What a glorious adventure in Costa Rica.

There are so many good pictures, it’s hard to decide what to share.  Just a list of the pictures took four pages!  I have divided them by subject and will try to show a couple from each category…

Patio/Room – Each patio came equipped with two rocking chairs and a table.  The rooms were arranged so that each one had a view of the volcano.  We were lucky in that our patio was on the back side of the room.  Those with patios on the front side had a view of the street right in front, with the volcano more distant.

   

Patio Outside Our Room.

The bathroom was spacious and elegant.  I loved the shower, pictured below.  The stone area in front of the planter – yes, that is an actual plant – was curved to keep the water in the shower, although the water did not get that far when I was showering.  Note the rosette on the toilet paper.

Shower in the Bathroom.

Overall the room was quite spacious.

Bed Critters - This was my favorite “bed critter.”  The heart is made from my blanket.

Bed Critter.

 

Volcano – The volcano played hide-and-seek a lot, but favored us with one really clear morning shot.

Volcano with Some Cloud Cover - From Our Patio.

Close-up.

Volcano on a Clearer Day.

Close-up.  Notice How the Cloud - Probably Volcano Vapor Curves Around It.

Flowers – The flowers were incredible and deserve their own posting, so check back next week…

Critters – The was a lovely pond.

 

Pond.

I was wondering if it would be fun to walk in it, but then saw this sign…

He's Cute, but those teeth look pretty big!

Birds – I saw several lovely birds, like the (perhaps) yellow-bellied sap-sucker and the tiny black and white bird almost invisible on a black rock.

Yellow-bellied Sap-sucker?

Black & White Bird on the Third Rock from the Left.

Red-winged Blackbird.

I took four pictures of this unusual bird.  This is the best one.  Clearly he was on a mission and not interested in posing for pictures…

Best of Four!

Hot Springs – There was a swimming pool fed by a hot spring!  Lovely an warm, especially when it started to rain at night.  So you could be immersed and watch the cold raindrops bounce off the surface of the water!  The waterfall at the back fed the pool with water from the hot spring.  You could control the temperature of your plunge by how far away you went from the waterfall.

Hot Pool.

There was also an unheated pool, but, other than stepping into it and deciding it was too cool for me, I didn’t use it.

Water – There were streams, in addition to the pools and ponds.

A good time was had by all...

On-line Dating – Does it really lead anywhere? – A Public Service Announcement…

What can I say?  It seemed like an interesting topic to investigate.  I have friends who have tried it with mixed luck, but all the ads say you can find the partner of your dreams.  One friend did find the man of her dreams.  One did not.

That said, I signed up for a free dating site.  I posted a couple of pictures and filled out my “profile” and sat back and waited.  I got notifications that a number of guys checked out my profile, so I looked at them, too.  Interesting mix.  I wrote to one.  Never heard back.  Then I realized that there was no point in writing to guys who just checked out my profile.  If they wrote to me, it would be one thing to respond.  If they “favorited” me, that was someone worth following up with.  Maybe…

There were a surprising (to me) number of guys (more than one…) who had interesting profiles and who had signaled an interest.  One claimed to have a Ph.D. and be retired army, living in a town I had never heard of in Texas.  So I wrote him a note asking if his town was near Houston as I go there occasionally.  He had also indicated that he enjoyed going to concerts, so my note included references to the type of music I enjoy.

“His” reply was a one-liner, with spelling and grammar mistakes.  It did not address my questions at all and it certainly did not sound either educated or military.  I ignored it and when I checked back with the site a few days later, “he” was no longer available on the site.

Then there was the guy who claimed to be Christian and was looking for a Christian wife.  His description of the qualities he valued in a woman included “submissive.”  Well, that’s not me, but I was brought up to be polite, so I answered his message saying that while I was on a spiritual path, I did not think my spiritual path was consistent with his.  He did write back indicating that we might not be as incompatible as I thought, at which point I was reminded about a guy I had heard about who went to a rest home every week for a few months to read the Bible to people there.  After he’d been going regularly for a while he said he’d have to stop coming because his car was falling apart and he’d borrowed one to come “this time” but couldn’t keep that up.  They ended up buying him a car, etc.

