As I promised you.....however long it has taken....here is the story about the critters on our farm in Penas Blanca. Know that I haven't seen any at this point and I'm told they don't want to see me anymore than I want to see them. I'm not totally convinced about that. We were staying at the Orosi Lodge in the small town of Orosi.....cute place with the best cappucino ever. Ray and I would spend a hour or so each evening in the coffee shop. Me writing and Ray reading. Well, we got into a conversation with Andy the proprietor......he and his wife have been living in Costa Rica for the past 15 years. Andy has 3 rottweilers and I mentioned that we would be bringing our dog when we move there. I said that a guy that we met in Westfalia said that we shouldn't bring a dog from the states because they didn't have the instinct to stay away from the snakes....."do you think that is true" I said. Yes he said but I'd be more concerned about the big cats! What big cats I asked? Pumas! Your property is next to the rain forest.....there are cats.....they hunt at night and they eat small animals. There is a farmer up there and they eat his chickens. I told him that we were training Wallace and that we would not be letting him out at night. I'd be worried about the Boas too he said. You have more Boas on that side of Orosi Valley than we do here. And Coral snakes too! But you don't have to worry to much about them....their mouths are small and they can't open them very wide.....so they would just naw on you. Okay....now my heart is beating like crazy and my eyes are getting wider and wider. Oh and spiders!.....he says. This is where I stop him and say that I'm not afraid of spiders. At this he holds up his hand and says "they are as big as my fist".
That night sleep didn't come easily. I woke with a start at one point convinced that a python had spit on me from the dark some where. I have a very vivid imagination. Thank God the next morning when the sun was out and I could check the room for intruders....Ray and I had a good laugh.
I couldn't wait to talk to our real estate friend about Andy's comments the next day. He said he needed to talk to Andy about scaring his clients! Yes, but is it true? Well.......did you hear something jumping on the roof every night while you were staying in our guest house? Yes....! That is the puma that lives in the stand of bamboo behind the guest house. He hunts the night hawks. He's a beautiful animal about 40 or 50 pounds. And he has never bothered Lola May (Steve's rottweiler). What about the Boas? Yes.....but they don't want to see you any more than you want to see them. Why do people keep saying that........do they know how much I don't want to see one?
Does this information cause me to change my mind about moving to Costa Rica.........not on your life (or mine). The whole incident in Heredia with the banditos really changed my perspective about a lot of things. When it's my time........it's my time and I won't be able to change that. For now I choose to live my life with passion and I am grateful for every experience. Thank you, God......for all that I am, all that I have and all that I experience. Thank you, God for the critters too!