I once read that drinking alone is a sign of problem drinking. Why is that? Is eating alone, smoking alone or bathing alone a problem? I have discovered that the opposite is true.
Now that I can drink alone and enjoy it-no problem! I reflect on all the evenings which were ruined because I needed someone else to drink with. Now I am at a level which is equivalent to self-fulfilment or self actualization. No longer do I need a social crutch (company) to really tie-one-on. I am not afraid of being alone and can enjoy it. There are many folks who are afraid of being alone, traveling alone or drinking alone! Their need reflect their incompletness. I am now a whole man and do not fear such.
I still really enjoy the company of some interesting people. And I am facinated by some interesting comments by uninteresting people, but make no mistake; I am now a man who can stand (drink) alone and am proud of it! Post your comments! (hmmm, think I'll now have a cigarette.)

Christmas is for everybody. So it was Feliz Navidad on Christmas day.

One of Santa's important duties is to tend the BBQ and enjoy tropical yougurt with tropical rum.
Santa must also hear the requests from good (and bad) little boys and girls.













Two sisters, a brother-in-law, a husband, a son and a nephey. Hey!! That's six people!

Naturally she is smiling. She just got a fur jacket from Luis, her husband. Luis knows what works!

Christmas 2007 (second set of photos)

If you want the real tamale deal, Start with banana tree palms. The produce section of every grocery store is well stocked. My job was to prepare the palms, they are not properly called leaves, for the next phase in preparing these delights. The family I'm working with gets together every December and makes tamales "for fun." Theses beauties are palm halfs. (ripped down the center stem.)
They must be washed to remove dead insects, bat dung, fungus, molds, lipstick or whatever is loose enough to wipe off. The sections are cut to 16 inch pieces for wrapping the ingredients.
Gis is cutting the sweet peppers and is always good for a photo.
This is the chief tamale maker! A position, I might add, based on tenure and experience.
I am not the only one who is challenged and has found a way to overcome the problems of altitude and os kitchen appliances being designed for tall people.

Quality control is essential, so an expert is employed at critical stages. The "mush" is 90% corn meal and 10% pureed potatos. A chicken broth is stewed for flavoring (with many other ingrediants.)
Everyone helps assemble the tamales. More wine and louder music (from the Mob Album) was my prescription for success. I was therefore not allowed to assemble. My job was to tie the tamales together which I received multiple instructions on how to do!!

This is why I was not allowed to assemble. The proper skill can require generations to master. Also, I didn't have the nails for the job.
The ingredients are wrapped in three layers of banana palms. The palm can be reused.
I felt "special and proud" of my first tray of tied (properly) tamale pairs. No one else thought it was a big accomplishment, but hey, I did!!

Pairs are tightly wrapped with the fold inside and tied with cotton string. The red string is for "special ones." Such as with hot sauce, peppers, rat poison, sweet or sour. What ever you want!
This is the "baby" pot. The water is heated with the tamales already in the water and then boiled for 45 minutes.
Here is Giselle fishing one out for the camera. The mama pot is to the left . We filled it three times! Total production was 126 tamales after ten hours.
Lydia got the first one because everyone else was still working! It looks like mush but is as firm as..... a tamale! To be eaten with a fork. Iwanted to put a prize in each.

The finished product! The yellow stain is rice. The white strip is sweet pepper and the orange in the upper left is carrot. We save the leaves for making clothing, roofs, kitchen pots, etc. (not really)

LaLuz Lodge was invited to have a feast at one of the members's family homes. It is over 100 years old and built by his great-grandparents as a dairy farm. This is the garden view overlooking the Cartago Valley.
Cooking was, of course, the big attraction for many. The Worshipful Master (Right Worshipful Master in Costa Rica) is in the center. The ranchero is attached to he main house. The Lodge paid for the outing.
The gardens were masterful, extnding over several acres. The only maple tree living in central america was here and a giant California Redwood was prospering at eight feet in diameter. Cartago is high and damp, just like the California coast.
This is the group late in the afternoon. I used the timer on my Kodak camera to get in the photo. Some brothers and families had already left.

