John Denver and Cat Burglars

Hey, it’s good to be back home again! Sometimes, this old farm feels like a long-lost friend. Hey, it’s good to be back home again! You probably recognize these John Denver lyrics.~That’s how I felt coming home, after being gone for four days. Only to find out that I had been robbed, in my absence.

The scene of the crime. This is the entrance to my humble abode. I have been able to ward off the sneaky, crawly thieves of Playa Potrero for ten years; in this house anyway. I feel like having a party. I know, it’s a weird reaction, to being robbed, but it’s true~ In the early years in 2002, I use to live in fear of burglars. In the night, my dog Bwana, was always at the foot of my bed. My husband was in the States, working and I stayed behind to start my garden. It was terrifying. You knew when you laid down at night; very likely people were going to be outside in your yard, trying to get into your house. It had a way of creating anxiety.

I know this sounds bizarre, but life here is often just that. You have to do the deal, or leave.

It was a time of many cat burglars, in the neighborhood. The ladrones/burglars here had a few unique techniques, one being scarier than the other. They would spray ether on you; a chemical they had access to, because of the rodeo events. The cowboys use it to put down, out of control bulls. The burglars would enter your house and spray you with ether, and rob you while you slept. The other was that they would have a gancho/hook. This gancho is fishing, gift hook And can be used to lift items fifteen feet, through your window. But these burglars are always polite thieves. They will pick up your pants off the floor, take your wallet, steal your money and put everything back where it was. What? Why do they do that?

When you’re robbed here; you’re just robbed. There’s no one to call for help. You are on your own.

I’ve always heard local real estate agents say, “Petty thievery exists here, but nothing dangerous. There’s no violence here “. hmmmmmmmm……To expound on that would make for a very long story, maybe even a book.

This is the window where the thief entered the house, Monday, the day I left. The odd custom of burglars here, is  to remove the jalousie windows, climb through the window and put the glass back in. Isn’t that weird? I know of them taking down burglar bars, removing the glass out of the window, stealing a few items and then putting the glass back and re-install the burglar bars. Why don’t they just go into the window business? There were so many fingerprints on the window. But, like I said, there are no police to report a burglary to. Yet, another aspect of Costa Rican living.

The key deposit. After the intruder left my house, he/she/they took a set of my house keys and dropped them in this flower-pot. Doesn’t it seem like they would put them in their pocket?

Living here is full of wonder and mystery, some good and some not so good. I don’t want to be cavalier about this burglary, but on the other hand, I have never wanted to be a prisoner to my things.

These are the words of Thomas Catton-someone that I admire. Our practice simply becomes to remain open to the ongoing challenges and obstacles that throw themselves at us; this becomes the path to the divine, to our inner joy. The divine plan was set up before our arrival; difficulties would be the searchlight to guide our spirit to awaken.The Mindful Addict @Amazon