Cedro's perfect dream

morphology

The morpho butterfly is one of Monteverde's flashiest icons.  They are seen encased in glass in the supermarket, resting at fruit stands in the butterfly gardens, and lilting by my bedroom window on lazy Saturday mornings.  They are sophisticated jungle denizens, experts in the culinary intricacies of rotten fruit.  A morpho, for example, will wend its way directly to the one banana in the discarded bunch that has been on the ground long enough to ferment, but not so long that the sugar has eroded away.  The wayard insect will then spend hours sipping the intoxicating syrup until it cannot fly straight.  That's right, morphos can go shot for shot with the best of them, even Peter O' Toole.

Morphos are known for their bright blue wings, but the little known secret is that their wings are not actually the deep azure they appear to be.  It is a trick of powder and sunlight.  The morphos emerge from their cocoons dusted with a blue sheen that reflects sunlight.  Get one out of the sun and its wings magically transform into a semi translucent dull brown.  The shine is all for show.  to quote my man, Sage Francis, "They're just like me and you when the smoke and cameras disappear."  Well, not exactly, but close enough.  I'm even more of a dull white when the lights are on. 

This morpho was at the end of its life cycle when it flew into my house yesterday.   It's wings worn and tattered, its swansong extending into the witching hour even as its kin rested from a had day of hard drinking.  I tried to guide it back outside to roost, but all it would do was pose and flaunt a dying beauty that I see sweep through the dense underbrush every day, and always draws the eye.  I can only imagine the effect this dashing brilliance would have if my eye were compounded.   

Just another Waspy town

Every day the papers buzz with new development. 

Today the towering apartments of Tamarindo have been completed, and are already sold - you snooze, you keep snoozing.  They offer clean, sparkling pools with a good view of the ocean.  They offer maid service, so your towels will always be bleached clean.  Never mind the bacterial outbreak in the local water due to faulty septic tanks at hotels.   Never mind the unsupportive nature of sand, when concrete throws its weight around...

Today El Establo has spent 1.7 million dollars to make itself look beautiful and visible from afar.  The rainbows, the lightning, the gentle mist and towering canopy now floodlit and broken by stacks of $400 a night rooms where the casual street walker can view nature through bay windows and plan for the future...

Then there's the mall.  A mall in the Clouds.  A mall that begs a separate blog entry soon to be scribed.    

Ferry, Isle, Thermo...King

The form,

the freedom,

Equal, proportioned

the monotony of straight lines

the lethargy of stillness

Rock, steel

floating, rooted

powerfully strong yet

powerless against water

In our hands,

slipping through our fingers.

Arrival

                                                                                                       

                              

Best Cemetery Ever!

I'd like to be cremated when I die. Or perhaps just allowed to decompose back into the soil somewhere out in the Children's Eternal Rainforest. I've never been the cemetery type, and certainly have shrugged off the idea of my body's preservation after I'm through with it. However, I recently stumbled across the best cemetery I've ever had the pleasure to stumble across.  It's in Kabuya on the Southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula, right near Cabo Blanco national park.  It's a part time island - that is, it is an island at high tide, but is connected to the main land by a thin strip of sand bar when the seas retreat.  The roughly fifty graves are well kept, surrounded by palms, saw grass and mounds of conch shells.  The vulture on the cross was too perfect to pass up, but the head stones stole the show.  Too much personality! 

Take a look:

This is the island from the shore

Wait a few hours and the road disappears beneath the waves.

This was my personal favorite.  I call it Propellor head stone

Shanti Del Rio

Two of my closest friends here in Monteverde, Janet and Michael Jenkins recently opened a Yoga, massage and wellness center here in Monteverde.  They picked the name Rio Shanti, as it is a place of peace that sits a stone's drop from the Monteverde river.  The site is gorgeous, and the folks are amazing.  It seems more and more of my life revolves around this little corner of heaven lately.  I started working three days per week in the afternoons (after my other job) doing Swedish and Deep Tissue body work, reviving and revitalizing a love of massage I've carried for decades since my days learning from Susan Dunlaney in Massachusetts. 

My neighbor works the desk there, and her kids roam the woods and decks of the place, searching for sticks to clear, toddlers to care for, and flowers to beam at.  Now it looks as though Sandra will be working at the new Cafe Namaste which will open up in June.  If you are in the MV area, please come by and visit, as it is truly one of the most special places in town! 

I write this post mostly as an alternative to frustration, as Rio Shanti was invaded and robbed last week.  Much of the consignment jewelry was swiped, and we are all quite distraught over the transgression.  I figured instead of getting angry and vindictive about this, I'd rather follow Michael and Janet's beautiful example and turn the angst into something positive.  They have been real troopers through the ordeal (smiling and seeing silver linings even as they reluctantly consider night guards, alarm systems, etc.) and I'm looking forward to things getting back to beauty there. 

The latest in new

At long last, I´ve found a way to upload some of my recent photos without my laptop.  Blogging without it has been nigh on impossible, especially as the school has severely limited computer use, but I´ve found a small window of opportunity this morning. 

Went to the beach at Montezuma last week.  Here´s some of what we saw.

                                     I´m not sure what it is exactly that keeps calling me back here, but I must say that despite all the grunginess and waste on certain beaches, I find this area to be among the most centering and peaceful of Costa Rica´s shorelines.  The waterfall is always amazing, and the hikes bring me to where my soul yearns to stay. 

An Unknown Known

Tucked safely in

Sleeping on your head

All is embrace

All is hope

You may dream, my child

My love

You may awake to my visage

Just as I have awakened to yours

A femur

A hand

A heartbeat pronouncing its lofty aspirations

A smile, the first of many

I will be there to catch you

Dreams are unbound, limitless

And so too shall you be

For the time being, however,

Rest

Grow

Trust

Our song of waiting will wend its way to you

Until you join us,

Find the way to your own dawn.