Educational Excellence

Happy Friday, yeahhh!

Join me, if you will with a fervent “T.G.I.F.”!  It’s been a great week and I am happy because it’s the weekend.  I have a friend who is having a birthday gathering perhaps Sunday and, a new neighbor for a few weeks is traveling to meet her partner in San Jose  to rent a car and they will drive down the Caribbean coast.  Eventually, I would like to do something like that minus the driving part … visit the coast to Panama and maybe Nicaragua.  I hear there are some nice beaches though both countries are poverty stricken and struggling … much like Costa Rica!!  It’s the “naturaleza” that people come here for most.

I was amused by a comment I got from my boarding school basketball coach and athletic director, Coach Blake.  He responded to my last e-mail, “John, you have some interesting ideas in your e-mails.”  He also wished me Happy Holidays starting with Thanksgiving through New Year’s Celebrations.  We have always had a great relationship and believe it or not, I am ecstatic to still be in contact with him.  He’s back up in New Hampshire though we did meet up once when he and Mrs. B., rest her soul, lived in New Smyrna, FL and met me halfway from Ft. Lauderdale.  So, I can imagine some of you may wonder about some of my thoughts, too.  Most come purely from observation, cause and effect relations … and experience.  Yet, I try NOT to generalize behavior, but categorize it, maybe … label it so it is “recognizable” the next time.

Life is still beautiful as I keep my focus on why I am retired here and how I can best maintain a decent “quality of life”.  So, I started taking collagen … it is purportedly the main ingredient in cartilage.  According to some of my reading, the psoas muscle can be effected if the disc in either hip joint is degenerated or impaired.  In addition, sciatica can occur as a result of this “degeneration”.  So, my plan … with collagen, a couple of yoga classes (at least one!) per week and a monthly massage like I have scheduled for this morning, regular meditation and some exercises to increase the strength of the psoas muscles, my “plate is full”!  If I do this right, I WON’T have time for any drama in my life.  Who knows, I may be able to heal my hips, decrease sciatica, stimulate and regenerate growth of cartilage and strengthen my psoas muscles!

Over the years, I have learned to live peacefully even with “not so peaceful” people.  It is no problem for me to be “criticized” because that lets me know that “I am doing something right!”  I remember that it is still true for some people to NOT want to see you succeed and heal and be “at peace with the universe”.  How dare I do such a thing when folks are “crumbling” all around me, so to speak.  I enjoy my lifestyle here in Puerto Viejo because I can take care of myself, even living on the third floor of a large Caribbean style house with six “families”/individuals living inside.  It is so “cool” here because there is one little “Tico” boy … maybe 6 or 7, who rides this big bike up and down the street where the Jacaranda Hotel and Jungle Garden is located.  Upon seeing me, he rides close and makes eye contact … then says, “Hey Tio”!  (Hello Uncle!)  The first few times he did this, I was a bit surprised … trying to figure out “what he wanted”.  But he continued “making my days” and asking for NOTHING.  Now THIS is what I am talking about … “make my day with peace and love”.  Respect is another big word used a lot around here in just a general greeting.  Overall, one can feel the tranquility and ease with which humble and sometimes “poor” people enjoy the “Pura Vida” life style.

Shucks, I even met this Jamaican guy named “Ras Celeste”.  He saw me walking with my cane a few times until finally he approached me.  He said that he makes a tea from natural herbs grown in Jamaica that may help me.  The tea contains “chaney root”, “strong back”, cerasee, medina, white and red water grass … and “jack of bitters” ….  This is some strong stuff that he made and stored in a plastic liter Pepsi bottle for me!  I told him that I would try it first, and, after today I will pay him like $20 for the bottle.  I probably won’t buy more from him because I am taking and doing enough already … I’m just saying!

Once again, another year is coming to an end.  The “Holy Day” Season is upon us.  At some point, I need to swing by Florida for a minute to pick up my mail from the business mailbox there … say hello and chill with a few of my good friends from Ft. Lauderdale.  Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and let’s welcome the close of yet another year in our lives together!

Peace,