Being Human

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died yesterday at the age of 79.  As a public figure, his death immediately became a part of the national news and the social media.   I confess that I was not a fan of Justice Scalia’s opinions and that upon hearing the news of his passing I initially  was not as compassionate as I should have been.  I deeply regret that this morning.  I allowed myself to focus on his court decisions and opinions (and my own opinions) rather than upon the fact that Justice Scalia was and is my brother, a fellow human being.  

John Donne wrote in his 1624 “Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions:

The tree of Life has many branches...

No man is an island,

Entire of itself,

Each is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away be the sea,

Europe is the less.

As well as if a promontory were.

As well as if a manor of thine own

Or of thine friend’s were.

Each man’s death diminishes me,

For I am involved in mankind.

Therefore, send not to know

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee.

Every man, every woman, every child is my brother, my sister, my kin.  Why?  Because there is that of God in each one.  Each man, woman and child’s death diminishes me.  My initial reaction to Justice Scalia’s death was a monstrous thing and says something about how crude, unloving, and crass I/we have become in our politics.  I cannot point my finger of judgment or condemnation at the speck of sawdust in my brother’s or sister’s  eye, for I have a plank protruding from my own.

I am reminded and chastised by the words of Nicolas Berdyaev in The Destiny of Man, “We do not know the innermost depths of the human heart; it is revealed only to love.  But those who condemn have generally little love, and therefore the mystery of the heart which they judge is closed to them….”

Bound Together

Persons, groups, races, societies and nations are not separate entities, like grains of sand in a bag.  Rather they are, as Paul says, “members, one of another.”  To ignore this fact, especially in today’s global community can only spell disaster.  Harry Emerson Fosdick wrote, “The ganglia of a nervous system are hardly more intimately related and more interdependent than are the people in this world of ours.  As Professor Everett once put it, We ask the leaf, ‘Are you complete in yourself?’ And the leaf replies, ‘No, my life is in the branch.’  And so we ask the branch, ‘Are you complete in yourself?” And the branch replies, “No, my life is in the trunk.’  And we ask the trunk, and the trunk says, ‘No, my life is in the roots.’  And we ask the roots, and the roots say, ‘No, my life is in the trunk and the branches and the leaves.  Keep the branches stripped of leaves and I shall die’.”

We (persons, groups, races, societies and nations) are so bound together in this closely reticulated system of interdependence that what we think, or what we fail to think, profoundly affects other people.  The work that we do or the work that we fail to do profoundly affects other people.  The words that we speak, or the words we fail to speak, affects other people, nations, etc. 

When we use the word “alien” (even with “illegal” placed before it)  it is evident that we have not connected the dots on the page of life or accepted the reality of life on this planet.  The same is true with the label “refugee.” When we fear and treat other people as though they are somehow less than we are, we have (from my perspective) lost our marbles.  Whenever we relegate other nations as somehow less than we are as a nation, we are losing our sanity.  When we talk of building walls to separate one people from another, we have missed the boat.  We are bound together—we are rooted in the same earth—we are “members, one of another.”  Whether we like it or not isn’t the issue.  The issue is that we go against the grain of what is, and what must be, if we are to survive the twenty-first century.

Costa Rica Adventure

Our adventure in Costa Rica came to a close yesterday and it ended on a positive note.  All our homeward bound flights had pilots, all our flights were on schedule, all our luggage arrived with us in Philadelphia, and although the return trip made for a very long day (5  a.m. to 2:30 a.m.) we made it home all safe and sound without complete exhaustion!  It was a great experience—“Pune Vide.”  That is a favorite Costa Rican phrase meaning “really, really good,” or  similar to Lawrence Welk’s saying (for those of you who remember),  “a’wonderful, a’wonderful.”

Our trip was arranged by Rose, our travel agent. She just started this work a year or so ago and I think she is doing a wonderful job.  If you are planning any travel adventure, go with “Travel Services by Rose”.

