So, I thought this bug was very attractive when it showed up on my door screen the other day.
It’s about the 3″ across. A moth? Reminds me of a pair of oak tree helicopters.
I was so surprised to find the next day that it had changed into these beautiful velvety colors.
And by the third day, I can only surmise that it’s a very short life cycle.
All of the broken fans didn’t all end up in the landfill. Some washed down the river and returned to the beach with the tide. Trash pick-up in Costa Rica only happens in urban locales. So, if you don’t have a car, are you going to take it to town on the bus? Probably not.
Summer is over here in Costa Rica – usually December through April – and it’s cooled off. Back in November, we saw for the first time an abundance of inexpensive table fans for sale and we all bought them. Expecting a summer hotter and drier than usual, which proved to be true, we out one in every room. Now the season has ended and those cheap fans are dotting the garbage piles in town to be picked up by the trucks Wed. morning and carried off to the land fill. Our own are still working fine but this climate is tough on equipment: humidity and salt air. It begs two questions, “Is cheaper better?” and “Do we have a choice anymore?”
The raging Mala Noche river received a lot of rain last night, a real good soaker. And this morning it flows for the first time since November. After the “first flush” the bay is brown with soil eroded from the river banks above. Not so this morning.
Although it’s unfortunate that a lot of soil is lost in the bay, we take it as a good sign that the ground is saturated with rain water working its way down to the watershed. In a normal year, we would have two or three flushes by the first of June but after our drought last year, we have a lot of dry earth to soak.
While on our morning walk today, we encountered a beautiful Tarantula crawling up a rock wall. Suddenly this huge and vicious insect came in and in a bare few moments TOOK HIM OUT. Wrestled him to the floor, killed him and then flew a way. Turns out he’s a Tarantula Hawk Wasp and this is his modus operandi. Sorry the photo is so bad – I guess I was a little shook up. Nobody gets a free ride, not even Tarantulas.
Our cashew fruits are ripe on the tree. About the size and shape of a small apple, this juicy fruit is called Maranon in Costa Rica – the n needs a tilde but I can’t get my keyboard to cooperate. The fruit is juicy with a lot of texture and the skin is a little waxy. Makes a great smoothie but I like to eat them fresh.
Each fruit is host to a single cashew nut hanging from the bottom but beware. An un-informed friend of mine recently tried to eat one raw and broke out into a fiery rash that lasted nearly two weeks. Don’t try this at home. The nut is correctly processed through a number of steps including fire to get rid of the skin, shell, and caustic coatings that my friend encountered. I’m amazed they’re not even more expensive to buy than they are. Gretchen processed them once and later offered them to us. “Would you care for ONE cashew?”
In Costa Rica, Spring precedes Winter. We might be seeing right now the first signs of the coming rainy season. Rising humidity – we’ve 4 cloudy starless nights in a row – and precipitation – Tina says it rained the other day in Santo Domingo, just 4 klicks away but I didn’t feel a drop – have encouraged the trees to bloom.
The Sandal is usually the first and easily recognizable with its clumps of small salmon colored blossoms, possibly my favorite.
The Roble Sabana – Pink Trumpet tree – comes in white and pink with trumpet flowers on a dark striated bark. I always thought these were two different trees until I took a closer look.
But a third one, quite rare, had me baffled – bright fuschia. Maybe you’ve seen it on the way to Nicoya, west side of the road. I can’t find it in any of Steve’s books.
Closer examination solved the mystery, I think.
It’s actually a Verenero – Bougainvillea vine – wrapped around an Indio Desnudo – Naked Indian tree. Huh?!
The other surprise is that all of these trees, that usually come into flower in succession over the Spring weeks, are all blooming at once this year. Even the bright yellow Cortez Amarrillo – Yellow Cortez – and the flaming red Malinche – Poinciana – have open flowers right now. What does that portend for our coming Invierno – Winter?
It seems like everyone was involved in last Saturday’s cleanup of the village of El Torito and Playa Carrillo. Busloads of volunteers from UNA (Univerisida Nacional de Costa Rica) and Florida (our local bottler) collected trash and garbage from roadsides and yards. The idea is to eliminate places for standing water and breeding potential for mosquitos.
The volunteers and staff came back on Monday to continue their work in Sámara. Garbage trucks from the Municipalidad hauled it all away. This is what a “national emergency” looks like in Costa Rica: funds for equipment, gasoline, lunch, garbage bags and gloves.
And lots of volunteers.
Thank-you to all who helped.
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Summer is here in Samara/Carrillo with the return of the shore birds. As we started our morning beach walk at the estuary, we were greeted by six birds fishing together. Then further down the beach a Hawk. At the harbor, a Brown Pelican and a gull shared a rocky overlook. None of these are …
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you probably know that I have been keeping this Ponsettia alive in a planter for several years now. It lives most of the year on a shady terrace. When I move it into the sun, the leaves turn green but timing is everything. Last year it was too hot and all the leaves fell off. This year, with late rains and cooler weather, it’s still pretty green with only 10 days to go. But I think it’s beautiful in all it’s variations.
Happy holidays, however you celebrate.
Peace!
Sandy-Shorts 