Day 43

So, I’m lying here in Jon's field on my thermarest, boots, sweater, and hat on in an effort to protect me from mosquitoes (who seem to think I’m delicious). I’ve been here for more than an hour certainly, more likely a few. A couple of toucans just flew to a nearby tree- they’re my first wild toucan sighting. I’ve heard them a bunch (they make a really loud squawk that’s not incredibly appealing), but it was exciting to see them: big black bodies and a loud wing beat, with a big yellow bill, and white, red, green, orange, yellow, and red around their eyes, throats, and bellies (bellies are bright red!). The grass is above my knees here, and the grasshoppers are staring me down from all sides.

Sometimes they jump and land on my keyboard or legs.

I went to the river to sit and read in the shade: Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. Everyone has been reading it and oohing and aahing over it; now it’s my turn. As I sat on a rock, feet in the water as it flowed around me, a little hummingbird came to visit. He was beautiful: green body, white throat and chest with a black smudge down the middle, and what looked like a giant blue mohawk. He came about 5 feet away, hovered above the water, looked at me, and took a few dips. He then flew to a branch next to the river, sat and chirped a few times, and then came to bathe again. He repeated this a number of times, and then flew away. I have been hoping to see a hummingbird the whole time I’ve been here… and what a perfect experience this was! I looked him up when I got home: he was a male picaflor copeton (black-breasted plovercrest).

Matias left this morning, on his way to the Rainbow Gathering (which is near here, apparently). A bunch of us are considering going at the end of the month, just for the experience and because it's so close to us here. Why not? I'm sure it will be interesting at the very least.

Here's our dry river. Remember how high it was flowing over the driveway when we arrived? My, how things have changed. It's amazing to me that two weeks without rain can make the river disappear completely.