You know what makes me so made I could cook an eagle for dinner? All this fuss over endangered species. I say shoot one before they are all gone. Besides, once an animal goes on the list the prize price goes through the roof, making them unaffordable for many collectors. The jungle is then flooded with poachers making it impossible for the honest hunter to bag one. Don’t tell me that you approve hunting only for food. After buying a weapon and ammo, all the hunting and camping equipment, paying for the course, buying a hunting license and taking afew days off from your regular job and driving 200 miles to hunt, that is the most expensive meat you will ever taste! If one must kill for food, buy a chicken. Nobody cares about chickens. Cut-off the head and squirt blood all over. (My greatgrandparents had a huge chicken farm in Oregon. This is sort of thing we did for fun.) Wakeup America!!

Provinces and cities sent dance and bands to the Oxcart parade.This is just one of many.
These 10 foot tall images appear in all parades and festivals. Note the little viewing window for the operator. Some are of known personalities, others of mystical orgin and others "just for fun." they dance around like crazy and the spinning causes the free hanging arms to extend--sometimes over the crowds to the delight of the children.
This little gal was heard to say: "My parents made me do this!"
Limon Provience is on the Carib side and is distictive in culture, race and crime. The black population in Limon were imported, mostly from Jamica, to do the heavy lifting for the railroad construction at the turn of the last century. The latin types were not up to it. Surprisingly, only latins were seen with this Limon dance entry.

This parade is HUGE. Folks come from all around. It is the Oxcart Parade. It is San Jose's answer to Hot August Nights! Most are family carts but some are sponsored by church's and communities.
This is a family cart with two magnigicent oxen. The staff in the right hand of the driver us used to guide the oxen, which are very responsive to his slight proding. The parade had over 100 teams.

These big boys reminded me of PGM's. I don't know why.

The ribbon is a special award.

All big events must have a rodeo queen. These are the girls, all vying to be "Miss Oxcart-2007.

If left untreated usually not fatal. Toe nail fungus. It will eventually spread to the finger nails. Then untreated all the nails will fall off! The doc gave me three months of pills, one per week. I guess I picked it up in the really cheap hotel in Panama. now I know why. Try to save a buck and see what happens? $50 for the medicine.

Sunset in San Jose.

I cut my hand worse than I thought. My physican has me taking anti-biotics three times a day.

I am "nationalizing" my motorcycle. CRica has social insurance, which means it is a governmental program. The insurance is placed through an attorney, so meeting one is the first step. Then one goes to a private customs agent (with the attorney) and gets the importation papers completed ($150 for the agent). Then both the attorney and the agent go with the motorcycle owner to deposit the moto at the government's customs warehouse where the government customs man will appraise the motorcycle and determine the importation fee while it sets in storage.
Fortunately for me, the Worshipful Master of my local masonic lodge is an attorney and he is sheparding me through this process, which would be impossible for me alone. Once again, Free Masonry has contributed to my welfare and peace of mind.
One of the reasons I describe it as impossible for me are the locations of these agencies and offices. Addresses are not used here as we know them. It is a landmark system. For example, my address of residence is partly "1000 meters south of the restaraunt Dona Lela in Lomas Ayarco, casa 03CC." Which is fine if you have eaten at Dona Lela's restaraunt. Otherwise, one needs to dine out more often!

The self inflicted wound. Three stitches. Surgeon's cost for treatment was $30.00.

The weapon. A kichen knife, very sharp.

Colon sits on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal. Dirty and friendly.
The sidewalk vendors go for several blocks. Additionally, there is a large indoor market-the rain is intense. North Americans really don't blend here.
Cristo Redentor was erected in 1995 at the very north end of the road from Panama City to Colon.

Panamanians and most in Central America love their parks. Parks are well attended from dawn to dusk. Maybe they would rather be there than at home. I think that the same dynamic is at work in the English Pubs (public houses). Meet your friends, shoot the breeze and enjoy the sun. It sure beats working for a living.

The San Blas indians live on small islands on the Atlantic shore of Panama. Their "cash crop" is this type of needle work. Cost was $20.00

This is "Casco Viejo." It is the French Quarter of Panama City without the French. The old fort is gone.