Old and Dusty Things

Here are a few from Puerto Rico that I failed to post...weeks...ago...

straw hat
the smell of coffee beans
he leans as he speaks
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plantation stroll
'the beans are not ripe yet'
soft hum of machinery

I visited Hacienda de San Pedro in Jayuya, PR, one of two primary coffee-growing provinces. This was one of the plantations, and it was a beautiful, sunny day in a rural green valley when I was there. The coffee was out of this world, and cheap, so I appropriately maximized the situation and crushed five lattes/machiatos within two hours as I sat talking to the plantation owner and a regular in the cafe, after the tour. Both had excellent mustaches and became even more loud and jovial after shots of a homemade underneath-the-counter coffee liquor.

steady dripping
the chirping of bats - suddenly!
a bright expanse

The morning of, I went caving in central PR. The access was easy: a short 15-minute jaunt in a sylvan, green wood. It led to two separate caves. The superior one, Cueva Ventana, is described in the above haiku. It was absolutely breathtaking. And once again, I was so frustrated I didn't have a camera. Oh well, someone else did. Here they are:

Since this post is reporting things old, I'll share a quote from an old book I'm rereading. If I would recommend any nonfiction book, I would recommend The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas a Kempis. A monk in the Dutch order the Brethren of the Common Life, this classic work is so dense and rich with truth and instruction in strengthening godliness, receiving grace, building virtue and overcoming vice. Other books are more enjoyable, interesting, or appealing perhaps, but the words in this book have such a heavy weight of value and meaning that it sets it far above others (in my opinion).


"[On the last day], every trial borne in patience will be pleasing and the voice of iniquity stilled; the devout will be glad; the irreligious will mourn; and the mortified body will rejoice far more than if it had been pampered with every pleasure. Then the cheap garment will shine with splendor and the rich one become faded and worn; the poor cottage will be more praised than the gilded plalace. In that day persevering patience will count more than all the power in this world; simple obedience will be exalted above all worldly cleverness; a good and clean conscience will gladden the heart of man far more than the philosophy of the learned; and contempt for riches will be of more weight than every treasure on earth." (Book I, chapter XXIV)

"I do not desire consolation that robs me of contrition, nor do I care for contemplation that leads to pride, for not all that is high is holy, nor is all that is sweet good, nor every desire pure, nor all that is dear to us pleasing to God. I accept willingly the grace whereby I become more humble and contrite, more willing to renounce self." (Book II, chapter X)