April 8, 2020

Rain clouds gathering

April 8, 2020

These little crocus-like flowers bloom at this time of the year - beautiful huh?

Weather Update

Finally! after the last few days of promising, but not delivering, cloudy skies, we had a half hour of gentle rain in the afternoon, and now, this evening - a real downpour. The last couple of years of “dry season” (Dec. - late March) have been extremely dry. 

Finally - some rain (Be careful what I wish for...)

Sometimes over a month with not even a passing shower. (which means a lot of dust and wilting plants) When I first began coming here 11 years ago, we seemed to have at least had a downpour every week or two, so I believe we’re seeng climate change here as well.. I would even go so far as to say I have observed (not personally, thank goodness) that more and more hurricanes and cyclone in the S. Hemisphere have become much more severe in my lifetime. (Wow, Im really starting to be (and look) old). And certainly temperatures for the most part are warmer - and you only need to look at glaciers and icecaps which make climate warming pretty obvious. Unless……… you have different politics than me. 

Even with the cloudy days, temperatures have been hovering close to 90, with a lot of humidity, so we have been persevering on home projects, but popping across the street for a couple of  swims a day for relief.

Limons almost finished, but new blossoms!

April 11, 2020

The New (to us) Freezer

About five years ago we bought most of the housewares, tools, linens and misc. stuff from some friends that moved back to the US. Among all the stuff was a good sized chest freezer that we stored in Chepe’s bodega for most of that time.  Recently, we brought it out to the container, but still didn’t use it because it seemed very decadent for only two people. However, our main fridge has not been cooling as well as it should, so we fired up the freezer the other day, and…. the rest is history. We’re going to try and be pretty minimalist about it, but what a pleasure to thoroughly deep freeze foods, that we feel confident weren’t going to spoil on us. We’re even fantasizing about ice cream in the near future! Feels like Xmas to us! Fantasizing about food used to be only a trait of Ray’s but, it’s catchy.

This handsome bird and its mate have been
frequent visitors.

Some of Ray's rock collection

Lockdown

We are in our fourth week of home confinement, which has really not been too much different than our usual pretty quiet life. Even though the beaches are closed, we sneak across the road for a walk, and/or a swim regularly. And if the surf is big (which has happened quite often) Ray can even surf there. Usually, once a day I walk a couple of miles down the beach, usually accompanied by my three, and a few more neighborhood dogs. There are three lagoons at the opening of the rivers, where we all take dips to cool off. The dogs get a drink and chase Jesus Christ lizards (the ones that run on the water’s surface) while I wallow. Occasionally I have the little neighborhood girls, too, so it’s quite the crowd. 

Beach beauty

April 14, 2020

People here are taking the virus precautions very seriously. The government has been very strong about staying home, not traveling, and keeping the social distancing. They recently added a curfew between 7 pm and 5 am, vehicles are only allowed to be on the roads certain days depending on the last numbers on their license plates, and only one family member at a time is allowed in grocery stores. It seems a little more lax out here in “the country,” but there are still police checkpoints and the coast guard is patrolling along the shores. All these restrictions are killing the surfers because we’ve had some beautiful surf (4-8 foot waves) with no one riding them. 

The news focuses almost solely on the virus here. Their president, a young, seemingly competent and charismatic (a good combination) gives his daily advisory every morning. We listen and catch bits and pieces of it. I must say from an epidemiology point of view the statistics are really fascinating. To get millions of people almost worldwide to follow the hygiene and social rules, as well as stay home, is pretty impressive. Of course it’s not that controlled, or controllable, in many places, of which I fear will really take the biggest hit. The poor, of course, suffer the most, which really highlights the need for good public health for ALL!  So far CR had been averaging about 20 a day, but it has dropped off considerably over the past three days. I’m thinking it’s much easier to control people’s behavior in a small country with a small population (between 5-6 million), and pretty mellow people.

Low tide

Musings

Very timely, I have read a number of historical/sociological books that have documented the impact of diseases, and man made events like wars and technological “advances.” Human history is full of plagues, wars, mass migrations - both natural and man made, as well as important discoveries that have significantly improved humans’ lives such as sewage systems, hand washing, and antibiotics. When ancient and modern cities installed sewage systems for dealing with human waste the numbers of people dying from cholera, dysintery, etc. dramatically dropped (even now in poorly developed regions). The lack of clean soap and water ensured that most soldiers died of infection during the Civil War. In the 1800’s doctors (finally) realized that merely washing their hands while delivering babies saved many mothers and babies lives.  And most recently the use of antibiotics has saved millions of lives - although not without a cost. Looking at the C-virus from that perspective, it seems we humans, are always on the run from something. A great read and PBS tv series that came out 10-15 years ago is “Guns, Germs and Steel,” by Jared Diamond, which chronicles a lot of this stuff in a very understandable, but a bit fatalistic, manner. 

