Friday

Surfed for a long time yesterday. I'm beat and even now, a day later, a little sore. The conditions were good with some really big waves. Today we're going to a break called Avellanas which is about 30 minutes driving time from the camp. It's supposed to be a good wave breaking at about 3 - 5 feet. The front office waved me over to arrange bus transportation for tommorow to the airport. It was like a cold splash of reality. Attached is sunset seen from the camp.

Day 3

Had a great surf session early this morning and later in the morning with my coach J Luis. The conditions were a little choppy but we had several hours with good shaped waves. J Luis is a 21 year old Costa Rican whose English is quite good. I've begun calling him my spiritual director because he is extremely calm and incredibly observant. He reminds me and my lesson partner, Craig, to relax and don't over think things. Good advice for lots of things. I was gonna paddle out for an afternoon session but the sky clouded over and it started raining. Many surfed in spite of he rain but I chose to relax and rest my weary muscles. Attached is a picture in front of my room.

Witches Rock

Witches Rock Surf camp in Tamarindo is literally right on the beach! The picture in this entry is from my room. This is a beautiful place. We arrived in the afternoon and after getting situated I changed my clothes and went to the beach. It was awesome! I actually surfed for around 2 hours. Pura Vida!

Easter retreat 2012

A number of my colleagues take retreats every year before Lent as a sort of "prep for Lent, Holy Week and Easter." During that time, I'm told, they research and plan services and sermons. I have argued that the real time for a retreat is during the Great 50 days of Easter ... the season of new birth that begins on Easter day. My idea of a retreat is refreshment, relaxation and recreation. So, I'm calling this time away in Costa Rica my Easter retreat. My mission (goal) is to enjoy the beach, spend time with an old friend and be refreshed.

My journey began this morning with an early flight to Atlanta. The picture in this post was taken at about 5:30 this morning in the Jackson airport. At this moment I'm on the flight to Liberia, Costa Rica. The flight time from Atlanta to Liberia is 4 hours, so we should. E arriving in about 2 hours.

I'm not gonna promise to blog everyday or even at all! But, if the spirit moves me I'll post some pictures and reflections from my retreat. Thanks again for the time off! Blessings on all of you!

Easter Thank You's!

It's hard for me to properly say thank you to everyone who did so much during Lent, Holy Week and Easter at St. Columb's. It's hard because there are so many of you and I'm afraid I will forget someone. It was a Holy and incredibly spiritual experience from Ash Wednesday to Easter Day. Whether choir, altar guild, lay readers, lems, teachers, volunteers, staff and on and on ... you all did so much! Thank You! And, thanks for making it possible for me to "finish" my sabbatical a few months late. Watch this blog for details about that experience.