Costa Rica Seasons Are Changing:
The seasons are changing in Tamarindo, Costa Rica. These are just a few of the things that indicate that the rainy season is over and the dry season is gaining its dominance.
This morning I woke up to the curtains of my condo being sucked into the back of my fan. The wind had picked up and was pushing in the cool morning air. On the air floated a hint of sugar cane molasses. This sweet smell has made connections in my memories to the holiday season and the beginning of the Tamarindo summer.
Costa Rica Molasses Roads
The molasses is used to keep the dust down on the roads which becomes an increasing problem as we proceed into the dry season of the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica. Growing up in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, I used to associate the smell of pine with the coming of Christmas. In my mind, the sweet scent of molasses has replaced the smell of the pine trees as the smell of Christmas. That is because it is this time of year when they begin applying it to the dusty dirt roads. So now when my nose is filled with that sweet smell I know the Costa Rica Holiday Season has arrived.
Costa Rica Gets Windy
The wind always increases this time of year as it shoots south, down through the country, coming from Lake Nicaragua (Lago Cocibolca) before pushing west out the coast across Tamarindo. This creates an incredible offshore breeze forming perfect waves in the Tamarindo bay. These winds pull moisture from the earth that was left from the Costa Rica rainy season. It carries particles of the earth's crust with its impressive force. The Costa Rica roads give up their surface and a thin layer of dust covers nearly everything. The best defense against the road dust is applying molasses to help the dirt hold together.
Leaves not Snowflakes
As the dry air and strong winds push through the region the trees give up their leaves. When I lived in Colorado we would watch the increasing falling snowflakes as we progressed further into the holiday season. The Costa Rica holiday season is a bit different. Unlike the four seasons of North America, (Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall) Costa Rica has only two. Similar to the United States, Costa Rica has a type of fall season all be it much shorter. However, the fall is actually the transition from the rainy season to the dry season. Instead of watching the snowfall, we relax in our hammock and watch the shower of leaves. In both locations you know the holidays are drawing near the fewer leaves are left on the trees. By Christmas, only the evergreen trees had leaves (actually needles) at our home in Colorado. In Costa Rica, the majority of trees will shed their leaves but there are a few that will thin but not go bare. Palm fronds are the equivalent of pine needles here in the tropics.
Holidays Just Don't Feel The Same
Put on any Hallmark Christmas special or watch your favorite Christmas classic and you will see the standard markings of the holidays. You'll see images of fireplaces with cups of hot chocolate and snowball fights with scarves and mittens. The stores are covered with decorations and filled with shoppers. You won't find much of that here. Few businesses decorate and not nearly at the level of the United States. Shopping may increase a bit but in most areas, you won't notice much difference. It can be difficult to get in the holiday spirit without the traditional commercialized version we have been immersed in when living in the north.
What remains is the spirit of Christmas and the holidays. Kindness, Love, Generosity, these are the characteristics of the holidays. So as Christmas draws near I will grab my cold beverage, lay back in my hammock, watch colorful leaves fall from the Costa Rica trees, and consider the kindness, love, and generosity that I experienced this past year and plan how to pay it forward into the new year.
