The third in my series of 7×7 books on “The Birding Lodges of Costa Rica.” See all my books at my Blurb.com bookstore: http://www.blurb.com/user/store/cdoggett and my one big book of birds is available on Amazon.com.
Merry Christmas!
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| Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! Follow this blog for photos of my 23-27 Dec. trip to Selva Verde on Rio Sarapiqui. The above photo is from my neighborhood overlooking Atenas Central where we have year-around flowers! |
My Costa Rica Photo Gallery: Charlie Doggett’s COSTA RICA
Do all the good you can.
“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” ~John Wesley
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| Children playing in Havana, Cuba |
Last of My Biography Books
I have finally finished condensing many years of scrapbooks into 4 printed books. I also did a photo of each page of each original scrapbook. The original scrapbooks are all destroyed and I’m rid of about 30 boxes. My goal of simplifying life to little or no “stuff” has mostly been reached. Of course some stuff is needed and a few things you just want. But wow! It is a great feeling to not be loaded with so much stuff collected over a lifetime and now no one has to go through it when I die. 🙂 This last book is about 2006 to 2014 when I moved to Costa Rica:
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| Front cover You can thumb through book online. |
PHOTO BIOGRAPHY VOLUME 4 (2006-2014):
http://www.blurb.com/b/7466001-never-too-late-to-change-a-metamorphosis-scrapbook
PHOTO BIOGRAPHY VOLUME 3 (1999-2005):
PHOTO BIOGRAPHY VOLUME 2 (1970-1999 ):
PHOTO BIOGRAPHY VOLUME 1 (1940-1970):
Mi fiesta de cumpleaños
For my Birthday Party this year I decided to host a hamburger cookout on my terrace, catered by my favorite hamburguesa restaurant in Atenas, Donde Bocha & Owner Michael Hernandez, Chef. ¡Muy Bueno! Two birthday cakes and two pinatas! Everyone had a lot of fun!
New Photo Gallery Under Construction
For many reasons I decided to move all my Costa Rica photos into a new photo gallery outside my old PBase gallery which for now I will keep for “history” or pre-Costa Rica photos as is. After checking out several possibilities, I chose SmugMug.com as the host and I am working on a new gallery there that will be formatted more like a website I am calling:
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| Screen Print of Home Page – GO THERE NOW! |
Please be patient. It is a long way from finished since I have to upload and label each individual photo one at a time. But I think you will like it when finished! You can simply BROWSE as on any website, but also with a powerful search engine you can SEARCH for and bring up all photos for say one place name or one bird, etc. In the case of birds, they are listed alphabetically by the English name, but with SEARCH you can get a lot of other combinations.
The GALLERIES of photos are organized first in FOLDERS by subject or theme such as “Birds” or “Vistas.” In each gallery you can click the button SLIDESHOW for the best full screen viewing of those photos. Or PASS YOUR CURSOR OVER PHOTO FOR TITLE & LOCATION. Then at the bottom of each photo and top of each gallery is a button labeled BUY that takes you to a multitude of sizes and mediums to order a copy of the photo, from a regular 4×6 print or large wall hanger to a greeting card. Fun!
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Changing the subject:
Interesting Article: Expats Moving to Costa Rica Discover Healthier Lifestyles!
Tortuguero Toucans
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| Collared Aracari Toucan Eating Papaya in the village of Tortuguero, Costa Rica |
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| Black-mandibled Toucan Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica |
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| Keel-billed Toucan At Park Headquarters Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica |
All photos by Charlie Doggett and copyrighted
It is late and I am tired as we got back home from Tortuguero at nearly dinner time and I had to water the gardens. I will add more photos from Tortuguero tomorrow and the following days. And I hope you are beginning to see why I like Tortuguero so much! 🙂 Pura Vida!
The Toucan by Shel Silverstein
Tell me who can
Catch a toucan?
Lou can.
Just how few can
Ride the toucan?
Two can.
What kind of goo can
Stick you to the toucan?
Glue can.
Who can write some
More about the toucan?
You can!
Christmas Eve Anniversary! One Year in Costa Rica!
