Thursday July 21, 2016

     Sleeping in the plane was fun, but we woke up in the middle of the night freezing.  The air conditioning worked - but seemed to not have a correctly functioning thermostat.  Burrrrrrrrrr.  Davis decided to get up about 4:30 AM so we headed out over the wings and enjoyed the sunrise.  Bats were still circling the deck feeding on insects.  Within a few minutes, the local troop of squirrel monkeys surrounded us.  Tara, who surprisingly was awake and pleasant (she is NOT a morning person), decided Lawton couldn't miss the show and woke him up.  He was rewarded with a mother with her juvenile landing on the upper fuselage of the plane.

Sunrise from the "wing"

    Davis, Lawton and I caught a taxi down to the marina for a fishing trip.  Captain Alex took us out for a half day of inshore fishing.  Not long after arriving at our first stop, Davis hooked into something big, but after a minute or two, the line went slack.  Whatever was on the end had teeth as the line was frayed.
    Ten or so minutes later, Lawton and I hooked into something.  I was "assisting" Lawton as for the next 20-30 minutes we (I )struggled to land a huge rooster fish.  Of all the inshore fish in the area, this is apparently the prize catch in the area.  It fought hard.  I was rather relieved that we didn't catch another of those monsters as my back was spent.

Rooster Fish

Lawton was a little scare to be near his catch

     The fishing slowed after that so we decided to troll for mackerel.  Davis was thrilled to bring in a nice sized fish with only minimal assistance from dad.  It was nice to see him with a proud look in his eye as I snapped a photo of him holding his trophy.

A snack on the boat

A proud boy with his Spanish Mackerel!

    Tara decided that it was laundry day and after moving us out from the airplane.  She told me she did the "smell test" to decided what needed to get washed.  I think most of our gear failed as when we returned from fishing, clothes were out to dry everywhere.

Costa Rican Dryer

One of the many giant butterflies surrounding our casita.

    The boys needed their daily swim, we decided to grab a pizza and eat it poolside.  Davis spotted a black iguana hanging out in the garden down the hill from the pool.  Lawton proceeded to "create" new dives so mom could film them.  Lawton is at that age where he wants you to watch everything he does, from watching him play something on the iPad, to seeing him swim across the pool without taking a breath.  Everything needs approval and your attention.  At times he catches us saying "yes we see you" when we have our nose in a book or eyes on the computer.  This is met without disapproval, but an insistence on ensuring we see whatever he is doing as he "kindly" repeats it for us - sometimes two or three times.

Black Iguana near the pool Davis named "Ash"

     Sadly, I discovered today my colleague and good friend Dr. Jay Smith suddenly passed away.  Jay, a phenomenal physician, husband, father, and friend will be truly missed.  He taught me a lot about medicine, leadership, and how to be the ultimate patient advocate.  He may have been the most respected member of our medical staff.  I will miss my friend.