Pura vida!

That's a phrase they use in Costa Rica (and only here) for lots of things. It translates something like "pure life" but they use it for hello, goodbye, this is good....
Today I am living pura vida.

We are at the beach house of two retired doctors, husband & wife, who attend Alonso's church. Besides being very gracious and interesting people he is a gourmet chef who, unfortunately, takes a perverse pleasure in drawing his guests into the sin of gluttony and excess.

We arrived about 9:30, and within minutes were served a mid-morning snack - the sweetest cantaloupe you've ever tasted wrapped in a slice of Spanish ham and some cheese from north Italy. To help it down, a Malbec from Argentina. Then some time relaxing in the pool

After that I was offered one of two hammocks slung between palm trees 100 yards from the surf, and quickly fell sound asleep.

 

When I woke up it was time for lunch, (I'm so tired I can't remember exactly what it was, but it involved BBQ beef in a broth and a wonderful cheese) followed by a walk down a dirt road, out to the beach, and back along the surf line. We saw beautiful flowers that grow like weeds, monkeys in the palm trees. the point at which a river dumps into the Pacific Ocean, and a beautiful surf.


























Back to the beach house for some relaxing in hammocks. Pastor Alonso's family has easily worked their way into my heart. Pam and Sylvia have so much in common.


Too soon it was time for dinner. Azteca soup followed by a salmon and pasta dish, both of which were out of this world. The wine was a red from Italy I'd never heard of before but was smooth and wonderful.

After dinner I heard about how both Guillermo and Gladys came to know Christ as Savior. She was the first in her family of devout Roman Catholics and he went to church with her and heard for the first time that his relationship with God wasn't dependent on his good works but on God's grace.

Now it's time for sleep. That's a good thing to do now because I can't move. Too much wonderful food. Guillermo said if I wanted to go down to the beach at 2 a.m. I could watch the turtles come up onto the sand to lay their eggs. They're going to have to do that without me 'cause I'm here well into tomorrow morning.

For breakfast, huevos rancheros y fruitas. For lunch...are you ready for this? 'cause I'm not...a seafood platter with lobster, salmon, and shrimp.

I gotta rest up.

Pura vida!