Playing Catch Up

Our two months in the States is over and here we are back in beautiful Costa Rica. It is absolutely wonderful to be here again! But I do face a challenge in trying to summarize for you all the joys and sorrows, adventures and misadventures we had in our travels.

Our first two weeks were spent with my mom in San Angelo in West Texas, where some of the all-time best barbeque can be found. And find it we did, rather often. Our favorite place was Bodacious Barbeque where the chopped brisket and baked beans are a standout.

Chili Relleno at Henry's

But we also wanted some Tex-Mex, chock-full of the spices and chilies that we miss in Costa Rican food. Armenta's, Los Panchito's and Henry's all fit the bill; we enjoyed enchiladas, tacos, chili rellenos and nachos to our heart's content.

One of the main attractions for us in San Angelo is Sealy Flats Blues Bar and Diner, where live music is on stage most every night. Lucky for us, my old friend world-class blues diva Candye Kane was playing there just a week into our stay. With help from her outstanding band, featuring that killer lead guitarist Laura Chavez, Candye brings the house down every time she steps on stage decked out in one of her sparkly, spangled costumes. We made it to the club for two of the three nights she performed and loved every minute.

Candye and Yours Truly

But it was soon time to head for Portland where much less happy duties awaited us. With Layne's sister Annie in the last stages of cancer and suffering as well from Alzheimer's, we knew that her time with us was limited, and indeed, she passed away only days after our arrival. Then the sad task of planning her memorial service fell to us and a few other loving relatives, culminating in a beautiful and remarkably celebratory event honoring her life of love and devotion to family and friends.

Fun in the cold!

Our work in preparing and conducting the memorial service meant canceling our trip to California to see my son Damian and grandson Kai, a missed contact that we deeply regretted. But we did manage to drive to Central Oregon for an overnight visit with Penny and Joel, very dear friends from our horseback-riding days in California. Although the weather was a bit chilly for Layne and me, accustomed as we are to the tropics, Penny served up delicious food as always, and Joel entertained us with his wry humor. It was as if we had been together only the day before.

Upon our return to Portland, we found time for a few walks enjoying the beautiful fall colors and watching a family of muskrats gamboling along Fanno Creek trails.

But soon it was time for us to return to Texas where we planned to spend most of our two-month stay helping my mom with some of the projects around her house and getting the upstairs in shape for our eventual residency there next spring. Now that my mom is a woman "of a certain age," Layne and I feel that we need to be with her to make her life a little easier. She's a very independent person and we respect that, but we also know that some things have become difficult or painful for her so we plan to step in to ease the load a little. Besides, it's free rent!

Even in the last days of our trip, we managed to squeeze in a very brief, but utterly wonderful visit to rugged and scenic Big Bend National Park in southwest Texas. Our good friends Sally and Leonard, expats we met here in Costa Rica a few years ago, last spring decided to return to the U.S. They bought a luxurious big RV and are now serving as volunteer hosts at national parks around the nation, feeding their unquenchable taste for adventure. It was our good fortune that they had just begun a gig at Big Bend and when they invited us to visit, my mother urged us to go. She had visited Big Bend some years ago and she assured us it was not to be missed, especially with well-trained hosts to guide us. And by Texas standards, it was not all that far away: only a four to five hour drive!

So we rented a car and drove across the boring West Texas landscape to Big Bend, which turned out to be a stunning park of amazing geologic formations and extravagant desert vistas. Our first afternoon there, with Sally doing volunteer work in the Visitor's Center, Leonard drove us for miles around the huge park, all the way down to the Texas-Mexico border of the Rio Grande and Santa Elena Canyon, a truly astounding panorama of vertical cliffs running along the shallow meandering river channel. 

Our guide Leonard points out the geology

 Solitary hiker at Santa Elena Canyon: Mexico on the left, Texas on the right

The next morning all four of us made the drive up to Chisos Basin, a magical valley at 5400' elevation held in the embrace of huge rock formations and monstrous volcanic peaks such as Casa Grande, which towers over the Basin at 7300 feet. As we enjoyed the breakfast buffet and the view through the "Window" to the desert far below, we had the good luck to see a mother black bear and her two cubs scrambling down the side of a nearby hill. Unfortunately, the battery on my camera was dead and Sally's shots on her phone didn't quite work but what a thrill it was to see these animals in their own habitat and to enjoy spectacular Big Bend National Park.

