December 17, 2008

What a week…Marco in the mud, ICT inspector

Dear Dad,

Today we dropped Dewey, David’s brother off at the airport. He was here for a week and a lot fun. We are working on computer stuff……………the future.

For the last month we have had visitors. It will be weird to have the house to ourselves again. I loved the company, but am glad to have my house back.
Friday night I went to a special celebration in Escazu at a friend’s house and under a glorious full moon we did a ceremony for prosperity. It was fun but very cold. The ceremony, which consisted of a long explanation and then one by one we spoke into a microphone while holding a candle and said out loud what each of us was grateful for. Our next step in the ceremony was to write on a piece of paper what we would like to remove from the world, like hate, anger, starvation, war etc and one by one we burned our lists in a fire. Afterwards we place our wallets into a community plastic container and then took a handful of coins and while standing we gave and received coins to each other as a token of the power of giving and receiving. When this was over we took back our wallets and we were given a balloon each. Once we all had a balloon we let them go.

It was fun but very cold. ( I know I keep saying that, but it was freezing and for the first time I was hoping a hot flash would kick in and keep me warm) After we let the balloons go, we went into a tent where there was fruit candy and flowers for everyone. We had instructions to give half of the candy and fruit away to a stranger. As soon as this part was over we went to another area to eat traditional tamales.

We are supposed to write a list of things we want and mail it to ourselves in Calcutta so that it comes back to us. I didn’t do that part.

The whole idea is to rid the planet of complaints and criticism. Around the world more than 11 million people took part in a similar ceremony. J I hope it works. J

This last weekend we went to Punta Coral with Dewey. After a few days of intense meetings we needed time away and a rest and Punta Coral is the perfect place.

Celiece and Marlon and Marco and his wife – Ana- and their daughter Catalina met us in Puntarenas.

Both Celiece and Marlon and Marco and Ana beat us to Puntarenas. David and Dewey and I stopped for breakfast and during the last half of the ride, I called Marco to ask if he would take a photo of Casa Calypso at low tide to show how we have cleaned up the area and now only see mud at low tide. I needed the photo for application of sustainable tourism certificate.

Since I know no-one likes waiting and Marco arrived at Casa Calypso earlier and also has wonderful cameras, both still and video, I called him on my cell phone to ask if he would walk to the end of the dock, face the house and take a photo of the low tide and mud that is now clean of garbage so I could place it in the file of information we had been gathering for the certificate.

A few minutes went bye and Marco called and asked why I didn’t tell him that there is only mud behind the house and not rocks. For a minute I didn’t understand what he was talking about and asked him again what he said. He told me that he had walked to the floating dock and stepped off the dock into the mucky mud up to his chest and then the phone went dead.

Of course I repeated this information to David and Dewey, I told them that Marco thought he was going to step out on a rock surface but instead jumped into soft mud – like quick sand- up to his chest and ruined both cameras and his cell phone. Then there was silence while our 3 brains computed the information and suddenly as we pictured the incident in our imaginations we burst out laughing. How was this possible?

As soon as we could get better reception I called again to see if Marco was kidding or he really fell or jumped into the estero ? It was true and after we knew he was uninjured, the three of us laughed even harder. Rivers of tears of laughter ran down our faces and wet the tops of our shirts. How was this possible?

I called the Captain of Manta Raya to ask if he saw what happened and how did Marco, a hefty 230 pounds, manage to pull himself out of the mud. I could only imagine with horror, the crew – dressed in their spotless white uniforms – trying to pull Marco out of the water and get covered in muck. In his serious tone, the Captain told us it was true, Marco had indeed jumped off the dock and we burst into uncontrollable laughter once again.

My next call was to Celiece and Marlon to ask if they saw what had happened. Marlon told me they had arrived a few minutes after the incident and didn’t see Marco jump into the mud; but yes it was all true and not to worry because Marco went to the bathroom to shower and change clothes. This of course caused another round of laughter because there is no shower at the house yet. Oh yea, I guess I should mention that Marco didn’t bring a change of clothes and had to borrow something from Marlon who is a lot smaller.

When we arrived, we had to wait about 20 minutes for the tide to come in a little more to float the Amapola – David’s Captain’s launch. By this time Manta Raya had left the dock on her way to Tortuga Island. We let Marco tell us the story and we all laughed again. Marco told us that when he was stuck in the mud up to his armpits he looked up to see the open mouthed shocked expressions on two guys who were watching him. Marco called out, ¨Hey, ya think you could help me out here?¨ and they did.

