WALKING PATHS in My Life Today

Next to maybe “Nature” in general or “Birds” specifically, nothing describes my life of being “Retired in Costa Rica” better than “WALKING!” For seven years now without a car I have learned to get to most needed places on foot; walking to town, to the supermercado or farmacia, to a restaurante; and even better, walking for fun or the discoveries of nature on city sidewalks, my “Country Lane” or “Country Road” walks for photos of birds or other nature and best of all the many wonderful wilderness trails I’ve discovered in national parks and reserves across this beautiful, natural country of Costa Rica. My life here has made experiencing nature and walking (hiking) almost synonymous! The feature photo at top is one of the horizons I experience on “Country Lane” and other paths in Atenas with one of my trip trails below . . .

Titi Trail, Bosque del Cabo Rainforest Lodge, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
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WALKING PATHS of My Adult Life

Had I not married, hiking would have been my avocation or how I spent all my time when not working to pay the bills. 🙂 But that’s not the way my life worked out. So I squeezed in as much as I could, though mostly before marriage and after the divorce with some during marriage, and the memories of all those times among nature are some of the greatest treasures I have. Most of my photography on backpacking trips and day hikes were of the scenery and nature, but I have a few of me on the hiking trails I will show below on the post-email section of the blog, plus even more of hiking groups I either led (most of them) or participated in group hikes. These will be galleries and you can click an image to see its larger full-frame pix and/or a manual slideshow if you wish.

For the 10 years I lived in downtown Nashville I walked nearly every day in Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park.

The feature photo at top is of my Vasque Hiking Shoes, the best hiking shoes I ever had!

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WALKING PATHS of My Childhood

Walking was as natural as breathing. Everything we did included walking paths! As a child, walking became a natural part of daily life but somehow was never something the family photographed. 🙂 Thank goodness for that street photographer that gave us several shots like this one over those early years in Fort Smith!

1945 Downtown Ft. Smith, AR with Me between Mom & Grandmother, brother Jerry at right.
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WALKING PATHS of My Life

Walking – the main physical activity of my life since around age 1 – purposefully made important in my adult years – and now that I no longer own a car and live surrounded by nature in Costa Rica – WALKING the PATHS of Nature is even more central in my life. The feature photo at top is a hiking trail at the Trogon Lodge, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, one of many I experience here.

This begins a brief blog post series of just 5 more days on one of the most important things of my life, walking!

The motivation for the series came in part from the book, In Praise of Paths: Walking through Time and Nature, by Torbjørn Ekelund, a Norwegian young man diagnosed with Epilepsy who now walks everywhere and also does cross-country hikes in a bigger way than I’m able to at twice his age! 🙂

I will not copy or repeat the book, but discuss the influence of walking since before my birth through my now car-less retirement in Costa Rica! 🙂

Above: A Walking Path at Xandari Nature Resort, Alajuela, Costa Rica.
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FAVE BIRDS: Resplendent Quetzal

The first in my series of favorite bird photos since moving to Costa Rica is almost everyone’s favorite, the Resplendent Quetzal (eBird description) found in the cloud forests of Costa Rica and some other Central American countries that is an endangered species or “near threatened.” See my other photos of this beauty in my CR Resplendent Quetzal Gallery with photos from three different trips to San Gerardo de Dota and two trips to Monteverde, the two best places to find and photograph this colorful bird in Costa Rica. Note that it is the national bird of Guatemala, but on my three trips there I never saw one.

Resplendent Quetzal, San Gerardo de Dota

Backstory

On my first trip to Costa Rica in 2009 on a birding tour, one of our stops was the Hotel Savegre in San Gerardo de Dota and I made this close-up here of what I think is a younger male Resplendent Quetzal than the one in the top photo because his tail was not as long. They took us to a nearby farm and pointed to a wild avocado tree where Quetzales would come to eat if we waited patiently. Most everyone sat on a little hill beside the tree to see the birds when they came in and that was where I started . . .

But when someone else crawled down under the tree to shoot from below, I decided to also be different and joined him. A good decision! we were much closer to the birds when they flew in and that is how I got this closeup shot of a young male in brilliant Christmas colors that served as my Christmas card one year! The other shot above this is I think of a more mature adult with long flowing tail that was made this year in January during a week stay at the remodeled and enlarged Hotel Savegre! I love it there! 🙂

San Gerardo de Dota

I love all of San Gerardo de Dota and have had good experiences in 2 other lodges there, Trogon Lodge and the simple little cabins at Cabinas El Quetzal, then called Mariam’s Cabinas. But without a doubt, Hotel Savegre is my favorite for service, food and facilities plus the number of birds seen. See my photo galleries listed below for photos from each location.

Monteverde

I found it a little more difficult to find Quetzales in Monteverde, but they are there and you will see in my galleries I got some good photos there too including a nesting couple. I just prefer San Gerardo de Dota. One trip to Monteverde was with the Costa Rica Birding Club and we stayed in cabins. My solo trip was at Monteverde Lodge and Gardens which I highly recommend with a great restaurant and super guides to guarantee you find birds of all kinds, including the Quetzal. Plus it is very good birding on the lodge’s large property of forest and gardens. I love it there too! 🙂

My Trip Galleries that include Quetzales

“Not all those who wander are lost”

~ J.R.R. Tolkien

¡Pura Vida!

