Where Wonder Meets Wander

 The wind whispers in the bamboo and I think someone is calling me. Faintly, so faintly that I am not sure if it is my imagination. So I sit under the arching branches and listen, quietly, breathlessly even wondering who it might be. I am waiting to hear, you see. Waiting for an answer, waiting for a sign, and I think I might hear it in the bamboo. You never know these days where light might come in, and I think if I sit long enough, and still enough, I might hear it.

Tiki Laundry. You cannot imagine how good it feels to watch brilliant white linens waving like flags of surrender in the wind. Surrender to a simple life. Surrender to cold showers and butterflies and sunshine drying and foreign languages and chickens that were supposed to be egg-laying chickens but aren't and are now simply part of the family and will continue to be happy chickens. Surrender is not about living without, but rather living with. It requires a change of perspective. I choose to let the wind take me to a place where I get to have showers that cool my body from the heat of the day, and I get to chase butterflies, and I get to hang sweet-smelling wash out on the line, and I get to stretch my brain and learn new words, and I get to chase fluffy white chickens and hear them happily clucking as they chase bugs and nibble on left-over bits of papaya. Surrender is not such a bad thing. :-)

Manzana de agua, Malay Apples, Rose Apples, Mountain Apples; these little pear-strawberry flavored gems go by all these names. I discovered them hanging high in the branches of a tree here at the Tiki Bar and enticed Ani to fetch them for me. After washing and pitting, it will take hours to boil them down and I have added sugar, cinnamon and a little rum to help turn them into a lovely red jam. I promise to let you know how it turns out...even if it is a flop and I end up feeding it to the chickens. They love fruit of all kinds and anyway, it would be interesting to see how they like the rum...

There is a book I love called An Embarrassment of Mangoes . Its about a couple sailing in the Caribbean, meeting locals, and collecting recipes. It is nearly my favorite book of all time because this is what I want to do with my life...sail the Caribbean and collect people and recipes. Little did I dream one day I would own a Tiki Bar and B&B in Costa Rica, much less one gifted with mango trees. In fact, I do think I am going to need to post a WATCH FOR FALLING MANGOES sign above my door as the still green fruit is falling off the trees. I have no idea why. A local told me the tree sheds the unwanted-unfit fruit before it ripens. I am glad no-one has shed me. So I am waiting for the fruit to ripen and dreaming of ways to use it: mango-chili chutney, mango mohitos, mango ice-cream, mango topped burgers. I am dreaming quite actively actually, as it looks like soon I will be the proud owner of an embarrassment of mangoes!