Pacific Specifics

  Dreams can be so interesting. However usually the thing that bores me the most is listening to other people's dreams. If you feel the same way, you can stop reading now. I want to write out mine. I'm just kidding, I think you might like this one.   I had a dream that someone asked my husband and I to help with an art studio they were putting together. We were excited about the idea, and then that guy's business partner also asked us. I told him that we said yes, but wondered how we could contribute. We are not artists, unless you include fantastic pictures of places we have traveled to.   I said we were every day art people, not the kind that go around to galleries, but the kind that go out to the forest. The kind of people who live in ordinary places, and try to make them more extraordinary. The friend said: Yes! We have a name. We will call it Everyday Art. I said how about Art Every Day? He chose EveryDay Art.   And then I woke up. see, 2 parag...

  I am drawn to silence. One of my favorite songs is The Sound of Silence. I liked the Simon and Garfunkel version, but it became my favorite when Disturbed started singing it.   I wanted to try a day of silence. I thought about it for a few whole minutes, then I just shook my head. A whole day? Good grief, not really possible. So I thought I would try half a day. I even told the people I live with: on Monday, I'm going to try half a day of silence. Starting at noon. I think I said this on Saturday.  Well, on Monday there was this parade, and I forgot all about it, because I was figuring out my costume. Today is Tuesday, and I remembered, but then I forgot. How do I pull this off? It's harder than eating right. Even if I had the support of my husband and Mom, would I be able to stay off of Facebook?? Plus, I have a trip to Denmark to plan. Could I step back from all of it, and still be in this house?   I told Ron and Mom that I would understand if they placed bets...

  I love it here! I'm trying to find a new word, because I use 'amazing' so often. But 'prodigious' isn't going to work for me. It's been another fabulous week for me.   How about today? It's almost 10am. I was supposed to go to water yoga with my Mom and a friend, but it didn't pan out. That's ok, there will be another time. The monkeys were howling starting about 4am. It's dark, I'm half awake, and these cool creatures are close by and have something to say. They were right across the street, which isn't unusual, but they seemed even louder than normal. It was constant, I could not go back to sleep. It's a good thing I love their crazy sounds, and I can always take a nap later.   Someone left a mango on the walkway upstairs, and it was half eaten in the morning. No wonder the monkeys sounded so loud! Mom says the monkeys have never been in her yard. But Ron says he examined the mango and the tracks in the dust. One of the gues...

It's time to believe! For more than a decade, if you asked me what my 3 biggest dreams were, I would have told you: to have a steady job (with normal hours) doing what I love, to go to Costa Rica for vacation, and to visit Denmark.   Last year on March 1st I started my dream job. I worked at a college teaching students with disabilities. I helped re-vamp an awesome program that is designed to help them get and keep a job. It was truly amazing. Some of the clients from my previous job were now my students. I had a super wonderful program director who appreciated me.   Last year, not long after that, we decided we should and could go to Costa Rica. My mother is one of my best friends, but I have only seen her once since I went to Costa Rica for 3 weeks in 2004. The last of our 9 kids turned 18, we were ready to vacation. Then in the beginning of the summer, before we bought the tickets, my husband says: Why can't we go to Costa Rica and stay there? I thought he was ki...

I've already been here 4 months longer than my biggest dream. There is a song that soothes me, with both the tune and the lyrics. I came to Costa Rica once, 13 years ago. It was 3 weeks of paradise. In September I was able to come back. It was supposed to be one month. I've already hit the 5 month mark. There is this song that I listen to a few times a week that in some ways reminds me of Costa Rica. Especially since my husband came this time too. It's written by Paul Williams (my favorite version is sung by songsfrompaul) This looks familiar Vaguely familiar Almost unreal yet It's too soon to feel yet Close to my soul and yet so far away I'm going to go back there some day Sunrises, nightfalls Sometimes the sky calls Is that a song there? Then do I belong there? I've never been there but I know the way I'm going to go back there some day Come and go with me It's more fun to share We'll both be completely at home ...