If we had been able to film Marco jumping in we could have been on America’s Funniest Videos and won a fortune. It would have been a big hit on You Tube too.

What was so funny is if Marco stepped off the dock he would not have gone straight down but he had to jump off with both feet at once in order to sink up to his armpits. He thought he was jumping onto rocks and not mud.

Of course Marco wanted to put warning signs on the dock for our passengers. This made us laugh again. We have been taking passengers on our tour since 1975 and not until this day has anyone ever mistaken the mud for rocks and either fallen in or jumped in.

OK, once, when we were building the dock at the old Casa Calypso, Robbie, my friend Bonnie’s youngest son who was 6 years old at the time ( he is now 35), fell head first when one of his brothers pushed him off the edge of the un finished dock; but this is the only time.


While we were waiting for the tide to come in, I introduced Dewey to Ocho - the cat - that was hiding under some shelving in the kitchen. Dewey was amazed, as we were when we first saw it, when I showed him the tattoo of the number 8 in the cat’s left ear.

Soon there was enough water to make the crossing to Punta Coral. David stood up and drove the Amapola expertly I should say through a mild chop. Little Catalina loved the boat and even fell asleep.

In the middle of the gulf we startled a flock of Terns that had been fishing. There were thousands of the birds that suddenly filled the sky. It was amazing and too bad no-one had a camera in hand to take the photo. It all happened so fast.

Punta Coral is really beautiful this time of the year. Everything is green and really beautiful. I loved showing off the new kitchen and our new bedroom with the recycled floor.

Celiece and Marlon made a BBQ of hamburgers, Marco’s favorite and we spent the rest of the day playing croquet until the afternoon when Manta Raya stopped to pick Marco and his family and take them back to port.

After Marco and his family left on the Manta Raya, we found a plastic bag with two cans of different types of bug spray and a hat. After asking everyone who it belonged to we deduced that it belonged to Marco and we laughed again. He must have a real bug phobia because he was only at Punta Coral for a few hours. .

That evening the moon appeared, one day after the full moon – the last of the year. It was amazing to see.

Celiece and Marlon stayed in the little house and Dewey stayed with David and me in the big house. On Saturday we had a delicious treat for lunch. There is woman who lives down the way who is growing oysters and we bought 48 of them. Dewey and David made three different types of sauce for the delicious treat. David and Celiece opened them and we all ate them. They were delicious and fresh.

After another round of croquet and a quick swim in the ¨Blue Lagoon¨ on the back side of the property, Celiece and Marlon were picked up by Manta Raya and returned to San Jose.

David and Dewey stayed up late watching the glorious full moon as it cast her light all over the property catching up on family news and reminiscing their childhood.

Monday the inspector form ICT (Costa Rica Tourist Board) was scheduled for the final inspection of Casa Calypso, Manta Raya, Punta Coral and Tortuga Island. He was very nice and after he walked around Punta Coral with Juan Jose and saw what we have been doing to protect our beautiful piece of the planet using everything available for making Punta Coral and the Calypso business as sustainable as possible. He was dazzled and left with a big smile on his face pleased with what he found. He got to Tortuga Island and told our guide about how Punta Coral impressed him. Keep your fingers crossed that we get a high rating for our efforts. We won’t find out anything until January when the ICT office returns from Christmas vacation.

Other news……………….Bryan’s truck is ready. He passed the inspection has insurance and ready for the open road. He will be very excited.

My car…………well we got a call from the mechanic shop staying it was all put together but there is something wrong with the transmission and since they don’t work on transmissions the car was put onto a flat bed truck and taken to another mechanic shop.

Next week is Christmas week and then New Years week and probably everyone will be on vacation. It has been almost 4 months without a car. My patience is running thin.

I think the only reason that work was restarted is because I called the former owner and asked for help since it was he who recommended the mechanic in the first place.

Thursday

David and I went to Price Smart (Costa Rica’s Cosco) to shop for the next three weeks; not for us but for the tour. Everything is crowded. We stopped for lunch and then went looking for a new washing machine and dryer for me. We have not made up our minds on which brand we like better. NEVER have I had a new washer or dryer and I want one that uses less water and electricity and washes better with larger capacity too. Sounds like I want the world.
The cool thing is that we can pay for it with points David has on his credit card and this makes it almost free. Since David uses his credit card for lots of business, (boat parts etc) he has saved up lots of points.

