:

GRAK was back in court (on behalf of Merck, of course…) last week.

Municipality people visited El Tigre to assess the fines for our overdue renovation permit. After everything that has happened, all we could do was laugh.

P.S.
Sorry hiking buddies! It’s still not safe to hike the mountain this soon after the fire - the natives are restless! We have seen snakes on the move this morning, trying to find a new spot to settle down. Snakes normally never move about during the day - especially in this hot weather. We need a few more days for everything to settle down.
----

Written on Thursday before the fire changed everything, but more relevant than ever:

Thanks to our Tree Pals in Costa Rica, we are beginning to identify less common species of trees at El Tigre! I recently sent out an SOS requesting help (sorry Kathryn, Maestro Humberto, Ingeniero Forestal, about hard to open format).

Agustin Contreras promptly nailed both species - Coccoloba acapulcensis f.Polygonac; and Lafoensis punicifola f.Lythrac!

Who is Agustin Contreras? Well, just for starters, Tin is a student of El Gran Maestro Luis Poveda, of the Universidad Nacional. Need I say more?

My questions piqued Tin’s interest. So, the next day, he came over and promptly nailed more species! Bam, Bam, Bam! He found two Swartzia species: S. cubensis and S. simplex. Also, Cedrela salvadorensis! We haven’t had so much fun since back in 2005, when we carried out our first review with Ingenieros Forestales Manuel and Yamileth (elmundoforestal.com). We nailed a lot of species then, but many remained ‘unknown’.
There is still much work in this premontane forest for many dissertations and theses - vines, butterflies, eco-systems - for so many students, now and into the future.

Armando hiked with Tin, while I wandered the gardens with his wife, Satia - a Tica but with parents from Michigan, and with whom I felt an immediate connection - and their 5 month old baby, Urun - named after the third largest mountain in Costa Rica. Urun is already a great mountain of a baby - wanting to burst forth from his baby constraints and plunge forth into the world. They visited on the Tuesday before the vernal equinox - under a hot, burning sun - so Urun just loved getting plunged into the swimming pool by Yaneth and Marcia while we ate lunch. Next time they come over - which I hope will be soon - we shall teach baby Urun how to swim. He is at the perfect age to begin!

I grew up in Michigan with all the lakes and, like most everybody else in Michigan, learned how to swim before walking. I don’t remember learning how to swim - my dad just put me in the lake water and it went from there. I have no fear of water - I respect and understand it, especially stormy waves and undertow - but I fear it not.

Many people are terrified by water (never learned to swim)…

Or earthquakes…

Or hurricanes (New Orleans)…

I fear fire. Something deep inside me from generations back into the DNA - has imprinted this.

Farewell to Rover the Vagabond

It’s all over for Rover…in this particular doggy world. We came across Rover at the local soccer field a few days ago while out horseback riding. Poor Rover! He looked and smelled awful!

“Remember this dog?” Asked Jose

I sure did! A couple of years ago, Rover spent a couple of weeks with us and we all just loved him! Rover with the bright eyes and wagging tail - he was just irresistible! However, Rover was a classic vagabond and, sure enough, a few weeks after enjoying all our comforts and attentions at Reserva El Tigre, he left us - off to the next household of adoring fans. He was a heartbreaker that dog - over the years he wandered all over the landscape, enjoying farm and village life alike. But, like everybody else, we could never entice him to return back to us!

Well, on this day, it looked to us like Rover had reached the end of the line. We brought him back to the stable and bathed him with shampoo, which perked him up a bit. We could almost see the old sparkle back in his eyes. But he was very sick and probably contagious to the other animals, so I wanted Rover safely away from El Tigre as soon as we could organize it.


Well, our vet didn’t want Rover at the horse clinic either - and not just because Jorge was still cagey over Lucero. He took one look at poor Rover and said he was too far gone and risked contaminating the entire clinic - they had no isolation room - and were still boarding horses from a recent equestrian event.

Unfortunately, we understood only too well. In fact, just as Rover left for the vet, I whispered to Janet, “Make sure you sterilize everything Rover came into contact with: clothes, surfaces, everything!”

Janet gave me the usual Look, that says, “Do I look clueless to you, O Ye Who Bringeth Home All The Strays…?”

Well, Anna* found a vet who admitted Rover into his clinic, but we soon learned about the cost of treatment - lots of money, with no good prognosis despite all of it. Sadly, I’d been down this road too many times before and, therefore, didn’t hesitate to say,

“Have the vet put Rover down.”

This was soon done and Anna stayed with him until the very end, when Rover drifted off to, as Gerald says, “The Great Kennel in the Sky”. Farewell to Rover. He lived a full and happy vagabond life, and spent his last day in caring arms.

Still, animal rescues continue all over the country. The recent earthquake at Poas Volcano brought out the best of people all over Costa Rica - reports say the vast majority of Costa Ricans and residents alike offered some kind of aid to those who suffered. In the case of the animals, perhaps it was the television images of cows all over the ravaged hillside, lost, hungry and sick with mastitis, mooing disconsolately for want of milking. People all over Costa Rica responded, from donating time and/or money to animal rescue groups, to individuals adopting animals.

Fundraising helps to support the hardworking, front-line animal groups, who put up with so much grief caused by irresponsible humans. The main goal uniting all animal groups is this: spay and neuter them all; also making the mixed breed the most fashionable breed! Don’t purchase an animal - go adopt one at your local Shelter! We have found that mixed breeds are healthy, sweet and easy to train.

