Tag: clouds

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Christmas Day Very Busy!

As I celebrated living in Costa Rica for 8 years, I had a very special Christmas Eve Dinner and this morning went to the Butterfly Conservancy in El Castillo on the lake, then hiked one of the trails here at Arenal Observatory and after another great dinner of baby back ribs, I’m going on a private Night Hike, just me and the guide! It was their suggestion since with the regular night hike of a group of 10 they knew I would find it difficult to make photos. Most of “my” lodges here really take care of this old man!  🙂 Photos from the night hike will come tomorrow.

And I haven’t had time to process photos of butterflies or anything else today, so here’s photos of the great sunny weather we had today and my first view this week of the volcano! The lake shot was at about sunset time, though the sun is not seen there this time of year, it’s still more pleasant with clear skies!  🙂  Much more to share tomorrow!

Every day so far this trip the volcano has been covered in clouds until . . .
. . . beautiful blue skies all day today – the first time to see Arenal Volcano from Arenal Observatory Lodge.
Arenal Lake at about sunset time today, Arenal Observatory Lodge.

 

 

 

 

¡Pura Vida!

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Cloudy Hills

Cloudy
Four-thirty
Dark soon

“The sun always shines above the clouds.”

~Paul F. Davis

¡Pura Vida!

Thank You!

For reading my blog! One of my host services just informed me that last month, July, I had over 2,000 views, 89 comments and 157 “Likes” with only other WordPress Bloggers having a “Like” button. So thank you for paying attention to an old man’s ramblings while retired in the natural paradise of Costa Rica! ¡Pura Vida!

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Morning Clouds

I can’t seem to quit photographing the clouds on the hills opposite my terrace! 🙂 See many other better vistas from my terrace in my gallery titled: From My Roca Verde Terrace! The vistas from my terrace are just one of the many blessings I have from my decision to color my sunset years “Retired in Costa Rica.” The two shown here were made on different days, June 2 & 15, one zoomed in on the distant clouds with my Tamron zoom lens and the second one with my cell phone camera. 🙂

Go to the top of my GALLERY and browse through many topics including especially my TRIPS galleries (my favorites) to see many more reasons I enjoy Costa Rica beyond the vistas!

Morning Clouds from My Terrace, Atenas, Costa Rica, June 2, 2022.
The hills of Atenas seen from my terrace, June 15, 2022.

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”

~Rabindranath Tagore

¡Pura Vida!

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Friday Sunrise Obliquely

There has been a wall of clouds on the horizon every morning but a higher wall this morning with some lightening strikes behind them, so not the best sunrise photos today. 🙂 The feature photo at top is looking southeast at the clouds and below is a silhouette of Brown Pelicans flying. Below that are my 5 shots from today in the order shot or seen on the beach.

Brown Pelicans Silhouetted.
Continue reading “Friday Sunrise Obliquely”
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Cloudy-Hills Sunrise

The hills opposite my hill looked like they had whipped cream on them this morning. A photo cannot replicate what I saw but here’s my effort with a 6-shot panorama. And this was late, like about 7:00 AM.

See larger image at top as header of online post.

“The sun always shines above the clouds.”

– Paul F. Davis

I look forward to totally different sunrises next week on our Caribbean coast, where I spend Monday to Monday on the beaches of Hotel Banana Azul, my favorite September retreat place.

See my CR Vistas Galleries.

¡Pura Vida!

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The Overcast Between Rains

This photo was made yesterday morning when for awhile the Hurricane Iota rains had stopped but the skies still overcast. The last hurricane (Eta) gave us 4 days of non-stop rain, so at least this one has given us a break in the rain, even if overcast! 🙂 And I even got to walk to town without opening my umbrella! 🙂 Tomorrow I will show these same hills in the sunshine from last Sunday’s walk.

Post Script: As of this morning, still very little rain compared to the identical sized hurricane on the same path, thus we are not getting as much rain from Iota as we did Eta. No two the same! 🙂

“Gray and overcast from my earthly perspective, but it’s sunny above these storm clouds. Grace lets us see life from God’s point of view.” ~Mark Hart

¡Pura Vida!

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Clouds

So, I’m photographing clouds and not even from an airplane!   🙂   The photo is from my terrace at breakfast like so many! And for more BIG SKY photos, see my gallery:  VISTAS, BEACHES, SUNRISES, SUNSETS COSTA RICA

Since Costa Rica is open for local only tourism now (and I’m local!), I thought I would reschedule that April trip to San Gerardo de Dota for the next week or two. I’m ready to go photograph some new birds and without foreigners I’m less likely to encounter the virus! So I may not wait until the July trip, though so far I’m unable to contact the right person at the Savegre Lodge with their website and email down on Friday and the guy I got on the phone was obviously not a reservations employee and had trouble understanding my bad Spanish, so I will try again this week. Like much of the world, a lot of Costa Rica is simply shut down!  I’ll just have to enjoy the clouds!    🙂    Maybe I’ll see a bird there!

“If you use your imagination, you can see lots of things in the cloud formations.“

-Charles M. Schulz

 

¡Pura Vida!

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When? Rain stops? New airport?

The clear skies from my terrace on today, December 1 (feature photo above), hint at what the next 5 months could be like as the rainy season slows down and stops for no rain in the Central Valley Dec-Apr. But like weather everywhere, there are sometimes exceptions and as a gardener I happen to like rain!   🙂    Either way, I will adapt!

The above shot is a single shot on my cell phone.

Below is a composite shot on big camera yesterday with clouds.

Nov-30_Panorama1 copy

Plans for New Airport in Orotina, Costa Rica on Hold

This Article Title link is to an old newspaper article that still holds true today as the government here is not yet ready to spend billions of dollars on a new airport (25 minutes west of Atenas) which would be in a lower, flatter, larger valley of farm land for much greater expansion than the current international airport in Alajuela (45 minutes east of Atenas) which is basically land-locked with expensive developments, though closer to the capital of San Jose. The new one would be closer to the Pacific Coast beaches and resorts.

The debate will probably never end (seen in responses to above article) and it will never happen until both the president and the legislature make it a priority which they still have not done. I expect to die before it actually happens, if ever, and it really doesn’t matter that much to me. 45 minutes is close enough to a major airport!   🙂

New Airpor Artist's Renditiont
Artist rendering of new airport in Orotina.

And a “Profile” is on the CAPA Center for Aviation website.

Plus I’m happy with the new Domestic Terminal (my photo gallery) at the current airport, since my only flights now are short hops within Costa Rica on little local planes with Sansa Airlines. So if you’ve heard there will be a new San Jose Costa Rica International Airport, don’t expect it before 2030, if ever, unless you want to donate money to the government to build it and maybe get your name on it!   🙂

¡Pura Vida!

 

 

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Clouds & Rain

May is the beginning of “Rainy Season” in the Central Valley of Costa Rica including Atenas and this year there has been more rain and clouds than I remember having my previous four Mays and most agree, while the real “oldtimers” say this is just the old normal for the first month of rainy season. So . . . whatever! Things are fresh and green all over Costa Rica right now and it is my favorite time of year and though locals call it “Winter,” most also prefer this time of year too. And less gringos too!  🙂  Just a shower every afternoon and some early mornings or at night which I like for sleeping!   🙂

The top photo is a panorama of 4 shots with my 600mm telephoto lens and below is the less-focused snap of Atenas Central on my cell phone, both from my terrace at breakfast this morning.

20190527_064259-A-WEB

AccuWeather Forecast for Atenas – centigrade temps of course!  🙂

Weather Channel 10-day Forecast for Atenas  – both fairly accurate

 

The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

¡Pura Vida!