FAVE BIRDS: The Next Blog Series + Health Update

Starting tomorrow I am going to share some of my favorite bird photos out of literally thousands of over 350 species of birds here. It has been very difficult to choose just a few favorites. I started with 40 and whittled it down to 21 and gave up after that, so over the next three weeks I’ll be sharing 21 bird photos of 21 different species of birds found here, introducing the species, including a link to the eBird description, a link to my gallery on that species, and I’m writing a “Backstory” about each particular photo I’m sharing. It seems that there is a story behind every photo! 🙂 I hope you will find it interesting and revealing about Costa Rica for both nature lovers and birders! And oh yes, the two bird photos in this post did not make the cut for a feature, so they decorate this post! 🙂

I’m working ahead on the series and trying to make each blog post a visual work of art as well as a valuable chunk of information about a bird species in Costa Rica, including where I found it and which lodge I stayed it. I trust they will become valuable tools for future visitors and new expat residents of Cost Rica, starting tomorrow with the beautiful Resplendent Quetzal!

Yellow-throated Euphonia & the Feature Photo at Top is a Gray-cowled Woodrail

Update on My Health and Latest Cancer Report

First, I recently had the same CAT Scan (called TAC here) they did to diagnose the cancer and it shows me totally cancer-free after the surgery and 7 weeks of radiation. That is good news!

Now the effects of the radiation still have not all gone away and usually do not for about a year for most patients, meaning I may be “normal” by next July. 🙂 The left side of my face & neck + the left ear are all still swollen or enlarged somewhat. That is normal the first year. My smile is almost “normal” now, not totally lopsided on right side only as after surgery. I will always have to deal with my left eye not blinking or being able to fully close. I use eye drops two or three times a day and wear an eye patch most of the time except for about 3 hours in the morning.

I am still low on energy or tired a lot, wanting to sleep more and that is normal for the first year they say. My taste has partially recovered though not totally and they say that can take as much as 6 months to a year to fully recover, so I’m much closer to normal there! Though my appetite is still not high and my weight is still lower than before. I drink an Ensure protein shake once a day to help keep me healthy and otherwise try to eat healthy.

Mentally/emotionally I am fine and generally have a positive attitude about life regardless what is happening. So in short, I’ve made great improvements and I’m overall feeling very well, just not planning as many activities as before. Plus at 81 I needed to slow down anyway! 🙂 And these new series of blog posts using past photos is one example of how I’m slowing down while remaining creative. But I will be adding new trips and new photos, just not as frequently now! 🙂

¿Cómo estás? – ¡Total bien! 🙂 That’s how most people answer here regardless how they really feel! 🙂 The positive and helpful attitudes of Costa Ricans is also healing to me! I’m so glad I live here now!

¡Pura Vida!

Finished The Two Towers + Reasons to Move to CR

I have finished reading the Lord of the Rings books through Tolkien’s original 4th book or the published second of three big books, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Wikipedia) and I have watched the second of the three big movies, The Two Towers Movie (Wikipedia), which again doesn’t follow the book exactly but as with the first is very well done and accurate or very close to the book. Though I had read the books before, I had forgotten how long they are and how much detail Tolkien includes in every chapter, almost overwhelming at times, but of course is a super story like none other! I’ve now started the 3rd or final installment, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King book.

Just finished both book & movie.

16 Reasons Why You Should Move to Costa Rica

Last week Christopher had an article in Tico Times on Why Not Move to Costa Rica and this week he shares the converse of reason you SHOULD move to Costa Rica! 🙂 https://ticotimes.net/2021/10/23/16-reasons-why-you-should-move-to-costa-rica

¡Pura Vida!

A Revised Book

Back in July I announced a cheap little paperback book about me being retired in Costa Rica to introduce my nature photography and blog. It was titled Experiencing Nature (link to blog post) and after I received copies of it I was very disappointed in how the photos looked on the cheap or “standard” paper! Never again! I have destroyed the copies that I ordered to give away and created a newer version on premium photo paper and since it costs $20 instead of $8, I will not be giving as many away, 🙂 -but it is a much better book now with a revised title: Retired in Costa Rica, Experiencing Nature for Life and improvements inside. Click that link or the cover image below for a free PREVIEW of all 20 pages!

The replacement book about my life in paradise! 🙂

These photo books are just another creative outlet for me, giving me a record of my experiences here and great gifts for the lodges I visit! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

Too Much Free Time?

NEVER! Since I retired at the end of 2002 that has not been a problem for me, though as a former “work-obsessed American,” what I did with my “free time” was at first very important to me, making sure I was “accomplishing something” all of the time! Not now!

This and feature photo at top made from hill above my house, inspiration points! 🙂

This so-called “Free Time” was brought to my mind Wednesday as I read this article in The Washington Post: Why having too much free time can be as bad for you as having too little and I apologize if you can’t read it as a non-subscriber, but I think they allow you one article for free. That article is mostly focused on people still working and not us retirees. But it motivated my little essay here on free time:

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