Rats and Robbers – Part 6

As we trekked up the sand, cocktails in hand, the sun was shining, the air was still, and the scarlet macaws were flapping along two by two squawking their usual banter. At any moment the flip could switch, the sky would darken, the ocean would become angry, wind would howl, claps of thunder would startle … Continue reading →

Searching For My Students

“Little Switzerland” beckoned. I rounded the corner of the open-air market just down the road from Bluebeard’s Castle where Don and I were staying for the first few nights of his three-week assignment in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands and there it was; the famous jewelry store I remembered from when I lived in St. Thomas … Continue reading →

Magens Bay

Black fringe and white fringe enjoying a day at the beach! Magens Bay, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, is considered one of the top ten beaches in the world. It is the standard by which I judge all beaches due to it being my first exposure to tropical beaches. Growing up in Brooklyn, a day at the … Continue reading →

I Wouldn’t Be Caught Dead in It!

  This phrase struck a chord when my friend, and previous office-mate at Monterey Bay Properties, Barbara, said it at a girls’ luncheon; a mini going away party held at Café Cruz in Capitola, just before my final trip of the move to Costa Rica. Mind you, when I say “girls”, it is a term of endearment. … Continue reading →

Please!

  You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.Abraham Lincoln A variation of the original quote is “please”. You can’t please all the people all the time. Boy, am I learning! I am a beginning … Continue reading →

Bobo Bites!

It’s no secret that I am a dog lover; have been all my life in spite of getting bitten when I was a toddler. I still have the scar at the base of my left thumb. Ironically, my son Tyler, has the same scar he got after jumping onto a fuzzy looking German Shepard. Rommel, … Continue reading →

No Rats, No Robbers

Don and I just spent an amazing couple of days at the Los Suenos Marriott with dear friends who came to Costa Rica for a destination wedding. Lucky us; we got to tag along, at least for the informal pre-wedding gatherings. Linda and I flew for TIA (Trans International Airlines) way back when. After leaving … Continue reading →

Rats and Robbers; Part 5

Part 5: After a good night’s sleep in the Atenas casita – well casita is a small house, this is a casitita; a doll house! Amazingly, even in its tininess, it has all the amenities we could ask for: a two car covered carport, a washing machine AND dryer (don’t have to worry about the ladrones (thieves) stealing … Continue reading →

Part 4

Part 4: What a wedding! The venue was gorgeous, the bride and groom stunning, the ceremony complete with personal vows exchanged, sand ceremony conducted, friends and family misty eyed as they were announced as Mr. and Mrs. Howlett! We ate, we drank, we launched wish-lanterns, set off fireworks, and danced into the night. Wedding … check! … Continue reading →