Our granddaughter, Katie, and her friend, Liam, arrived from the U.K. and looked after our home while we were away.  Liam had a new experience—shoveling snow.  We left the USA at just the right time (right after the blizzard) and they arrived in the USA at just the right time (to shovel the snow the blizzard left behind)!

Some of you are wondering if I really told the truth about that Zip-Lining experience in Costa Rica.  I am providing visual evidence to support my claim in this post.  We zipped across the rainforest canopy via seven different zip lines and lived!

When picked up at the hotel by our driver yesterday morning, he asked if we would mind if his wife and six-year old son, Santiago, went with us to San Jose.  We said we didn’t mind at all.  It was so enjoyable to be with this young Costa Rican family.  We learned much about Costa Rican life during that four-hour drive to San Jose.

Thank you for taking time to read the posts from our Costa Rican journey.  It was a great adventure!

Day Ten in Costa Rica

Day Ten in Costa Rica is our last full day in this wonderful country with its gentle and beautiful people and its awesome birds and other incredible critters.  Tomorrow we will be on the road and in the air most of the day on our way home.  Home?  An interesting word with a fascinating meaning for monkeys of every type.  "Home is where the heart is" or is it where one has built one's nest?  Where is home?  What is home?

We spent this morning on the beach watching the blue waters of the Pacific flow with peaceful surf into a little cove. A soft, cool breeze came off the water and some trees provided comfortable shade from the intense sunlight.  It was all very pleasurable.  I have seldom done that kind of thing before!  As I watched the Capuchin Monkeys  in the treetops and everywhere around us seeking treats from tourists (who by feeding them are often killing them) I tried to imagine what it must be like to see from their perspective.

This dry tropical forest has been their home for centuries, long before the strange two-legged creature invaded it.  They managed for all that time to survive very well without handouts (bananas, Fritos, Chips, and other junk)  from the hands of the strangers in their midst.  As I observed their inquisitive faces looking and wondering at the human horde gathered in their backyard, I imagined them this evening sitting around their dinner table high in the trees and conversing about the scene.  I can hear them now:  "What kind of monkeys are these?  They lay about all day and do nothing.  They strip off their skin coverings and sit in the hot sun until burned to a crisp!   Yet, they have all this food in backpacks that they just throw away in our direction.  All day long we watch their antics and it is great comedy.  These kinds of monkeys are not like us at all.  They all look different--different skin tones, different shapes, different languages, different head coverings (some have no head covering at all).  What strange monkeys these are?  They eat and drink all day long--and other monkeys in special skin coverings bring it to them.  They don't even get up off their backsides.  They don't have sense to climb a tree and stretch out like we do.   Instead they lay on hard benches without any leaves to protect them from the weather.  Why have them come to our yard?  Why do they spend a lot of time sauntering about and gawking at us as if we are some kind of freaks?  They are all confused.  Never have we seen a freak show like the one that is now going on in our backyard everyday.  Incredible"!   Thus spoke the monkeys....on the last Day and the Tenth Day in Costa Rica.

Day Nine in Costa Rica

Day Nine in Costa Rica included a long excursion to the Palo Verde National Park.  We left our hotel at 8 a.m.  We traveled the Pan American highway, passed through the city of Liberia and the town of Filladelfia (yes, Philadelphia is in Costa Rica).  We passed acres and acres of sugar cane and melon fields, and other farmland.  After several hours we arrived at the Park.  We boarded a small canopied motor boat (four of us, plus guide and driver) and spent several hours cruising the Tempisque River.  The day was hot, really hot, but the boat canopy and the light breeze on the river helped us survive.

It is estimated that over a quarter of a million wading birds and wildfowl, many from North America, spend the winter months at Palo Verde, as well as many resident species of some of Costa Rica's larger and more exotic birds.

Over 150 types of trees have been recorded in this amazing park, including the Palo Verde  meaning “Green Tree”, because it's leaves, branches and part of the trunk are light green in color.