As soon as we got to the office I received a phone call from Marty. She has been home one week and called to tell me that last night 26 inches of snow fell. Can you imagine?

She lives in Idaho and told me that all the schools are closed and for the first time since her office opened they too are closed and will be closed tomorrow AND the snow is still falling. Wow!!!!

When she went out to shovel snow she fell off her porch and was buried up to her armpits and could not move until someone came to save her. First Marco falls and gets stuck in the mud and now Marty falls and got stuck in the snow. Happily no-one got hurt.

There is as lot of noise on the roof of our building this week. No, it isn’t Santa and his reindeer, but the installers of a new 8 K generator plant. Since there were lots of blackouts last year and the electric company already told the public there will be lots this summer (our summer your winter) we need to be prepared because no one can work if there is no electricity for the phones and computers..

We tried a gasoline generator plant a few weeks ago, but the noise and smell made everyone nuts. This new one is run with the same gas we use to cook with and is silent.

David bought one big enough to run everything in the office, even R2D2 my nickname for my air-conditioner.

Bryan, after waiting patiently for almost a year has driven away in his truck. I am sure he is not going home; but traveling around showing off his new ¨ ride¨ - the truck has no power steering but he should be able to drive it with no problem.

Bryan didn’t say anything but I am sure that h is very excited. He has been without a car for a few years. He will save a fortune driving the truck which uses diesel instead of paying taxis.

The update on my car is that it is back together but the owner, who apparently learned to speak perfect English since we saw him a month ago – yea right – told David that he is sending my car to a mechanic who works on transmissions and see if the transmission oil needs changing. After David asked him why he just doesn’t change the oil himself he mentioned that the oil cost about $60.oo a liter and the car needs 5 or 6 liters.

I am trying to be patient. I hope to get a car before the end of the year.

This year we will go to Bonnie’s house on the 25th. Celiece doesn’t start on a tour until the 26th so she and Marlon and Bryan and David and I will go. Bonnie has a really big house with lots and lots of grandchildren that will be running around driving everyone nuts especially after eating all sorts of candy, etc.
One son, Stevie, flew in from the Philippines where he works as Captain on a big sailing vessel about 100 feet long, and Georgie and his family moved to Panama but are flying up too and her daughter and husband Jessie are flying in from California

.
The Heigold family is like a family to us. We have known each other for over 30 years.

Spending the holiday with them is really special, especially with Doris there too.

Doris is Bonnie’s mom who is not well.

Celiece and I are going to make Gingerbread men for all the little kids and I want to make some for the small kids in our neighborhood too. This will be about 30 Gingerbread men.

I talked to the kitchen today and Ocho the cat has been catching mice and is very proud of himself and saves the mice and shows the women in the kitchen his treasures.

This is the latest news from Costa Rica. I love and miss you.

Besitos, Cecs

What a week…Marco in the mud, ICT inspector

Dear Dad,

Today we dropped Dewey, David’s brother off at the airport. He was here for a week and a lot fun. We are working on computer stuff……………the future.

For the last month we have had visitors. It will be weird to have the house to ourselves again. I loved the company, but am glad to have my house back.
Friday night I went to a special celebration in Escazu at a friend’s house and under a glorious full moon we did a ceremony for prosperity. It was fun but very cold. The ceremony, which consisted of a long explanation and then one by one we spoke into a microphone while holding a candle and said out loud what each of us was grateful for. Our next step in the ceremony was to write on a piece of paper what we would like to remove from the world, like hate, anger, starvation, war etc and one by one we burned our lists in a fire. Afterwards we place our wallets into a community plastic container and then took a handful of coins and while standing we gave and received coins to each other as a token of the power of giving and receiving. When this was over we took back our wallets and we were given a balloon each. Once we all had a balloon we let them go.

It was fun but very cold. ( I know I keep saying that, but it was freezing and for the first time I was hoping a hot flash would kick in and keep me warm) After we let the balloons go, we went into a tent where there was fruit candy and flowers for everyone. We had instructions to give half of the candy and fruit away to a stranger. As soon as this part was over we went to another area to eat traditional tamales.

We are supposed to write a list of things we want and mail it to ourselves in Calcutta so that it comes back to us. I didn’t do that part.

