The scent of my 1820 Costa Rican coffee is especially intoxicating this morning. It is 9am and I have already been engaging the world for 3 hours. I woke at 6am early from a peaceful sleep. There were no monkeys overhead this morning. Perhaps they are on the move. I am now sitting quietly at my small wooden table. It is a beautiful design, handmade using teak wood, as most of the items in this space are, from kitchen shelving to side tables to the sanded tree stump on the patio that serves as the perfect coffee table next to the red woven hammock.
The aroma of coffee is a sweet and dark sensory experience of Costa Rica. It taste is soothing. I have been going without sugar sin azugar to begin to develop more of a true appreciation for the actual flavors and nuances of coffee. From my simple writing table I look out the kitchen window where an enormous teak tree sits outside the back door. Clusters of giant green leaves shade the back porch and provide a masterpiece of nature outside the window as a I write. I keep the glass blinds open so I can listen to the exotic sounds of Central America.
My early morning walk along the beach to the mountains took me 3.5 miles, barefoot. I am finding this to be a very naturally grounding practice and my feet seem to feel ok about it. There have been so many days since my arrival on this small stretch of empty beach that I find myself amidst what feels like a scene from the film “Castaway” with Tom Hanks. There is a mountain in the near distance. Most days there is an entirely empty pristine beach for miles as far as the eye can see. I am mostly eating fish (mahi mahi), the local fruits…mango, bananas, and avocados the size of softballs.
I have coffee, a simple, livable casa that is all I could possibly want or need. I have a fridge, an AC, a sink, a toilet and a shower. My bed is minimal, firm but comfortable. When I go out of my house each day I am met with the same sense of quiet and isolation. I may see a person or two from time to time, but other days I don’t see another soul. At night I sense the isolation. Companionship would be nice, although I have learned to be truly content with myself alone. Still, I do not think this is the ideal or ultimate path for me so for now I embrace this way of life for a season.
I sat in silence for 30 minutes, simply focusing my attention on the horizon, where the ocean met the sky in the far off distance. The rhythm of the incoming waves slowly merged with my heartbeat and soon I was breathing in and out with the tide.
Field Notes
“One great advantage of possessing the world through travel is that one may enjoy all of the satisfaction of possessions without the responsibilities of ownership.
Now, in the days when our most valuable assets become or threaten to become our most crushing liabilities, it is good to contemplate property which cannot depreciate but must increase in value, property which cannot be taxed by federal government, or state or city authorities, property which calls for no repairs or alterations.
Everything from real estate to diamond tiaras has had its vaunted worth reduced to pitiful and sometimes complete inconsequence. Stocks, bonds and all manner of gift-edged, beautifully engraved certificates of value, to secure which we have slaved and saved and denied ourselves the joys of travel, may sink in worth to such a point that it will seem absurd to pay the rental charges of a safe deposit box.
The only things which are still worth what they have cost me are my travel memories, the mind pictures of places which I have been hoarding like a miser for more than half a century.”
Burton Holmes, Travelogues 1953
Archives
Enjoy four years of past articles from the Zen and Ink Journals journey in the archives.
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Zen and Ink Journals represents hundreds of hours of writing over the past decade, sometimes from a train in remote China or a coffee shop in Kyoto, a hammock in Costa Rica or a simple cabin on a mountaintop in Boquete, Panama or Ciudad Colón.
On these pages, I share my observations of kindness and beauty from my adventures in the world and invite you to listen quietly for the call within you to explore the places that beckon your soul.
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This space and place of yours sounds wonderful. Simple yet full.