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| Merry Christmas from my Terrace where I added Poinsettias to a potted palm. A cell phone selfie. |
And the poinsettias, well, they grow in some people’s yards! Year around!
And most of the people are loving and Christ-like year around. Always Christmas!
And I have been here a full year on Christmas Eve!
It is home now! Pura Vida!
And most of the people are loving and Christ-like year around. Always Christmas!
And I have been here a full year on Christmas Eve!
It is home now! Pura Vida!
AND TONIGHT I DID WHAT I WAS TOO SICK TO DO LAST CHRISTMAS EVE! I went to the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service and Lord’s Supper at Iglesia Biblica:
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| It started with some from the Spanish congregation singing two Christmas Songs in Spanish. Beautiful! Then with the help of screens, we sang Christmas Carols, most with one verse in English & repeated in Spanish. Nice! In between the carols the English pastor read portions of the Christmas story from Luke. |
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| We ended with candle-lighting and singing of Silent Night. Then to fellowship hall for punch and Christmas Cookies plus visiting. I decided tonight to start attending regularly again, even though I still don’t care for praise bands or all the Wednesday night Bible studies (too complicated to explain). But I need the Christian fellowship! |
And now that I am home it is noisy with Christmas eve celebrations around town. There are two competing concerts or singers plus fireworks. And last night it was a soccer match celebration. These are partying people here! Any excuse will work for a party! 🙂
I Wish You A Happy Christmas!
“It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages, boxes or bags!
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!
‘Maybe Christmas’ he thought, ‘doesn’t come from a store…
Maybe Christmas perhaps… means a little bit more!'”
– Dr. Seuss
Choosing & Hanging Art
One of the toughest jobs settling in my new rent house has been choosing what art to use . . .
. . . or really, what art to keep and what to give away. I’ve done it! Here’s the results and from now on I will be focused on making new art! And oh yes, my walls are all concrete! Had to buy an electric drill and concrete drill bit. But worth it! 🙂 And landlord said I could drill all I want! I just pay for spackling and a paint job when I leave.
. . . or really, what art to keep and what to give away. I’ve done it! Here’s the results and from now on I will be focused on making new art! And oh yes, my walls are all concrete! Had to buy an electric drill and concrete drill bit. But worth it! 🙂 And landlord said I could drill all I want! I just pay for spackling and a paint job when I leave.
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| On wall opposite the kitchen I put “Reelfoot Green,” a favorite photo of mine which at 34″ x 24″ is a transition from outdoor trees in windows right and left. I see fig tree through office left and yellow bell trees through living room right. |
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| The linoleum print of “Staghorn Summac” in the Smoky Mountains was a gift from my mother-in-law. + 2 of my recent garden butterfly photos on canvas. Corner of Living Room opposite my birds wall. |
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| Coming in from balcony or sitting on couch, you see a wall of tropical birds. Photos are mine, Costa Rica & Panama, Kuna Indian Bird Mola is from Panama. Painting of Scarlet Macaw is by boatman’s wife on Amazon River Mission Trip. Bust on table if from Mali, West Africa and little basket from The Gambia. Clock with rotating pendulum was an anniversary gift from LifeWay. |
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| I normally do not like art above kitchen cabinets, but this gift from a Masaii young man of Kenya was a gift after we entertained him overnight in Memphis. The colors fit here and no where else until I find a better place rather than donate. |
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| In the laundry room off the kitchen I found a place for my Cow Weathervane photo I made at Nashville Farmers’ Market. Glad to keep it! |
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| Above my Office desk is “The Trader,” a cloth painting by a Fula artist in The Gambia West Africa and my favorite charcoal head of Christ by W. Hoffman. |
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| Opposite my desk above a brown couch/bed is a Fula Batik from The Gambia. And a favorite photo of my Amazon Indian guide waiting in the rain by canoe. |
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| Again, I normally would not put art above cabinets, but to hold on to these, I have last week’s mystery butterfly photo and my Tortuguero Sunrise photo. The dark is my bookcase and the light is my guest room/office wardrobe. Both are photos on canvas. |
