Sunday, April 27, 2008

Cosra Rica - We Were There!


Behind Dave and me is one of the five waterfalls in Costa Rica's La Paz Waterfall Gardens north of San Jose, the capital. Besides hiking to see these waterfalls, we took lots of photos in the La Paz apiary starring noisy toucans, the butterfly observatory, the frog exhibit (they were all camouflaged in the foliage, but the attendant placed sign pointers near each frog - thank goodness, or we wouldn't have found one!), and a serpentarium. And they had monkeys too! A really cool place, and I know we'd never have been able to see all this wildlife 'in the wild." Although, we did see "in the wild" a sloth hanging from a telephone cable, a coatimundi having bananas for lunch, several iguanas beside the road, some crocodiles far below us in the river, and a pecary (wild hog) a few feet from us in the rain forest. Oh yes, we observed a long, long line of leaf cutter ants (all females) toting their cuttings to their fungus garden. (Although the female leaf cutters do all the work, they live longer lives than the "lazy" males!) I hope you too, dear reader, will someday take a trip to Costa Rica where they have 95% literacy and are one of only two countries with no military. Their favorite expression is PURA VIDA! which is Spanish for "pure life" and is used in many forms, from a greeting, to a synonym for "excellent." Also, Pura Vida is a synonym of "hakuna matata" which means Life is wonderful; enjoy it.

And speaking of "hakuna matata," enjoy this YouTube clip from Lion King:

A New Tie - and Suit


As Oscar Wilde said, "a well-tied tie is the first serious step in life." When Justin donned his new suit and tie to go to his senior prom, along with two guys and seven girls, in a stretch limo - Laura told me that he went to YouTube for some help in how to knot his tie!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

FINALLY!


A perfectly beautiful spring day! This photo is at Nolte State Park where (even though Dave and I have hiked the trail around the lake many times) we yesterday discovered a delightful side trail with interpretative signs! Go figure!

Saturday, April 12, 2008

It's Blossoming


Woo-hoo, our Star Magnolia (Magnolia stellata Magnoliaceae) is beginning to put on its 2008 show. It's one of those spring plants that has flowers before it has leaves. I've just learned it has tepals (which to me looks like a misspelling of petals). What's a tepal you ask. Here's the botanical answer: a tepal is a segment of the outer whorl in a flower that has no differentiation between the petals and sepals. Oh well.... And here's some info about its fantastic flowers:
  • 3" to 4" across
  • white to pink-tinged
  • 12-18 tepals per flower
  • each tepal is 1.5" to 2" long
  • tepals are narrow and strap-like
  • blossoms lightly fragrant
  • very showy in bloom

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Here a peep, there a peep....


I'm wondering what the cats at Rod's house are thinking about the newest additions there. Ivana now has five future suppliers of eggs that are pretty cute. Current chick names that may be changed are Fuzzy, Delaware, little Blacky, Cleopatra and Bronze head. Well, that is, there are five future egg producers if all five turn out to be hens rather than roosters. And I think this picture must be of Bronze head.

UPDATE: I just learned from Ivana that this is a photo of Cleopatra!