The whole idea is to rid the planet of complaints and criticism. Around the world more than 11 million people took part in a similar ceremony. J I hope it works. J

This last weekend we went to Punta Coral with Dewey. After a few days of intense meetings we needed time away and a rest and Punta Coral is the perfect place.

Celiece and Marlon and Marco and his wife – Ana- and their daughter Catalina met us in Puntarenas.

Both Celiece and Marlon and Marco and Ana beat us to Puntarenas. David and Dewey and I stopped for breakfast and during the last half of the ride, I called Marco to ask if he would take a photo of Casa Calypso at low tide to show how we have cleaned up the area and now only see mud at low tide. I needed the photo for application of sustainable tourism certificate.

Since I know no-one likes waiting and Marco arrived at Casa Calypso earlier and also has wonderful cameras, both still and video, I called him on my cell phone to ask if he would walk to the end of the dock, face the house and take a photo of the low tide and mud that is now clean of garbage so I could place it in the file of information we had been gathering for the certificate.

A few minutes went bye and Marco called and asked why I didn’t tell him that there is only mud behind the house and not rocks. For a minute I didn’t understand what he was talking about and asked him again what he said. He told me that he had walked to the floating dock and stepped off the dock into the mucky mud up to his chest and then the phone went dead.

Of course I repeated this information to David and Dewey, I told them that Marco thought he was going to step out on a rock surface but instead jumped into soft mud – like quick sand- up to his chest and ruined both cameras and his cell phone. Then there was silence while our 3 brains computed the information and suddenly as we pictured the incident in our imaginations we burst out laughing. How was this possible?

As soon as we could get better reception I called again to see if Marco was kidding or he really fell or jumped into the estero ? It was true and after we knew he was uninjured, the three of us laughed even harder. Rivers of tears of laughter ran down our faces and wet the tops of our shirts. How was this possible?

I called the Captain of Manta Raya to ask if he saw what happened and how did Marco, a hefty 230 pounds, manage to pull himself out of the mud. I could only imagine with horror, the crew – dressed in their spotless white uniforms – trying to pull Marco out of the water and get covered in muck. In his serious tone, the Captain told us it was true, Marco had indeed jumped off the dock and we burst into uncontrollable laughter once again.

My next call was to Celiece and Marlon to ask if they saw what had happened. Marlon told me they had arrived a few minutes after the incident and didn’t see Marco jump into the mud; but yes it was all true and not to worry because Marco went to the bathroom to shower and change clothes. This of course caused another round of laughter because there is no shower at the house yet. Oh yea, I guess I should mention that Marco didn’t bring a change of clothes and had to borrow something from Marlon who is a lot smaller.

When we arrived, we had to wait about 20 minutes for the tide to come in a little more to float the Amapola – David’s Captain’s launch. By this time Manta Raya had left the dock on her way to Tortuga Island. We let Marco tell us the story and we all laughed again. Marco told us that when he was stuck in the mud up to his armpits he looked up to see the open mouthed shocked expressions on two guys who were watching him. Marco called out, ¨Hey, ya think you could help me out here?¨ and they did.

If we had been able to film Marco jumping in we could have been on America’s Funniest Videos and won a fortune. It would have been a big hit on You Tube too.

What was so funny is if Marco stepped off the dock he would not have gone straight down but he had to jump off with both feet at once in order to sink up to his armpits. He thought he was jumping onto rocks and not mud.

Of course Marco wanted to put warning signs on the dock for our passengers. This made us laugh again. We have been taking passengers on our tour since 1975 and not until this day has anyone ever mistaken the mud for rocks and either fallen in or jumped in.

OK, once, when we were building the dock at the old Casa Calypso, Robbie, my friend Bonnie’s youngest son who was 6 years old at the time ( he is now 35), fell head first when one of his brothers pushed him off the edge of the un finished dock; but this is the only time.


While we were waiting for the tide to come in, I introduced Dewey to Ocho - the cat - that was hiding under some shelving in the kitchen. Dewey was amazed, as we were when we first saw it, when I showed him the tattoo of the number 8 in the cat’s left ear.

Soon there was enough water to make the crossing to Punta Coral. David stood up and drove the Amapola expertly I should say through a mild chop. Little Catalina loved the boat and even fell asleep.

In the middle of the gulf we startled a flock of Terns that had been fishing. There were thousands of the birds that suddenly filled the sky. It was amazing and too bad no-one had a camera in hand to take the photo. It all happened so fast.

