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New seasons always bring new surprises – I knew that it would be wet here in Monteverde at this time of the year. As I said in the blog yesterday, it has been really wet – although that is very recent, as in the day arrived. The rains came late and they were getting desperate for water here. Hard to believe for a rainforest but true. However, since I’ve been here, I’ve seen much more rain than sun… and I think I’ll be heading to the beach soon. It’s all panchos, hats, umbrellas and rubber boots. I sure wish I had Lori Yates’ flashy red flowered rubber cowboy boots…man, they’d be styling here!
The big surprise for me though was the delicate gossamer beauty of a termite’s wings. For most, termites is only a real big problem. Such as at Wolf’s house. In the chapter of Walking with Wolf, All Trails Lead to Home, you will read about Wolf and his termite problem in his house…well, basically waiting for them to bring the house down before he gets around to fixing it. So now his son Antonio is building them a new apartment (a barn penthouse I call it) over top of the barn. Once it is finished and Wolf and Lucky move there, they may fix up the house they have been living in for 40 years or they may just let the termites finish with it. In many places the wood is paper thin, cleaned out internally by the little pesks. What looks like wood planks and posts are now hollow paper beams. So there is a push on to finish the new living quarters before the walls literally come tumbling down.
In the meantime, as the rains begin, the termites come out and fly about and mate and lose their wings and die and….well, I don’t know what all…but I can tell you that last night as a bit of sun broke through the clouds at sunset, the sky filled with clouds of winged termites. Lucky systematically emptied her beautiful blue, green and gold glass bottle collection out of her windows and vacuumed up the termites that were resting on the ledges. I walked into my room, which has a skylight, and saw all these delicate floating petals – termite wings, tiny translucent feathers floating down from the ceiling. They were landing all over my clothes and I actually found the whole effect quite magical…but then, this isn’t my house that is hosting the hungry little critters. I doubt many people here find them delightful, but I’m trying to think up an art project that could use their shimmering beauty as a detail. Termite wings, who knew?
Bruce the delivery doctor
Good things DO come to those who wait…and wait…and wait…
This morning Bruce, the delivery doctor, (a lot of Bruces in this story), arrived around 10 a.m. and brought me the skid of books. I think Mr. Bruce was very touched by the profound role he played in this little drama. My friends Rick & Treeza were here yesterday to help with the carrying of boxes into the house – but all we ended up doing was waiting – and eating and drinking wine – and no books. Instead, I was alone to receive the truck this morning. The sky looked like it might erupt in tears any minute (not a little bit unlike moi) and so as soon as that skid hit the ground, I moved the 42 cartons of books into my house. Amazing what adrenalin can do! I then took a breath (one final big one) and opened a box to see Walking with Wolf. And there it was! Beautiful!
I have much too much to do to go on right now, but wanted to at least make the big announcement before I run out to take care of some things – after being held captive in my house for two days waiting on the truck, I need to get some food. I called Wolf to let him know, but he had just left the house to go to meeting (that’s the Quaker meeting for those of you who haven’t read the book yet or aren’t familiar) so I could only leave a message with his son Benito, who was appropriately delighted. He said he’d track Wolf & Lucky down by phone somewhere and let them know. Another almost anti-climatic moment, but I’m real good at working with whatever I get!
Now that it is here, I’m almost not sure of what to do next – but eating is a good idea. I am, needless to say, a very very proud mama!
Thanks, but once again, to another kind, generous-with-her-knowledge person, Carolyn Burke at Integrity Incorporated in Toronto, I’ve managed to overcome a stumbling block in blogland. So more pictures will appear amidst my babble. I’m trying to set up the Paypal system on this blog so people can order and pay and then be sent their copy of Walking with Wolf. I’ve arranged with my good friend Kathryn Johnston to take care of this while I disappear to Costa Rica. Hopefully she’ll be so busy she’ll have an assistant hired by the time I come home at the end of July.
Today is a day of multi-tasking while I await “THE BIRTH” – trying to stay calm and take care of business as I wait for the sounds of a big truck coming down my quiet street. Unfortunately, it’s also garbage day, so there are actually a lot of big trucks rumbling around out there today – but one of them will be THE ONE!
I’m sure that the whole birthing analogy may be wearing thin (especially to all the women who have really delivered babies and are just shaking their heads with each new post) but for someone like me, who has never given birth, well, this is as close as it’s going to get. The fact that I live in midwivery-alley here in the Hammer isn’t helping the situation. I’m surrounded in my neighbourhood by three midwives, the closest being the lovely Genevieve Romanek, who supplies me with birthing terms and metaphors on a regular basis and she has supported me through many of my labour pains. However, I promise that once the book is in my hands, I’ll stop with the baby images before I get to slapping the bum, planting the placenta and breastfeeding.
Excuse me, I hear a big truck…
False alarm. Keep pushing…
For those people reading from Costa Rica, I’m heading that way next Wednesday, May 21. I’ll be there until July 30, distributing books, hopefully selling books, celebrating with Wolf, Lucky and the rest of the Monteverdians – and I can guarantee that much dancing will be done. After eighteen years of extended visits down there, it’s hard to imagine that I won’t have the same reason to go each year. But I’m sure I’ll come up with something – the Spanish translation for instance.
And then there’s the movie – but hey, whoa chica, let’s get back to today – and keep pushing…
Well, the phone did ring, but it was at the last minute of the business day and only with semi-bad news…the shipping would be delayed by a day, press problems. For me, after eighteen years, what’s another day? So I took it calmly, mostly wanted to know when I need to be here to receive information or the books themselves. I spent yesterday waiting around for the phone call, afraid to leave my house – and that coincided with 150 Hell’s Angels and other bikers and their women descending on my neighbour’s home for a wake after the funeral of one of their friends. Within fifteen minutes, just after noon, my normally quiet street filled with Harley’s, my front yard filled with beer-drinking leather-clad bald heads and long hairs, and I felt like I was held hostage in my little home – I couldn’t go anywhere since I needed to be here and I couldn’t go outside as I didn’t want to particularly mix and mingle. My main concern was that they didn’t step on my flowers while using my little front lawn as the party overspill since they couldn’t all fit in the neighbour’s yard. But I digress…(and no harm was done except cigarette butts left in their wake).
So today I’ll work at getting together a Paypal account, a new email address, a new bank account – all those things that you need to run an online business, thru my company Wandering Words Press. There is never a shortage of things I can be doing, I find making the decision of what to do is generally more complicated than just the doing! I’m having a problem putting photos on this blog so will hopefully take care of that too. One more day waiting on the book is nothing, just an extra day of preparations – it also gives me time to pick up the cigarette butts.