Portoviejo Ecuador – August 8/2020 Strong afternoon light provided an easy excuse for a stroll to Parque las Vegas after five this afternoon. Several blocks before the park, a dozen street cats posed for a portrait session. A dear older lady feeds those cats – and five times as many pigeons each afternoon. Her kindness warms my heart.
The earthquake-damaged city of Portoviejo slowly rebuilds.
With many more restaurants now open for business, the well-fed iguanas need no more special attention at the petite park across from the museum. Still closed to the public, this small park offers established plantings, a gazebo and small fountains, and an alamanda-draped pergola.
From June 2020
The Plumeria and Royal Poinciana trees’ flowers caught my attention, though my goal was the larger park – surely busy on this Independence weekend. (August 10 is the official date.) Keeping my camera tucked inside my bag, I observed various small groups enjoying an outing in the park.
March 21,2020 – empty exercise lanes in park
A lone man sold inexpensive kites at the intersection beside the park, and several people flew their kites from the amphitheater’s highest point. A gaggle (!)of young boys pedaled their bicycles along the exercise lanes at full throttle; each one wore the socially-responsible face coverings. I considered pulling out my camera but decided to take my own visual snapshots to imprint that scene to long-term memory.
Today the water hyacinths claimed someone’s ball!
Two more youngsters kicked a soccer ball across a vast expanse of concrete. Already built like a long-distance runner, one agile child sported official soccer attire, knee-high ‘stretchy’ athletic socks and serious black running shoes. About six or seven years old, he illustrated a seriousness about his sport. I wondered if he would one day become a world-famous soccer player!
The late-afternoon sun provided dramatic light for admiring and photographing the various species. The Neotropic Cormorant, Striated Heron and Purple Gallinules competed with the lone turtle for my attention.
Content after half an hour of communing with the aquatic residents, I began my return trip.
A ground-level picnic caught my attention, and I glanced in that direction. Four women. Fresh flowers. A white china tea pot. A straw mat. Already passing them, I paused and asked permission to photograph them. They invited me closer.
I asked if they were celebrating Independence Day? (No…) or a birthday? (No… We live nearby and are just out… We do this often…) We talked briefly about the earthquake – still imprinted on the people of Manabi. I commented on the flowers and the beauty of their setting. One lady pointed to another and said, ‘My sister gets credit.’
They all get credit, as each person contributed her own serenity and natural beauty to their outing.
“You are all artists!” I said to them and motioned to the flowers, the mat, the easy and natural style of their entire setting. “You have provided a gift to my heart and to my soul,” I thanked them again and left them in peace.
Not planning to be out tonight for internet, the finale with those four beautiful women prompted me to go home, write this, process the photos and share them with all of you.
Hopefully their little tea party has warmed your hearts as much as it did mine! I’ll end with a fun closing – the selfie while walking down the hall… It too made me chuckle!
Still doing well, gracias a-Dios!
Happy Independence Day to everyone in Ecuador!
Lisa
Zeebra Designs & Destinations 
What a thoroughly enjoyable outing, Lisa – thanks for taking us along!
Wonderful also to see you in good spirits and good health. Stay safe!
As always thank you! And thank you for your endless supply of amazing photos from your natural world. That Bee Eater was/is amazing – it appers to be a mix of our own Whooping Motmot (blue facial markings) and a Puffbird – yet also unique.. The profile was lovely…
With Covid and risks and restrictions, I remain way behind in leaving comments.. Your posts are always a joy – and a signal that everyone in your family remains well.
You’re as kind and generous as always, Lisa, and I am going to look for photos of the Motmot and Puffbird straight away!
Oh I love the tea party! Way to do Covid in style! And you’re selfie. Made me chuckle. Good to hear you’re doing well Lisa. Stay safe.
Alison
My dear Alison!
As always, thanks, and I’m glad you enjoyed the finale/chuckle…. Your post about the dragons is still on the browser. I’ve looked at it many times – the images so amazing — and what it must be like to have seen all of that in person.
Recently I’ve been pondering about dragons, their origins — if there might have been a now-extinct creature.. as it’s so strong in the Asian arts and culture. Using the Chinese Restaurant each week for internet is why this remains an interest.. So much there – like the foo dogs, and here in Ecuador are artifacts that resemble those creatures…
And you are always providing amazing visual material to keep those interests alive! Thank you for being you and sharing your world with us!
Aww thanks Lisa. All the same to you! Your art always inspires me. It’s so beautiful. I’m so glad you like my dragon images – it was an amazing and gorgeous thing to see in person. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if dragons once existed.
A. xo hugs and stay safe.
Now THAT’S the way to have a picnic! Lovely birds. Many thanks.
hola Hugh! Si, it’s a lovely way to picnic, and those four women were so beautiful.. I think the two older sisters each had a daughter, but I hated to ask too many personal questions…
Your post has given me a smile (Watch out for Snakes) and it’s loaded and ready to read tonight at the apartment… Last night around 11 I read over my own post and saw that horrid ‘typo’ -wrong spelling of ‘peddled’ – but laughed at the thought of those lads trying to sell their bicycles instead of riding them as fast as possible!
It is wonderful to see your masked face mi amiga! Hope you are doing well. I always look forward to reading your posts because you bring beauty into my little world. Ron and I are starting our car camping through a pandemic cross country trip to Yosemite where we will housesit our son’s cabin until December. We can’t wait and are stocked up with N95 masks, lots of hand sanitizer, and the ability to avoid people in dispersed camping. Sending virtual hugs!
Debbie! Always great to hear from you and know what’s happening – and your GPS location.. The Yosemite trip sounds lovely, and nice to be able to ‘stay put’ until December….
