Another Juncture

Normally, I prefer for photos to be the centerpiece of this website. Nevertheless, the past few months have been a bit hectic, and I've had neither much time nor the proper locations for uploading any new photos. This summer has been without a doubt a roller coast ride: a long case of sinusitis and a run-in with ****, snorkeling with massive spotted eagle rays, lots of fishing but not many fish, surfing some beautiful breaks, and some awesome jobs that didn't/don't pay very well.

Working on this blog provides a chance to escape from that roller coaster, regardless of whether it forces my brain to sweat or to go into its own little euphoria. One of those euphorias came about when Lis told me that Blueberries for Sal, by the Caldecott Medal-winning author, Robert McCloskey, takes place on a certain Blueberry Hill in Maine. As there is only one official Blueberry Hill in Maine, I was ecstatic to know Nolan and I had skated on that very hill just a couple months ago.

In closing, a good friend of mine, Adam Lowenstein, once stated, "Where I'm from, we don't have anything to be proud of." Well, I'm back in my beloved Tri-State, and there's still a lot to be explored and a lot of work to be done. Stay posted.

Another victim of H1N1.

Los Cabecares

This is Nélson, who was our guide at his reservation. I was expecting to see anyone in traditional, native clothing, but I was a little surprised at how western his clothes were. Nevertheless, people often forget that certain changes are inevitable or beneficial, or in some cases, both. Before Eurasian diseases decimated native populations in the Americas, there were no equines for Plains natives, or pineapples for Hawaiians, etc.
This is a plant from the genus, Salvia. I'm not able to identify which species this is on two accounts: I'm not a botanist, and there are over 700 known species. One of the variants, Salvia divinorum, is cultivated for smoking, yet the U.S. DEA has only listed it as a "drug of concern". Several states have criminalised it, and it is still legal in Canada.
Ronny Santamaría Villegas, our driver for most of the trip. He's a vaquero or caballero at heart and grew up in a small town called Canitas, in the province of Guanacaste. For any of you who have travelled to Costa Rica, you should recognize his surname as that of Juan Santamaría, Costa Rica's national hero, and for whom the airport is named.
This tree bleeds. I spent a while looking for more information on it but found nothing. Nélson pointed out to us that the true way to learn is to spend time in nature, experiencing it, rather than reading about it in a book or online. I suppose he was right.
This is a berry from the Citronella costarricensis tree. The oils are used as mosquito repellent all over the world.
Another vascular plant. I saw this one off to the side but couldn't get any information on it.