Then there was another guy who sounded promising.  I noticed that although his profile said he lived in the US, he had logged onto the site from Nigeria.  So I wrote asking what he was doing there, was he working and what was it like as I’ve never been to Nigeria.  His reply was something to the effect that some “girl” told him he needed to delete something and he didn’t know how to do that, so she asked for his username and password and he gave them to her!  Then he said he thought she was a scammer – “lol.”  [I hate that acronym and it seemed particularly inappropriate in this context.]  Next time “he” logged on it was from the US.  It will be interesting to see if he’s still on the site in a week or so.  I suspect not.

I’ll probably leave my profile up there for a while longer to see what else develops, but I must admit that I don’t have high hopes – not that I ever really did!

I don’t understand Facebook!

Aside from the technical issues I don’t understand about how Facebook works, I also do not understand the things people post or why they post them.

I get that it is an easy way to share pictures with your loved ones.  You only have to post them and then the burden is on them to follow up or comment.  It relieves you of the burden of remembering to send the newest pictures of Junior to all your far-flung relatives.  So you don’t have to worry about pissing off your rich uncle Harold who might not leave you any money in his will if you forget him.

I get that one.

What I don’t get is why people I’ve never met send me “friend requests.”  Some of them have over 1,000 friends already.  What do they need me as a “friend” for?  Do they view Facebook as a popularity contest?  Let’s see how many people I can get to “like” me?  Do they think that just because we have a friend in common that means I am interested in their life, likes, and dislikes?  Are they trying to pay me a compliment by indicating that they found something I posted interesting or provocative and would like to hear/see more of my thoughts?  Or do they just need validation that they exist in this world – if no one “sees” me, do I still exist or matter in this world?

But the post that set off this diatribe is a “picture” which says basically “I don’t think anyone is reading anything I have to say, so if you read this picture, please post a one-word reply that describes your day.”  I’m sorry.  If you don’t think I’m reading what you post, maybe you should consider that what you are posting is not worth my taking the time to read it.  Personally, I HAVE A LIFE and would urge you to get one, too!

If no one is replying to your posts, maybe you should consider the content you are posting.  What contribution to the world is this latest video, quote, picture of [fill in the blank]?  Yes, some people will be uplifted or amused by Fluffy’s latest antics, but some people prefer flowers or sunsets, and will scroll past Fluffy with nary a comment.

Bottom line:  if no one is responding to your posts, make an interesting and provocative post and see if you can start a dialog!  Don’t pass crap on just because someone passed crap on to you!

OK.  Having gotten that off my chest, I will apologize to those of you who would have preferred more pictures to this rant.  The flowers in my yard continue to amaze me.  I have flows of purple asters, some tall spiky purple flowers I have not yet identified, and some others that are red and white, growing in a cluster at the top of the stem.  I’ve not wandered the yard with my camera in search of all the new ones and since it is gray out, will probably not get to it today.

Have a week!  Have a day!  HAVE A LIFE!

More Flowers Are Showing Up! Yay, Mother Nature!

I’m not offering much commentary on this as I only recognize a few of my new flowers, but am enjoying walking the “garden.”  Currently I have more blue flowers than anything else.

The pale blue columbine which is scattered throughout the yard bloomed later is much paler than the picture I posted a few weeks ago.  Those more purple columbine appeared to be clumped and "store bought" rather than wind seeded.

Pale Blue Columbine.

 

Next in line are white flowers.  This looks like Queen Anne's Lace, but the next picture shows huge leaves.  One consultant suggested Giant Hogweed which is quite toxic.  The leaves on my plants are somewhat different from the leaves shown in other Giant Hogweed photos.  Plus my plants are not 10-feet tall giants.  I did need to cut this one down as it was in the way of my clothes line.  I took precautions of wearing gloves and washing up immediately afterwards, and suffered no ill effects, confirming that it probably is not Giant Hogweed.

False Queen Anne's Lace.

Not Giant Hogweed, either.

Right by the Back Steps.

Then a few red ones.

Dianthus in Front of the Strawberries.

Poppy Flower with Some Unopened Buds.

 Finally one green which might turn into a colored flower when it opens more.

And a one yellow.