A Subway Memory

The only thing that separates this and that, is time. Which is strange because we usually measure time in feelings. Which do not function logically.

I had an amazing time. Time flies when you're having fun. It was a depressing time in my life.

So strongly are we tied up in time as feeling that when something is going well, we assume it won't stop. And likewise, when something is going poorly, we think it will never end.

Last night I took my brother Syd up to Harlem to listen to some jazz. We passed by the subway station I used to wait at every morning to go to a job I hated. I had a feeling then that a day passed like it was a year. It honestly felt like this terrible job would never end.

Then it did.

This year I have changed where I work and suddenly I love my new job and that never-ending one I hated is just a brief memory I rumbled passed on the train. Time is the constant. It always moves.

This too will pass.

Honeymoon: Tourists

While the beach was mostly empty, a few people were still out and about.

Some men dug this river out.

It was all backed up, which I think lets mosquitos breed, which is very bad for tourism, I would guess.

Honeymoon: Magic

On our last night in Tamarindo, we discovered magic.

It was exciting. For me at least.

We jumped for joy.

Honeymoon: Fireflies

On our way home from the beach at sunset we saw the most amazing spread of fireflies.

They zipped all over the place and held our attention until the mosquitos took it away.

The photos don't capture how peaceful their light was.

Honeymoon: Driftwood

This washed up in interesting shapes.

Very cool looking.

I wish I had carryon room to take them home with me and try to make something crafty out of it.

Honeymoon: In the Cloud Forest

There are also some very tiny avocados.

Hummingbirds are a little bit of magic.

The canopy holds an entirely unique and diverse world of life.

In the Cloud Forest, motorcycle is the preferred means of transport. 

Honeymoon: The Drive 2

Here's the little car that finally got us to the top. (At one point, Tiff thought she was going to die.)

I was proud of my driving skills.

The cows were less impressed.

Honeymoon: The Drive

The drive up was beautiful, but harrowing.

We finally found our way.

Tiff didn't want to leave the car the whole time.

Honeymoon Monkeys

Here's our monkey friend. He liked Tiff OK, but when I came upstairs, he started freaking out...

Jumping all over the place and ripping off tree branches...

Even licking the skylights. Turns out he was an adolescent monkey and he was just showing me that this was his turf, and I best be careful...

Bees and Hornets and Me

I decided I would take the train up to the Cloisters – a museum made from an old European monastery someone a long time ago in a brash display of wealth shipped in piece by piece – and do some writing in the peaceful stone courtyards within. When I got there, though, it was closed (every Monday, in fact).

So I turned and headed back.

A normal scene. A city park. People out for strolls. A storm threatening the edges of it all with dark rain.

Then I looked closer at a bush bursting with purple flowers. All among the flowers were plump bees, gorging themselves on nectar. So into their feeding that they were oblivious to everything else.

This included the giant wasps that buzzed silent and deadly as military helicopters among the flowers, pouncing on bees and devouring them in a startling display of vicious hunger. Seriously, these things strip the bees without regard to the poor bee’s life or his solemn nine-to-five, and with no table manners at all. They spit out the legs and antenna, eat the plump middle, and finish by cutting off the head and buzzing off with the what’s left of the carcass. So uncouth.

I watched this happen three times – my interest completely peaked.

The bees were so into eating nectar that they didn’t notice the wasps. The wasps were so into eating the bees and they didn’t notice me. Suddenly I wondered what the hell was watching me because I was so into watching the bees and wasps.

I looked around and sure enough, there on a bench smoking a cigarette was an older man with hungry eyes.

Damn, I thought, I wish I wasn’t wearing my skinny jeans.

I decided to not look at him, hoping this would convey the message of noninterest. But, of course, when one decides to not look at something, it is often the thing one looks at. So. I ended up looking three or four more times in the next ten minutes – over my shoulder no less – and there he was, smiling the whole time.

Now, I don’t know what the old man was looking for, but the thing with the bees and wasps got my mind spinning.

Finally, I got so exasperated I ran away.

Honeymoon Rings and Views

We both kept noticing our rings the whole trip.

Tiffany set up a few poses.

Here was a deck.

Us in front of our view.

Honeymoon First Day in the Cloud Forest

This was the name of our room.

Here's the name of our hotel.

I just loved the color of the earth.

The complexity of the jungle.

The companionship of the dog.

Honeymoon While the Wife Naps

While Tiff was sleeping, I climbed a tree and found this little guy.

And this map sort of pattern in the rocks.

As I went, I noticed how man was everywhere, even in the jungle.

For some reason it captivated me.

Then I kept exploring and found these water drops on a leaf.

Honeymoon Horses

We sure had fun on the horses.

I think that I was actually taller than mine...

Honeymoon Macro 2

Things are most interesting sometimes from up close. Like:

View from below.

A tree from below.

Seaweed.

A fallen leaf.

Cactus.

Honeymoon Monkey Walk

In the mornings we would walk and look for monkeys in the trees.

Big Beautiful trees.

Often times the dog would come on our walks.