Author: Charlie

Retired American nature-lover, living in Costa Rica, photographing birds and other jewels of nature. This site simply reports on my joys of being RETIRED IN COSTA RICA!
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Last Bird Photo Today – A First-Timer for Me!

Orange-collared Manakin
Carara National Park, Costa Rica

I spent Sunday afternoon and night at Cerro Lodge, Tarcoles, Costa Rica and because there was not a group boat ride available to bird on the river, I birded around my cabin and down the road yesterday. This morning I again birded around the lodge property with several birds then had an appointment with a birding guide named Antonio who was good and help me get lots of bird photos in my two hours there. Because this is a “first-time” bird for me, it is sort of my favorite, but I haven’t had time to go through the others yet and still haven’t posted the photos from Campesinos, so busy the rest of this week with this and lots of other projects. Stay tuned!  🙂

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Birding around Waterfalls and Beautiful Views

Waterfall & Swinging Bridge behind my cabin at
Campesinos Lodge on Pacific Coast near Quepos.
Yep! I walked over and back twice, a long bridge!
Several young men were repelling down the waterfall. Not me! I do birds!
I was at Campesinos with the birding club, now adding my solo adventure.
Halfway home I stopped for a personal night near Carara National Park,
staying at Cerro Lodge overlooking a Pacific Coast bay above.
Tomorrow morning I do 2 hours of birding in Carara before going home.
This afternoon I am enjoying a rest and birding the grounds of this lodge.

In the next couple of days I will post bird photos made in both places. This Cerro Lodge has pretty good internet connection while Campesinos had none nor cell phone service! Even with a connection there is seldom time to make these posts while on a trip. I may rest from travel a bit though it may not be for very long!  🙂  I love doing this!

And just as I sign off a flock of Scarlet Macaws is flying overhead.  🙂

Pura Vida!

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New Flowerpots

I replaced the ugly yellow & orange pots with these more attractive ones.
And the little round one on left is new with assorted greenery & a peace lily.
The second pot is ornamental grass I cut back for the transplanting,
It grows back quick here! Behind post is a bougainvillea that was in plastic! 

The greenery by the rocking chairs
looks much better in new pot!

And the living room plant looks
better in the new pot also! I think.

My newest indoor plant is this palm in
my bedroom with philodendron ivy at base.

I may have told you that my artist friend Anthony has returned from 9 months of traveling in Spain and Morocco and has moved into the house next door that was occupied by Don & Lynda who moved back to Oregon. Before traveling, Anthony lived on the other side of me in someone else’s casita (a small house most big house owners have for guests or rental.). He is the one who made my garden art bird sculpture. He really decorates well with a lot of plants and that motivated me to spruce mine up a little.

We just had a really good, slow, steady rain this afternoon for an hour or so. Garden loves it!

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Residency Approved!

Good morning Mr. Doggett,

Congratulations you got your residency approved!

I will send it to you on Monday when I get to the office.

Have a nice Sunday!
_______

That’s the email I just received from my residency attorney. I think there are separate steps to get the actual Cedula or residency card and the CAJA or medical services card. Plus a “Gold Card” for senior adults to get free bus and discounts on other things. Our next step is doing something on June 1 he said. One patient little step at a time!  🙂 The paperwork was filed in February 2015, so about 15 months for approval in my case. Friends have waited a great variety of times from 8 months to 3 years! So not bad and he asked for the resolution on Friday the 13th!  🙂

If you are wondering why I haven’t been posting as much on the blog, it is partly because of having a full schedule and partly because I’m using down time to work on a new photo gallery that will replace my PBase gallery for just Costa Rica photos, It is taking a long time to just upload/label the bird photos, not to mention all the other kinds of photos still to go! I hope to be introducing it soon. It is with SmugMug.com and will look a lot better than PBase plus you can order prints or other items with my photos on them if interested. 

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Art Exhibit Opening: Encuentro de Cultusas

One of my favorite paintings!
Sorry! I did not get the country names for any of photos.

Because of an artist from Atenas in the show, a group of Atenas expats got to attend the Grand Opening of an Art Exhibition titled Encuentro de Cultusas (The Meeting of Cultures) with art from 18 different Latin American countries and all their ambassadors there plus other ambassadors including the U.S. and Costa Rican government officials and the art leaders. We were able to crash this party of dignitaries because of the local artist/photographer who got us in. It was wonderful! One of the best art shows I have ever seen. And the Children’s Museum location in an old fort/prison is simply cool!

And the other cool thing was that each country had hors d’oeuvres and drinks typical of each of the 18 countries. Some were really delicious! And all photos made on my Samsung cell phone!  🙂

The Costa Rica Children’s Museum (was a prison in early years)
The Entrance Hall
Some of the photography of  John Dessarzin of Atenas who got us in the show.

