After the jeep ride up the mountain (yesterday’s post) going past the mirador (Spanish for a vista overlook platform), we stopped at the trailhead for multiple trails. Me and the 3-generation Tico family chose the shorter trail through the forest down to the Savegre Mirador. Just one experience here, so be sure to see the others in theHiking the Pioneers Trail Photo GALLERY.
An 800 Year Old Tree says “Hug Me!”A Mother & Child Hug the 800 year old Tree.
And for more pix on the trails at Savegre, click the linked blog post below titled “Trails and Trees” where Marino Chacón (a different son of the founder than this year) took me on a longer trails hike for the early morning bird hike back in January 2021, just the 2 of us.
Underdog Day (December 15): If you watched this past year’s World Cup, you know the power of an underdog story. Unknowns Morocco and Croatia gained millions of fans as they upset top-ranked soccer teams. But underdogs are everywhere. The shy classmate running for student government. The teammate who is usually on the bench. Cheer for them today. Your support may be what helps them achieve their goals. And feel better about themselves. I know. As one of the shy, unknown kids in my 1958 H.S. graduating class of a thousand other kids, I received a citizenship award that the local newspaper called “The Typical Jane and Joe Award,” with a photo of me and an equally shy and unknown girl. It made us both feel better about ourselves! 🙂 Try to make someone you know feel better about themselves today!
This past Friday was the 15th of September, Independence Day for Costa Rica, when in 1821 it shed the colonial rule of Spain. In this small but very significant little developing country, patriotism is big and almost everyone wears red, white & blue and many decorate their houses with banners and flags. I wore my national futbol (soccer) shirt, red, white & blue! 🙂
And almost every town of any size has a parade, usually featuring their local schools, and Atenas is no exception! 🙂 I have for several years now been photographing it most years (when not traveling) with galleries for those years included in my super-gallery: PEOPLE, FIESTAS & ARTS Costa Rica. Which of course now includes a gallery for this year’s 2023 Desfile del Día de la Independencia, Atenas. And here is a sample photo from each of the 7 sub-galleries in this year’s parade gallery . . .
The new Central Park Playground has been finished and open for maybe two months and I’m just slow reporting on it. At first I reacted negatively to all the bright colors and what looks like cheap Chinese Plastic, but I think I mis interpreted! It is designed for younger Elementary School and Preschool kids and now I think it is perfect for them! And the artificial turf too! The other day I stopped by one afternoon after many kids would be out of school and it wasn’t raining and there was a lot of activity! It was fun for me to see the creativity of some kids using the space under the tree house or slide and climbing wall to gather as in their “clubhouse.” The hyper little boys had plenty to keep them busy and I noticed for older elementary kids maybe, there was a tic-tac-toe wall with changeable X’s and O’s. Clever! And as expected, the swings were the busiest. I tried not to get any closeup photos of children and their faces for their privacy, staying on the periphery for all photos. Here’s four . . .
Today, July 24 is National Cousins Dayin the United States and for those interested in family history or just family memories, it could be very important, for almost everyone has at least one cousin who keeps up with family memories and history or genealogy and then there are the many times we played together as children, almost always outdoors as most of my old photos show. And there’s a brief article on the National Days Archives site. And the feature photo at top is at a 1948 Hardgrave family reunion with me in the very center.
That’s me on the left with HL “Bubba,” Barbara Ann, and Don Hardgrave in 1944 wartime.
You may not see cousins much, but you have a lot in common. Spending Thanksgiving at “the kids table.” Avoiding the great aunt who wears too much perfume. Helping Grandpa learn to text. Because cousins don’t live with you, they probably also know a family story you haven’t heard. It’s a good day to find out. HAPPY COUSINS DAY! See my “Cousins Gallery” below, mostly from the 1940″s! 🙂
And though I have no specific cousins pages or stories, they are generally included in my Family History Pages on this website and photos in the Family History Photos Gallery. So “Hello!” out there to all my Hardgrave and Doggett cousins who actually read my blog! 🙂 I have lots of memories of us as children together and should have already written those down! Maybe I will before it is too late! 🙂
And this would be my favorite “holiday” though I see every day as a “Get Outdoors Day!” 🙂 Again from the Washington Post article on strange and silly holidays that in this case I don’t see as either strange or silly! 🙂 June 10 – National Get Outdoors Day!
U.S. National Get Outdoors Day, June 10
This day is part of a month-long U.S. celebration of the outdoors and the benefit of spending more time there. Picnic with your family at a local park. Go kayaking or paddle boarding. Ride on a bike trail you have never explored. Whatever you do, do it outdoors.
This weird holiday may be related to an old custom. In the early 1900s, putting a piece of bedsheet or nightshirt in the larder (food-storage cupboard) was supposed to bring plentiful food. After refrigerators replaced larders, the tradition shifted to pillows. Give it a try, and perhaps the fridge will be stocked with your favorite foods.
And as I expected, it is very modern or contemporary and seems to be geared to preschool and younger primary school kids. My feature shot at top shows a young couple holding up their child to see the installation. Below is a shot of the workers installing the new play things and artificial turf which I guess is better than the gravel base installed earlier. 🙂 I made these shots yesterday and expect it to be several days before it is open for the kids to play on when I will make another cell phone shot of an active playground. 🙂 For new followers of this blog, this one area of the Atenas Central Park is just one of many very slow steps in this small town’s renovating the Central Park here for 3 or 4 years now. You can see all of my Park Renovation photos in the photo gallery: Remodeling Central Park Atenas.
Workers installing playground equipment and artificial turf in the new playground for the Central Park Atenas.
Another fun and silly holiday from an article in the Washington Post — April 12 – National Grilled Cheese Day! And maybe I will make my favorite combination of Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwich (just like Mom used to make)! 🙂
Half the fun of eating a grilled cheese is slowly pulling apart the halves to watch strings of the gooey cheese stretch and finally break. You may appreciate that cheesy reveal even more if you make it yourself. Ask an adult to help you master this lunchtime classic.
