April 16, 2009
On Tuesday I spent a lot of time on the road, whether it was my drive to camp or around the city. I had a dentist appointment after 2 plus years of not setting foot in a dentist office. Thankfully I only had one small cavity. But during my drives, I noticed a few interesting sights that I had to think, “Only in Honduras.” The first was in downtown San Pedro Sula where I was driving along and noticed that one intersection did not have an ordinary stop sign. Because it was a street and not an avenue, I knew that I was due to stop. And then I saw pegged to a tree, what looked to be white poster board with glittery red letters pasted on that said, “ALTO”, which in Spanish means stop. It looked a bit like a child’s work and I wondered if it was an official sign with legal backing.
The next sighting was on the highway. I noticed a large truck in front of me filled with gas canisters (the kind used for the stoves here). Perched on top of the canisters were two armed guards – not unusual. What was unusual was that they were masked, giving them the appearance of being the bad guys, not the guards.
The more favorable vistas during my drive were those of the tree, Carao (Cassia grandis) that makes me think of spring and cherry blossoms. The tree is really quite beautiful and it’s pink flowers rival that of the cherry blossoms of Lancaster, but it’s drawback is that it is so big. Even though it is not a canopy tree, a cherry tree would be a dwarf in comparison and when it comes to trees and flowers, I tend to like the small, non-showy type – the Dogwoods, Bleeding Hearts, Forget-me-Nots, Spring Beauties, and just to name a few. These trees are much more dominating and their large legume like seed pod, detracts a bit from the beauty of the blossoms. All of the thoughts of cherry blossoms have made me miss seeing the beauty of spring, yet again. Here in Honduras there is no official spring. There are flowers throughout the year and new leaves on one tree while another tree is losing its leaves. Sometimes I see examples of three seasons all in a day’s drive. I have yet to fully capture a glimpse of winter here though.
On Easter Sunday the songs and message for some reason made me think of spring – perhaps because on many an Easter morning I could sit in my church in Lancaster and look out over Cherry Hill’s Orchards which was a beautiful sight to behold. Easter is about new life as Christ rose from the grave as is spring so I suppose that there are various connections between the two. On Saturday I began to watch “Anne of Green Gables” in Spanish and the scenery in that movie is enough to make one miss spring and the seasons.
On Tuesday I spent a lot of time on the road, whether it was my drive to camp or around the city. I had a dentist appointment after 2 plus years of not setting foot in a dentist office. Thankfully I only had one small cavity. But during my drives, I noticed a few interesting sights that I had to think, “Only in Honduras.” The first was in downtown San Pedro Sula where I was driving along and noticed that one intersection did not have an ordinary stop sign. Because it was a street and not an avenue, I knew that I was due to stop. And then I saw pegged to a tree, what looked to be white poster board with glittery red letters pasted on that said, “ALTO”, which in Spanish means stop. It looked a bit like a child’s work and I wondered if it was an official sign with legal backing.
The next sighting was on the highway. I noticed a large truck in front of me filled with gas canisters (the kind used for the stoves here). Perched on top of the canisters were two armed guards – not unusual. What was unusual was that they were masked, giving them the appearance of being the bad guys, not the guards.
The more favorable vistas during my drive were those of the tree, Carao (Cassia grandis) that makes me think of spring and cherry blossoms. The tree is really quite beautiful and it’s pink flowers rival that of the cherry blossoms of Lancaster, but it’s drawback is that it is so big. Even though it is not a canopy tree, a cherry tree would be a dwarf in comparison and when it comes to trees and flowers, I tend to like the small, non-showy type – the Dogwoods, Bleeding Hearts, Forget-me-Nots, Spring Beauties, and just to name a few. These trees are much more dominating and their large legume like seed pod, detracts a bit from the beauty of the blossoms. All of the thoughts of cherry blossoms have made me miss seeing the beauty of spring, yet again. Here in Honduras there is no official spring. There are flowers throughout the year and new leaves on one tree while another tree is losing its leaves. Sometimes I see examples of three seasons all in a day’s drive. I have yet to fully capture a glimpse of winter here though.
On Easter Sunday the songs and message for some reason made me think of spring – perhaps because on many an Easter morning I could sit in my church in Lancaster and look out over Cherry Hill’s Orchards which was a beautiful sight to behold. Easter is about new life as Christ rose from the grave as is spring so I suppose that there are various connections between the two. On Saturday I began to watch “Anne of Green Gables” in Spanish and the scenery in that movie is enough to make one miss spring and the seasons.
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