I am so grateful for that time we had in Bahia – and it’s my loss that I was never able to visit you in Ometepe… So odd that I made so many trips there before knowing you and Ron were there!
Lovely. Is that an iguana on the limb? It looks like a gargoyle. I like the selfie at the end. Be safe. Keith
Si, great eye, and I laughed about the gargoyle.. Just this past week I did a quick search out of curiosity – about the origins of gargoyles… and waterspouts, etc… haven’t followed those links yet but I wonder if they appeared about the same time as dragons..
perhaps in the future i’ll do a drawing of an iguana turned into a gargoyle! thanks for triggering that idea!
Your whole post warmed my heart, Lisa. Your photos and catches are fantastic again but what makes them even more precious are your words. I love reading how you look at everything and that you are so aware of the big little things around you.
Erika! Last visit online I loaded the page to tour your yard – ah, so lovely – that bench was so inviting, staring out into the serene countryside..the lilacs lovely – everything lovely! You’re staying very positive during these times and uplifting others with your posts.. As always, thanks!
Awh, I am so happy that you enjoyed being over visiting that part of my garden. It is a blessing to live at this place, even more during these times. I am glad that you think it was uplifting. It was what I hoped to achieve. What more could I wish for? Take good care, dear Lisa 💖
So good to see life is doing well for you in your corner of the world your photography continues to be beautiful
Not quite clear did you have to move from your home and now live in another city?
This Covid time is hard for all of this I’m glad to see you’re staying safe and healthy I hope life is treating you well.
We do not want merely to see beauty, though God knows even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words… to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it.”
— C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
I continue to paint and create I enjoy that you’re still active on your blog
Have a happy day
Good to see you also, and I thought of you often as that hurricane edged closer – and just barely missed… the world and climate and weather are adding lots of misery to these Covid times.
Love the quote – thank you – those wise words washed over and through me totally…
Yes, painting and creating/working with our hands – it’s a gift that is greatly cherished this year!
I continue to read with interest your musings and enjoy your pictures immensely.
You and Ed have been on my mind;; hope you’re both doing well – and ditto for your friends and family. Thanks Gwen!
I wish you and all your friends a Happy Indepence Day and a safe one. Your beautiful photos and prose…it is so welcome in the darkness. Stay Safe.
And Don, always great to see you here… do you fish anymore? Seems it would be a great way to pass these Covid days – just the zen of gazing at the water and waiting for a nibble on the line!
Not any more but when I did I loved just gazing at the water. So much so I didn’t like it when some darn fish would take the bait and disturb my solitude.
My dear friend, I was there with you as you meandered through the walkways, and met up with friends on two legs, four legs (love that turtle) and with wings and web feet. Life is so precious, so beautiful so real that I ache with gratitude. The lily pond was Monet, and the flowers, the picnic, the sunshine, the water reached out across the miles to remind me that courage comes in gentle strength. You capture the world around us with joy and compassion. (Love the selfies). Keep safe and be well.
How fun, as I saw the title to your post “international Cat Day” and smiled at the thought. The post is loaded, – images inspiring, and I will read it at the apt tonight.
Thanks for your feedback regarding the post, the lilies and Monet, and all else.. The turtle will show up in a future painting.. incubating in my mind and almost finished taking form… It’s a bit like holding back the reins of a high-spirited horse, then when ready, let er go full throttle!
I’m not surprised that our thoughts crossed paths via cyberspace today! Happy Cat Day to you!
Hugs coming back with great speed!
Such a lovely and heart-warming post, Lisa. I’m not only glad to hear that you’re doing well, I’m happy to see the bits of rebuilding and a return to simple, pleasurable activities: soccer, kite-flying, a tea party. Independence isn’t only political, after all — here’s hoping we all will be able to regain some of our independence in the coming weeks and months.
Lovely local colour, Lisa! Very cheering…
Dear Lisa,
As you know, I have been in a blogging slump for a very long time. I am seeing daylight, but is still a way off. I’ve spent some time catching up with you this morning. And it lifts my spirits to see nature through your eyes. Today, I would very much like to hop on that magic carpet of yours and be where you are in the midst of birds, turtles, flowers and enjoying a lovely picnic. Watching the news here, both flavors so I can compare and contrast mainstream and Fox, leaves me wiped out. It’s like driving by a mass pileup on the interstate… you simply can’t look away. What is happening here, in the US, is worse than you know. The mainstream news is not covering it and what they do cover is made to look like “peaceful protest.” They lie. We are on the brink of Civil War. Again.
Thank you for your lovely images and a feeling of hope for our world… in spite of it all.
Sending love,
Lynda
Mine, I love this. I especially love the women having to work and I’m wondering if I might use one or two photos in my blog, giving credit to you of course, and on my Facebook page, also giving credit. There’s so much gloom and doom on Facebook I love to post some happy things
Reblogged this on Jude's Threshold and commented:
So lovely!
A really beautiful photo essay, Lisa. Thanks for bringing us with you on your walkabout. I’m impressed by the young boys wearing masks. And what a grand ending, with the tea party. (Oh, and selfies thrown in for good measure!)
A beautiful picnic scene, indeed. And I hope the youngster’s soccer dreams will come true.
Best wishes,
Tanja
Lisa, it’s wonderful to see your strong, happy face – even behind a mask! And I love your story about this happy group of women. Very heartening!
I’m afraid you haven’t been online in a while. I hope all is well – I know it’s hard sometimes to get your cafe/internet time! Take care and remember your far-flung friends care about you. 🙂
Hi Lisa: Good to see you … or, at least a part of you. Ha, ha.
Just checking to make sure you’re still all right.