BACK TO WORK

We just finished the three day Memorial Day weekend in the US. Many of us are having trouble getting getting back into the swing of work, perhaps including this man in the Annie Malone parade. It is already summertime hot here. There have been days of record-setting temperatures across much of the Southeast and severe tornadoes have been dancing around the Midwest, skipping us - so far.

Our family heads to New England in a week, where we expect things will be different. Could be downright chilly in the evening when we reach Down East Maine.             

Mindful Lawyering

This little doo-dad has been on my desk for many years. Must have gotten it at Archie McPhee in Seattle or the dear departed Uncle Fun in Chicago. I should pay more attention to it.

I have a great admiration for Buddhism and the Western variety in vogue these days, secular Buddhism.  Over and over I think I should start a meditation practice but I seem to lack the self-discipline, time and social support. (The only person I know who does it is a couple of hundred miles away.) Maybe when I retire. There are a lot of things I'd like to do when I retire. 

On a related note, on one single occasion in my life a friend dragged me to a yoga class. I could do corpse. That's it.     

STL DP At 11 - What A Workout

Today is Saint Louis Daily Photo's eleventh anniversary. I have not posted every single day but I've come pretty close. It should reach 4,000 posts in less than three weeks. From one point of view, it's been as much work as this nut-job exercise class doing push-ups off a platform in Forest Park. 

Why do I keep doing it? Other excellent City Daily Photo Blogs have come and gone. Maybe I need a creative outlet, or an alternative activity since I'm really tired of working. Maybe it's because I have come to enjoy photography so much and welcome the push to keep at it. Maybe it is the CDP colleagues from Paris to Perth, Berlin to Birmingham, we've become friends with and, in many cases, met. They are all good reasons.

I regret that my comments on friends' blogs have dropped off. It is a combination of things. An unrelenting work load. (I've been trying like crazy to cut down to part time and it's just not happening - I own the law practice.) Family obligations - as some of you may have inferred, Ellie lives with us half time and she is always my first priority. And maybe just getting older. But, in any case, thank you for your visits, your comments, your Facebook notes, your friendship and chance to enjoy your wonderful images.        

Hard, Hard Work

Costa Ricans used to build their houses from wood. Now the tropical hardwoods are protected so they have to use cement. Commercial cement is too expensive for many people there. Since the main ingredient of cement is a certain kind of sand, the Ticos have found an ingenious but backbreaking alternative.

On our way to Liberia, our guide, Esteban, took us down some side roads near the town of Filadelphia (no cheesesteaks in this one) along the Tempisque River. The river bottom has the perfect kind of fine sand for cement. Local men take ox carts down to the river, shovel the sand into the carts and shovel it out at designated yards along the dirt road. Then it is sold to make cement. There is no danger of theft. The community watches out for itself.

Dealing with the oxen is an ordeal. Once a pair is trained together it is almost impossible to replace one. Once they have worked on the right or left side, they will never switch to the other. And, as you can see, they are not always cooperative.

I took my pictures but felt like a bit of a voyeur with my soft American rear sitting in an air conditioned SUV.

Oh, and the Tempisque has crocodiles. Here's a picture of one I took downstream two years ago.