Soon it was back to San Angelo and last preparations for our return to Costa Rica and the happy reunion with our adorable puppy Winston. No longer the little insecure fellow we left in the excellent care of our friends Chris and Sue, now he's all grown up and well deserves his nickname: The Moose!

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Hasta Luego, Texas! Hola, Costa Rica!

All together now: Welcome home, Kat and Layne!

Muchas gracias, estimados lectores! (Thank you very much, dear readers.) It is indeed good to be back in Costa Rica. Despite this being the height of the rainy season, the sun is shining for us today as if in greeting. The palm fronds are waving hello and the cattle across the valley are faintly lowing, welcoming us back to our little Santa Eulalia paradise.

This year has found us out of Costa Rica almost as much as we've been in the country. First, there was the three-and-a-half month sojourn to our old home in Northern California to make repairs, renovations and refinance; then, almost as soon as we returned to Costa Rica I learned that my mom in Texas was sick and needed my help. So off I went for a five-week trip to nurse her back to health and help with projects around her house. Layne joined me for the last two weeks and we returned just last night.

Darrelynn, Tom and Yours Truly

Although most of the trip was devoted to caring for my mom, there was still time for a short weekend trip to visit old friends outside of Austin and San Antonio. My dear friend Darrelynn from high school has recently married a delightful gentleman named Tom and the two of them now live in his lovely home overlooking Horseshoe Bay, filled to overflowing with collectibles, artwork, unusual knickknacks and other beautiful furnishings. Layne and I spent a pleasant afternoon with them talking over old times and learning about Tom's fascinating career fighting fires in Kuwait and elsewhere alongside the likes of Red Adair, the legendary Texas oil well firefighter.

Philisse, Anastasia & Agatha
(Aurora was taking her "beauty sleep")

Philisse and Layne at the Blue Star

After a drive down to San Antonio we met the next morning with Philisse, an old San Francisco friend who has transplanted to Texas to be near her daughter Agatha and granddaughters Anastasia and Aurora. Layne and I have known Agatha since she was scarcely a year old, so seeing her with her young family is truly a joy. 

Soon with Philisse and Layne in the "pilot car" and me trailing in our rental car, the three of us took off for brunch at the Blue Star Brewing Company Restaurant, located next to the meandering San Antonio River, a trip through freeway traffic that turned into a major expedition with lengthy detours off Interstate 10 as we made our way to the Brewing Company. Ironically, we later learned an overturned beer truck was to blame for our delay!

A young caballero

My stay in Texas overlapped with Costa Rica's Independence Day on September 15th, a date celebrated along with other Central American countries for their joint declaration of freedom from Spain in 1821. With San Angelo's large Latino community, there were plenty of celebrations to attend, from the dances and food fair at the Paseo de Santa Angela to a horseback riding and roping demonstration by Mexican caballeros on the big parade grounds of Fort Concho. Although only a small crowd was in attendance, the efforts by the riders and their horses were well appreciated, particularly those of the smallest young cowboy and his pony.

Fort Concho itself is an interesting attraction in this West Texas town, a national historic landmark noted as the best-preserved 1880's fort in the United States, with most of the former U.S. Army post and some twenty-three original or restored fort structures still standing. (See my blog post on Fort Concho history here.)

In her younger days my mom was an active volunteer at the Fort, working in archive preservation and serving as an informed docent. She still spends many a Sunday afternoon greeting visitors in Officer's Quarters #1 and sharing her vast knowledge of the Fort's history, legends and ghost stories. One of the most entertaining and nostalgic evenings Mother, Layne and I spent while we were there was watching an old video that I made some years ago of Christmas at Old Fort Concho, a fabulous three-day living history event that featured Indian dances, military drills, rowdy cowboys on horseback, campfire poetry readings, ladies-of-the-night as well as laundresses and other more "respectable" women working their crafts in dozens of tents set up across the parade grounds. The finale was a grand entrance by the Fort commander Colonel Grierson and his family in their horse-drawn buggy coming to attend a Christmas party. Sadly, these festivities have been discontinued and Christmas at Old Fort Concho now consists only of a more commercial event with vendors selling their wares in some of the buildings. But in the video my mom was a fetching sight in her stunning turquoise taffeta and lace officer's wife dress, dancing the Virginia Reel along with other officers and their wives as they enacted a typical Christmas celebration in the 1870's and 1880's.

