The snowbirds are leaving

But the cormorants are still hanging out in our tree. They sound and act like pigs. They've pushed the snowy, elegant egrets across the estero and into a tree on the island. Here's a photo of some of them hanging out on a branch. I took it from our veranda. The distance shot shows the dome of our house on the left, taken from the upper level of Roger and Bobby's house. You can see what a mess the birds leave in the tree. The guayaba tree looks frosted!

There's still frost on the ground up north, but our snowbird neighbors are headed home anyway. Up and down the street they've been packing up and leaving, gifting us with the contents of their refrigerators and cupboards. We won't have to eat out for weeks. Which is probably a good thing, because it looks like the eating establishments in town are closing down, as well. We drove into Guayabitos around 12:30 today (looking for our mail at the post office -- we found a bunch more), and even though signs in restaurant windows said "Abierto 11- 6," there was no sign of life at all. It's like a collective sigh of relief after Semana Santa.

We took our last set of houseguests to the airport Thursday. Friday was "Princess Day:" I went to the dentist, and then to get a haircut. At the hair salon, I found Jeanette getting a final pedicure, so I stayed and got one while she got her hair cut. Then we both went home to let Patricia work her magic on our backs (see Jeanette's blog entry, "The Gals Who Spoil.")

Saturday was tons of laundry day; Sunday was for saying goodbye to friends. Today was stare-at-the-walls day -- the first day of starting to catch up on paperwork stuff that has been left undone for a long time. So, of course, I played a lot of Minesweeper and Free Cell. Tuesday, tomorrow -- that's when I'll start being productive.