It took some time, it took some doing, but after less than 2 weeks that seemed at times like months, Carol is back on the coach with me. She is not fully recovered but she is well on the road. 

While Carol worked to heal and to get the best care she could from Murrietta Health and Rehab I was deeply  involved in my committee work here at Jojoba Hills. We encourage members to volunteer in areas  that are of interest to them. For some this means working in landscaping and for others it may mean rehanging shed doors that have warped and sagged (Shed Angels). The opportunities are as varied as any jobs you could imagine to be needed to keep a small city operating. I have never been a gardener nor does cooking for groups of 150 appeal to me. I serve on committees, Finance, Marketing, Infrastructure (don’t ask how a retired Financial Planner gets to chair a committee that oversees water, electric, sewer etc). I always enjoyed working on committees so this is my contribution to the welfare of the locals community. 

The “Committee Season” starts right after the Annual Meeting” in early February and extends until the masses depart for cooler parts. Finance picks up in early September to get the budget ready and the others resume as chair people and other key players return to wrap up their work by the end of December.

The big excitement in SoCal has been the “Super Bloom” Every flower in the desert has had enough water and cool to burst into flower. Some stretches of freeway have become impassable on weekends as the banks flame in yellow, orange and purple. Borrego Springs is swarmed by locals and people who have flown in from everyplace to see the fields in bloom. With Carol tied down in recovery and the traffic impossible I have stayed closer to home.  Here is a link to some pictures taken within a 5 minute walk of the coach: https://photos.app.goo.gl/QEiVn45GgreT2hXN8 

We have been busy getting things in order and I have not been awake enough to even write about our activities and my thoughts until now.

The trip home was a bit of a trial. With great help from airport personnel and airline personnel we were able to get Carol situated  in seat 1 B, as close to the door as possible. In the process I learned some things about air crews, if you give them a chance they are helpful, friendly and will go to the limit of there protocol and maybe a bit beyond to make travel under difficult conditions better then just possible,  this is a shout out to the crew of the Copa flight from Panama City to LAX  on the 8th of March. 

After a night on the coach it was clear Carol needed more care then I could provide and there were plenty of medical questions that would not wait until Monday. Saturday morning, with some help from neighbors, I transferred Carol to the Jeep and headed in to Temecula Valley Hospital. They took over when we got there. In summary, Carol was xrayed and CT scanned until she glowed. We waited for everything to settle out and then transferred her to Murietta Health and Rehab where she is getting excellent care and therapy and mediocre food. It is too early say how long her stay will be, but when she can climb 5 steps into the motorhome she will be coming back to complete her recovery in the comfort of home surrounded by the most marvelous RV community in the country.

I am not detailing her injuries here, there is no need, they will all heal and she will be good to go for Jazz Fest in Rochester come June!

I am practicing living alone, sort of. I spend several hours a day with Carol – probably less now during the week as she will be busy with OT and PT. Today as I settled in for some work time I had friends see my open door and drop in, occupying me from 4 until 6. This ended with a phone call from friends from Rochester on vacation in Hawaii.

We are blessed.

I am the first to admit it isn’t easy getting a camera lens on a bird under most circumstances unless, like the owl they stay still in one place. Walking through the woods presents another challenge altogether. We left the hotel at 6:30 AM again as planned for a birding walk n the woods into a national park. As we set out it was cool and the birds were not yet very active since the sun had not reached the area and it was cool and dewy. We saw many smaller birds and Raul, our wonderful guide, called out the identifications. I  chose not to carry a pad and write down every bird spotted. The new birding routine involves the use of a laser pointer spotted near but not on the bird. This makes it really easy to find the identified bird. 

Our goal was to see a Resplendent Quetzal. This is a gorgeous bird which we last saw in Costa Rica more than a dozen years ago. It is found at higher altitudes where a particular small avocado grows. We hiked into the area and Raul pointed out a nest

This was very nice, but no bird. Further up the trail, about another kilometer, we came to a place where he found a male near another nest. As we moved into position to spot the bird it flew overhead and lit right over head. This view is not ideal, but it is also fairly rare:

After we scrambled back some to get a better view it moved again and I got this back lit  shot of it

We were able to glimpse he female in the nest hole, no photo and later watch the male work at enlarging the nest site, again no photo. We used Raul’s scope on a tripod to see this activity. We were delighted to begin our return trek to the van to get back to the hotel to get on our flight back to Panama City.

A word about Air Panama, DON’T. The plane, a twin engine turboprop, was a flying sauna. There was no cool air coming from the vents for the duration of the. flight, about 45 minutes. When they opened the door in Panama City we were refreshed by the cool 95 degree air blowing through. This was the 2nd flight in 3 days that was almost intolerable. The plane should not be allowed to be in  service. The Captain was wringing wet when he exited the flight deck.  On the other hand we did arrive safely with our luggage.