What park with a lake would be a park with a lake without ducks? We just happen to have funny ducks with red, bumpy, rubber-like things on their heads. These happen to reside in la Sabana in San Jose. It was a beautiful, crisp morning so I challenged our group to get ready: Fifteen minutes we leave! Off to see the ducks!

Since it’s only an eight minute drive from my house, we arrived with plenty of room to park. A man with a few missing teeth, wearing an orange vest, held up a stick to signal to me that he’d watch my car for us. Coco delighted in throwing the funny ducks bread, and Addison just tried to eat it.

We wove around the path and tossed each pack of ducks we passed a few tidbits. We sat down for a break on a log and a woman selling fresh fruit cracked us open some agua de pipas and Coco devoured a bag of chips. Ten minutes later, Addison was crying; Coco’s feet hurt; and we were running out of bread.

Usually I like to research just about everything I see. I don’t want to know anything more about these ducks. They’re perfect - whatever they are - and they’re troupers because the water they live in is green, some of them have wings with no feathers, and people pick and pester them all day long. Yet season after season, another crop of chicks swim about in the murky waters.

Coco shared her last piece of bread with a little girl who’s father was “texting” on shore. The child tossed the whole slab of bread in. The father didn’t look up. We packed up and went on our way. The kids waved goodbye to the ducks and the girl. As I pulled the car back into traffic, I tipped the man with the stick as much change as I could find. He waved his gapped smile and wished me a blessed day.

Amen.

As Costa Rica’s Independence Day - and all of Central America’s - approaches, the excitement flaps in the flags and flutters in the faroles. And is a farol what you ask? A lantern that lights our way of course.

Every year school children around Central America stick a candle in a lantern and walk with a pole that looks like the crook of a sheperd’s staff on the night before the 15th. Since the holiday is on a Monday this year, school children around the country could be seen today dressed in Typico clothes while toting their farol at their side. The farol is most dramatic at night of course when the candles are more potent.

Some parents (probably terrified at the fire hazard possibilities) opt for those light sticks. Those light sticks are hard to find. My kids always end up with candles. The first year my daughter went, one of the children’s lantern lit on fire. It made the parading of children in the pouring rain along the side of the dark road that much more exciting.

My daughter’s lantern was the traditional “buy-the-box-at-the-store” and then decorate the rest at home. My son got the bottom of a box. The kids will also dance and eat tortillas and beans and rice. But come the 14th, we’ll light up the faroles right along with the rest of Central America in thanks for our collective independence from Spain. We’ve come a long way baby.

Going out for a walk or run in Costa Rica is a challenge, as I’ve mentioned many times before. There’s rarely a park to sneak out to - except for the la Sabana - and sidewalks are as rare as jellybeans at Christmas. In lieu of a good place to pound my feet and shake my tail feathers, I sometimes end up at the mall. Guess what? Even that is ripped apart and a mess. The tried and true pavement I could depend on is now mud, re-bar, and trucks. Lots and lots of trucks. (And don’t forget the construction guys….more on them another day.)

I used to be able to circle the mall early in the morning because there were no cars and it was pretty safe - a kind of suburban-gentrified-Central American, hiking trail. I trotted over to the mecca of commerce and forgot how refreshing it can be to be running without drivers pretending you don’t exist.

As I approached the mall, I forgot also how entertaining the scenery can be. Besides getting in a bit of work out, I found new and exciting uses for the plethora of sequenced scarves I have hanging in the back of my closet. (I’m just kidding, I only have two sequenced scarves.) What mother of the jungle would ever want to live without one?

The birthday party was wild. Sure we had fun, but one of the guests of honor was wild - a real wild animal. This coati mundi was rescued, nurtured back to health and now lives in the woods yet sticks close to family that saved it. What coati mundi - pizote - shouldn’t get a few gifts for his one-year adoption day?

Coatis are related to the raccoons. It’s easy to see the resemblance in the movements and appetite. This fellow was especially fond of sugar. If you are traveling and stay in a beach house or rental cabin with an open-air kitchen, these critters will walk right in and take what they can get. Some like salty; some like sweet. If you don’t lock it up, and this omnivore can smell it and climb to it, consider it there’s.

So it’s not recommended to feed these animals. They can become a little too aggressive over time if they know people give them food. This farm has in-depth experience with animals and is helping to reintroduce the animal back into an environment where it will thrive. Unfortunately, the trauma many of these animals go through such as loss of their mother or abuse (because someone thought it was a cute pet), disrupts the natural instincts of the animals and they will only be able to return to the wild in a part-time manner.

Coco got a good scratch on her arm when the Coati wandered over to see if she was holding out with more sugar. I told her no matter how “cute” and tame the animal looks, it still is a wild animal and petting them can be a tough exercise if not handled by an experience person.

Some day, if the right female comes along, this guy may wander off in the woods and never come back. If so he’ll probably be ready to live it up in the wild. Until then, more sugar anyone?

Addison can have a bad night sleeping with a snap of the fingers. For a few hours, there was no sound coming from his side of the bed. Then he started swallowing non-stop as if someone had turned on a little faucet behind his nose. I could tell it was uncomfortable for him. Every hour until two in the morning, he’d wake up crying or just give an out-right scream.

