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One more little book for this year, a 7×7 inch book of 41 nature quotes by famous naturalists printed on my nature photos. A good gift for the naturalist in your life! 🙂 And another creative outlet for me! 🙂
See a free preview of book by clicking above cover image or go to this web address: https://www.blurb.com/b/12572121-quoting-nature
¡Pura Vida!
And because I’m almost two weeks ahead on blog posts, I will just send this one out as an “extra” post now. 🙂
More than 25% of Costa Rica’s forests and land is protected by the government in official National Parks, Wildlife Refuges and Biological Reserves. On top of that there are many “private reserves” that some people say brings the protected percentage closer to 30% but no data on that. And according to Google’s AI:
“With over 615 wildlife species per 10,000 sq km, Costa Rica sits atop of the list as the most bio-diverse region of the world.”
¡Pura Vida!
¡Pura Vida!
I now wear hearing aids – a very high quality, made in Denmark. My ENT (with free public healthcare) who is monitoring my head and neck for any possible resurgence of that cancer removed in 2021, also now takes good care of my ears, nose and throat, his specialty. 🙂 When I told him that I could not hear much, if anything, with my left ear, he gave me a hearing test that showed it was sure enough not functioning well and in the process learned that even my right ear was not functioning as good as it could. Radiation Therapy could have possibly caused this, “but don’t worry, we’ll fix it!”
This week I started wearing a hearing aid in each ear, adjusted to fit my needs through the audiologist’s laptop computer. (Everything is computer-related now!) I even have the option of getting the software for my cell phone so I can adjust the volume, etc. myself on my own electronically. I decided to wait a little while before I jump into that technology. 🙂 I seem to stay overwhelmed by technology every day.
The public health hospitals don’t now have audiologists, so they pay a private practice audiologist right here in Atenas to order the hearing aids, fit them to my particular needs (each ear separately). For now I will be seeing him once a month until everything is working smoothly for my hearing and then as often as needed, plus I have his personal phone number I can call any time. And none of this has (or will ever) cost me a penny, thanks to the forward thinking government of Costa Rica.
And I really like the Tico young man who is my audiologist, Leiner Rodriquez, who tried to explain away his German first name as something his mother just liked at that time! 🙂 I look forward to working with him to hear better! It seems like every day I have another reason to be glad that I moved to Cost Rica. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
And like with most of the young everywhere it seems, the grass appears greener on the other side of the fence! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
This is one of the “resident” herons that do not migrate north during the rainy season. Same with the Black-crowned Night Heron, Boat-billed Heron (I shared a few days ago), Green Heron and other similar herons. While we did not see on our boat tour any Little Blue Herons, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets or Snowy Egrets because they have all migrated north until around October when they begin returning to avoid the winter up north. See more of my photos of Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Nyctanassa violacea in that gallery.
¡Pura Vida!
And in the past I would have shared photos of the parade in Atenas, but the hot sun and often long time sitting on a little plastic stool or if early enough, a concrete bench is beginning to be too much for me, so no report on yesterday’s patriotic parade in Atenas. Here is Google’s AI summary of what goes on every September 15:
“Yesterday’s Independence Day celebrations in Costa Rica included the traditional “Foles” or lantern parade the night before, followed by patriotic school parades, flag ceremonies, and student performances on the actual holiday, September 15th, emphasizing unity, hope, and freedom. The day honors Costa Rica’s 1821 independence from Spain with national pride and cultural traditions.”
RUNNING OF THE TORCH Tico Times article on that event.
Jaco was the only town with a parade amateur video posted online last night when I did this. Jaco is a beach town west of Atenas and their parade seems more hectic than ours! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Today’s article in The Washington Post titled England’s King Charles III lives another, slower life in Transylvania (Linked, but sometimes papers don’t allow non-subscribers to read, which is stupid!). But anyway, it reminded me of the “Nature Escape” I found in Costa Rica. 🙂 Transylvania, Romania has remained undeveloped with a high respect for “wildness” and has one of the highest species counts of wildlife and plants left anywhere in Europe! (Of course not near as many species as Costa Rica!) 🙂 But both Charles’s have the right idea! 🙂 The tranquility of nature is the best way to live one’s life, especially in our fading years!
If you cannot get in The Washington Post article linked above, you might be interested in this older online article: Nature, Tradition & Privacy. And of course YouTube has videos:
It is just two minutes, saying why he likes the little village in Romania, while the next one below is a longer 18 minute video from the Royal Family giving more details of the village . . .
“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks” – John Muir
¡Pura Vida!
Sometimes one of my photo books “just happens” and not as originally planned! 🙂 I now give a gift book to each of my favorite lodges each time I visit and no longer do custom books for the lodges, so I needed a new gift book (which other visitors to that lodge will enjoy). Plus I sometimes give one of my doctors or other persons serving me a gift book and was needing a newer and fresher book.
I started out with the idea of just 8-10 photos in each of 3 categories: birds, butterflies and landscapes and would call it “Birds, Butterflies & the Bucolic.” (I like aliterations!) But I started curating photos of birds first. After the Hummingbirds I started choosing from the many water birds (seashore and freshwater) and collected so many I liked that I suddenly changed my mind and said it would be a “water birds book.” And even that turned out to be more photos and pages than intended, but I am pleased with this latest creation! 🙂
As always, you can see it without buying. Simply click on the cover image below or the web address that follows. In the bookstore page (link) under the cover photo is a PREVIEW button. Click that and you can see the entire book electronically for free! Click a page to turn it. 🙂 And I hope you enjoy my latest effort to be creative! 🙂 And if you like electronic books, there’s a cheaper PDF version you can download immediately.
CLICK above book cover or go to this address for a free PREVIEW: https://www.blurb.com/b/12521048-wind-spirits
¡Pura Vida!
You can see more in my GALLERY: Leaves and Nature Things.
¡Pura Vida!
Thanks to my friend Steve for these photos! Today a bus load of 28 Democrat friends here in Atenas joined approximately 150 U.S. Expats living in Costa Rica to protest in front of the U.S. Embassy for the world-wide “No Kings Rally” against Donald Trump. I was not there because of old man health issues but pleased to share these photos that Steve published. I surely hope that the American people are waking up to the need to resist this very dangerous man and hopefully impeach him soon.
RESIST!
Just playing around with photos of the indigenous man statue in my garden with 5 different views . . .