Punta Coral is really beautiful this time of the year. Everything is green and really beautiful. I loved showing off the new kitchen and our new bedroom with the recycled floor.

Celiece and Marlon made a BBQ of hamburgers, Marco’s favorite and we spent the rest of the day playing croquet until the afternoon when Manta Raya stopped to pick Marco and his family and take them back to port.

After Marco and his family left on the Manta Raya, we found a plastic bag with two cans of different types of bug spray and a hat. After asking everyone who it belonged to we deduced that it belonged to Marco and we laughed again. He must have a real bug phobia because he was only at Punta Coral for a few hours. .

That evening the moon appeared, one day after the full moon – the last of the year. It was amazing to see.

Celiece and Marlon stayed in the little house and Dewey stayed with David and me in the big house. On Saturday we had a delicious treat for lunch. There is woman who lives down the way who is growing oysters and we bought 48 of them. Dewey and David made three different types of sauce for the delicious treat. David and Celiece opened them and we all ate them. They were delicious and fresh.

After another round of croquet and a quick swim in the ¨Blue Lagoon¨ on the back side of the property, Celiece and Marlon were picked up by Manta Raya and returned to San Jose.

David and Dewey stayed up late watching the glorious full moon as it cast her light all over the property catching up on family news and reminiscing their childhood.

Monday the inspector form ICT (Costa Rica Tourist Board) was scheduled for the final inspection of Casa Calypso, Manta Raya, Punta Coral and Tortuga Island. He was very nice and after he walked around Punta Coral with Juan Jose and saw what we have been doing to protect our beautiful piece of the planet using everything available for making Punta Coral and the Calypso business as sustainable as possible. He was dazzled and left with a big smile on his face pleased with what he found. He got to Tortuga Island and told our guide about how Punta Coral impressed him. Keep your fingers crossed that we get a high rating for our efforts. We won’t find out anything until January when the ICT office returns from Christmas vacation.

Other news……………….Bryan’s truck is ready. He passed the inspection has insurance and ready for the open road. He will be very excited.

My car…………well we got a call from the mechanic shop staying it was all put together but there is something wrong with the transmission and since they don’t work on transmissions the car was put onto a flat bed truck and taken to another mechanic shop.

Next week is Christmas week and then New Years week and probably everyone will be on vacation. It has been almost 4 months without a car. My patience is running thin.

I think the only reason that work was restarted is because I called the former owner and asked for help since it was he who recommended the mechanic in the first place.

Thursday

David and I went to Price Smart (Costa Rica’s Cosco) to shop for the next three weeks; not for us but for the tour. Everything is crowded. We stopped for lunch and then went looking for a new washing machine and dryer for me. We have not made up our minds on which brand we like better. NEVER have I had a new washer or dryer and I want one that uses less water and electricity and washes better with larger capacity too. Sounds like I want the world.
The cool thing is that we can pay for it with points David has on his credit card and this makes it almost free. Since David uses his credit card for lots of business, (boat parts etc) he has saved up lots of points.

As soon as we got to the office I received a phone call from Marty. She has been home one week and called to tell me that last night 26 inches of snow fell. Can you imagine?

She lives in Idaho and told me that all the schools are closed and for the first time since her office opened they too are closed and will be closed tomorrow AND the snow is still falling. Wow!!!!

When she went out to shovel snow she fell off her porch and was buried up to her armpits and could not move until someone came to save her. First Marco falls and gets stuck in the mud and now Marty falls and got stuck in the snow. Happily no-one got hurt.

There is as lot of noise on the roof of our building this week. No, it isn’t Santa and his reindeer, but the installers of a new 8 K generator plant. Since there were lots of blackouts last year and the electric company already told the public there will be lots this summer (our summer your winter) we need to be prepared because no one can work if there is no electricity for the phones and computers..

We tried a gasoline generator plant a few weeks ago, but the noise and smell made everyone nuts. This new one is run with the same gas we use to cook with and is silent.

David bought one big enough to run everything in the office, even R2D2 my nickname for my air-conditioner.

Bryan, after waiting patiently for almost a year has driven away in his truck. I am sure he is not going home; but traveling around showing off his new ¨ ride¨ - the truck has no power steering but he should be able to drive it with no problem.

Bryan didn’t say anything but I am sure that h is very excited. He has been without a car for a few years. He will save a fortune driving the truck which uses diesel instead of paying taxis.

