Occasionally, we have a picture we want on our Coordinates Page, even if it isn't
immediately applicable to any of our news, and this is one. Melissa, waiting for a ride to the
airport, shared the midday sunshine with her house plants. She and Brendan were headed
for Italy, where they visited Rome and Florence.
Melissa
News & Notes
Our big news was a three week road trip through Costa Rica. It is a spectacularly beautiful country with jungles, beaches on two coasts, high mountains and unusual wildlife. But, the best part is the Costa Rican people: friendly, welcoming, helpful, patient and apparently happy. We posted eCards, which include a video of a cute baby 3-toed sloth. But there were other amazing sights.
- On one jungle walk our guide pointed out the common basilisk (Basiliscus basiliscus), a lizard that can "run" on water. This one was by a small pool, but rather than provoking it into running, we just admired him. Wikipedia has a short video of the basilisk running across water. The secret seems to be those wide feet that spread the lizard's weight across the surface tension.
A Basilisk Showing Off Its Very Wide Feet
- In the Corcovado jungle, we saw a mother tapir (sleeping) and her baby (ready to play). The pair had chosen a shady secluded spot to relax in the heat of the day, but even partly obscured, we could see that tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) are very large animals, substantially larger than hogs; the mom was estimated to be 600 lbs.
Baby Tapir Trying To Wake Up Mom
- The wasps in this nest, visible from our room at the Las Cruces Biological Research Station, have an amazing technique for scaring predators: When an animal or bird comes near, the wasps fly out of the nest and grab on to its outside. Then synchronously, they hit the nest with their bottoms, making an audible thumping noise using the nest as a sound chamber.
"Thumper" Wasps
It must be recorded that our boys' so called 'soap box racer,' which they named Hot Rhonda and assembled from a kit, and which has occupied the garage since their ages could each be expressed as a single digit, was transferred to the dump. RIP
Hot Rhonda's Final Glamor Pic
These rolls, Arculata, are like those sold on the streets of Pompeii in A.D. 79. Though some were recovered when Popmeii was excavated, they were completely carbonized. According to a BBC report, archeologists have worked out the recipe for this staple, popular at the time Vesuvius buried the town. L decided to try baking them. The recipe makes 13, a dozen to serve and one to offer to the gods, Hera or Demeter. Arculata are a mix of white and whole wheat flour, contain some honey and are not as dense as bagels. Tasty!
Arculata
We worked in a short trip to Libby MT to see Jim and Julie.
We also took a day trip to Vancouver BC to lunch with our friend Noelle and see the Robert Davidson exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery. In addition to work spanning his career and illustrating his process, the show included three fascinating interviews. An amazing talent!
Robert Davidson's Salmon
