Christmas Lights, 12/18/2010

Jim drove Donna, Jean and me around Arlington and Alexandria tonight to see some spectacular Christmas displays. The one above was featured on the news this morning. It takes 11 days to set up, has 230,000+ lights, seven miles of cable and music coordinated with flashing sets of lights.

We have had a great time with Donna and Jim and will see them several times before we leave, but it is time to join in the excitement of Geoff's new place. It is a fine little brick and block place in Rockville. The previous owners kept it wonderfully maintained and the home inspector have it a score of 90. I would score it higher. I have never seen a better older home. There are some things that Geoff can do, and is planning to do, to open it up a bit and upscale some flooring and wall covering, but the structure and mechanical features are damn near perfect.

Jean and I will use the first floor bedroom. Easier for her, and speaking of easy there is a ramp from the driveway to the front door!

Most of her doctor visits are over, two to go; and one more test.

Dinner at the Koenigs on the 20th. The 23rd is some event somewhere celebrating something. Christmas Eve will be Roast Beast with the Kasicas. Christmas Day will be shredding paper and a turkey at Cory and Jerry's with ALL the boys in attendance. Some time between the 26th and the 30th we will get together with Lou Mayo.

Then on the 31st we return to Qunita casi el Cielo arriving mid afternoon for a little siesta before a fondue and Cava New Years's Eve Party with a few friends.

=m=

It's Tough to Leave

It's tough to leave.  I want to see family and friends very much but I want to stay here in paradise even more.  The wall of flowers behind me right now as I type could never be duplicated in Virginia. Thousands of impatiens planted by God, and at a cost of zero colones instead of 6 for $1.98 at Merrifield Nursery.

It's tough to leave.  Jean needs to see all her doctors and renew prescriptions and I can tend to her needs.  She is not demanding.  But her care here with help from Mari and Carmen and Reina and Flor and Juan is better. And, it's only a month.  We fax prescriptions right from the physician's office to Medco, Blue Cross/Blue Shield; and using our Florida mail drop address they are mailed directly to us for about ten dollers per three month supply of each med.  ( A cost well worth paying rather than staying an additional four to five weeks.)

It's tough to leave.  I have grown spoiled by the weather and the ability to slip into Tevas, shorts and a polo every day, wellllllll long pants on Sunday.  Shoes that encase my feet and clothing in layer are foreign to me.

Right now Mari is bathing Terry while Carmen cleans the kitchen, makes coffee and starts breakfast.  Carmen covers for Mari on Saturdays and is here with Mari on Mondays to do the heavy stuff, windows etc. Carmen will miss her two days a weeks pay, but her four weeks aquinaldo pay and two weeks vacation pay gave her some Christmas pay.  Mari will stay her while we are gone.  Mari is placing Christmasy votive candle holders around the sala right now, her way of fixing the place up for Christmas. 

Packing is almost done. Only my clothing and the laptops remain.  Better get to it.See most of you soon.

Love,

El Marteen (as Jimka calls me)

Getting Ready for a Christmas Trip to Virginia

Getting Ready for a Christmas Trip to Virginia

Redcap and wheelchair pusher tips: rojos, 1,000 colon notes, and bucks, 1 dollar US bills need to be gotten at the bank. And while at the Banco de Costa Rica might as well pay the Costa Rica departure tax; it's a lot more convenient than standing in yet another line at the airport and then trying to fill out the forms while balancing ticket and luggage.

Local coffee, Lizano and wildlife fridge magnets are a must as stocking stuffers. Our own coffee will not be processed and roasted until later this month so I bought coffee from Gerardo Capulina's little beneficio in Altos de Naranjo. He heads up an organic coffee associaton but also does custom processing of other coffee, mine will come from there.

Stock the house with food for the housesitter, and for the dogs and cat.

Pay aquinaldo, the 13th month. Annual bonuses are not only traditional they are the law. Employees are also entitled to a two week vacation which they often take around Christmas. If they do not take the leave they get the money.

Pack, of course. Here I wear only shorts, polo shirts and Tevas. Fortunately we have a stash of winter clothing at the Chapkeys.