The update on my car is that it is back together but the owner, who apparently learned to speak perfect English since we saw him a month ago – yea right – told David that he is sending my car to a mechanic who works on transmissions and see if the transmission oil needs changing. After David asked him why he just doesn’t change the oil himself he mentioned that the oil cost about $60.oo a liter and the car needs 5 or 6 liters.

I am trying to be patient. I hope to get a car before the end of the year.

This year we will go to Bonnie’s house on the 25th. Celiece doesn’t start on a tour until the 26th so she and Marlon and Bryan and David and I will go. Bonnie has a really big house with lots and lots of grandchildren that will be running around driving everyone nuts especially after eating all sorts of candy, etc.
One son, Stevie, flew in from the Philippines where he works as Captain on a big sailing vessel about 100 feet long, and Georgie and his family moved to Panama but are flying up too and her daughter and husband Jessie are flying in from California

.
The Heigold family is like a family to us. We have known each other for over 30 years.

Spending the holiday with them is really special, especially with Doris there too.

Doris is Bonnie’s mom who is not well.

Celiece and I are going to make Gingerbread men for all the little kids and I want to make some for the small kids in our neighborhood too. This will be about 30 Gingerbread men.

I talked to the kitchen today and Ocho the cat has been catching mice and is very proud of himself and saves the mice and shows the women in the kitchen his treasures.

This is the latest news from Costa Rica. I love and miss you.

Besitos, Cecs

 

Dear Dad,

Today we dropped Dewey, David’s brother off at the airport. He was here for a week and a lot fun. We are working on computer stuff……………the future.

For the last month we have had visitors. It will be weird to have the house to ourselves again. I loved the company, but am glad to have my house back.
Friday night I went to a special celebration in Escazu at a friend’s house and under a glorious full moon we did a ceremony for prosperity. It was fun but very cold. The ceremony, which consisted of a long explanation and then one by one we spoke into a microphone while holding a candle and said out loud what each of us was grateful for. Our next step in the ceremony was to write on a piece of paper what we would like to remove from the world, like hate, anger, starvation, war etc and one by one we burned our lists in a fire. Afterwards we place our wallets into a community plastic container and then took a handful of coins and while standing we gave and received coins to each other as a token of the power of giving and receiving. When this was over we took back our wallets and we were given a balloon each. Once we all had a balloon we let them go.

It was fun but very cold. ( I know I keep saying that, but it was freezing and for the first time I was hoping a hot flash would kick in and keep me warm) After we let the balloons go, we went into a tent where there was fruit candy and flowers for everyone. We had instructions to give half of the candy and fruit away to a stranger. As soon as this part was over we went to another area to eat traditional tamales.

We are supposed to write a list of things we want and mail it to ourselves in Calcutta so that it comes back to us. I didn’t do that part.

The whole idea is to rid the planet of complaints and criticism. Around the world more than 11 million people took part in a similar ceremony. J I hope it works. J

This last weekend we went to Punta Coral with Dewey. After a few days of intense meetings we needed time away and a rest and Punta Coral is the perfect place.

Celiece and Marlon and Marco and his wife – Ana- and their daughter Catalina met us in Puntarenas.

Both Celiece and Marlon and Marco and Ana beat us to Puntarenas. David and Dewey and I stopped for breakfast and during the last half of the ride, I called Marco to ask if he would take a photo of Casa Calypso at low tide to show how we have cleaned up the area and now only see mud at low tide. I needed the photo for application of sustainable tourism certificate.

Since I know no-one likes waiting and Marco arrived at Casa Calypso earlier and also has wonderful cameras, both still and video, I called him on my cell phone to ask if he would walk to the end of the dock, face the house and take a photo of the low tide and mud that is now clean of garbage so I could place it in the file of information we had been gathering for the certificate.

A few minutes went bye and Marco called and asked why I didn’t tell him that there is only mud behind the house and not rocks. For a minute I didn’t understand what he was talking about and asked him again what he said. He told me that he had walked to the floating dock and stepped off the dock into the mucky mud up to his chest and then the phone went dead.

Of course I repeated this information to David and Dewey, I told them that Marco thought he was going to step out on a rock surface but instead jumped into soft mud – like quick sand- up to his chest and ruined both cameras and his cell phone. Then there was silence while our 3 brains computed the information and suddenly as we pictured the incident in our imaginations we burst out laughing. How was this possible?

