Happy New Year!

I couldn't think of a better way to close out 2008 than spending a week at my plantation in Costa Rica, La Alegría.

It was, I thought, a great way to celebrate the end of George W. Bush' reign of terror. Being out of the country for any portion of this month, though, when Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, was never an option.

We flew into Juan Santamaria International Airport in San Jose Christmas Eve morning and left there yesterday afternoon.

There was nothing I wanted to do more than relax and enjoy the fruit of my gardener's labor, a hydroponically grown hybrid we call K60 Bud.

What I enjoy most about La Alegría is, The Sanctuary....


It was here, on this balcony, where each day I read the outermost HOUSE - A Year Of Life On The Great Beach Of Cape Cod by Henry Beston.

This book is a literary masterpiece. That, I think, is reflected by these excerpts...

>>> A year indoors is a journey along a paper calendar; a year in outer nature is the accomplishment of a tremendous ritual. To share in it, one must have a knowledge of the pilgrimages of the sun, and something of that natural sense of him and feeling for him which made even the most primitive people mark the summer lights of his advance and the last December ebb of his decline." (page 59)

>>> "The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach. I have heard them all, and of the three elemental voices, that of the ocean is the most awesome, beautiful, and varied." (page 43)

>>> "It is not easy to live alone, for man is a gregarious creature; especially in his youth, powerful instincts offer battle to such a way of life, and in utter solitude odd things may happen to the mind." (pages 93-94)

>>> "Dwelling thus upon the dunes, I lived in the midst of an abundance of natural life which manifested itself every hour of the day, and from being thus surrounded, thus enclosed within a great whirl of what one may call the life force." (page 94)

>>> "Study your birds on the ground as you will, but once you have thus observed them and studied their loveliness, do not be afraid to clap your hands and send them off into the air. They will take no real alarm and will soon forgive you. Watch birds flying." (page 98)

Downstairs I have a sitting room commonly known as The Fortress of Solitude. Looking out the window, or down from The The Sanctuary, you see a portion of the garden....


We live, undoubtedly, in interesting times. I wish for you much joy, good health and prosperity in 2009.

As much as anything I'm looking forward to President-elect Obama's inauguration, That comes 19 days from today.

Cheers!