What! You again! I thought I tore one of your legs off last November when I pulled you out of my riding boot? Did your leg grow back so fast? Or are you his brother? Or has word gotten out…? That this particular human female is tolerating tarantulas, so the coast is clear: “Come on inside and chomp down on whatever nocturnal insect you can find, while the humans sleep – cricket, beetle, anything you can snatch”. Our neighbor, Gabi, identified this arachnid as a Psalmopoeus reduncus – an Orangemouth Tree Spider. We photographed this one on the glass shower door of the bathroom. In the Tropics, the best fumigation method is good housekeeping, so there’s not much to eat inside the house anyway. Out you go! 
Take a look at this incredible flowering vine, with the flower and legumes attached on the stalk. You can easily see herbaceous plants blooming along the roadsides and pasture edge, where they receive a good dash of sun. Everywhere, as you walk around, you see dotting the landscape – Oh! where to start - mints, daisies by the score, Ageratums, Morning Glories, Legumes, Hibiscus, Justicias, Aphelandras, as well as a slew of flowering vines sprawling all over the canopy and causing confusion. Is that a blooming tree or a vine?
One of my favorite native shrubs is now in fruit, Picramnia antidesma, which the locals call Caregre. This elegant, small, understory tree, of the Simaroubaceae family, is utterly delightful, with its long, dangling racemes: tinsel-like strands of red, orange or yellow berries glittering in the forest shade. All the berries eventually turn black and drop off, leaving the dangling string still attached to the shrub, giving a very charming effect. I have long been fascinated by what factors in the forest determine the particular color of the berries of individual trees. Here in the Zona Protectora of El Rodeo, we most commonly observe Picramnias with orange, orange-red or bright red berries.
However, occasionally, we have also spotted bright yellow berries. And the interesting thing is that, no matter what color the berry, they are all the same species, Picramnia antidesma! Apparently, just as the human species has many individual differences, so do all other species. Botanist and Costa Rican plant expert, Barry Hammel, explained it very succinctly in a note he sent to me: “Remember, species *do* vary, as we saw with that interesting pink version of the normally bright purple-flowered Justicia isthmensis at your place. Also, I have Ruellia jussieuoides in a white-flowered form at our house, not seen anywhere else. Coffee, itself, has versions with fruit color differences much the same as what you are seeing in Picramnia. However, if you find other morphological differences, besides color, or maybe even phenological/and or habitat differences, that would be much more interesting than color alone.”
Orchids are also blooming now, although most are normally way too high up in the forest canopy to see. However, we can sometimes catch sight of both orchids and bromeliads growing on shrubs or small trees with chunky, corky-textured bark – especially the Guitite (Acnistus arborescens) - which flourish in this area. With regular pruning, they do very well in even the smallest of gardens and can, thereby, bring the world of orchids closer to you. We grow Guitite trees in the orange orchard as living fences – they are easily reproduced by estaca - and most of the orchids that are growing on them just suddenly appeared. However, sometimes we rescue orchids when a tree collapses on the roadside and find them a new Guitite home! 
Here’s a shot of all four horses back together again after Lucero’s adventure. The animals are all doing fine, although we had a bit of a scare recently. Lucero, my favorite mountain-riding horse, went missing for two days a few weeks ago, and we thought somebody had stolen him! During all the years here, the horses have always returned to the stables together. However, often during the dry season, they prefer to stay out in the pasture for a few nights – there is so much to eat right now out there, including the delicious fruit of the Guazuma ulmifolia - and they don’t return to the stables for the special feed we use to entice them back. Also, Lucero is normally the last to arrive and the first to wander off. So, when only three of the horses returned one night, we didn’t think much about it. However, when Lucero didn’t return for the second night together with the others, we immediately organized a search party.
We’ve never lost a horse here to snakebite, horse-thief or anything else, but 48 hours away from the herd was too long, and I was preparing for the worst. Jose went out that night for hours searching the property and also first thing the next morning. Armando and Norbert joined him in the morning as well, and searched the neighboring Muller pastures, quickly finding our Lucero frolicking and having the time of his life with a white mare owned by the neighbors. Clearly, he seemed quite at home grazing with his new equine pal next door. And no, Lucero did not want to go home! In fact, he put up quite a ruckus! I am still amazed at how Jose can handle that horse with so much ease…
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