Sabio es catorce anos

Sage awoke on the morning of his 14th birthday and stepped off the bus....

His sister had already given him a home-made card and a hug

His mama gave him a kiss on the cheek - plus one sent from his grandma

Portrait by the pond....then we went up the hill to make fancy french toast

After breakfast was enjoyed by about 14 people, we cleaned the kitchen and packed for a waterfall adventure

10 of us piled into the truck....

Left the farm....

and drove

past citrus

through pueblo

past mango trees

and fence lines of living madera negra trees - created by sticking a section of tree branch or trunk into the ground

We passed coffee tree farms - the kids here have been out of school for nearly 2 months (for coffee harvesting season) and classes begin this week. Students are expected to wear a uniform, iron their clothes, wash their shoes and bathe every morning as well as bring a toothbrush to school.

Some kind of solar tower?

No, they're lights for the futbol field (soccer). Below: La Iglesia en el pueblo de San Agustine

and the little store or poparilla

Here is where the local coffee farmers gather their beans to be loaded onto trucks:

Gravity helps - beans are loaded in from the top and the truck pulls in on the road below

leaving the pueblo

passed the parked bus

we stopped to gawk at a beautiful la ceiba tree (sacred to the mayans)

surrounded by banana trees, this la ceiba is a giant!

a view from the road

all the way to the river, I imagined what a lovely journey this route would be on horseback

Igneous rocks here have been carved over time by water and swirling stones

creating pool after pool after pothole and pocket

all different sizes, depths and shapes

shallow areas streaming over smooth stone made fun water slides - for those wearing shorts

Just as Janga was recovering from a frisbee to the head situation - I found a chunk of styrofoam floating under a tree in a lower pool. I added a stick with a leaf and a flower attached (mast, sail and flag) and brought the new toy boat to an upper pool. The boys had fun for a long time, sailing and chasing the boat from pool to pool.

I looked up from the sailboat scene just as Blake was in mid back flip into one of the deeper ponds!

Cedar and I had fun playing while his ama was swimming

a brief break for watermelon

and we began a hike to bigger waterfall

walking on stones

wading through fresh mountain spring water

under a canopy of trees and vines

surrounded by all kinds of birds and butterflies and flowers

Janga of the jungle

swinging on a fat vine

Indigo's jungle circus

wild ginger

a HUGE hive!

and a massive trunk

knarly roots

It didn't take long for Sage to make himself comfortable!

Jeff and Blake looking up on the cliff at the kids

who have a frisbee

Magical Birthday Cairne for Sage

A Cosmic Cash for the River - living in the flow and feeling gratitude for the abundant beauty we share

walking back

Back to the farm by sunset. I harvested herbs and made pesto pasta for dinner for 16 people, cleaned the kitchen and hiked down the hill to sleep in the bus.

In the morning, we awoke early to enjoy Sage's birthday "cake" for breakfast.

The night before his birthday, I soaked a bowl full of almonds and one of raisins. While making french toast for Sage's birthday breakfast I peeled and chopped eight or so mangoes and put them in the freezer, cut the meat out of some coconuts, and froze a few bananas while a few other folks peeled the skin off the almonds.

While we were still at the waterfall, Jason concocted a crust, filling and topping to create the cakes. My secret last ingredient? Dried Wisconsin blueberries that traveled along in my suitcase.

16 people shared another feliz cumpleanos for Sage

And so begins another day on the farm....Michelle and Julio are on their way to new adventures, I planted seeds and sprouts in the garden, we began building a mandala garden with sticks and stones gathered from the creek and mango grove, 4 new women arrived on the farm this evening and eight of us are making a trip into San Isidro tomorrow morning after breakfast. (Though, it is nearly 4 am on the bus now and the birds will be awake in an hour). Jason left for a festival for the next 10 days - that gave me the opportunity to use the internet chip at night while the kids are asleep....a two hour nap for me before the next adventure.