In the midst of feeling tired and not wanting to be a mother - or anything - and answer questions and make lunch, I saw this waterfall while I was out this morning. The sound never stopped and reminded me of the needs of my kids and how I am pulled over the rocks hour after hour. But down below the beating water, there is a calmer pool of water. I imagined diving in and letting the cascade hit on my back and the top of my head.

My attempt at an hour nap got me five minutes. Addison slept with me and just as I was dozing into that deep sleep that makes your eyes fly back in forth in REM heaven, he coughed. Water may be a strong force, but it’s got nothing on kids.

I do things I know are not good for me. Like for example yesterday, for lunch I had potato chips and sour cream. This is not part of a balanced diet. I skip exercise and go without flossing.

So now we have cell phones. Our newest treat and tantalizing temptress. Beside looking silly while we wander up and down grocery isles talking to a tiny piece of electronic equipment (need I mention how goofy people look talking to the air with a Blue Tooth thing on their head??!), the things are going to land us with so many more diseases and ailments. In ten years we’ll be scratching our heads and saying: Gee, I wonder what caused all this brain cancer? Does diabetes and sugar consumption ring a bell? Television and lack of exercise?

If you haven’t seen this video, you perhaps will understand like I did, that these little “jabber-walkies” are more powerful than we ever suspected. I’ve been reading about the tumor causing little beasts for years. I still have cell phone, though I’m considering getting a lead case for it. Watch this video and put two and two together. I was amazed. Plus I swore I’d never have left-over melted chocolate and a glass of milk for dinner again.

**Only residents are allowed to apply for a cellular phone line in Costa Rica. But do not worry, old lines are bought and sold under the table all the time until your proper cedula is in hand.

We’ll be working out a few hiccups and bubbles at MotherJungle. As soon as all is clear on the runway, we’ll be back with those stories that will either change the world, tickle your senses, or make you fall asleep right in front of your computer screen.

Addison sat happily among a pile of rocks, putting a few in a cup and then dumping them out. When I walked out to see him, the nanny started claiming she’d seen this gorgeous flower in the neighbor’s yard. This nanny almost walks without touching the ground when she talks about planting or blooms or roots. She waved me over to look.

I went over to the wall and stood on my tiptoes to peek over the wet cement wall. I expected to see another flower I’ve seen a million times before. There is that first moment when I see something I’ve never seen before. Whether it’s a piece of art, or a new face, or a couch I’m thinking about buying. If I quite my mind long enough to stop arguing with my past and wrestling with my future, I tune into this frequency that aligns me with this PLACE. I think it’s the place flowers come from and trees and children and baby bunnies. Pure ISness, for lack of a better word.

For a second, I saw snow fairies and ice castles. Before the nanny spoke again, in those few seconds, I was in that place where I don’t want to do anything or be anything or name anything. This beautiful crisp white heliconia hid in the depths of a moist, small garden. Even my nanny had never seen it before. We turned our attention back to Addison and went on with the afternoon.

As we were about to leave, the nanny walked onto the patio with two of the stalks from this plant in her hand. The theory goes in Costa Rica, stick it in the ground and it shall grow. And I’ve got to say that works almost 80% of the time. And when it doesn’t work, you just try it again.

So now, with the help of that PLACE, and a good hole I shall dig, I will have icicles growing in my yard.

For the past few days, the Internet has been slow at my house and often doesn’t work. Without being able to refresh my “inbox” every hour or so, it’s time to look for other things to do. I went to make a cup of coffee and the “kind-of-cheap-but-good-enough” espresso machine spilled water all over the sides of the filter instead of pressing it through the coffee to get that great, tiny little brew I love to take up to my office after the kids jump on the bus. The cup, the counter, the wall, and the clock were covered with coffee grounds. I turned off the machine.

As I was working on a chapter in my book, the printer ran out of paper. I put in one sheet and the machine ate it like a lion devouring a rabbit. The light blinked: Paper stuck! Paper stuck! Yeah!! Like tell me something that could help me like how to get it out! I opened the front door and could see the whites of the edges, black ink smeared all over my fingers as I grasped what I could. Itsy bitsy pieces ripped off into my hands. I think I’d have better luck retrieving the rabbit from the lion. I turned it off.

So I probably won’t be able to publish photos today; I’m making coffee the Costa Rican way with a cloth bag that I hold over a cup, and the printer is still is digesting my page. With my Golden Calves melted, broken, or stuck, I guess I’ll have to find another muse. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Costa Rica’s Independence day rolls around on September 15th. Our freedom came without much fanfare. In fact, the story goes that a guy on mule delivered a note to the powers in charge that said: You’re free from Spain. Still tied to Guatemala, it took a few more years to then break off from Guatemala and declare itself a complete sovereign nation. All of Central America celebrates the 15th of September as a day of freedom.

On that day in Costa Rica, each school child is required to participate in civic activities. There’s a parade in every town and scattered barrios. In August the Costa Rican flag begins to wave on street corners as vendors hope for early sales. The kids take to the street and prepare to march.

The surrounding Central American countries developed armies. In 1948, Costa Rica put down all arms for good. I can’t think that has something to do with it’s unique position of peace and relative prosperity amidst nations of indescribable poverty and violence.

I like our little army of drummers. It helps us keep time with our own beat.