Today I have to go downtown, San Jose, to pick up 18 newly framed photos. John Desarzin and I are going to have an exhibition of HDR photography in January and so I framed some large Adorama prints in the same style as his exhibition stuff. Tomorrow is a little show and sale and they will be handy there too.

So, with all of that there is not time for much else before our plane leaves on Monday the 6th.

Next missive will be written in the Olde Dominion.

.m.

Dry Season Started

Volcan Turrialba and Volcan Irazu are about 35 Kilometers distant
across the Valle Central, but when the dry season starts and they can
be seen without the rainy season cloud cover they appear much closer.

This morning they appeared. Not as clearly as they will a little
later when sunsets backing the plumes from Turrialba will be recorded
on all the digital camera in Atenas and on this side of the Valley. I
have a couple of good ones, but now that I am using HDR I hope for
somethingmore spectacular and check the view early while making
coffee.

Speaking of coffee, yesterday was the last of the first round of
coffee harvest here at Casi el Cielo. We got 58 cajuelasl, about 900
pounds. When the final accounting is done that will net us about
$500. I am very curious to see what the entire harvest thus far has
been, but hating number I will wait until Jean "does the books."

Jean is feeling a little better and will do her physical therapy in
the pool for the first time in over a month. And exercise is
essential to keep the blood moving in her legs and prevent further
arteriosclerosis of her legs, especially the right one.

So, good morning to all from midway up the Avocado Mountians in San
Isidro de Atenas.

-m-

Harvest Continues

Got back from Jean's dental appointment about 1:30pm and the pickers were waiting. Mari and I counted as they poured from bag to cajuela measure and then into another bag. EIGHTEEN Cajuelas, two shy of a fanega which is worth 80,000 to 90,000 colones.

The pickers say that they estimate there is another ten days of five or six persons picking left.

Do the math! If they are right there is another fifteen hundred dollars waiting to be picked.

And about the same amount of green cherries waiting to ripen and be collected in late December. Keeping the finca weeded, fertilized, and protected against insects and fungus has really paid off. Recall that these are just regrown plants which are only about half size. George, get those labels ready! =m=

Remembering Margaret

Margaret, Peggy, Mom, GG was: born in Jerome Arizona grew up in Anaheim, CA got her RN in San Francisco had two kids retired from Laguna Honda was a “getting old” role model died in Front Royal, VA and then did another two years teaching med students!

*

I got an email yesterday from the anatomical donation department of Georgetown Medial School informing me that the cremated remains of Margaret M. Lively were now available for pickup. Mom had made the gift of her body to the University years and years ago and had designated me as the beneficiary of her cremains. She wanted to avoid all last expenses and to continue her medical service into the future. In DC the dust of her sits in an 8x8x6 urn. I will get it in December and bring her memories to Costa Rica. She loved it here, lived at the Villa Alegria in Alajuela for a couple of years. The staff loved to see her wheel out into the garden after dinner to watch the flowers fade into black. Having to deal with her remains prompts me to think about my own, and Jean’s. Death is the final act of living and it is time to plan. So I will visit the City Hall and see what is available there for Mom’s urn and then later for Me and Jean and Terry. Dad is interred in a cremains niche in Sonoma with a vista of the vineyards of Sebastiani. It would be fitting for Mom to be near us surrounded by the Avocado Mountains and a thousand shades of green -gml-

25 Cajuelas for us.

During two days in November, 2010 three women who live nearby picked 25 cajuelas of coffee cherries here at Quinta casi el Cielo. A cajuela is an ancient measure of volume, the Costa Rican official measuring box is about 1500 cubic inches.

We usually sell our harvest to the Beneficio Diamonte, the coffee processing plant of the local farmer's cooperative for 1,300 colones (about $2.50) each. But, needing coffee for the house and for you, I took the freshly picked fruit to a small beneficio in Altos de Naranjo where they will batch process it for us in the old way. This entails sun drying, separating the fruit from the seed, drying and hulling the seed and then toasting the final green bean. Geraldo Capulina specializes in organic coffee which he roasts and sells ,but batch processing for neighbors brings him a little extra cash.