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Family First, Pura Vida Next!

Margie's famous pickles

In case you missed my last post, I had to leave Costa Rica less than a month after our return from California, heading for Texas this time to help my mom through a health crisis. When I arrived just over two weeks ago, she was still quite ill, very weak and exhausted from fighting a harsh urinary tract infection for some time. Why had she not gone to the doctor sooner? You'd have to ask her. She has her reasons -- none of them very good, in my not-so-humble opinion. But fortunately within a few days after my arrival, she began to improve and after the first week or so was almost back to her old feisty self, heading off to her one-day-a-week job at the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center and her half-day volunteer work at the same office, plus making a big batch of her "famous" pickles to give away. She remains an inspiration to me in her unflagging devotion to duty and in pushing through a lot of pain and discomfort to keep being active.

I also want to express my deepest gratitude to my stepsisters-in-law, Cathy and Theresa, who went out of their way to help mother in the weeks of her illness prior to my coming here. From mopping floors and washing dishes to making chicken soup and driving her to doctor appointments, they made sure that my mom was taken care of when she was unable to care for herself.

One of the major stresses Mother and I have faced involves her "poor white trashy" neighbors and the cats they have allowed to proliferate in the neighborhood. These people are really a disgrace to the community, with trash, plastic, toys, mattresses and other litter all over their yard. In contrast, Mother and the other people on the street keep their modest homes attractive and clean.  

Unsightly front yard...

Even worse back yard

In contrast, the Latina neighbor's house...

And Mother's nice historic home

But a worse problem with these neighbors is that their three unspayed females have had liter after liter of kittens this year, each generation maturing to make still more babies. And since these people don't handle them nor even seem to feed them, the animals turn feral very quickly and run wild through the area desperately searching for food and water. Since my mom has a tender heart for animals, especially cats, she tried to feed the first few kittens that showed up in her backyard but soon realized, as more and more came for food and took up residence under her house, there was no way she could manage 15 or 20 cats on her own.

Soon after I arrived I began trying to deal with the problem, eventually contacting the city's animal control and learning that if I trapped them in Mother's storeroom, the city would come pick them up. I also learned that the Humane Society is overrun with cats and in fact the woman there called the problem "a crisis in the city." So, as sad and hard as it was to do, a few days ago we managed to lure seven of the little fellows into the building and an animal control officer took them away. My poor mom has grieved over one of the older kittens, a beautiful golden male that she had somewhat befriended and after the fact, wished she had kept. Unfortunately, he was also one that had scratched a hole in her back door screen to get into her house and had jumped up and climbed in a open window as well, so the chances of his ever being a good pet were slim. Still, I feel very bad about having him taken away to be put to sleep. There's no easy answer for such irresponsible owners. The only solution is for people to spay and neuter their pets.

Concho River 

So now that life is more or less back to normal here, I have managed to get out for a little golf and for a walk down to the Concho River. The huge orange and red flowers on these large bushes in the park attracted dozens of honeybees, which I was thrilled to see, given their threatened existence in recent years from Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). 

Despite the drought here in West Texas, these plants seem to be thriving. Being right next to the river may be part of the reason or perhaps the city waters this area adjacent to a charming garden and gazebo as a lure to tourists. In any event, the colorful flowers and active wildlife, lively squirrels and this rather unusual bird perched over the water, made for a pleasant hour-long stroll.

Now I look forward eagerly to Layne's arrival next week and to our return to Costa Rica at the end of the month. It's wonderful to be with my mom but Pura Vida calls! 

Don't forget Layne's book "Moral Turpitude" is available for only $2.99 at Smashwords.com. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/159570

Farewell to an Old Friend, Carrots to the New

It has been a tough holiday season for me, needless to say, having to put down my beloved Morgan horse, Indiana Mojave, two days after Christmas after more than 23 years of riding the trails together. That, plus the continuing worries about the health challenges of my family member has robbed me of any inspiration for writing a blog post. Traveling from Costa Rica to California, where I loaded up my suitcases with “stuff” we need in Atenas, then flying on to Texas to be with my mother has also tested my endurance as a traveler. The new airline rules on luggage fees, weight limits, change fees and such are really Draconian. Oddly enough, I found the easiest way around one of those issues is simply to cart your second bag to the gate and let them check it there. Although it would have cost an additional $35 had I checked my bag at the check-in counter, at the gate it was checked onboard at no charge. How silly is that?!

