Goodbye to winter and hello to spring--at least at home. This is the first spring I can ever remember missing in my 55 years in Tennessee and North Carolina. In Costa Rica it's summer dry or summer wet--no spring. Sweaters and scarves come out when it's 65 degrees, which seems perfectly pleasant to me, but I get odd looks when I go out in sleeveless tops on such days. The flip side is that the birds sing down here as if it's spring everyday and the flowers are always in bloom--nice tradeoffs. I am missing my daffodils, camellias, azaleas, roses and new vegetables this year, but I will have to say that thus far it has been worth it!

The students and I journeyed to Monteverde last weekend. I haven't posted many pictures because I posted lots before. We stayed at the same hotel that Landis and I stayed in before, and the kids did a zipline--a different one than we did--much higher and faster. I opted out of this one and did a hanging bridge walk instead. It was nice, but we didn't see anything that I hadn't seen earlier in the day at the Monteverde Reserve. Monteverde is a Quaker-settled community, and the Friends influence is everywhere, from the meeting house and school, to the cheese factory and reserve. Monteverde is one of the few places in the world to see the Resplendent Quetzal, a bird that harkens back to ancient mesoamerican civilizations and is known for its beautiful coloring (red, green, blue--iridescent)and long double tail feathers--at least for the guys anyway. The females are beautiful in their own right, but not as majestic as the males. Resplendent is part of the name and not just an adjective that people attach because of its beauty, but it IS beautiful. The minute a tourist walks into the forest their every sense is heightened to see this bird. Some people plan their visits to Costa Rica around this bird. Groups have guides with large telescopes, and if one is spotted, 40 crazed tourists and guides scramble over each other to get a glimpse before it flies away. I don't have a good picture of "ours," so you'll just have to trust me. We saw a female first, then a male in a large avocado tree. A big turkey bird was giving him some grief, so we got to see him fly (very awkardly I might add) back and forth three times. We could see him beautifully through the binoculars, but not all of his body clearly. I really wanted to see his cute little ruffly head! A few of the students got some excellent pictures, which I hope they will post on the class blog. As amazing as this was, I still believe the day that Landis and I spotted a blue-crowned motmot on a fence post in the woods behind our hotel was more magical. Motmots are beautiful in their own right and much more common than quetzals, but for sheer beauty and showmanship (a showoff might be the better word), that sighting was unexpected and bright. We didn't have to look for him or wait for him to arrive. This weekend, one followed us through the woods as we walked and didn't seem to mind being very close to us. Don't get me wrong. I loved seeing our quetzals, and I hope to see one again this weekend, but sometimes moments just can't be forced.

Richard and Roth arrived today for spring break, and we are heading back up to the mountains this weekend and then to the beach, so there will be more opportunities to be close to nature. It surely is nice to have them here! I'll post pictures and stories after we return later in the week. For all my Elon friends, happy spring break!