Finding the Secret Waterfall

Take the path through the forest and then turn left, left, left and you are right there! Be careful what trees you hold onto as you climb down the trail. There could be snakes.

 Heading down the trail.

 Hannah at the falls.

 Malak falls in the river.

 Where did that trail go?

 I'm not getting in there. Looks chilly.

 Somebody has been building a fort down by the river.

Heading home.

Scorpion Sting = Cost Rican Rite of Passage?

That's what people tell me. But my first sting was so slight I'm not sure it will count. I was reaching up to brush a little itch near my shoulder and saw a black leaf fall to the ground. Imagine my surprise when it uncurled into a black scorpion and scuttled away! It had stung my finger a bit and I could feel it tingling for the next couple of hours. And how did I get to the place where I am walking around wearing a scorpion? I think it was in the sundress I had put on about 10 minutes previously and must have crawled up to my shoulder. Creepy. I usually check every towel, garment, etc. but was in a rush and didn't check the sundress. And this is what the scorpion looked like. Except it was blacker. And it's tail was up and waving around. I think I scared it.

Our Official Scorpion Count is at 19. At first we were doing catch and release but BigJohn insisted we discontinue that program after a couple of rumors he heard about scorpions heading right back into your house if you set them loose. I've talked to some locals and most of them just let them loose outside. One guy told me you have to let them loose across a river so they don't come back. Another local told me she has three spots in her house where she puts them - under the frig, under the cupboards, and by the pet food container. They take care of the cockroaches. When I told her we don't have cockroaches she nodded her head and explained to me the reason we don't have cockroaches is because we have the scorpions in the house.
I'd really like to mark a couple and let them loose so we can find out if they come back into the house but BigJohn isn't going for it. He's developed this total loathing for scorpions. Not sure why. Could be because I found another big black one on a towel he'd just finished drying his face with. (Can't believe he doesn't check his towels before using them.) It was around scorpion #15 when I caught BigJohn trying to drown his latest catch at the kitchen sink. Reminded of the waterboarding our government does to prisoners. I talked him into a kinder euthanization in the freezer. I know if it was me I'd rather go out by freezing than by drowning.

Going into the freezer container.

So the next morning BigJohn tossed the frozen scorpion out into the field. Then I was left to wonder if a scorpion can survive an overnight freezing. So the next one we let thaw out just to make sure it was really dead. It was. And my next bright idea was to put them out on the birdfeeder. The birds love them! It's their first choice when they come to the feeder.

BigJohn strategically placing the scorpion on the feeder. It's all about the presentation.

So I spend a lot of time walking around the house looking up at the ceiling - probably because of that incident where the scorpion dropped into the sink while I was doing dishes. But now I have to think about if I'm looking up when it drops, it might land on my face. Wouldn't it be better to not look up and let it land on the top of my head instead? Because what if it stings me in the eye?
There have been a couple of scorpions drop from the rafters at yoga. I'm starting to think it's intentional. They want a quick trip down to the floor and are looking for something soft to land on which is the people on the mats below. So now I have a problem keeping my eyes closed during Savasana which is a supposed to be a pose of total relaxation. Seriously? I'm supposed to be totally relaxed knowing there are scorpions up there waiting to jump on me?
So take a look at the scorpion info on this Dangerous Creatures of Costa Rica website I found. They don't sound that bad at all. And maybe one day BigJohn will get over his irrational fear.
FYI - I started writing this blog post yesterday but didn't get it finished until today. Scorpion count is now up to 21. BigJohn found two in the living room last night. One was getting all cuddled up in a pair of socks I'd left by my shoes.
I've heard that scorpions glow under a blacklight. That might be fun to go scorpion hunting at night but in the house we just turn on the lights and they show up.

Getting Back Into The Blog

Took a little bit of a sabbatical folks. Was glad to be in Anchorage for the birth of our first grandchild. Welcome to the world Sara Fure Thorvilson!