Feliz Dia de Resurrección

    This time of year is always an especially happy time for us, since normally we get to see many of our friends and family at our annual Easter Brunch.  I love how it represents hope in our lives, a time of change and new beginnings, growth and time to plant the garden!  So I had to write and at least tell you Happy Easter, or Feliz Dia de  Pasqua or Dia de Resurrección!
    Unlike last year, we stayed in our community this week, referred to as Semana Santa, which is also Spring Break in Costa Rica.  So we're taking it easy after vacationing with friends in Monteverde 2 weekends ago.
      We've been able to witness  and participate in Semana Santa traditions like the procession of Good Friday and spending time with friends and family.   This largely Catholic community re-enacts the Stations of the Cross in which the actors take their roles quite seriously.  There were maybe 2,000 people walking along following the Stations of the Cross.  This same procession was to be repeated that evening.

Another interesting Holy Week tradition in our community is the prohibition of liquor sales on Holy Thursday and Good Friday.  We found that out when we made a stop to our local supermarket.

It actually felt like a Colorado spring when we went to Monteverde, a cloud forest reserve, where there is a light mist in the air much of the time.  Along the forest trails, you walk through amazing varieties of different colored trees, birds, flora and other spectacular sites.   It was our first time there and is truly a magical place.  We were lucky to enjoy it with friends from Ft. Collins for a few days!

                                           I love this lime green colored lichen and algae on the trees.

some type of colorful fungus

Can you spot the beautiful Owl Moth?

The Resplendant Quetzal, (not so resplendant from my Iphone)

This is the quetzal from Cornell.edu site

Looking down on the canopy from a suspended bridge.

Other creatures of the forest: Carly, Gary and Francis, inside of a Ficas tree.

One of the many cataratas in the forests of the Costa Rican mountains.

While planting gardens and flower beds is on the minds of many North Americans, finishing the coffee picking to prepare for the new growth is on the minds of Costa Ricans.  Right now, the coffee plants are budding, and they say the flowers will all bloom right after the first big rain.  In the mean time, coffee is drying on patios or anywhere there's space enough to put it out.  

  

We think of you as you enjoy Spring in all of it's splendor and the magnificence of HOPE that it brings.

Happy Easter and Happy  Spring!