As soon as we could get better reception I called again to see if Marco was kidding or he really fell or jumped into the estero ? It was true and after we knew he was uninjured, the three of us laughed even harder. Rivers of tears of laughter ran down our faces and wet the tops of our shirts. How was this possible?

I called the Captain of Manta Raya to ask if he saw what happened and how did Marco, a hefty 230 pounds, manage to pull himself out of the mud. I could only imagine with horror, the crew – dressed in their spotless white uniforms – trying to pull Marco out of the water and get covered in muck. In his serious tone, the Captain told us it was true, Marco had indeed jumped off the dock and we burst into uncontrollable laughter once again.

My next call was to Celiece and Marlon to ask if they saw what had happened. Marlon told me they had arrived a few minutes after the incident and didn’t see Marco jump into the mud; but yes it was all true and not to worry because Marco went to the bathroom to shower and change clothes. This of course caused another round of laughter because there is no shower at the house yet. Oh yea, I guess I should mention that Marco didn’t bring a change of clothes and had to borrow something from Marlon who is a lot smaller.

When we arrived, we had to wait about 20 minutes for the tide to come in a little more to float the Amapola – David’s Captain’s launch. By this time Manta Raya had left the dock on her way to Tortuga Island. We let Marco tell us the story and we all laughed again. Marco told us that when he was stuck in the mud up to his armpits he looked up to see the open mouthed shocked expressions on two guys who were watching him. Marco called out, ¨Hey, ya think you could help me out here?¨ and they did.

If we had been able to film Marco jumping in we could have been on America’s Funniest Videos and won a fortune. It would have been a big hit on You Tube too.

What was so funny is if Marco stepped off the dock he would not have gone straight down but he had to jump off with both feet at once in order to sink up to his armpits. He thought he was jumping onto rocks and not mud.

Of course Marco wanted to put warning signs on the dock for our passengers. This made us laugh again. We have been taking passengers on our tour since 1975 and not until this day has anyone ever mistaken the mud for rocks and either fallen in or jumped in.

OK, once, when we were building the dock at the old Casa Calypso, Robbie, my friend Bonnie’s youngest son who was 6 years old at the time ( he is now 35), fell head first when one of his brothers pushed him off the edge of the un finished dock; but this is the only time.


While we were waiting for the tide to come in, I introduced Dewey to Ocho - the cat - that was hiding under some shelving in the kitchen. Dewey was amazed, as we were when we first saw it, when I showed him the tattoo of the number 8 in the cat’s left ear.

Soon there was enough water to make the crossing to Punta Coral. David stood up and drove the Amapola expertly I should say through a mild chop. Little Catalina loved the boat and even fell asleep.

In the middle of the gulf we startled a flock of Terns that had been fishing. There were thousands of the birds that suddenly filled the sky. It was amazing and too bad no-one had a camera in hand to take the photo. It all happened so fast.

Punta Coral is really beautiful this time of the year. Everything is green and really beautiful. I loved showing off the new kitchen and our new bedroom with the recycled floor.

Celiece and Marlon made a BBQ of hamburgers, Marco’s favorite and we spent the rest of the day playing croquet until the afternoon when Manta Raya stopped to pick Marco and his family and take them back to port.

After Marco and his family left on the Manta Raya, we found a plastic bag with two cans of different types of bug spray and a hat. After asking everyone who it belonged to we deduced that it belonged to Marco and we laughed again. He must have a real bug phobia because he was only at Punta Coral for a few hours. .

That evening the moon appeared, one day after the full moon – the last of the year. It was amazing to see.

Celiece and Marlon stayed in the little house and Dewey stayed with David and me in the big house. On Saturday we had a delicious treat for lunch. There is woman who lives down the way who is growing oysters and we bought 48 of them. Dewey and David made three different types of sauce for the delicious treat. David and Celiece opened them and we all ate them. They were delicious and fresh.

After another round of croquet and a quick swim in the ¨Blue Lagoon¨ on the back side of the property, Celiece and Marlon were picked up by Manta Raya and returned to San Jose.

David and Dewey stayed up late watching the glorious full moon as it cast her light all over the property catching up on family news and reminiscing their childhood.

