O.K., O.K., so I'm not faithfull about sharing.

Yeah, Haven't written in a looonnnggg time. In fact, a year ago today we were in Costa Rica having one hell of a good time. How time flies. All of the good intentions of blogging about the trip and posting photos......well, I'm not focused enough to spend my life at a keyboard. I have a life!, and blogging ain't necessarily a big part of it. If you want to see fotos, go to my Flickr page, and one of these days I might get around to tagging those.
Anyway enjoy and I'll try and actually write more later.

COSTA RICA COUNTDOWN

73 days!

When we spent a few hours in Costa Rica during our western Caribbean cruise a number of years ago, the Mrs. & I decided that Costa Rica should be on the list of return destinations. After discovering an old Peace Corp friend owned a resort near Puerto Viejo on the Gulf side, it made the decision a no-brainer.

“Old Harbor” is just south of Puerto Limon, CR, down near the Panama border, and reported to be a unique experience of both “Tico” and Afro-Carib cultures. The resort we & our travel companions are staying at is called CASA VIVA at Punta Uva (http://puntauva.net/), which is reported to have the best beach and snorkeling on the Caribbean coast. We’ll let ya know.

Puerto Viejo, and the whole Caribbean side for that matter, is less built up with tourist resort hotels, multi-rise buildings and heavily touristed haunts than the Pacific side. Here you actually stay yards from the jungle or rain forest and enjoy nature right outside your window, and dine on local traditional food as well as some other haute cusine at not so haute prices. And, did I mention seafood, Jamaican Jerk, and fresh fruit. Oh yeah, Exactly what we, anyway, were looking for. While being catered to hand and foot is sometimes appealing, it does come with a cost which can become prohibitive. Here, things are much more laid back, and the accommodations more like renting a house.

As we get closer to departure I’ll share more and certainly afterwards, much more.

Mid-July and the time does fly.............

The early warm weather and the abundance of moisture have already made for a good garden season. A few of the fotos herein were taken right after the summer solstice.

I'll follow up with more current shots. Enjoy.



















Garden tip, save the water from your de-humidifiers , add some rapid grow, annoint.

Fathers Day

Greetings to all you Dads out there. Hope "Your" day was a good and relaxing one.

I spent mine doing yard stuff with the Gardensprite. Not being a Dad did not give me the perk of a day off. Well, I guess I had mine yesterday. Took the Alero in and had another brake job done and put on a new set of Firestones. My last set of tires were Bridgestone Turanzas, a 50,000 mile tire that I put 81,000 miles on. They still had tread, sort of, but were beginning to show some cracking or dry rot. I certainly got my $$$ out of them. Hope the 'Stones prove to be as good. I did not repeat with the Bridgestones because the Alero has 126,000 on it and, well, why throw good money after bad. The Firestones are a good tire.

And now a shameless plug..... If you need a set of rubber or any service for that matter, go see Paul at the Firestone/Bridgestone Service Center in West Bloomfield on Orchard Lake Road. You'll like the service and the products are the best.

Well, just a few short weeks and it will be the 4th of July weekend. Yes, the Gardensprite and I will head for the cottage. We have a community theater play to attend that her cousin is appearing in and then, the annual Ludington fireworks display from John's elevated rear porch deck. Always a good time, good food, good friends. Life is good.

"Round about the 10th my contract with the University will be up, so I may have a few months off until October when they will renew my contract. It's all bureaucratic mumbo jumbo, so I won't bore you with the details. Just keep your fingers crossed that the economy continues to improve before Michigan becomes totally vacant.

Summer is here, Rejoice!!!!

MEMORIAL DAY - 2010

Took a few days from work and headed to the cottage.
Took a few days from work to do work.
Funny how some work we do because we have to, other we do because we want to and still other we do because of both. Going to the cottage for the first time for the season was of the latter nature. We worked continuously, save for Sunday and accomplished much of the needed things to be done. Cut grass, washed windows and screens, raked leaves (burnt a few too), put in the dock, painted the pontoon (yes, we have one of the old steel kind), pulled the blades off the riding mower for replacement, cleaned gutters, filled and hung the bird feeders.
Summer season 2010 has officially begun.
We got back tonight (6/1) and checked work email. It's going to be a busy day tomorrow. Oy!
Our fall trip is coming together. I'll share more of that at another writing. I think many of you may find it interesting.
Peace to all.

NEW YEAR 2010

Wow, seems like I just wrote the New Year 2009 message.
I guess I'm not too consistent with this blogging thing.
In any case, I'm glad 'o9 is gone. With the exception of closing out the year with a job opportunity, I'm glad it's over.
So with further ado,
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope it is healthy and prosperous for you all.
The job opportunity I mentioned came about in mid-December when I accepted a position as an Architectural Project Manager with Wayne State University in Detroit.
While it's only a short term contract position, it is a welcome change to the income situation.

Another good thing that began in late 2009 and continues is the acquaintance with a number of old neighborhood friends as well as some of my old Peace Corps friends. After not having heard from some of these people for almost 40 years, it's a blessing to correspond with them and to know that their lives have all turned out to be positive.
I don't know how many of you have ever experienced relating to some people who were very important in your lives and you've lost touch with, only to find them again, and to learn that they have achieved some impressive things or are happy in their lives. By Grace it all works to the benefit of us all.

That's all I've got for tonight, so I therefore resolve to pick this up again soon, with consistency not shown in 2009.

One again, Happy New Year.

Gumper.

October. A time for rememberances

Here it is October. It seems as if the summer of 2009 has just flown by.
One thing being laid off has done has been to afford me time to be at the lake more often and that was a welcome respite.
One more trip up in a few weeks should, by in large be the final one for this year. Time to close up, put a finality to what the season of the year is also doing.
As the leaves make their final flamboyant offering and then fall to earth, I am moved to reflect on another falling this year.
Henry Rayburn, a friend, former associate Peace Corps Volunteer, artist, teacher and humbly good man fell to cancer in January. While this is a sad note, what makes it even sadder was that I had just recently reacquainted myself with Henry. Rediscovered him may be more aptly correct. Having not seen or heard from Henry for 30 years, it was a shock to read of his passing in a San Antonio web-paper. We had just begun corresponding and then....
I felt robbed! Robbed of an opportunity as well as robbed of piece of my past and my future.
While I know that we must all pass over someday, this was truly disturbing in that it brought an awareness of my own mortality and that someday......
It was a that point that I decided to try to re-establish contact with many of the people that have passed through this life with me.
So, if you are reading this blog and know me personally, give me a call. (586.771.7519) Let's not let time steal us away without at least one more laugh.
As my great-niece Erinn says, "Life may not be the party we hoped for... But while we are here we might as well dance!"
Have a great All Saints Day and Halloween.
Wayne