After Hurricane Otto

Where we live in the central valley, the only effects we felt from Hurricane Otto were a few rainy and chilly days with little wind. However, northern areas of Costa Rica were terribly hard hit. The Tico Times Times has up-to-date information if you are interested in reading about Otto. Hurricanes are rare here but this one crossed over Costa Rica to the Pacific coast from the Atlantic. Costa Ricans came together immediately to provide relief to the affected areas. They also reached out to the expat community for help and they responded immediately.  One of my fans readers commented on a recent post: "And, please don't stop posting. Many of us are living vicariously through you!" That's an amazingly flattering thing to say and thank you. Much appreciated. I hope I can provide interesting posts. Yesterday was a dry season day - warm, blue skies all day. Today is a green season day - started to rain last night and has been gently falling since. The last gasp of the rainy season. Good day to make some soup for dinner.  Our landlady arranged to have the half-dead passion flower vines removed from our pergola and roof, along with the shade cloth. All the grass underneath had died off because it was too shady, resulting in a muddy mess when it rained. Sod was laid and it has grown rapidly. What a difference this has made. Now the area is bright and sunny and much more inviting. I've hung all my orchids from the pergola and will hang another hammock under there also. I guess the light change has benefited at least one of my orchids. I noticed all these flower stems (inflorescences) coming out of an orchid that has never flowered before. They are coming out the top, sides and bottom of the basket. When they are fully opened, I'll take more photos and hopefully someone can identify the orchid species for me.