After green and damaged fruit are removed the remaining cherries are expected to finally result in about 35 to 40 kilos of whole grain, medium roast coffee beans.

Costs
to pick 25 cajuelas of cherries 32,500 colones
to process as above 75,000 colones
packing bags 21,000 colones
for a total of......................128,000 colones
Using 35 kilos, 70 500kg bags will end up costing... 1,836 colones per bag or $3.29 per pound.

If you have tried Cafe casi el Cielo I am sure you agree that it is as good or better than "gourmet" coffee costing $10 to $14 a pound and more. After that calculation I decided to do another 25 cajelas or so from the second harvest cycle.

Son George is working on a label. He wants me to process the entire harvest next year so that he can sell it in West Virginia. Maybe, but lots of hurdles before that is possible.

Fishing...and everything else...In and Around Costa Rica

Hello to you!

Judith has inspired me to broaden my Blog and to be more attentive to it. So I will start recording non-fishing events and stories here too.

Email notice of a new post is being sent to a few folks right now, please email me (gmlively@gmail.com) if you would like to get an email when I post a new entry.

-m-

Tarpon Quest Twenty Ten

Tarpon Quest Twenty Ten
First Tarpon Catch and Release
50th Annual Fishing Tournament
Rio San Juan, Nicaragua
September 13, 14, 2010

by G. Martin Lively

The trip
I have described the trip from here to and from El Castillo, Nicaragua before, so I won’t go into detail. You drive to Los Chiles, Costa Rica, take a boat from there to San Carlos, Nicaragua and from there another boat to El Castillo. It is a jungle view adventure worth the trip even if you do not fish, I have taken Jean and Terry there just for the scenery.

Roberto, Geoff & Dennis

Hotel Victoria
After you get off the boat at El Castillo walk to the street fronting it and turn left. At the end of the trail, and it really is a trail, no cars only carts, is the Hotel Victoria and the smiling faces of Julia, Nena and their crew. It is like coming home to your aunt’s place in the country. You will be ushered to the rear deck restaurant and handed a bottle of ice cold Tonya beer, much needed after a long boat ride and the the more than warm walk to the hotel. Nothing fancy here, but it is spotless and air conditioned and $35 a night single $50 double with breakfast on the deck. Slow Internet is available in the lobby. ( photos of the hotel and more of El Castillo are available at http://picasaweb.google.com/gmlively )

Fishing
TarponQuest Twenty Ten was the 50th year of this tournament on the San Juan River between El Castillo and the Solentiname Islands. In addition to the pre-historic tarpon, megalops atlanticus, the contest includes snook, machaca, guapote and roncador. This year the tributory rivers were muddy and the lesser fish were caught up near San Carlos, that is to say we near El Castillo caught NONE of them; and the shore lunch of just caught snook was a highlight of the last two trips.
Same guides and deck hands as last year, but unfortunately two of the four were still drunk from the party last night kicking off the tournament, one was half drunk and the fourth was from up river. But the fishing is quite simple, troll a Rapala Shad Rap in fire tiger or white with red head around the river mouths of tributaries and hang on. The river moves swiftly and hooking a tarpon is like snagging a side of beef in that current. (I have a broken road as proof.) When those smaller rivers are clear one can troll up and down them using a Rapala Far Rap or Big O in the same colors as the tarpon lures. Roberto had one strike, Dennis none, I fought a 120 pounder for 22 minutes before another boat came too close and caused my tarpon to jet downstream. My drag failed and SNAP.

El Castillo Our boats at El Castillo dock


Geoff’s fish
On day two Geoff hooked into another 120+ lb fish. It ran and jumped many times and the rod holder belt we brought along came in handy as Geoff worked the fish for over an hour. Hooked well in the upper jaw the fish managed to surface for a gulp of air and energy every fifteen minutes or so and forced us downriver and over the rapids. In the calmer water below the rapids the fight continued for another half hour until finally the leader came back onto the rod and Geoff brought it to the side of our boat. Published rules for catch and release had been changed and had we known the ‘new rules’ his fish would have qualified for catch and release when the leader touched the tod tip. Next year we will file for catch and release status! Anyway, the guide was too anxious and botched the lip gaffing and the leader to lure knot gave way. It may have been a prize winner and we all sulked for some time.




