A Site for Keeping Up with the Hartigans
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Sunday, February 08, 2009 Costa Rica I know, it's been six months, why would anyone even check this site any longer, but I'd thought I'd post just the same.John and I went to Costa Rica end of January in search of work, life, adventure, sunshine, warmth, escape... Sorry my album doesn't have colorful commentary, but I just simply don't have the time right now. So here's a summary. It rained the first week we were there, go figure. But we still hiked many rain forests and did the ziplines a bajillion feet off the ground. Crazy weird thing about Costa Rica, the Tico's drive like nutters and honk their horns constantly, but mostly they are honking because they saw a friend and are waving and saying hello. They are a most friendly people, they smile and say hello all the time. I miss it. We don't do that here, even eye contact seems to be a no no in the states. Which is why I found the security every where you went a little extreme. You can't enter a bank there without being patted down, purse and backpack searched, and wanded for weapons. And don't even think about entering an ATM vestibule if someone else is already in there. Monkeys and lizzards are the equivalent of squirrels here. After awhile you stop saying "Oh look a monkey!" or "Lizzard!", and pay no nevermind to them. However, there seem to be many "turf wars" amongst the howler monkey community that I do not think I would like to find myself in the middle of. For some reason I was obsessed with taking pictures of the spiders around the country. They are HUGE! And their webs could snatch a small human! Costa Rica has potholes that will eat a car. Big birds make small noises and little birds make big noises. Horses, cows and ox are a frequent traveler of many roads. If the road washes out, which is quite common, they simply put up a plastic ribbon along the edge of the sheer dive into the valley that says "caution". At any time, you could find yourself driving in a fog that will truly make you feel as if you are in a terrifying Stephen King movie. Most days you will find yourself driving on switchbacks that will make you feel as if you are in a terrifying Stephen King movie. Most critters in Costa Rica can cause much pain, such as the critters you might find in a terrifying Stephen King movie. However, if you leave them alone, they will most likely leave you alone. Most likely. So I was told. Apparently the bigger and darker a scorpion is, the less it hurts to get stung by... so you needn't worry about the big black ones... so much. Butterfly markings look like snakes to ward off predators. There is an image in the album where the wings of the butterfly look like the face of a rattle snake, it was quite interesting. And if you see the "big army ants", (I don't know what their proper name is) apparently, if they are in your home, you simply leave for a couple hours. When you return there will be ney a spider, scorpion, bug, crust of food on the floor or small rat, because they will have eaten or taken them back to their nest. Although, mostly you leave because the would eat you too, at least, that's what I came to understand from the broken english conversation I had with the gentleman explaining the creatures to me. The humidity is so high in Costa Rica, ink on metal beer cans simply melt off and labels on glass beer bottles will slid off in seconds. BTW, beer in Costa Rica is good. Cicada's are loud... very very loud. Did I mention cicadas are loud? Rice and beans are part of every meal. I thought Costa Rica might smell like fart because of this. Most houses in Costa Rica have a tall fence in front of them, bars on the windows and much security. It must feel odd looking out from behind them all their lives, as if in a prison. Some people use broken beer bottles as part of their security system. "Tico time" = "I'll get to it when I get to it." Costa Rica is beautiful. Their motto is Pura Vida which means pure life, they use it as a greeting, and many of them live by it, they will always smile at you, wave, say hello. Which is probably why I cried all day the day before we came home. While my kids are happy we are back, nobody else has smiled at me since... must be the weather. Click on the image to see the album, it may take a little time to load, so be patient.  Cheers and PURA VIDA! posted by me | 8:34 PM | 2 comments Monday, August 18, 2008 HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY We went to my Auntie Marilyn and Uncle Franks 50th wedding anniversary this weekend. It was so fun to see all my Aunts and Uncles,family, friends, cousins and their kids. Everyone looked wonderful and the youngsters are getting so big!Of course I completely made an obnoxious beast of myself by running around snapping picture after picture. Sadly, my camera settings were totally off and most of the images basically sucked. But here are some of the best. Click on the image to see the album  T'was wonderful to see everyone! Happy Anniversary ... to all of us. posted by me | 7:57 PM | 1 comments Thursday, July 17, 2008 AM IRON I know I know, long time no publish anything that we are up to. That's because too much has been going on.The biggest was John and I entered Scrappy.com's American Iron Sculpting contest. Here's how it works, you go to American Iron scrap yard, you have 1 hour to collect all the metal materials you think you might use in a sculpture. You either have an idea, come up with one while you are there or stare at all the crap you just hauled home for a week and hope to hell something hits you. John's was the first, mine was the latter. So for the last six weeks we've been designing, waxing, shelling, pouring metal (MY FAVORITE!!!!!), chasing, patinaing and just plain crazy sculpting... pretty much negleting our kids (won't they be soooooooo happy to have our attention again!) So here are the before and after's of our sculptures. We won't know until Monday the 21st of July if either of us won, wish us luck. SHOWING LIVE AT THE NICOLLET MALL IN MINNEAPOLIS, MN TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY, JULY 22 AND 23 SCRAPPY'S AMERICAN IRON SCULPTING ART EXHIBITION JOHN'S SCULPTURE Click on the image to see the album UPDATE: 3rd Place  COLE'S SCULPTURE Click on the image to see the album UPDATE: Honorable Mention 
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Sunday, June 15, 2008 TOO TOO MUCH! So, the kids are out of school for the summer. The boys are in tennis and working with Dad. Daughter is in gymnastics and the community play. J and myself entered a sculpting contest. There are two catagories, large and small. I originally entered the small and J the Large. Although somehow that seems to have changed. Because time is so tight, I'll have to show you images later. Promise..... really.We're gonna kick some artist ass I tell you!!! posted by me | 10:16 PM | 0 comments Wednesday, June 04, 2008 UPDATE: I FIGURED OUT YOU TUBE! YAY ME! I figured out how to "You Tube" now you can watch the video here and you don't have to down load it. I'm going to remove the download, it takes up too much space.FAMILY TOGETHERNESS Enjoy! posted by me | 3:10 PM | 0 comments Saturday, May 17, 2008 Semeter Crit Recap WHAT A FABULOUS ADVENTURE I HAVE HAD THIS SEMESTER!I love pouring metal. Love it. Here's a photo album of my final crit. I wish I'd had time to keep my blog updated throughout the semester, I think you'd appreciate the final outcome more if I'd had. Metal album posted by me | 10:33 PM | 0 comments |
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