Lost Keys

     On New Years Eve Day, we took Kona for a walk down Horseshoe Lake Road.  Overnight about an inch of new snow had fallen on the previously bare road.  My wife walked on ahead, as I hung around  with Kona, who was more interested in sniffing the weeds, rather than walking.  When my wife returned she told me she had found some keys and a fob on the road, with a dusting of snow on them.

    There was of course, no way of telling who the keys belonged to, but we knew how important the keys and fob would be to whoever owned them, and they would be very happy to get them back.  We took the keys home with us, and as soon as we got back home, I cranked up my computer, took a photo of the keys, and made a poster about finding them.

    In a small village in McBride, there are a few places that everyone eventually has to go to.  There is the Post Office, where everyone must go to get their mail, and there are the two grocery stores.  I printed up three posters, and drove back to town to put them up.

    I struck out at the Post Office, who now only allows posters of people who have just died, but I was able to post the notice at our two grocery stores, one outside on their bulletin board, and the other was hung right on the front door, where it was sure to be seen by everyone leaving the grocery.

    Yesterday, we got a call from the owner of the keys, and since I knew him, and was going into the library Friday afternoon, I told him I would drop them off at their house.  I did and they were relieved to get them back, and I was happy that we were able to help do that.

    Living in a very small community does have a lot of disadvantages, but it also has some benefits.  I doubt those lost keys would have ever found their owner in a big city.

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Costa Rica 1992: Humanity Fails

      The following day gave us more positive feeling about Cahuita because the sun had come out.  We did have a strange start to the day, when we were awakened by a huge bang, followed by a power outage that effected all of Cahuita, at 5:30.  We never did hear what happened but we were left without water, and couldn’t get our breakfast until 8:00.

    After lounging around for a while in our room, we walked to the another beach to try to do some swimming in the waves.  We finally got to put in some good beach time, enjoying being pounded by the surf.

    After the swim, we walked to Cahuita to eat lunch at Defi’s, an eatery with unusual decor.  There was sand on the floor, driftwood and plants on the walls, and Weaver Bird nests hanging from the ceiling.  Their food didn’t match the fancy interior.  I had a tomato sandwich, and my wife was “treated” to a raw hamburger.

    As we were lounging on our porch back at our cabin, Charlie the Rastaman came strolling by and came over to see us.  He gave me a sob story about how he had gotten a job chopping bush with his machete.  Unfortunately, he needed to buy a file to sharpen it, and he had no money.  He asked me if I could loan him $5.  

    I felt it was probably a scam, but wanting to trust humanity, I opened  my wallet to give him the money.  There I found only a $10 bill.  When I explained that to Charlie I only had a ten, he said he would bring me back five dollars after he got the file.  My trust in humanity, again got the best of me and I gave him the ten.  Humanity failed the test.  Charlie the Rastaman, was never to be seen again.

    We got our laundry done at the hotel.  While there we petted the poor baby parrot with the clipped wings, and poor Emilio, the tied-up monkey.  It was so sad to see the lives animals have to lead for the amusement of mankind.

    Back in our cabin, we repacked our bags, ready for an early exit the next day.

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Costa Rica 1992: Cahuita A Disappointment

      A miracle!  I woke up the next day and for the first time since being on our Costa Rica vacation, my back didn’t hurt.  I could feel it a bit, but it was not painful, like it had been the preceding weeks.

    The Cabinas Atlantida had free breakfasts, which we took advantage of.  While we were eating our eggs, we encountered several critters.  A toucan with a deformed beak came flying down to our table to beg for food as we ate.  We were also visited by a pet dog and pet monkey.

    We found that Cahuita was kind of a bust.  During our long hike to the beach, The only “wildlife” we saw on the trail we took was a Blue Morpho butterfly, a few lizards, and some crabs. We discovered that wasn’t really a swimming beach, because the water was so shallow, and the snorkeling wasn’t even as good as what it was in Manuel Antonio Park.  

    Even after I waded out one hundred meters, the water was still only up to my knees. While snorkeling, I saw very little living coral, mostly just broken pieces.  I did spot a few big black sea urchins sporting eight inch spikes, and some small fish, but nothing spectacular. 

    On the way back from our “swim” we stopped at a little restaurant beside the park.  I had an egg sandwich while mywife went for the cheese sandwich.  There were a lot of very strange sandwich combinations on their menu, like a Tuna, tomato, jam, and onion sandwich.  Maybe those were just individual sandwiches, but the menu seemed to suggest it was just one kind.

    That night we ate at the little restaurant just down the road.  We had rice and chicken.  I don’t know how those places can exist.  We were the only customers there and our meal cost us $11.00 US.  Hopefully, it was just a bad night for them, they sure didn’t seem to be making enough money to keep the place viable.

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2025 Cartoon

     Sorry for the pessimism, but honestly, I just can see anything in the future that isn’t going to get worse.

Take a look at my paintings:  davidmarchant2.ca