smiling in south carolina

just another morning up here in sabalito. as per the typical tico time, we are now on the 25th day without a road to tilaran. the 10 man+ crew is down there most days (and some nights) with cranes, tractors, shovels, giant plastic pipes....because they have to dig out earth in order to bury these giant pipes in the ground for the river water, the hole has only gotten BIGGER so far. there have been days where there are 20 guys in orange vests standing around smoking and 2 guys down in the hole with shovels, digging thoughtfully. it reminds me of a family vacation to cozumel mexico in 1989 right after a major hurricane had struck. there was mucho rubble surrounding our hotel building and the view from my window every morning was of an elderly mexican man slooooooowly moving rubble with a shovel and a wheelbarrow. his job i think was to transport it from one pile to another. after 5 days i still couldn't tell which pile he was moving the rubble TO. last week they started one of those ...

today, september 23 is the Autumnal Equinox, which marks the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. on this day, the sun rises exactly in the east, and sets exactly in the west....it is also one of two days in the year when day and night are equal, each twelve hours long. The neo-pagan harvest festival associated with this day is called Mabon-not that i'm a neo pagan or anything, i just think it's interesting. AND! according to my calendar the harvest moon is this wednesday the 26th. of course, we down here in costa rica are experiencing NOT autumnal chillyness, but warm tropical thunderstorms alternating with plenty of sunshine. i guess we still get to participate in the equal days thing, though. the astrological meanings of this season are of protection, prosperity, security, and self-confidence and restoring harmony and balance. i'll take some of that, please! wherever you are, enjoy your day. love, stef and robin

this saturday september 15 was costa rica's independence day. part of the celebrations for this holiday always include a morning parade featuring the children dressed up in red white and blue costumes. this year robin got to participate in the tilaran parade with his new school, as part of the boy's marching squad. the night before, incidentally, i was up until 11pm sewing the stripes onto his little white pants. i found out the day before that he needed special pants and had to scramble to put something together. it reminded me of when i was 16 and told my mom 2 days before the big school band trip that i need a navy blue long sleeved, long dress. she had to DYE the fabric and rush the sewing job, but i had my dress in time. thanks mom. anyhow, white pants? who puts little boys in white pants? in the muddy muddy rainy season no less! so robin and his squad marched with their school- the marching band, the girl batonists and the little girl ribbon dancers- in the parade for abo...

on wednesday robin, bobby and i decided to take a much deserved mental health day. robin had the sniffles and sneezes anyhow so i wasn't about to send him off to rainy tilaran for the day. so instead we headed out to our new favorite place in the world, our secret hot springs. the weather was gorgeous (it doesn't rain til about noon), the road was new, the volcano arenal was haloed in a misty cloud. i call it a secret place because we are usually the only people there! our own private hot springs for a total of $30. what a bargain! 5 ginormous soaking pools of steaming geothermal hot water, clean and unchlorinated, in the middle of the jungle. there are massaging waterfalls, cold pools for when you get too hot, little jungle walkways, chaise lounges, a bar, a restaurant. it is just the prettiest place and soooo relaxing. and they have these mushroom lights on the walkways, so cute! so we soaked, we relaxed, we played, we laughed, we got water up our noses. and after ...

not the cows-US. well, we are still pretty much stranded here in sabalito. no place i'd rather be, really (except for my mom's house, that is). it's another gorgeous day here. sunny and fresh. we still have access to the town of arenal, about 15 miles east. the road crew is busy putting the road back together where it melted into the river last thursday afternoon. that giant hole effectively cut all access to tilaran and further down, the panamerican highway. in order to get to school today, robin had to bus down to the bottom of the hill, cross the small footpath next to the hole and catch another bus waiting on the other side. this is how it is for everybody wanting to bus into town. one of the road crew guys seemed to think it would be another week before the road is fixed. if you check this site, you'll see that this event made the front page photo of the national newspaper. AND we are in it! look veeeeeery very close and you'll see a teeny figure under the whit...

hello and thank you for being you, whoever you are today. i give thanks for the many many blessings life has bestowed upon me. first i give thanks for my son, robin. he has given me happiness, perspective, maturity, respect, patience, grace, laughter and most of all the true lovejoy of being a mother. i honor that experience every day! my number one priority is to love and protect him and to guide him properly into himself- the special person he is meant to be-with a mother's proper guidance in being a part of this crazy world. i give thanks for my loving family who loves and supports me in my mysterious endeavours, my friends who love and challenge me as i continue to grow, my spirit angels who protect me and my loved ones. thank YOU! life is beautiful, even when it sucks.