Someone’s Political Cartoon that includes Donald Trump.

Some traditional & cultural photography.

Plus lots of traditional paintings of culture and local people.

And even some Dominican Voodoo art.
I was amused that all these pretty girls wanted their picture made with
this artist who seems uninterested or bored. Oh well!
“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way 
— things I had no words for.” 
– Georgia O’Keeffe
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Getting Reimbursed for Medical Expenses

The private medical services insurance here is mostly through a government program called INS, a Spanish language acrostic. I finally completed the piles of paperwork with doctor signatures and original receipts (No photo copies! One of my claims was disqualified for this reason.) I mailed them to my insurance agent who got them to INS and I received an email pretty quickly telling me what was accepted and how much they would pay me with an electronic deposit in my local bank account when they received the account number. (I added to the time here by at first sending the wrong number dummy me!) When I finally got that right they informed me that since I still don’t have official residency yet, they could not auto deposit but I could come to an INS office or my agent. My agent requires 15 days, so I opted to go to INS somewhere close other than in San Jose. Alajuela is the closest and I went today and even with one problem, I completed the task within two hours! That is could! The problem was that my agent gave me the wrong address or directions to the office in Alajuela and I wasted one taxi fare ($2) in the wrong place. When I got to the right office, a typical government office with guards and take a number and wait until they call it to be served. It was surprisingly quick with only three employees needed to complete my task and they paid me in cash!

That is likely the last/only time I will do that since I canceled my expensive policy. I’m waiting to receive the government coverage after my residency is approved. Hoping that will start happening this Friday the 13th when my attorney appeals! Ironic? Probably! But I’m not superstitious!

And by the way, this experience today continues to strengthen the motivation to learn to speak AND understand Spanish. It is necessary to live here! 

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The Loss of Another “Best Friend” Today



It is with great sadness that I recognize the expected death of my dear friend Rus Roach. I already miss him.   -Charlie

Below is the announcement I received from Tom and the funeral is available online

An Update from our Executive Pastor
1 message
Thursday, May 5, 2016

Dear First Baptist Nashville Family,

I must inform you of the passing of our dear friend and beloved Minister of Senior Adults and Pastoral Care, Cleatis L. Roach, Jr. (Rus). 

Rus demonstrated the most valiant faith and strong fighting spirit, especially over the five years since he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma cancer. All of us have learned from him and admired the way he has continued to serve Christ, family, and church throughout his illness.
October 18, 1987, Rus and his family moved to Nashville from Texas to serve the Lord in our church’s missions ministries. Since then, Rus has served in a variety of ministerial positions-missions, pastoral care, and senior adult to name a few. Every aspect of his ministry with us has contained the common DNA of serving Christ, helping others know Christ, brightening our day with humor and happiness.
Rus grew up in Houston, TX. As a junior in high school, he knew he was called to ministry. He graduated from Baylor University and received a Doctor of Ministry from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was pastor of several churches in Texas including Lone Camp Baptist Church, Palo Pinto, Texas; and Belmont Baptist Church, Abilene, Texas, before being called to First Baptist Nashville where he served loyally for nearly 30 years. 
During his First Baptist Nashville ministry, Rus helped thousands of people know God’s love. He wrote and delivered over 1,000 sermons, baptized over 75 people, and performed over 120 weddings and over 200 funerals for families, bringing joy and comfort. Rus was a world-traveler for Christ, leading trips to Rome, Costa Rica, Rio de Janeiro, Russia, the Middle East, Europe, North Africa, and Canada, to name a few. Rus always had time for others in need. Celebrate Recovery was a highlight of his ministry as he gave every Friday evening for years, serving adults dealing with life-struggles. His church family loved him deeply because he lived fully and brought everyone he encountered toward Jesus Christ.
You may send condolences and expressions of love to these and other family members:
Mrs. Debbie Roach
Holly, Heather and Hailey
102 Gillette Drive
Franklin, TN 37069
Mrs. Pam Sloan (Rus’s sister)
1936 Edenbridge Way
Nashville, TN 37215
God bless you and thank you for your kindness and many expressions of love,
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Costa Rica Has Low Terrorism Risk

It is nice to live in one of the 10 most low terrorism risk countries, according to the UK’s Daily Mail online news.
From:   http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/     Chamber of Commerce PR?  🙂
COUNTRIES WITH A HIGH TERRORISM RISK
And the high risk of terrorism includes my beloved Gambia West Africa, I’m sorry to say.
I’m surprised that parts of the U.S. and Europe are not included, but frequency may be a factor.
And what about this proximity to the equator? It reminds me of mission board’s 10/40 Window of non-Christians.
From   http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/   But comments above by Charlie.

“A ship is always safe at the shore – but that is NOT what it is built for.” 
― Albert Einstein