Flowers Make a World of Difference...

No where like Central America are there
flowers so prolific.

Orchids uncounted





















































Jasmines.























































Tiger Striped Orchids








































Dozens of Hibiscus varieties.

All "Features" [sic] Great and Small.

Of all things, Wise and Wonderful...
...

Ideas Mayan and other of Cyclic creation, of ...

... of "ages the Earth has and mustpass through" The Aztec, ... ...to them this, the fifth such and we

are to be destroyed by earthquakes.

The Maya as well Five. and the long count dates
say the earth was born 3114 BC and will pass from this stage, On 23 December CE 2012. The end of the great cycle.

Five Thousand Two hundred Years.

I could see so clearly the eclipse, a picture had to be taken, if, even if, it is to last only three years, till the end of time.
In my hand a "volunteer" orchid as beautiful as the Moon.
Maybe both

are in my hand.

Knot in Belize

Things are Knot what they seem.....

Long necked gourds, are knot[ted] what they seem.

Warmth in Belize makes such a thing much

easier than Michigan, (Especially in February).

The most common descriptive terms here ...

... are "Pretty", and "Nice".

They are applied to many things, including

and not limited to Food items.

It seems at least in the south, that many things are ...

...well... ... most things are considered Food.

Even decorative gourds are eaten (Knot these)

and -while I've never heard an Armadillo called pretty,

they are called "Nice" and for the same reasons.
In truth, ... ...in terms of edibility...
...they are kind of nice.

In a Porkish sort of

"doesn't taste like Chickenish" sort of way.

They [armadillos] are nicer young, just like ornamental gourds.

* Keeping between the Lines...

...I don't like painting signs,
as I just can't *see subject.

This...

...to those of you who don't know,
Is my father and I working on the new well.
We have normalized water now, though, as a renewable natural resource,
and getting two hundred inches of it, Rain will never be replaced as a
source. Free, reliable, (sort of reliable) and in great profusion when
it comes. Two hours of rain supply me with eighteen days worth of water
in the collection system.

Electric power is the most inefficient and expensive commodity in
Belize, and if I can get water with no major power usage, I aid the
whole country as well as well ... ...as me.






On the subject, this is the water,
still muddy,
and me hhhmmmm ...

...still muddy a bit too.













The dry season will be a general dégringolade for rain water, (that's a word from grade school, in Freeport, Michigan, they were really strict about grammar)
The well... ... will supplement it then.

On a clear day, You can see for Centuries...

...
Lubaantun.
Toledo District,
San Pedro Village, Southern Belize

A reminder of The United States...

from a fellow named Peter Forwood, whom I have never met, but whose travels are chronicled
at a place called:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/forwood
I found him by serendipity, and a magnetic draw toward motorcycles.
His trip to Belize by Harley reminded me of my old friend, "Go Go Gadget Motorcycle" of Inspector Gadget fame.



Sometimes we are... ...fat,




and sometimes... ... lean

Always together, and Gadget is here too, the only of his type, in Belize.

Bikers, come on down. Good weather, good roads, good folks.

Native woods and Furniture.

an

Folding chairs of some of the wood in
this area. There are a lot of woods
we would hhmmmm call
exotic were we anywhere but Belize.
I guess they are just Local, now.
These fold up into tiny little "box" like units,
and are about two hours old at the time of
taking the photo.












The couches are of a Cedar, unlike Eastern white or Western Red or Northern White or any cedar
I've ever known, this is hard as the gates of Hades
and very dark in color.

Everything in the Inn is made in the Inn.
I didn't bring anything but tools with me.
(O.K. I brought a thirty five year old Harley, the only one in Belize, but not much else).
Tools and books.

Cohune thatching. Like a "How to"

simplest method, shown.
Split the leaf, from the top down. by hand, if one starts well
then
one finishes well. Finding the center of the smallest leaf

makes it just ... ... come in two.
Alternate big end small end,
"V" of the leaf ... ...up




These, then are the ribs of the split leaf, and what one doesn't see is, that for each three ribs visible, there are two not visible, placed on top of the three,
to keep the roof nice and flat on the outside.
You can see the string. Nylon is nice. All the Leaf is tied on with string, to the rafters.













The ridge is "capped" with whole,
un-split leaf, weighted down with a
limb or dead tree.

Steep. Key ingredient is a very steep pitch.
twelve twelve (45°) or steeper.

Wee Wee Ants in the WeeWee hours.

By Nine thirty at night one had better have made the rounds. Literally. Belize has the WeeWee Ants, Leaf Cutter Ants in Mass.
They can cart away a garden in hours. In tiny pieces. ... ...Three concentric circles around the place, especially if it is going to rain, will find them if they are out and about.
Kill them Kill them all. Let God sort it out. I wish they were good to eat. Maybe they are. don't want to try though.
Malathion doesn't last long in the environment and it kills them. There will be thousands.
Nine thirty at night that's a good start. Two thirty in the morning one can get a body count. Hope it High.
up anyway then, might as well check before starting anything else.
Thatch. Cohune palm thatching for a new roof on the well house. Its about nine hundred feet to the Cohune palm trees. Tied to the head with a head band, I can drag eight leaf on the first trip... ...six on the second... ...and after that, maybe four or five. Five trips, and I leave one wide track behind me. walking. Leaf ... ...not the only thing dragging by then. Starting before it's light
makes it seem easier.
The mighty Cohune. You can live in it, wear it, eat it. (cohune cabbage) The perfect plant.
The leaf can be thirty feet long.
Split down the center rib, alternating ends, cup side up. Laid down in groups of five. First three, stacked along the rafter, then two back between them. Flat and tidy.
If you have a tin roof and there is even a spot you can see light through, it will leak. With thatch, one can see light everywhere, and yet when it rains, (and here, it rains an inch a minute sometimes), it will not leak. HHhhhmmmm
I don't recommend the cabbage. Boiled tree trunk heartwood. Kind of yellow. Kind of mushy. Kind of cabbagy... ...in a wide stretch of the imaginationy way.

Cohune.

Watch Dog. ok. ... Shoe Dog

If it helps, he is watching.
This is Casper, the Ghost of
Shadow.

Every habit of a good dog
who ... ...was killed by
a speeding truck. Casper
has accrued.

Flowers in the Kitchen mean

Hummingbirds ... ...in the kitchen.

Any clues to a "true" name would be appreciated, in Belize
they are called "Wedding Bells".


There have to be ten different varieties of Hummingbirds in Belize, compared to the One variety in Michigan. Ruby Throat.
I had one come into the house there as well. Drench.
He was named Drench. Really enjoyed the sprinklers in the garden. Always Drenched. They say the Ruby Throat vacations in this area and I half expect to see him here, but so far ...
...nothing.

Green Vacations and redeployment ~vs ~recycle

Green is a catch all phrase this year I guess which can be bad for recycling, as it signifies a trend rather than an understanding. Trends run a course.
There are places where Eco tours are a way of life, where ecology is an understanding, where Green is not a color.
Toledo, the Toledo Guesthouse project. the Bladen Reserve, things that have stood waiting for the term "Green" to arrive.

Do you recycle? I guess I don't. Do I reemploy / redeploy? I guess I must... ... as I never seem to throw anything away. Looking around,

I guess all of my tarps and storm curtains were once a billboard in Miami. I guess this orchid "bath" ...
...used to be my garbage can lid, a coffee can, and a piece of sewer pipe.

and.. ...well...

...its Green.