Happy New Year!

I’m in Costa Rica right now (hence the recent radio silence). It’s far warmer than either NYC or Maine but also sticky humid. Spent the morning in the pool, though, so that’s all right. It’s been raining a lot, too, which made our hike along a volcano rather less pleasant than we were hoping.

After the rainy volcano hike and soaking in a hot spring, we stopped off at this big souvenir store. (I’m here with some friends who have two kids—11 and 15–and the 11-year-old was simply desperate for the souvenir shop.)

And this is what the kids found for me at the souvenir shop:

Why yes, that is an entire shelf of carved wooden cock-shaped bottle openers. Some painted extra-special for the discerning tourist:

And some carved to be more life-like:

(I did not turn this one to be balls out. Someone did that before I got to them.)

There was even a shelf of overstock! And a mini keychain version:

Pura vida means “the pure/good life” and it’s the Costa Rican version of “aloha.” It’s used all the time here, functioning like a greeting or farewell, a mood description, a vibe, an exclamation. Obviously, if you’re gonna carve a piece of wood into a cock-shaped bottle opener or keychain, you’re gonna write “Pura Vida” on it too.

Right?