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| Above my bed is the print of “Christ in Gethsemane” by Heinrich Hofmann, 1890. It was in my grandmother’s bedroom until she died. The hand-carved cross is from the Pleasant Hill Kentucky Shaker Village. My monotone brown bedroom! I know, it looks like a monk’s room! That’s okay. It is peaceful and where I sleep. |
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| My photo of a Mandinka Potter in The Gambia with a portion of Isaiah 64:8 printed on it. Opposite my bed. “O Lord, you are our Father, we are the clay, you are the potter.” |
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| As I leave my bedroom, a monkey wood carving from Makasutu Forest, Gambia. And my collection of caps to protect a mostly bald head from sunshine. Art? |
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| As you enter the hall from garden is my oil painting by Uncle Harlan of Mulberry Creek, Arkansas. |
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| Painted by my Grand Uncle Harlan Hunt of a real place in North Arkansas Ozarks. My bedroom to left and office, kitchen, living room to right. |
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| Also in hallway, going to garden are two flower pictures by bathroom door. Tennessee Tulips are my photo on canvas and Yellow Roses oil painting by my Uncle Harlan Hunt. |
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| Coming out of the bathroom you see my photo of a door in 1582 Spanish Fort San Juan, Veracruz, Mexico. Another one of my favorite photos on canvas! |
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| In the bathroom opposite the mirror is my panorama of Vinales Valley, Cuba. |
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| At 36″ wide, I think it makes a beautiful vista for a bathroom. One of my favorite shots from the Cuba tour, Vinales Valley. |
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| I emptied about two of the large boxes of art for my walls, etc. Hard decisions. There are two boxes of family photos, etc. I am keeping, for now anyway. Now the rest of these go to Su Espacio for an Art Silent Auction this Saturday to raise money for both the community center and the Atenas Marching Band and its free music school for low income children. Then I get my dining room back! And the 3 pieces of rent house art I’m keeping are the fruit paintings in dining & kitchen. I love them! |
You can pray that lots of people show up for the auction and are generous in their bids. I’m hoping to raise more than a thousand U.S. dollars or 500,000 colones. 9-11 AM this Saturday, 18 July, at Su Espacio Community Center across from the Coopeatenas gasolinera.
To see photos of the art being offered in the auction including 22 international creches, go to:
http://www.pbase.com/charliedoggett/costa_rica_art_benefit_auction_atenas
And here’s the English version of the flier we are using to advertise it:
Boxes, boxes, everywhere!
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| Some of the book boxes in my office & the African Chest unpacked already. |
I intended to move here with only what would fit in the max allowed 5 suitcases and with more preparation time I could have. But once I was on the time line to move I couldn’t get rid of everything quick enough and decided to ship about 20 boxes of scrapbooks to photograph (make digital books) and destroy hard copies here. Then there was my art collection and good number of framed and canvas photos I liked and knew I could use some of, so boxed them securely for shipping. I also had a few boxes of misc. stuff, Christmas decorations (should have given away) and some winter clothing (big mistake!).
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| And more on the other side of my office! |
I ended up with about 50 boxes shrunk wrapped on pallets that were shipped in December, arriving in Costa Rica in shared container space on a boat by February. Because I knew I would not likely stay in the apartments, I kept my boxes in storage in Alajuela near the San Jose Airport until this week when they were delivered to my new house.
Now the lovely, uncluttered house is a mess for a long while! Though I have already unpacked 4 or 5 the first day! I have to get ruthless again to clear out this stuff, like I did with all my furniture in Nashville. I’m still getting little checks from ReMix Furniture where much of my stuff was on consignment sale there.
Once I display the artwork and photos I think fit here, I will probably give the rest away. And the Christmas decorations will go to Su Espacio Community Center for their first Christmas tree this year if I can hold the decorations until maybe November. My manger scene collection may get advertised on Craig’s List Atenas.
But the scrapbooks and genealogy books/research will be the most difficult and time-consuming to deal with. And then there’s the stamp collection I didn’t get sold before the move. Craig’s List again! I’ll be busy for awhile!
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| Artwork, photos and Christmas stuff in my Living/Dining Room. Plus the wicker trunk in my bedroom. |