Greetings from Costa Rica

Even though we are on vacation in a gardeners paradise, I am still able to reach out to my blog friends. This has been an amazing experience. We have seen a vocano, a turtle refuge, a rain forest, and many species of wild life. I am so sorry that I cannot include some photos with this message. Today we saw an 18 foot crocodile, from about 30 feet away. They are awesome creatures. We had howler monkey waken us at dawn and toucans sitting on a branch outside our room. The flowers are gorgeous. They plant tree fences here by cutting branches off of trees then sticking them into the ground. One thing I have to mention tho are the really skinny cows, they have a lot of brahmin cows from India. For someone born in the middle West, they are pretty darn ugly. People here have manditory education up through the 12th grade so they have a high literacy rate (95%). But it seems the average person only makes about $400 a month. People in the countryside live pretty poor lives. It gives you pause when you realize what a privileged life we have in the United States. I am grateful for all that I have in my life and will count my blessings even more often than I do now. I feel fortunate that we can experience this country and the Costa Rican people who have greeted us with friendship. I will post some of my pictures next week when we come home.