Times are tough and needs are many, so we were thrilled to learn that Penny Santomenno and her dedicated team will, once more, but perhaps for the last time, put on the famous Rice Table - Rijstafel - Indonesian Banquet in support of the Animal Shelter in Heredia. All of the food and drink has been generously donated, and the event takes place in Penny’s beautiful Heredia home. Email me or Leigh Moynihan for details on this March 7th event: donation - 30K colones, or about US$58. Thank you, Penny, for doing this once more - seeing your sweet smile again is alone worth the admission!

Now, with the current economic situation, our animal rescue friends are busier than ever - everyone I know has taken in more animals. It makes me so proud of Costa Rica! We are just one among many households with a slew of dogs, cats, horses, chickens, etc.



Here’s our latest arrival, itty bitty Dilly-Doo, who showed up at the Finca with a vastly larger female dog who just towered over him, but whose honor this little fellow most valiantly protected. He guarded his lady all day long, growling and snapping at any other dog that happened to get too close to her. The spectacle caused great amusement for us all. After a few days, however, the female went back to live with Armando’s daughter, Elena, in the hamlet of El Rodeo, and little Dilly stayed with us - now neutered. I initially named him P.C. - little gentleman in Spanish - but the kids would have none of it and renamed him Dillan.

So many more mouths to feed…

Is there any GOOD NEWS out there in the world today?

Yes! Turns out that 2009 will be a most bountiful year for seeds! Armando predicted that this would be a good seed year last November, when he observed earlier than normal leaf drop, followed by many more forest trees flowering and seeding this season when they had not the last. In fact, we have seen trees produce seeds for the first time in years!

Brightening up the forest and roadways right now are the dazzling display of the Tabebuias - yellow- Cortez amarillo (T. ochracea, f.Bignoniac.) and also the pink Roble de sabana (T. rosea).

There is too much flowering and seeding at Reserva El Tigre to list everything - like bucketfuls of Madero negro, Guapinol, Thounidium and Guanacaste - come and get them! We have collected and identified the following seeds so far this February, 09:



Dalbergia retusa (Papilionac.), ‘Cocobolo’. Yes, that’s retusa as in ROSEWOOD! This is the first time in 3 years that we have seen seeds produced by these endangered trees. Reserva El Tigre protects perhaps the last naturally occurring stand of Rosewood in the Central Valley!

Other Papilionacs seeding: Lonchocarpus salvadorensis, ‘Chaperno’; L.velutinus, ‘Comenegro’; Gliricidia sepium, ‘Madero Negro’.

Also,
Cedrela odorata (Meliac.), ‘Cedro amargo’;
Hura crepitans (Euphorbiac.), ‘Jabillo’;
Albizia adinocephala (Mimosac.), ‘Gavilancillo’;
Brosimum alicastrum (Morac), ‘Ojoche’ - just getting started - also, B. Colorado;
Diospyros salicifolia (Ebenac.), NOT Diospyros digyna, ‘Mabola, Sapote negro’YET;
Cochlospermum vitifolium (Bixac.), ‘Poro Poro’;
Gyrocarpus jatrophifolius (Hernandiac.), ‘Volador’;
Plumeria rubra (Apocynac.), ‘Frangipani’, Yellow, White, Pink;
Terminalia oblonga (Combretac.), ‘Guayabon, Sura’;
Pseudobombax septenatum (Bombacac), ‘Ceibo Verde’.

Last year, we collected Ceiba pentandra seeds and they germinated quickly. We already have several saplings planted back in the charral, with more to go in during the rainy season.

Take a look at a first year sapling of the mighty Ceiba pentandra tree:



It’s windy here in Costa Rica, and that makes the bees and wasps ornery. While out hiking in windy weather this time of year, make sure to stay alert. Give beehives, like the one pictured here, a wide berth.


The wind knocked this tree down, bringing the beehive down with it - still intact, right onto our favorite horse trail - and the bees are still going about their normal business. We are still observing it to see if they stay or go. A beehive like this is not normally so close to the ground, but the horses seem to graze next to it quite undisturbed. I took this photograph in still weather, but I’m sure the horses will keep their distance too when the wind kicks up again.

Feeling a bit morose from the gloomy events in the world? Go check out your local theatre group! You never know who you might run into either on stage or off. The other night, we went to see ‘Calendar Girls’, put on by Costa Rica’s English-speaking Little Theatre Group, and saw friends on stage for the first time: Sheila Pacheco (the British Consul) plays Brenda; and Debbie Jean plays crying Cora, adorable in her cute rain gear. The show was hilarious, with the strongest actors - Karen Rae, Vicky Longland and Ann Antkiw - carrying the show, albeit with fine support from the rest of the cast. Go see this wonderful show! You will leave with a smile on your face - and maybe thinking of getting on stage or helping out with the fun people behind stage…

* Anna Coy Dalton recently moved here from Colorado. She teaches people how to breathe consciously, and it can cause life-altering experiences. In Anna’s tapes, her voice and music put you into a hypnotic state - relax - all suggestion is positive - breathe health, love, spirit - everyone has a different experience. I liked it - it goes well beyond ‘stop and take a deep breath’. Anna’s method helped me to ‘breathe’ through to my capering horse and relax him. It also has helped me to cultivate ‘qi’ in doing Hunyuan Taijiquan. If you are interested in Anna’s method of conscious breathing, contact her directly at: www.inspiringyourlife.com or email: anna@inspiringyourlife.com