R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 154
June 20, 2016
Election 2016 — How the Hell Did We Get Here?
Election 2016 — How the Hell Did We Get Here?
Readers of my blog probably realize by now that I assiduously try to avoid political discussions. That’s ironic, because my third most read blog is the one in which I renounced my lifetime affiliation with one of the Big Two U.S. political parties. That post way back from October 14, 2013, received 11,790 views, and it averaged 649 hits a day over the course of the final eighteen days of the month in which it was published.
With that amount of suc...
June 17, 2016
Fun Photo Friday — Birds of the Tárcoles River
Great Egret
Today I present some birds of the Tárcoles River:
Pygmy Kingfisher
Frigate Bird in Flight
Don’t Tell U.N.C.L.E, but is this a Clay-Colored Thrush?
The migrating Great American Snow Bird
I’ll be suspending for one week the continuation of this latest travel series for a five-part treatise on the state of U.S. politics, what went wrong this year, and solutions for how to fix this mess long-term, and how to mitigate it short-term. Sorry for the detour, but that series builds up to an...
June 15, 2016
Tárcoles — No Lions, No Tigers, No Bears, but Oh My!
On the River
By no stretch of the imagination am I knowledgeable on birds, but what Ursula and I saw this day along the Tárcoles River was indeed impressive. So, you’ll just have to enjoy the beauty of our feathered friends without too much in the way of identification. I do know that this proud fellow is a great egret:
Great Egret
Also in the waters of the Tárcoles River were various other animals, some cute:
Sunbathing turtle
And some rather dangerous:
American crocodile
Below is today’s ph...
June 13, 2016
A Quick Stop before Our Jungle Expedition
Entering crocodile territory
Our ultimate destination on this trip into the wilds of the Costa Rican jungle was a boat ride on the Tárcoles River, a river teaming with potentially dangerous American crocodiles and other more benign wildlife. But first it was time to feed the tourists before possibly feeding the tourists to the crocodiles. And so it was that we stopped at a charming little restaurant called Steve -n- Lisa’s, where we were greeted by this friendly little fellow just outside the...
June 10, 2016
Fun Photo Friday — Puntarenas and Capuchin Favorites
The Light Post
Here is today’s photo gallery/slide show of Puntarenas and Costa Rican Jungle favorites:
Filed under: Fun Photo Friday, Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel Tagged: Costa Rica, Fun Photo Friday, Golden Princess, photography, Puntarenas, R. Doug Wicker, travel, travel photography, vacation
June 8, 2016
The Costa Rican Jungle
White-headed capuchin
Our next tour stop was at a farm. No, it wasn’t the crops we were here to see. It was the wildlife, particularly the white-headed capuchin monkeys. You have to be careful with these little guys, as the agitate very easily. No sudden moves, and read the body language. If they’ve had enough of your attention they’ll make it known.
Friendly guy
Of course, it helps if you have treats for them.
Where’s the food?
So don’t come empty handed. Don’t worry. The human residents wil...
June 6, 2016
Arriving Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Puntarenas Lighthouse
The Golden Princess left Callao, the seaport serving Lima, on Friday, March 20, 2015, and sailed northward. We were leaving South America behind us and heading toward Central America. Our next destination was along the isthmus that links the North and South American continents. After three full days at sea the Golden Princess docked at the port city of Puntarenas in Costa Rica on Tuesday, March 24.
Puntarenas
Stepping off the ship we saw two sand sculptors plying their t...
June 3, 2016
Remembering John Steele — 82nd Airborne, D-Day
Paratroopers in Stained Glass
In keeping with Monday’s Memorial Day post and Wednesday’s commemoration of D-Day, I dedicate today’s post to the memory of John Steele, Sainte-Mère-Église, and the church upon which Private Steele of the82nd Airborne hung suspended for two hours before briefly being taken prisoner by the German Army, escaping, and later rejoining his brigade.
You will recall this famous incident from the movie The Longest Day, in which Private Steele was portrayed by Red Buttons...
June 1, 2016
Storming The Beaches—Omaha and Utah
Pointe du Hoc
Next week marks a solemn anniversary of a tragic triumph of epic proportions. This “Longest Day” began in the dark of a moonless night on June 5 and continued throughout the murderous day of June 6, 1944. The location of this historic battle was along a 62-mile strip of blood-soaked sand and smoke-shrouded cliffs lining the beaches of Normandy, France.
No trip to Normandy is complete without a pilgrimage to the beaches that took the brunt of the great D-Day Invasion of World Wa...
May 30, 2016
The Meaning of Memorial Day
Normandy American Cemetery, France
Honorably discharged veterans of the military are frequently thanked on this day for their service to their nation. And although we are grateful for the thanks, veterans would like to remind you that Veterans Day (formerly Armistice Day and also known as Remembrance Day to our Commonwealth Cousins) is the time to celebrate military service both past and present. Memorial Day is set aside to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of a grateful...