Monday the inspector form ICT (Costa Rica Tourist Board) was scheduled for the final inspection of Casa Calypso, Manta Raya, Punta Coral and Tortuga Island. He was very nice and after he walked around Punta Coral with Juan Jose and saw what we have been doing to protect our beautiful piece of the planet using everything available for making Punta Coral and the Calypso business as sustainable as possible. He was dazzled and left with a big smile on his face pleased with what he found. He got to Tortuga Island and told our guide about how Punta Coral impressed him. Keep your fingers crossed that we get a high rating for our efforts. We won’t find out anything until January when the ICT office returns from Christmas vacation.

Other news……………….Bryan’s truck is ready. He passed the inspection has insurance and ready for the open road. He will be very excited.

My car…………well we got a call from the mechanic shop staying it was all put together but there is something wrong with the transmission and since they don’t work on transmissions the car was put onto a flat bed truck and taken to another mechanic shop.

Next week is Christmas week and then New Years week and probably everyone will be on vacation. It has been almost 4 months without a car. My patience is running thin.

I think the only reason that work was restarted is because I called the former owner and asked for help since it was he who recommended the mechanic in the first place.

Thursday

David and I went to Price Smart (Costa Rica’s Cosco) to shop for the next three weeks; not for us but for the tour. Everything is crowded. We stopped for lunch and then went looking for a new washing machine and dryer for me. We have not made up our minds on which brand we like better. NEVER have I had a new washer or dryer and I want one that uses less water and electricity and washes better with larger capacity too. Sounds like I want the world.
The cool thing is that we can pay for it with points David has on his credit card and this makes it almost free. Since David uses his credit card for lots of business, (boat parts etc) he has saved up lots of points.

As soon as we got to the office I received a phone call from Marty. She has been home one week and called to tell me that last night 26 inches of snow fell. Can you imagine?

She lives in Idaho and told me that all the schools are closed and for the first time since her office opened they too are closed and will be closed tomorrow AND the snow is still falling. Wow!!!!

When she went out to shovel snow she fell off her porch and was buried up to her armpits and could not move until someone came to save her. First Marco falls and gets stuck in the mud and now Marty falls and got stuck in the snow. Happily no-one got hurt.

There is as lot of noise on the roof of our building this week. No, it isn’t Santa and his reindeer, but the installers of a new 8 K generator plant. Since there were lots of blackouts last year and the electric company already told the public there will be lots this summer (our summer your winter) we need to be prepared because no one can work if there is no electricity for the phones and computers..

We tried a gasoline generator plant a few weeks ago, but the noise and smell made everyone nuts. This new one is run with the same gas we use to cook with and is silent.

David bought one big enough to run everything in the office, even R2D2 my nickname for my air-conditioner.

Bryan, after waiting patiently for almost a year has driven away in his truck. I am sure he is not going home; but traveling around showing off his new ¨ ride¨ - the truck has no power steering but he should be able to drive it with no problem.

Bryan didn’t say anything but I am sure that h is very excited. He has been without a car for a few years. He will save a fortune driving the truck which uses diesel instead of paying taxis.

The update on my car is that it is back together but the owner, who apparently learned to speak perfect English since we saw him a month ago – yea right – told David that he is sending my car to a mechanic who works on transmissions and see if the transmission oil needs changing. After David asked him why he just doesn’t change the oil himself he mentioned that the oil cost about $60.oo a liter and the car needs 5 or 6 liters.

I am trying to be patient. I hope to get a car before the end of the year.

This year we will go to Bonnie’s house on the 25th. Celiece doesn’t start on a tour until the 26th so she and Marlon and Bryan and David and I will go. Bonnie has a really big house with lots and lots of grandchildren that will be running around driving everyone nuts especially after eating all sorts of candy, etc.
One son, Stevie, flew in from the Philippines where he works as Captain on a big sailing vessel about 100 feet long, and Georgie and his family moved to Panama but are flying up too and her daughter and husband Jessie are flying in from California

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The Heigold family is like a family to us. We have known each other for over 30 years.

Spending the holiday with them is really special, especially with Doris there too.

Doris is Bonnie’s mom who is not well.

Celiece and I are going to make Gingerbread men for all the little kids and I want to make some for the small kids in our neighborhood too. This will be about 30 Gingerbread men.

I talked to the kitchen today and Ocho the cat has been catching mice and is very proud of himself and saves the mice and shows the women in the kitchen his treasures.

This is the latest news from Costa Rica. I love and miss you.

Besitos, Cecs