Some of the most common mammals in the Park are the Howler, Capuchin, and sometimes Spider Monkeys, Porcupines, Coaties, White-tailed Deer, Collared Peccaries, Coyotes, Variegated Squirrels, and Pumas.  There are also along the banks of the Rio Tempisque, crocodiles, frogs, iguanas, and snakes such as the Boa Constrictor, Tropical rattlesnake and the Central American Coral Snake.  We were able to see on our adventure:  Howler, Capuchin and Spider monkeys, squirrels, crocodiles, many species of birds, a coyote, a coati, and a deer.  Our Guide was quite pleased with himself for being able to show us such a wide range of wildlife along the river.  All in all, an enjoyable, but full day--this Ninth Day in Costa Rica.

Day 8 in Costa Rica

Day 8 in Costa Rica began with a long 4 hour drive from Fortuna northwest to El Jobo (Salinas Bay) where we will spend the last several days of our Costa Rican vacation at the Dreams Las Mareas.  Would you believe there is a hot tub on the patio?  Dreams is a large resort along the Pacific coast and we have a great view of the ocean from our room.

This Guanacaste section of the country is quite different from the rainforest area. It is hot and dry. The grass along the roadways and on the hillsides is brown, reminding me of the brown hills in California. I think the temperature today must be 90° or more.  The climate and culture of this province are unique among the other provinces of the country. The area experiences little rain and has consistent heat from November to April, creating tropical dry forests and making irrigation of the land necessary.  Quite different from the rainforests around Arenal.

We spent the remainder of the day settling into our new lodging environment and thinking of our grandson, Matt, his wife, Emily, and their new daughter, Addison Elizabeth.  It is amazing how we have been able to see photos of Addison almost immediately via technology.

Matthew was only 23 years old the day his daughter was born!  "So young," I think to myself and then I realize that I, myself,  was only 23 years old when my eldest son was born!  Life is a fascinating journey and I'm grateful for my three score and ten plus almost 3 years! What will tomorrow bring?  I'll hang around to see....

Day 7 in Costa Rica

Day 7 brought more rain showers through the night and early morning hours here in Costa Rica.  What a pleasant sound raindrops make on a tiled roof and in the dense jungle foliage.  Today is our grandson Matthew's birthday.  Through the years, Matthew and I often celebrated our birthdays together, and how nice it was for me to focus on Matt's growing up rather than upon my own accumulation of years.  Matthew and Emily are very excited.  They await the birth of Addison, their first child, and our first great granddaughter.  We are a wee bit excited too!

After an early breakfast we were off for our final excursion in the Arenal region--and the most adventurous one of all--Zip-Lining!  We were transported from our hotel by a mini-bus to the Sky Adventure Center where we were harnessed up and given instructions.  We were with a group of 10 others and there was little doubt that we were the oldest in the group!  We boarded an open-air gondola (Sky tram) and were taken up 4100 feet through the rainforest and then given a few practice exercises. There were seven Zip Lines altogether.  The longest cable was 2393 feet, the highest cable was 656 feet.  The average speed on the Zip Lines is about 45 mph and the average wind speed is about 10 mph. Oh, what a hilarious sight we must have been soaring across the forest canopy, but we handled it well and enjoyed it immensely.

The afternoon of Day 7 was spent relaxing in Shangri-la (a special section of the Tabacon Hot Springs Spa Resort reserved for adult hotel guests.  I am now an avid fan of hot tubs, thermal pools, and hot springs and recommend them to all.  Of course, I must be honest and tell you that my experience in this area has been quite minimal.  I think I've only been in a hot tub, jacuzzi, thermal pool, or hot springs two or three times in my entire life!  But I sure want a hot tub for the back deck!!!!

But the REALLY BIG EVENT OF DAY 7 (far more exciting than zip-lining) was the birth of our first Great Granddaughter, Addison Elizabeth.  She was born on her father's birthday at 8 pm.  Congratulations Matt and Emily!  Addison weighed in at 8 lbs, 4 ozs.