Rainy Season

Where the road falls into a ravine, locals place sticks or branches
in the hole as a caution sign

Arriving in mid-October coincides with the height of Costa Rica’s rainy season - often considered their winter. Although we have had a number of prolonged deluges, a lot of the downpours occurred at night, leaving the days somewhat dryer. Usually the rains taper off by early December, but as of this writing (Dec. 25), they’re still going strong. It’s wonderful to see everything green and flourishing. And, I have been having a ball planting, trimming and designing new micro jardins. 

Lots of red, sticky, clay-like mud. Stains everything!

The casualty of the rains, aside from my war on mildew, are the roads. Every year at this time, the potholes grow deeper, the mud squishier and “moguls” develop - usually around the holes. At one point the local bus couldn’t manage to climb a short, steep incline nearby. After numerous running starts and skids, the passengers got out and collected rocks along the road to fill the holes and provide traction. (in a steady rain, of course) When this didn’t work, the bus was towed out. After that the bus had to drop its passengers off before the hill. This meant some folks were still up to 8 - 10 km away from their destination. There was a lot of ride sharing going on for a while. For us with a 4x4 every trip out of town took an extra 30-45 minutes longer. 

Another sign of my convalescing diminished life. I've been watching the
road crew as they thunder by with their heavy equipment.

As the rains are subsiding now the “muni” (municipal) road repair fleet has arrived. I felt like welcoming the troops back from war last week as a convoy of five dump trucks full of gravel, a grader, several backhoes, and a roller steamed past the house. I stood waving with thumbs up as the drivers grinned at the “gringa.” Since then the calle has improved dramatically.

I usually have my trusty watchdogs with me as i spend most of
my time in Ray's big armchair on the deck