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| Terraced farming in Costa Rica creates a lovely scene. |
“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”
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| View from the veranda during the tropical depression. The clouds were so slow they were ground level in the valley. |
These past days have been stormier than we’ve seen anywhere in the world during this past almost five years of world travel. Rain, wind, and constant humidity surround us as we’ve been safely situated midway up a mountain.
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| Terraced farming on a steep hill. |
Over the past days, several stories of loss of life in Costa Rica have swirled around the news. When house cleaner Isabel arrived a few minutes ago, she explained in Spanish that a 19-year-old young man, a close family friend, had been killed in a landslide a short distance from here. Heartbreaking. She showed me his photo on her phone.
It’s easy for us to sit back and feel safe in this higher elevation, but even so, there’s a certain risk of more landslides for hilly properties. So this morning, it appeared we’d have a reprieve when the sun came out, and we ran around opening the many sliding glass doors.
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| After weeks of rain and clouds, a blue sky is a welcomed sight. |
Over the past few days, we’ve been able to smell mildew and note dampness on everything we touch. For example, when we had to print a document on the in-house printer, the few sheets of paper in the printer were literally damp. Luckily, we’d recently purchased a block of paper, tucking it away in a desk drawer. We’ve never experienced such constant humidity.
Luckily, the temperature is cool enough to avoid being miserable without air conditioning. One of the many overhead fans provides us with all the cooling we need.
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| Lush greenery is found everywhere in Costa Rica. |
Tom continues to “exercise the zippers” on our luggage that have metal zippers. The few new pieces we purchased in the US have plastic zippers, which greatly benefit us when we often live in humid conditions.
We’re grateful there’s a lull in the storm so we can get out soon to grocery shop. We haven’t shopped for food in two weeks, and we’re down to the “bottom of the barrel.” We’re out of vegetables and many staples.
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| Pretty blankets for sale along the road. |
When we shopped at PriceSmart two weeks ago today, we’d purchased enough meat and chicken to last for a month. But, with only 47 days remaining until we fly to Florida for the cruise, it makes no sense to purchase large sizes of anything.
We haven’t purchased any fish here. With an increased risk of eating farmed or shore-caught fish, my current gastrointestinal condition prevents me from any enthusiasm for overeating fish or seafood of any type. Unfortunately, this may not change when we are on the 30-night cruise.
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| Views from a recent road trip. |
As I continue to prepare this post, the sun is gone, dark and ominous clouds rolling in. We’d better hightail out of here to get to the market for food, or we’ll be eating only meat and cheese for dinner.
Julio and the workers are here clearing the big tree that came down yesterday due to the storm. Photos will follow tomorrow.
Have a safe day!
Photo from one year ago today, October 6, 2016:
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| Notice the buffalo in the rear of this photo when we cautiously wandered down the road where Tom had his buffalo experience. For more details, please click here. |