Geoff’s fish’s first jump ...and over the rapids

120 lbs + almost to the boat

San Carlos Awards Ceremony and Fiesta

November 16 is Nicaraguan Independence Day and the week from the 12th to the 17th is a huge party at the dock in San Carlos. November 14 is the tournament awards ceremony and fisherman’s dinner and we enjoyed mingling with the fisherman and hundreds of spectators and fiesteros.



Drive back, Ceci’s
From San Carlos the day after the Fiesta we hired the Monte Christo launch, twice the price and less than half the time and we could leave before the 2pm waterbus.


November 16 is Nicaraguan Independence Day and the week from the 12th to the 17th is a huge party at the dock in San Carlos. November 14 is the tournament awards ceremony and fisherman’s dinner and we enjoyed mingling with the fisherman and hundreds of spectators and fiesteros.



Drive back, Ceci’s
From San Carlos the day after the Fiesta we hired the Monte Christo launch, twice the price and less than half the time and we could leave before the 2pm waterbus.
Just before Zarcero is a favorite restaurant, Ceci’s. If we drive that way going we stop for hot chocolate and chorreadas, this lunch stop called for Beef Stroganoff, Sauteed Pork Chops and Onions, Lomito Suizo, and Grilled Chicken with Mushrooms. I tried them all and can’t wait to get back to any dish there.



PS Applications for “Tarpon Heaven Twenty Eleven” being taken at gmlively@gmail.com

Trolling and Reef fishing out of Sierpe

Aldea del Rio Charters, Sierpe, Costa Rica

I’ll bet it was the first time in 30 years that the three of us had fished together. It was a good day for fishing and getting together with sons George and Geoff who will be back soon to give Dad another excuse to fish. Chris Gardes who grew up in McLean with my sons came along too.

Brian of the Rio Lindo Resort in Dominical had told me of Aldea del Rio Charters in Sierpe and I booked a day offshore with them. We did not go to far out, maybe ten miles, before we found a huge school of small, six to eight pounds, tuna. The boat was a 27 foot, center console, full bimini top sportfisher with a 150 horsepower outboard. We cruised swiftly down the river for about an hour, ran the potato patch at the mouth and turned south for about an hour. From nine to eleven it was non-stop action with one or the other of us fighting a tuna. We trolled surface splashing plugs on two outriggers and two stern rigs. In addition to the yellow fins, which are great eating, we caught black tuna or skipjack which we kept for later bait.

The overcast burned off and the sea was calm; a perfect day. But no sails, dorado or marlin showed and when the tuna quit, we turned North to a sea mount Jay knew of. His GPS guided us there and the depthfinder showed the bottom rising to 60 feet below the surface. Large blips on the screen at about 40 feet meant big fish were available.

We rigged with heavy leader, a two ounce weight and a big circle hook. A fillet of skipjack is hooked once and then dangled down to the fifty foot level with the reel in free spool. Lots of little tugs from fish too small to get the big fillet in their mouths had to be resisted, as did the big tug and run, for a few seconds that is. A circle hook works by being pulled slowly towards the corner of the fish's mouth as it pulls away taking line. After a few seconds the drag is engaged and the hook digs in, no strike necessary. We drifted over the seamount and then motored back up current to do another drift. Over the next few hours we fought, caught and lost many kinds of fish: trigger fish, red snapper, green snapper, rooster fish, big eye jack, amberjack and white tipped reef shark. The amberjack weighed 23 pounds and the shark was between five and six feet long. The shark stayed in the water, but the rest joined the tuna in a large cooler as we headed for shore.

Jay had wasabi and soy and so the first yellow fin fillet was cut into thin bite sized slices and right after a swift dip in the soy and horseradish sauce was enjoyed by everyone on the dock.

More photos of the trip at http://picasaweb.google.com/gmlively/SierpeJune172010#

Aldea del Rio website is http://www.aldeadelrio.com/

I’m eager for another trip, and if you are too, you can email me gmlively@gmail.com and we can arrange a charter.

-gml-

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