The day's collection 

Comparisons

Being somewhat Socialistic, CR has a large Social Security Department here to help the elderly, retired and incapacitated. Another part of their jurisdiction is dealing with housing issues, including providing housing for low income and needy people. The CR government has been building little barrios out of relatively inexpensive, modest homes comprised of a cement floor that is usually tiles, cement panel walls, and tin roof as well as plumbing, sewer and water supply. I understand it takes a few years though. Although it is seriously backlogged for “optional surgeries and the like, Costa Rica’s health system is available to everyone either free or for nominal cost. The medical facilities are first rate, and, like most socialized medical systems (Canada and the UK come to mind) those who can afford it will pay for faster, non essential procedures. We do have a friend who has been waiting for an “elective” procedure for a painful knee problem - case in point.

The product of our days without water
because the nearby watermelon patch hogs it all

Time for Contemplation

Even though the wifi is weak, I am able to usually keep up on the news via the NY Times online (give or take a day or two). We also watch the TV news here to try and stay abreast of what’s happening in the world. In addition to the devastating health effects, the economic impact is just as serious. If the virus doesn’t get you, the failing economy around the world will certainly have its go at you. I feel fortunate to be retired and have a pretty decent income from the pension and Social Security, but I can’t help but wonder how long can all this continue without it affecting my income, along with hundreds of thousands of others, too. Scary thoughts. Then I read about the tragedy of many farmers having to ditch their crops and dairy farmers, their milk - while so many people desperate for food. That was the first time I cried after reading about the 

virus and the trail of destruction it leaves behind. The word tragedy takes on a much fuller meaning in these circumstances.

Interruption

I need to interrupt my “virus” thoughts for a moment because it’s dusk (5:17pm) and everything has a peachy glow. We’ve been calling it “crema,” (Eli’s word for it). As I scan across the water it is still sunny to the south, then mixed with clouds, and from the north, dark rain cloud drift closer. It’s a gentle rain now, so the sun is glowing through the raindrops, and everything is golden tinged. As darkness envelops the rain intensifies, drumming on the metal roof and streaming down in tiny rivulets from the corrugation of the roof.

Back to Virus…

It’s also interesting, and very depressing, to see what the true ramifications of the virus will be, not only to peoples’ health, but the economy. Easy for me to say from my breezy deck overlooking a beautiful Gulf… The suffering of people cooped up indoors for weeks, months,  the stress of worrying not only about their health, but whether they will have money for food, shelter, medicine, utilities, education for children, communication… the list goes on.  I’d like to think this is a wake up call for humankind to assess what is really important for a good safe and healthy life, and each country’s government and leaders will make the appropriate improvements. Dream on, right?

April 15

Illegal Visitors

Two weeks ago, Eli and his family came out to stay for four days. Technically we broke the quederse su casa (stay in your home) rule. We wanted to tackle a few projects that included installing a QUIET ceiling fan (replacing the noisy one I couldn’t sleep with) in our sleeping area, helping get rid of the huge termite nest, and a myriad of little projects. I’m sure it was a nice break for them because they’ve been confined to their little house in steamy Golfito for a couple of weeks. This was our first time hosting that number of people in the guest container. The patio became the common area for meals and general hanging out. Meanwhile, Ray and I still had our private living area on the deck. We also used the “Tico” outdoor sink for dishes, which was very convenient. So all in all it is a good design.

Back to School Days

Not only did Eli’s wife, Juanita come, but his son Josue and his 6 year old daughter. That meant we had Maleska and Briana visiting, as well, for the four days. It was actually fun (if not exhausting) having the girls here. I dragged out the couple of kids books I own, along with pencils crayons and paper. They started off practicing their letters, but it quickly evolved into stylized drawing of hearts, rainbows and stick figures with huge heads. Very appropriate for kid drawings of that age all over the world. They put in considerable time playing on the patio’s seesaws and swings, and when that got old, I took them for beach walks. I’ve been collecting shells, but I tell the kids they’re for “King Kong.” So when we return they make him close his eyes, lead him to bag, spill its contents, and he feigns surprise and delight when he sees what they collected. It’s a crowd pleaser. The kids love it. Pretty sweet. 

Learning Some Basics of Life

I really enjoyed watching how these three girls had to work out sharing (all essentially only children, but with sporadic half siblings). Not easy, and there were plenty of adult interventions. Also, my two little neighbors are barefoot, hardy, very active little girls. essentially living outdoors and at the beach. They start the day off clean with combed hair, but quickly get dirty, with wild hair flying. In contrast, Keiren, Josue’s daughter, is regularly combed, showered, with clean clothes. You can imagine it was quite a stretch for Keiren to keep up physically with the other two, but she was a trooper. Climbing tree stumps, making sand castillos (castles) paddling in the sea and writing in the sand. These little girls were on the go the entire day. Me too! 

PS: It was great to have the company, but we were quite happy to be alone again.