Street scenes

This is a day-care center. Look at the tiles on the roof. It is surrounded by modern sky scrapers. They remind me of Dallas where you live. Whenever I see children I think of you with love.

My tall shadow enjoyed this street art. “Thanks for the support” it says.

My favorite park is called Carolina. It has fun trails to ride bikes. It also has this barrel and a long half-pipe for trick bikes and skateboarders. This picture shows a bike rider jumping over 4 children your age and younger. Many people watched and cheered. I’m glad no one got hurt. The half-pipe is full of colorful graffiti.

Mindo Cloud Forest and Butterfly Garden

Can you tell what these are? What do they look like to you? Here they are called Mariposas.

Evidently butterflies (mariposas) begin as a tiny egg attached by their Momma to a leaf near caterpillar food (They must like salads.)   They become squirmy, colorful caterpillars and then they become a string-bean like chrysalis as shown in the picture above left. Each chrysalis has unique colors that reflect their surroundings. It’s like when you wear camouflage pants and you blend in with the bushes. I wonder how they can do that?  They can’t go down to the store for new clothes like we can.  Somehow they squirm out of the chrysalis and magically they have wings with colors that also reflect their surroundings. 

The slime has to drop off into that pizza box. Once their wings are dry they can flit about looking for flowers and fruit.

In the Butterfly Garden or "Jardin de Mariposas” they had may butterflies with owl’s eyes on their wings. I took a funny picture of one on my finger. They like bananas and I put a little on my finger so he would hop on. It tickled. I call this picture "el Gafas de Mariposa” (the Butterfly Glasses)

That small yellow box is called the Tarabita cable car. It takes you across a jungle valley to some hiking trails where you can find many beautiful waterfalls. The next picture is a stairway to the falls built on a fallen log.

This is a plant in the jungle. The new young plant is in the front and the next one is a little older and the last one has passed away.

This is the engine that pulled the “Tarabita” across the gorge. It looks like a car engine.

Hola JUDE! The water is cold but I know you would get in it.

It says: "Toda lo que le ocurra a la Tierra, le ocurrira’ a los hijos de la Tierra” Jefe Indis Seattle

“All that happens to the earth, will happen to the children of the earth.” American Indian Chief Seattle

A mural on a wall in the Ecuadorian town of Mindo.

What do you think that means?

Una mariposa bonita.

There also many hummingbirds (colibris) here. They move their wings very fast. Have you ever seen one in Texas?

When I was your age I read a book called Ferdinand the Bull.
It was about a bull who didn’t like to fight. He liked to smell flowers instead.

They still have bull fights in Ecuador. They are very mean to the bulls. I do not want to see a bull fight.

The matador fights with the bull in a stadium. It is very dangerous for the matador because the bull’s horns are very sharp and he is angry.

Before the fight there is a lot of music and ceremony. It is an old tradition brought to the New World by the Spaniards. I believe it is becoming less and less popular.

I hope you enjoy reading about Ferdinand.