Family time. . .

The art department's brother and cousin made the journey down here to the jungle and it's been a hoot and a holler thus far.

Abraham and Areclla have probably seen more of Costa Rica than we have at this point, as everyone wants to show them the highlights.

It's always nice to have friends and family down here. . . Yep, that's a not-so-subtle dig at the other two faithful readers who have not made it down this way yet.

Going green. . .

We also get some great pictures sent to us, though most are posted on Facebook and TripAdvisor. This elusive critter is what's seen most on the covers or glossy spreads of the guidebooks.

It was residing just 20 feet from our front door on the banana plants one evening.

Poetry for the masses. . .

Or at least the three of you. . . We receive thank-you notes and e-mails regularly from folks that have stayed here, though this is a first: some lines of prose.

A is for Arenal Volcano where we had a long trek
B is for Blue Morpho painted in shimmering flecks

C is for Casado- a rice, bean and plantain dish to share
D is for Downpour- don our ponchos (or not, if we dare)

E is for Emerald Green Basilisk racing off after a rest
F is for Fiery-billed Aracari cautiously guarding its nest

G is for Glass Frog which is almost see-through
H is for Howler Monkeys a supremely noisy crew

I is for Iguana with sideways glances he spies
J is for Jaguar fortunately unseen by our eyes

K is for Kingfisher at catching fish he's a pro
L is for Leaf cutter ants off to work they go

M is for Mimosa a sensitive plant low on the ground
N is for Nights in the rainforest effervescent with sound

O is for Oriole Snake up high where we hope it will stay
P is for Poison Dart Frog forever jumping away

Q is for Quetzal, sacred bird of the Mayans of yore
R is for Red-Eyed Tree Frogs- Rishi wants to see more!

S is for Squirrel Monkeys who claim our breakfast as theirs
T is for Three-Toed Sloth baby hanging out with no cares

U is for Unau, two-toed sloth, we never did see
V is for Vultures hovering over the trees

W is for White-necked Jacobin, a hummingbird
X is for Xenops chosen as the starts-with-X-word

Y is for Yiguirro for whom our tree house was named
Z is for 'Zip-lining is fun!' we hear Surya exclaim!

Needed: Pillows

With six houses, and at three beds in all of them, we have a fair amount of pillows around here. However, recently we had a family of eight that took up two tree houses. Beds for everyone, two pillows on the double beds and one on each of the single beds.

However, everyone wanted at least two pillows or more. Long, rambling story short, if the folks had decided they wanted more pillows, the art and editorial department would have been sleeping sans said pillows.

Luckily, we have more blankets (they also wanted more of those, though they kept their air conditioning on all night--kind of a counter-productive measure?) than pillows.

Kaboom and boom (and shake, rattle and roll). . .

Thunderstorms seem to be back with a vengeance this year. The previous wet season was tame for us down here, though it doesn't seem to be repeating itself this year.

We have had a couple of thunder and lightning storms that have rocked the grounds of late. In the past couple of days, there has been thunder down here that has actually shaken the house, and knocked some stuff off of the walls.

Nothing terribly damaged, but it does drive poor Bejuca and Mini-B just nuts.

Vroom, Vroom. . .

For the three of you loyal followers, you know about the 1977 Land Cruiser that we bought a few months back. It's a sweet machine and we have enjoyed tooling around the area in it.

We recently were put onto a great mechanic in the area, Carlos, and he came out and gave it the once-over. He pronounced it safe, sound and ready to roll (with a bit of envy). After further discussion, we did replace the front brakes with disc brakes (they were drum brakes before) and while the author know little to nothing about internal combustion or anything else about an engine, Carlos was nice enough to explain the steps he was taking en route.

Mechanics in Costa Rica are viewed as the ultimate bad guys, as they know more than the average joe, and will charge according to the (lack of) knowledge of their clientele. Carlos can very highly recommended from some folks that we know, and we were not disappointed.

The brakes are just fine, the steering has been adjusted and the Land Cruiser is ready to roll on the open road.

NEEDED: More bad Spanish words. . .

The other day, when the editorial department was out for a 6-mile run, we were heading back to the hotel.

As the sidewalks are no longer (replaced by slanted drainage ditches) we came upon an elderly fellow strolling up to the main road for a morning smoke.

At the same time, there was a small pooch that was crossing the road (the right rear leg tucked up underneath it) and the runner and the smoker both stopped as the dog crossed the road.

That was when things went askew. The runner nodded to the man (which was ignored) and the pooch came across the road. The smoker stopped, pivoted, and tried to kick the pooch. Never having seen the old fart before, the runner stopped (and was gassed--out of shape, not ready for a longer run) and let the bugger have it, though sadly in English--which was undoubtedly lost on the geezer; the words, probably not the inference.

When the runner got back to the hotel and was talking with other folks, it turns out the wanna-be kicker is a sour, old man, that lives off of the main road.

He also happens to be a black-belt in karate.

Long story short, the runner will probably get his tuckus knocked around the next time he passes through that neighborhod.