SAN JOSE CR: SECOND TIME AROUND

NEARBY PARK

LOOK!!! I am starting with a photo.  I love this park, which is just ten minutes walk from where I am staying, on the way to downtown San Jose.  Parks dot the way to downtown and the central area abounds with them.

They say, 'Man proposes and God disposes.'  Before I came down (nice trip, local airport to Chicago, then direct to SJ, arriving early afternoon), my expectation was that I would have a first appointment with Costa Rica Dental Team last Monday for a new impression and a tooth cleaning and that, maybe Thursday, I would have the crowns fitted (the 'teeth' you can see).  In between, I hoped to be the regular tourist and venture forth to see more to the country.

This was not to be.  Jessica, the dentist who supervises all that happens to me, wanted to be sure the molar next to the implants was free of caries.  Capped by a metal crown,  it was the survivor of the original bridge.  I agreed to have the crown removed.  Alas and alack, what did she find, do you think?  I will spare you the details (do I hear huge sighs of relief?), suffice to say that two other specialist dentists became involved so that I managed to enjoy the chair for five days instead of two!  What fun (actually bummer)!

On the other hand, I was once more impressed at how appropriate the name of this practice that displays its emphasis on 'team'.  Especially how, when another specialist was attending to me, Jessica would appear to all was going to plan.  Again, when we ran into a problem with one of the crowns, not only did Jessica have the technician doing the work in the Lab across the passageway come in for a consult but the Lab boss (part of the practice) later came by to make sure that the necessary adjustments would ensure a proper result.  How good is that?  Especially being picked up by Paul and later returned returned to my BnB...not something that your local dentist does for you!

On the principle that 'the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know', I have once more stayed at Casa 69, run by Donna, a native of Toronto.  Her pets all seemed to have remembered me, and it was great to be greeted by (more or less) the same old gang.

Despite the daily spell in the dental chair, I have managed to get to know SJ better, by dint of considerable peripatetics.  I have met folk from far and wide, either at Casa 69 or at the practice.  My pick would be Ray, a long time client of CRDT.

Ray is from Alaska, where he is a gold miner somewhere near the little town of Nenana (about three quarters along the road from Anchorage to Fairbanks), but up in the back country, well off the grid. Back in 1992, I spent a week near Nenana on the only tree farm in Alaska, owned by a retired teacher who came up from Pennsylvania years before to do two years teaching.  Such is the charm of Alaska that he stayed on, married a lovely Inuit lady (also a teacher) and spent the rest of his life flying to remote communities to conduct class!  That was quite an experience, of which I may write another time.

Ray's year looks like this:  eight months of working at the mine, drive down to Washington state, fly to SJ to have any necessary dental attention, then fly to Jackson Hole to ski four months, pick up his car and, finally, drive back to his log cabin to recommence the cycle once more.  A lovely man but somewhat taciturn.  Maybe because I know a little of his home territory, he was willing to talk awhile about what he loves to do...extreme back country skiing!  For the first time I got to hear from such a 'crazy' exponent of what seems sheer madness; what it is like to descend precipitous slopes, fall off slope edges to the next descent, having to hold one's breath (to avert drowning in snow) as one sinks into deep powder,  ski blindly through deep powder for several seconds, then burst forth to instantaneous assessment of the line to pick byond, and continue the mad course down to the bottom. Imagine all that!  A skier since his boyhood, Ray sort of fell (forgive the phrase, if you can) into this madness when very young.  I suspect that this is what he lives to do.

Good and all as it might be to come here for cost effective dental work, where else might I have heard an expert skier disclose the absolute joy of his passion?

Today it is rain showers but I may venture forth with my 'pop up' brolly.  Early to bed this evening as the taxi comes at 4:30 AM to take me to the airport.  A long day's travel with five hours of stopover at Houston before continuing to Chicago.  At last, around midnight, Elmira regional airport where Uma will pick me up for home.  Quite a week!