Aibonito Flower Show

 
 
 
 


I love the way families were camped out in the pine straw to hear the concert - and then in the 3rd one down, you can kind of see how pretty the hills are over Steve's shoulder. Last picture is Steve with our treasures - the little man sitting behind him was cracking me up - he looked so grumpy!

Aibonito and Cayey

Back to the flower show... this festival is widely advertised, and our neighbor said that it was absolutely not to be missed. So, we got up Saturday morning and made the trek. We took the northern route to get here, so we drove to San Juan, then headed south to end up just East of Central Puerto Rico
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. They call this town the "Switzerland of Puerto Rico" because it's the highest town on the island, and I gotta say, it was a true joy to drive there. It probably would have taken us about 3, 3.5 hours to drive straight there, but as always, our directions sucked (even though we had 3 differet sets - all different, mind you). We also were sidetracked by some gawking on the way there - for instance, this park. From what we could gather, this park was built and dedicated to a famous author who used to come to the top of this hill to gather his inspiration - and the view really was nice. You can kind of get a feel for the countryside in the 3rd picture, but the rest of the pictures we took of the landscape didn't look like anything because it was so hazy. The 1st 2 pictures at least give you a feel for how lush and rocky it was there. The last picture is standing in front of one of the booths at the flower show. We came home with the prettiest bell pepper and jalapeno plants you've ever seen, a ton of herbs, and a tangerine tree. Even if we never see it bear fruit, it will still be a joy, since the blooms smell so good I've been carrying it around from room to room of the house with me for its perfume. The other part of the "Switzerland" nickname that was blissfully correct was the climate - it must have been 15 degrees cooler, with a constant breeze, and the humidity was back down to a reasonable level. It was a great day!

Whirling Dirvishes

Saturday, we went to a town called Aibonito for a festival (more on that in a minute) Of course, there was a huge concert, and a carnival, and crafts and games. This one really caught my fancy - I love how old the game is, and that it's still being lugged around to carnivals, and I love that it is still the biggest draw from all of the games. People were lined up to place their bets each spin. And the spins, incidentally, are still done by a man with a long crank handle. No automation or electricity just adds to the charm.

Fun with textures

The Backyard Hedge in a new light

Today is one of those days when it can't make up its mind if it wants to be glorious, or if it wants to come a thunder boomer. It's been bright sunny, but the thunderheads are building all around and thunder has been rumbling all afternoon. I love days like this because every moment is different from the one just before it. It made the back hedge look prettier than I remembered!

This is him making fun of me after the other one scared me to death

National Geographic in my back yard!

I was sitting outside reading a book and enjoying the breeze this morning when I heard a big scuffle in the small grove of trees beside our house. When I turned, this big fellow was the culprit! I can't believe I finally found a big one in our back yard!! I was so excited I ran over and got the neighbor, who was very good to humor me, and not let on too much like I was crazy. This guy was so cool! I didn't realize until I started looking at the pictures that he's actually missing a back foot - don't know what's up with that. If you're a lizard and you lose a foot that's close to your tail, will you grow another one? Hm. I have a feeling that he might live in that grove of trees... Why? because yesterday morning, I found a tiny one in the back yard, and while I was taking these pictures, another big one went shooting out of the thicket of vines at the bottom and scurried up another tree - seriously scaring me to within an inch of my life. I'm very sure that I saw this one laughing at me... so maybe we have a family? I'm sure that if you grew up here, this is not any bigger deal than finding a squirrel in a tree, but I'm tickled to death with the novelty!

iSolar power ya!

Sent from my iPhone. Laundry day has never been so efficient - it's almost becoming a game
to see how quickly clothes can dry on the line. By the time I finish
hanging the last shirt, the first ones out are already dry on the
surface. It's great! Today, I liked the colors.

Because nothing says " good morning sunshine" quite like a gecko in the shower

Sent from my iPhone.

Flying Gunnard!

Ok - last night, we were going through our Reef Books trying to identify a worm/prawn? we found yesterday. Never did have success at that, but while I was looking at pictures, I thought to myself, Man, it sure would be cool if I could find a Flying Gunnard.... Son of a gun, if one wasn't right in front of me when I went swimming this morning! He was amazing! According to the Fish ID book I have, they're supposed to be very shy, but this guy was out all by himself on nothing but a sandy bottom, and I swam directly over top of him for a good 10 minutes or so. He seemed totally unconcerned that I was there. He was big too - probably about 2 feet long. It was so much fun to watch him pick stuff up off the bottom and turn it over - they have spines at the bottom of their pectoral fins that they use almost like hands. He kept his "wings" closed most of the time, but when he found something to go after in the sand, he would flare them and twirl, just like a flamenco dancer. And WOW! What amazing color! They have an iridescent blue fringe around the perimeter of the wing, and when the morning light hit it, it looked like pure neon. Made my day!!

I went out this morning to do a long distance swim and I didn't feel like lugging my camera with me, so this isn't my picture, but one I found on the internet. Looks just like the one I saw though!

Snoreling at Shacks Beach

I love the fact that Steve looks like he's preaching from under water! The last one is a video - have no idea if it will work or not - so this is a test. He's trying to tell me that he sat on the bottom for as long as he could hold his breath but he never saw the flash go off...

Snorkeling at Shacks Beach

Shacks Beach. All of these pictures were taken while we were just snorkeling and checking out the water. Of course, the battery died before we got out the tanks and went any deeper... Unfortunately, I'm not picking up the colors under water, but that will come with patience, a regulator, and perhaps a slightly better camera...

Shacks Beach

Today we took the gear out to Shacks beach for a dive - water was beautiful! This is the trail on the way in to the beach. These, as well as following pictures were all taken from the little Canon, which appears to be giving up the ghost on me, so pardon the funky color shifts.

Salvadore Dali Airplane

Steve took this picture over the Bahamas. I love the colors, but what I love most is the "melting" propeller. I have no idea why the camera caught it this way - but I think it's pretty awesome! (in reality, there are six blades on this prop)

Slight mod...

For those who don't remember terror on the streets of Berea in the
late 80s, this is almost exactly the car in which I spent many hours
learning how to drive. I love the fact that one made it over here to
PR, in our neighborhood, and I think it's kind of happenin' with the
chop top.