Another trick I used took advantage of the fact that Continental does not charge for the first bag. So, on the trip from Costa Rica on Continental, I put my one packed bag inside a bigger bag, the larger bag intended for the more heavily loaded return trip. (We have tons of stuff we would like to bring to Costa Rica, so every trip we load up).

The flight to California was a sentimental journey. On final approach into San Francisco International Airport (SFO), the big jet crossed over the Bay and circled downtown Oakland, giving me a nostalgic view of both the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge. Lots of fun times there and people I love. However, even though I miss much about the San Francisco area, I wouldn’t trade its cool foggy weather, traffic congestion and high prices for my tranquilo life in Costa Rica.

Although I arrived on Christmas Eve, the expected holiday crowds at airports or on public transportation never really materialized, I’m happy to say. Riding on BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) on Christmas Day as I commuted from my San Francisco airport hotel across the entire metropolitan area to Antioch, it was only me and a few other lone travelers for most of the ride. In San Francisco proper there were crowds between some stops but for the most part, it was a quiet trip.

The same cannot be said for my journey to Texas on the day before New Year’s Eve. Loaded down with two bags, the larger one now filled to its 50-pound limit, an overnight bag carrying two laptop computers, my purse and a coat, I was lucky to board the BART train at its initial station in Pittsburg/Bay Point or I might not have had a seat at all. Lugging those heavy suitcases around SFO and Dallas-Fort Worth Airport (DFW) taxed me physically, especially when the shuttle driver at DFW (which is a city-size monstrosity!) dropped me off at the wrong entrance for check-in, necessitating an exhausting trek through baggage claim areas to the American counter then back the same direction to my gate -- the farthest one, naturally! I was very glad to finally arrive here in San Angelo, Texas.

Officers' Row at Old Fort Concho

My mother’s home is located only a few blocks from historic Fort Concho, an old Army post from the late 1800s, and on my first morning walk I bundled up and headed toward the fort grounds to get some exercise in spite of the icy cold air. Located on the plateau where the North and Middle Concho Rivers join, Fort Concho is the best preserved of the Indian-era forts, with its original officers’ quarters running along one side of the huge parade grounds and the enlisted men’s barracks along the other, both built mostly of native limestone. Covering some forty acres and now designated as the Fort Concho National Historic Landmark, the old fort was home to Company “A” of the Tenth Cavalry, one of two all-black Army regiments known as “Buffalo Soldiers,” which helped patrol the frontier in the late 1800’s.

Well-preserved Officers' Quarters Three

The ruins of thick limestone walls 

Headquarters Building, across the Parade Grounds

The Post Hospital

Fort Concho Schoolhouse

Margie, the "Schoolmarm"

For many years my mother has served as a docent at the fort, leading tours of Officers’ Quarters Three and the Post Hospital in particular, and is extremely knowledgeable about Fort Concho history, the culture and practices of frontier life and the museum artifacts housed there. One of the colorful events held at the fort each year is “Christmas at Old Fort Concho,” a three-day living history panorama featuring period entertainment, artillery demonstrations, children’s workshops, military drills on horseback, shopping at numerous vendors booths and the Winter Rendezvous, where hundreds of costumed re-enactors at campsites across the parade grounds illustrate life in the Wild West of the 1800s. For her part, my mother dresses in a gorgeous teal green dress, modeling the clothing of an officer’s wife or at other times, in a modest long skirt and white blouse to serve as schoolmarm for “Frontier School,” an educational program for local fourth-graders. If you are ever in the West Texas area near San Angelo, a visit to the fort should be on your itinerary as it is a very special piece of American history.

On that first chilly hike, I wandered around the fort buildings and soon made my way toward the stables, where I knew I might find horses or mules housed. During public events, the animals are hitched to wagons or saddled for riding and used as part of the living history demonstrations. If I was lucky, I thought, I might find some equine residents at home. And indeed I did. Two very large jack mules, Mack and Joe, were standing by the fence as I approached that first day. Cautiously, I scratched and petted one and then the other through the fence, trying to make friends as they looked me over carefully. The next day I took carrots and the following day apples. As you can imagine, by now they look forward to my visits and welcome my attentions. As I look in their beautiful dark eyes, I am reminded of my sweet Mojave and know that I was lucky to have had him in my life. I hope he is galloping joyfully in green fields forever. Pura Vida, Mojave!