One year ago, John and I rented a car and headed north past Managua, past Matagalpa, past Esteli and Ocotal and up into the pine forests to the town of Jalapa which sits just shy of the Honduran border. We spent the night in the countryside, although it was accessed from right in town. Hotel Campestre El Patano. A German man and his blonde-haired, blue-eyed teenage son ran the place, which normally (read: during non-crisis years) is bustling, he said, with mission groups running projects nearby. On this day we were the only ones there. The next morning a gentleman …
Month: May 2020
First Gifts of Rain: Nica Nugget #90
My neighbor, Juaquin, calls them Papallomollo, the flying creatures that dropped their wings at my door last night and began their terrestrial existence. The crabs, I don’t know their name nor where they have been all of dry season, but today I saw them on the road at the top of Pacific Marlin by Cristo. And later along the scree where the hillside turns into the beach. And the brilliance of the air and sea! As if rain drops could settle the dust down to the bottom of the sea. And Nella. She finally, after months, left the shady bush …
The Ark of Waiting: Nica Nugget #89
Today I am practicing waiting. I am waiting for the rain.I am waiting for the new green leaves, for the dull dryness of the hills to turn to juice. I am waiting for the sweltering heat to abate, for the dogs to come out from under the shady bush. I wait for the threat of Covid-19 to go away. For my fear for my neighbors – for Mary and Hector, who’ve been keeping their store Stop y Buy open across the street, for our cuidador Juaquin and his extended family who have all moved back in with him, and for …
Monkeys…And Who Are We?: Nica Nugget #88
Yesterday, John and I came upon a troop of over 30 monkeys during our morning walk up and over the Cristo headland. I’d never seen such a large troop. John had only seen that plentitude a few weeks earlier and near the same location. Monkeys live lives separate from us. Well, for that matter…Iguanas live lives separate from us. Bee colonies. Ant colonies. Anteaters. Crabs. Salps. Tarpon. Crocodiles. Magnificent Frigatebirds. Fungi. Fireflies. Trees. Yes, Trees, with their magical subterranean roots and their leaves which manifest food out of nothing more than sun and air and a bit of water and …