Living in a jungle

Not all of Costa Rica is a jungle.

There's a lot of farming going on. They grow coffee and bananas up here on the side of the mountains, pineapples, and sugar cane at lower elevations in the flat areas, and mangoes grow everywhere.

They grow almost everything here. They pick strawberries every day of the year.

The one thing I haven't been able to find, is yellow crookneck squash, although they grow lots of zucchini. I don't like zucchini nearly as much.

There are lots of colorful birds here. There are flocks of green parrots outside my door almost every morning. They're loud and they all talk (squak) at the same time.

The Scarlet Macaws and the Howler Monkeys don't like the cooler weather at this elevation (4,500 feet), so I don't see them around here, but I see lots of parrots and Toucans.

Black Panthers are in this area, but I haven't seen any. They're out at night, and I'm not. Neighbors have seen them around here.

I'm glad the Howler Monkeys are not around here. Those things are extremely loud and irritating.

The rainy season is over, so I will see only blue skies and sunshine for the next several months.

There are different things to experience in every area. I grew up as a hillbilly in the foothills of the Tennessee mountains, and after college I moved to Charleston, SC.

The South Carolina low country (as it's called) was way different from where I grew up. The most significant difference (other than being flat) was all the great food I got to eat.

Bottom line: I'm still adjusting to living in a different world, but I'm loving it here.