Fifth Time In Costa Rica, 4

I had a lovely dawn walk this morning. Waking up at four this morning, I took a walk at around 5:30, just before sunrise. This town is pleasant in the early morning when things are still quiet. I saw a dead cat lying in the middle of the road, just following the screams of a cat fight. I commented to a passer bye, Gato muerto, or dead cat. He replied that it happens. They don´t seem to have been affected by our tendency in Canada to fetishize pets, especially dogs. There was already a long lineup forming at what I at first assumed to be the local welfare office. The owner of the bed and breakkfast informs me that there is no welfare in Costa Rica, and that this is a medical clinic. I also saw two different people sleeping rough in doorways. There doesn´t appear to be a lot of visible homelessness here, but there is poverty and a lot of people do have to struggle to get by. Very few Ticos, it seems, ever get to visit Monteverde because it´s so expensive, rather like people like me in Vancouver who don´t get to visit Whistler, and for the same reason. Not that I would really like to go there, since I´m not really that huge on our own Yaletown in the Mountains. When I got back a little before half past six, I sat out in the garden with my sketchbook, the resident rabbit keeping me company. He is not an affectionate bunny, and really, rabbits do tend to be standoffish, which is why I really can´t understand their appeal as pets. But he seems to feel pretty chill around me and sometimes comes over to say hi and sits near me for a while, and really, just like this rabbit, I am perfectly fine with hanging out with folks, but I draw the line at getting groped! So, bunnyrabbit and I are likely kindred souls. I saw a couple of hummingbirds visiting flowers and there was some incredible birdsong in the air. Today, I am getting ready to go to Monteverde. I would also like to take the time to respond to yesterday´s comment, from an esteemed friend and colleague of mine. I wouldn´t worry about it. Stephen King was likely used to the kids being around and making a racket because they´re his own kids. Whenever I hear or read celebrity anectodesw about how well they did with this and that, I always wonder what they are leaving out. A lot of it is spin, and it really isn´t much different from all the fatuous nonsense that people post about themselves on Facebook. And don´t worry about being vulnerable. This is what makes us particularly human, and there are always going to be tradeoffs. Perfection is a curse and we have only some of the horrors that occurred in the Twentieth Century to remind us of what can happen when we go too far in our quest to be like gods. Love, Aaron