A walk in the finca

While the boys, including Paul, are with their cousins exploring the Amazon and the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve, Brynna and I are spending quality "girl time" in La Josefina. We chose not to join them for two reasons: first, it is a 14+ hour bus ride to get there; second, we were all lucky to have visited last October. We both totally loved the experience; we just didn't feel up to such a long trip. Plus, our time in La Josefina is limited. 

And so, we are hanging out at home, reading lots of books (finished Apple Blossom the Possum, which I highly recommend for early elementary and are now reading Wishtree, also a lovely chapter book about nature, friendship and acceptance). We are not entirely alone. Yesterday, Brynna spent much of the afternoon playing with her two rambunctious substitute brothers, Leandry and Joan, who are missing the boys but love Brynna dearly. We are also watching plenty of movies (shhhh don't tell Paul) -- Encanto on Monday night, Up on Tuesday. I am over the moon that Brynna is perfectly content watching movies in Spanish with friends. Hooray for bilingualism!

Today, we took a finca walk. We were on a mission to say hola to Sherman, our just-turned-11-month-old chicken (Today is his month-day!) who we saw last week sitting on a nest full of eggs. This is a short walk we have taken countless times, but as our year has melted into months and our months into weeks, I am beginning to feel increasingly sentimental.

There are many bits and pieces of life here that  have quietly become routine. This is one of them. The finca is place we know well; it is a place we have come to love -- a world in and of itself, brimming with life, including cacao, sugar cane, oranges, yuca, mandarinas, oritos, plátanos, butterflies, birds, and sweet memories. And so, in honor of the mundane -- that normal stuff of life, which is both ordinary and beloved -- Brynna and I put together this photo essay. 

It is entitled A walk in the finca:

It is not often (if ever) that Brynna has the privilege of wielding the machete -- her brothers are usually bickering over whose turn it is. This time, it is Brynna's turn!



The roosting bamboo ladder, which the chickens use every night to hop up to safety.

The little casita, where we encounter Sherman.
Unfortunately, Sherman was off adventuring herself, but we found lots of eggs!


A pile of ripe cacao, harvested just this morning, seeds not yet extracted.


The long metal gancho, the perfect tool to harvest fruit, leans up against an old orange tree. 
The most delicious oranges on the planet!

Rainwater catchment system
Look closely, a rufous hummingbird is enjoying the banana flower.

'Tis the season to suck 1 or 2 or 10 a day. The supply is limitless. Vitamin C!

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