If it's your birthday, raise your hand

Happy birthday to Ma Eidson, who is another year older today. No one is going to publish her age here today. In fact, we're taking a big chance by running this picture (it's all Lucy). This is when the folks were down here for a visit last October and we took them ziplining. Unfortunately, we only got to put on the equipment and take a ride on the test line before thunder and lightning wiped us out. However, we're all hoping for another shot when they head back down here sometime later this year. So, if you read this and talk to Ma Eidson today, give her a serenade of happy birthday, or feliz cumpleanos.

Nature alert. . .

Lucy has a much better eye for spotting wildlife and critters than I do. I've become used to her seeing things and then getting frustrated when I still can't see what she's all excited about. The other day, though, thanks to some serious finger pointing and a clear shot at what I was looking at, I was able to spot the toucan that was roosted up in a tree, about 50 feet or so from the front of the house. The yellow/green beak was pretty easy to spot, as the rest of the tree was a dark green with the leaves and vines growing around it. The toucan just sat there in the tree, which has a fruit that everyone calls huevos de caballos. The fruit isn't for human consumption, but the birds love it.

Just call me 'Hoss. . .

Though if the truth be told, I preferred Little Joe, but Hoss has stuck. The other night, I was sitting at the computer and happened to look out the window towards the trail that goes from our property over to our neighbors. Eight cows, Brahmas with big, gnarly, horns, were trucking right through our property. The owner of the 80 acres behind us lets some local folks run their cows back there to keep the grass down and manageable. However, the fence was built by what looks like first-year 4H flunkies with no skills whatsoever. So, the cows get out fairly regularly, but this was the first time that they've come running through the hotel grounds. I grabbed a metal pole and a machete and started following them.

Luckily, they knew where they were going, as I am no cow hand, cow poke or cowboy. Three of them managed to get through the hole in the fence that they had escaped from while the other five, including the two largest ones, kept on going back toward the waterfall. It was getting dark by this time, so I came back and Lucy and I drove up to where the fence had come down and managed to get the barbed wire back into place, so at least the other three couldn't get back out again.

Afterward, we had some fine vittles and victuals and had a hoe-down. (Not really, but how often can one sneak in vittles, victuals and hoe-down into an entry?

Hot, hotter, hottest. . .

It's hot. No getting around it. It's around 90 or so most days, and the humidity is about 90 percent as well. Makes for a lot of three-shower days. There are no tradewinds like back in Hawaii; not much of a breeze at all to cool things off. However, it's not as bad as it is on the Pacific Coast, where it can be 5 to 10 degrees warmer and higher humidity. Sometimes the dogs don't even want to move, just lying on the tiles around the house to try to cool down. They don't even object when we hose them down, so that's a good time to give them a bath. Talked to the folks the other day and they said it was 80 degrees in Wisconsin. Talked to them a few days later and they were getting ready for some snow. That's just nuts, so maybe we won't complain too much down here.

Pups vs. wildlife. . .

You spend money to come to Costa Rica where there is an abundance of wildlife, including monkeys, sloths, armadillos, jaguars, agoutis, birds, snakes, etc. . . So, why is it that everyone goes ga-ga for the pups? We had a family down for spring break soon after we returned, and there was a troop of monkeys hanging out in the trees just above our house, including one or two babies that were probably only a few weeks old. . . We were showing the guests who had arrived when one youngster chirped in: "I'm done with the monkeys, let's go play with the puppies." He and his cohorts vamoosed down the trail and went straight back to the pups. The parents, however, ooh-ed and aah-ed over the monkeys and kept taking pictures for several more minutes before retrieving their kids.

Even when we didn't have the pups here, the kids always preferred to play with Bejuca or Mini-B as to seeing a sloth or a monkey. . . And most of the families have dogs back home, so they're not pup-starved. . .

Any thoughts, input on the pooch craze?

Pooches on parade. . .

When we left to head back to the States to pack everything up, we said our goodbyes to Bejuca and Mini-B, the two Tree Houses canines. . . When we returned, we had a joyous reunion with the two. . . and four others. . . While we were gone, the owners found a mother and her three pups that had been abandoned when their owners moved to another house. . . So now there are six pooches running around, including three pups that are around 4 weeks old. . . Two of the pups have been spoken for and will be heading to their new homes in a few weeks when they are old enough to head out. . . There is still one pup and the mother that are up for grabs, so if anyone wants a cute bundle of fur, just let us know. . . We will get some pictures up on here soon, hopefully. . .

And that brings us to our question:

How many pooches?
	Eight is enough (nod to Dick Van Patten)
	Not nearly enough. . .
	Are you crazy? How many do you want?
	Two is just fine. . .
pollcode.com free polls

We're back. . .

For anyone still checking in here. . . It's been a long time since we posted, as we got busy with the Christmas season and then other events. . . To catch up those not in the know:

We have decided to move to Costa Rica and hang out here for the foreseeable future. . . We were in Honolulu for a month, selling our condo, putting stuff in storage and saying our goodbyes. We're now back in Costa Rica on a permanent basis. We will be taking off April 20 for a few weeks to go see our families and do some traveling before returning in mid-May for the real long haul. . .

Sorry for the lack of posts and for being general laggards. . . We actually have a post that we were going to put up in early January, but never got around to it. That may make a late appearance as we get back into the swing of things. . .