  I had an amazing experience the other day. We were at the beach and the sun was setting. We had maybe half an hour to wait for the sun to touch down on the water over the horizon line. My friend took some incredible pictures. I love how the waves change color when the sun comes through them, instead of hitting them on top. It's all in the angles. The water can become a metallic turquoise during a certain phase of the setting sun. Quite beautiful. There is nothing like it.  This picture is neat too. We had to time the waves to get on the rocks, and then around the corner is a small cave. It's in this picture, but set back, so you can't see it. It's starts out at about shoulder level, then goes to waist level. It is only a few feet wide. The tide wasn't out enough to visit it for long. But I wouldn't spend quality time anywhere near the entrance. The whole thing was crawling with small crabs! The body size was equal to a large coin, on average. It was ...

 I belong to a group on Facebook with many thousands of members, I think someone said 26,000 members. It's called Love Your Life in 30 Days. It's a neat free program about making good changes. I love these kinds of pictures and memes. I have posted many with this group. I think it's interesting that this one has been by far the most popular. It's at 182 likes in 6 hours.   It makes me wonder what is so special about this one, that it seems to resonate with so many. I like it for many reasons. I like that it's taking a plain old rock, and turning it into something inspirational. It's not even a special shaped rock! It's nice printing, but not perfect. It looks like it's from the heart.   The message really truly struck me too. I'm a huge advocate of perspective. I had this discussion with some friends recently. I have my own nutshell on Life. I say - Life is about 2 things. Emotions and perspective. Because these two are the basis of everythi...

 I never have to endure "just another day" again. I am determined to slide something new and/or amazing in to every day. It's not just because I'm in Costa Rica. I tried to bring that attitude to every day in my classroom. It made the long days seem more adventurous. Even though I was teaching the same program over and over again every 3 months. I always sat behind my desk, looked at my schedule, and said: is there any way I could make this even better??  Tomorrow is a new day. I've only had 46 January 11ths. I'm going to make this one even better. I'm going to be happy. Because I choose to be happy. Because happiness suits me. My trials bring me wisdom, and so they can make me happy. Mean people give me clarity, and so they make me happy. Mean people can be awesome. Sad people can be beautiful. Souls are worth fighting for.  They are worth showing some kindness.   I can't be everything to everyone, but I can always be me. My best self and my worst s...

  Yesterday was another absolutely amazing day in Costa Rica. The afternoon was a chain of tidal moments. I asked a friend if she wanted to go snorkeling. She said yes, and let me show you a new place to snorkel, and let me buy you guys dinner. Does life get any better than that? I don't think so.   anywhere.com says Samara is one of the prettiest and safest beaches in all of Costa Rica. I believe them. It's a 3 mile coastline. We are on one end and the 3 of us biked half way down the beach and left our bikes at a friend's place. Then we walked the rest of the way to the tip, where the island is. The island that I see every time I'm on the beach, and seems so close, yet so far away. This is what the island looks like from our side of the beach. The island after sunset. So we biked and walked to the end of the beach, and swam across the gap to the island. It was fantastic. I saw a sea turtle! It was huge. And it was so close that my husband dove down to ...

  I'm just kidding. This isn't a full confession. I just made that the title, trying to trick more people into reading this. What would I confess too? What would be worth your time to read? I don't even want to know. No one gets a full confession, sorry.   Now about this living in Costa Rica thing. The day before yesterday we went to watch the sunset up on a hill. Or mountain? It was amazing. Ron found a fruit on a tree, and we were trying to decide what it was. Turns out it was the greenest green because it was the most perfect lime ever. We went back to get more. A wild lime tree, just waiting to give us it's fruit. Pura vida, baby. Then it was time for me to do a 'border run'. You can only stay in Costa Rica for 3 months. So instead of flying back to the States, we drove to Nicaragua. A lot of people do it. We went with a friend who has done it many times, and is fluent in Spanish. I have no clue, it blows my mind how anyone could do this by themselves, with...

  It's all very amazing and strange isn't it? The digestive process in all it's glory, and how many things have to go right for it to work. And how many things can go wrong. Everything depends on digestion. It's fuel for the cells which means it makes or breaks your muscles and your brain. You really are what you eat. I'm not yogurt because I had it for breakfast. But I have much better mornings because I try to have a Breakfast of Champions every. Even then I'm mostly kidding. I'm no puritan. I don't make my own yogurt. But it's a far cry from how I've been eating my entire life.  I was talking with a friend the other day, and she made a very good point. It takes energy to heal. Your body uses up a lot of energy to digest. It can't heal and digest at the same time. I believe her, since she's a doctor. I also see how most people back home were sabotaging their own bodies by the things they ate. Starting with me. Digestion begins in the g...