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| This is the lounge on the veranda where the hummingbird landed after flying into the glass wall behind it. See the story below for more photos. |
“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”
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| The pretty little hummingbird was stunned after hitting the glass wall and landed on the round chaise lounge. |
Yesterday, another rainy day, we stayed indoors watching the news with our thoughts constantly on the horrific shootings in Las Vegas. Heartbreaking, frightening, and beyond belief, the events and stories surrounding the attack continue to wrench one’s heart.
Having family living in Las Vegas, including son Richard and sister Susan and family, and Tom’s nephew John and family coupled with the fact we’re residents of the state of Nevada, made us feel a special affinity as the details rolled out.
We were impressed with how first responders, medical professionals, and private citizens rallied to assist, resulting in many heroic events. No doubt, thousands of lives may have been saved by their selfless, efficient, and fast responses.
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| Tom noticed the red coloring on their chin. |
We discussed security measures at hotels we’ve encountered throughout the day in our world travels that may have been instrumental in preventing this particular type of attack as perpetrated by this heinous human being.
We concluded that in only one hotel over these past five years of world travel, we have seen security that may have been instrumental in preventing this particular type of attack. Although, the shooter may have arranged a different location from which to exact this attack.
When we stayed in Denpasar Bali, close to the airport on three separate occasions at the Hilton Garden Inn Bali Ngurah Rai Airport, we were surprised to note that no one was allowed entry into the hotel lobby without going through security, both the walk-through scanner and the scanner for all bags and belongings.
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| Spreading their wings to see if flying was possible. |
Here’s one of our links from the Bali hotel. The security station is located to the right and not shown in these photos. (Most security guards don’t allow photos taken of the scanning equipment).
At first, we thought the scanners were a little off-putting, based on the inconvenience, comparable to security at an airport. After discussing it, we realized it would make sense at all hotels and hadn’t given it another thought until the news broke on the events in Las Vegas a few days ago, on October 1st.
Regardless of any potential security measures, there are endless means of bringing harm to others, even excluding the use of weaponry. I won’t go on a rant about “gun control,” one way or another, since we prefer to keep our political views from imposing upon this travel-related site.
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| Soon, an attempt to fly may be possible. |
Questions remain as to the “why” this attack occurred. But, as mentioned in yesterday’s post, the answer may never be found. We all wait, watching the news hoping an answer comes forward, giving us some sense of relief that it wasn’t premeditated “murder” from what may have been enacted by a “sane” person. But, would a sane person perform such an outrageous act?
Can it be justified by some form of mental illness or a brain tumor? Or do we long to hear it due to an affiliation with a radical group either inside or outside the US? As above, most likely, we’ll never know. But if we do, will we discover a sense of relief to know the “why”? Most likely, we won’t. The deed is done. The horror remains.
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| Shortly after this photo, they flew away so quickly Tom couldn’t get a photo. But, he saw them fly to the nearby tree and then back to the feeder for another “sip” of our homemade nectar. Whew! |
Today, the news reverts to some of the other horrible events globally, including the aftereffects of Hurricane Maria that ravaged Puerto Rico. How will the ravage born by this natural disaster ever reconcile? Lives lost, homes lost, and an entire country reeling, wondering how they’ll ever put their lives back together—sad stories.
Also, today, we share several photos Tom took yesterday afternoon of a precious little hummingbird that had flown into the glass wall after hovering not far from the bird feeder we keep well-stocked with sugar water. The poor little thing was stunned but miraculously survived and flew away a short time later. Great photos, Honey! They brought a smile to my face on an otherwise sad day.
May your day bring you wonders, however small, putting smiles back on your faces!
Photo from one year ago today, October 3, 2016:
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| The front of the property is located at the end of the road, resulting in no passing traffic. Last year this villa was priced at EU 249,000, US $279,017, IDR 3,616,896,723 CRC 159,388,461. For more details, please click here. |