BEING HERE NOW, AND BEING SOMEWHERE LATER....

Being here now, and being somewhere later...

In just over three weeks I'll be leaving this Costa Rican paradise for Oregon, my home for the past 40 years. I'll be trading the exotic taste of guanabanas for mouthfuls of freshly-picked blueberries, the sweet juice of mangoes running down my chin for the sticky juice of peaches covering my lips and running down my fingers, the fragrance of a just-harvested pineapple for the scent of a handful of strawberries that speaks to me of summer memories. The view I see this morning and every day, all day--that of the Pacific Ocean, Golfo Dulce, the Osa Peninsula, Playa Zancudo, the flowers and trees and the monkeys--soon they, too, will be sweet memories of a time of discovering and learning. And just what is it that I've discovered and learned?  (scroll down)

Guanabana and a mountain apple, also called a water apple, not to be confused or compared with an apple in the USA

Guanabana and mangoes make great smoothies!

Solitude. I've learned to be quiet with my own thoughts, to watch a sunset without speaking a word, to listen to the melodies of uncounted numbers of birds and know that they're singing to me, for me. To be alone and not be lonely. To live every day without the social stimulation I thrive on in my other life, yet I know that is still something that I want to be a part of my life no matter where I am. To be with one other person and know that it is I who am responsible for what joy I find in living. To finish a book, pick up another, finish a book and pick up another, and continue that cycle until there are no more books to read, and then to be content with reading my own mind. To find solace in the knowledge that I have no regrets about living my life—how I've lived, where I've lived, and why I've lived the way I have.   

Another amazing sunset over the Osa Peninsula

"Kibbitzing"

One morning I was on the back deck hanging laundry out when something caught my eye in a nearby tree, just feet away from where I stood.  I looked intently to see what it was, and, lo and behold, it was a sloth.  It took more than an hour to move from tree to tree to tree.

Skills.  I've discovered that I can cook, even if I don't like to or want to, and that I can cook well and creatively. I've discovered that I can stand up on a paddle board and not worry about falling into the ocean and being eaten by a shark. I can breathe humidity in and out and know how to adjust my energy expenditure. I can have long(er) hair and keep it frizz-free. Driving a four-wheel drive truck is not scary at all....turn the knobs on the wheels, then hop back in the truck, foot on the clutch and shift, and away we go. Driving on the Costa Rican roads is another story...but I've learned how to anticipate huge and almost-hidden potholes which could destroy a vehicle, and to always be aware of what may lay ahead, including two stopped cars in the middle of the road, their drivers chatting away. Doing laundry in cold water with a small amount of laundry powder is satisfactory if I have a bottle of Zout handy to help with stain removal. Heating pots of water to do the dishes offers time out after dinner to meditate or contemplate the day just ending; meditating and contemplating are skills worth acquiring. Telling the difference between the songs and chatter of a parrot, a hawk, a toucan, and a house wren. Stepping quietly while my monkey neighbors play with each other, eating and swinging from the trees surrounding us, all the while keeping their eyes on me, they and I so curious about each other. Choosing from a limited wardrobe for seven months. Why, I bet I would be a great candidate for that television show, Survivor.  (scroll down)

Making chocolate from organic cacao, from scratch...the best!!  

Collared Aracari, or as the Ticos call them, Cusinga....from the Toucan family.   Real pretty!

As my time in Paradise winds down, I am finding myself Being Here Now, as Ram Dass' book so long ago beckoned us to consider. I want to savor each and every sound, sight and scent, to carry all of these memories with me, wherever I go, and to always be grateful for what I've been given in my life. I do not know what I will do after November, where I'll be...but there is one truth I do know. Wherever I find myself, I'll be there then.  (scroll down)

Beautiful haliconia

Here's to the journey of a lifetime...my journey....(with amaretto and pineapple juice), and no haircut for seven months!

I've been singing this song since just after high school, when I left New England for Colorado.  One of my favorites, On the Road to Find Out by Cat Stevens, part of it reprinted below:

Well I left my happy home
To see what I could find out
I left my folks and friends
With the aim to clear my mind out

Well I hit the rowdy road
And many kinds I met there
And many stories told me of the way to get there

So on and on I go, the seconds tick the time out
There's so much left to know, and I'm on the road to find out

In the end I'll know
But on the way I wonder
Through descending snow
And through the frost and thunder

I listen to the wind come howl
Telling me I have to hurry
I listen to the robin's song
Saying not to worry

So on and on I go, the seconds tick the time out
So much left to know, and I'm on the road to find out!