…AND USUALLY DOES! Last week we had our latest Artist in Residence at Monte Azul, Andrés Cañas. Andrés is a Costa Rican sculptor that lives in San Jose. He has been here several times before and has planned an art installation for Monte Azul using the rocks that are found everywhere on the property.
One his 2nd day at the farm he went out on a rock finding excursion with Paolo, our waiter/barber/bread maker/house painter and heavy lifter…. They took the 1973 Toyota Landcruiser and headed up the valley trail bordering the Chirripó River. They had not been out for long when Carlos and I received a call from them asking for “a little help.”
While driving up the valley, they had apparently gotten a bit too close to the edge of the trail that dropped off into the creek. It was impossible to see this creek because it was covered by plants and forest growth. With all the rain the terrain was very wet and the weight of the car caused the creek’s bank to give way, taking the car with it. So Carlos and I tried to help get the car out but with the wet conditions it really needed much more assistance than Carlos and I ever could provide. We had the enormous fear that the car would tip over and then we would never be able to get it upright, especially since it was full of heavy rocks that had been collected for Andrés’ project.
The next day, our maintenance and kitchen staffs, with the help of a winch, chainsaw, brute force and a little ingenuity were able to free the Toyota from the mud and get it back on the road. It’s worth mentioning that before the heroic liberation, our other car got stuck trying to reach the first one. This car had to be saved first for the simple reason that it was just in the way.
There is always something happening at Monte Azul and you never know what it might be. This event didn’t slow Andrés down though. Like a true Costa Rican, he shook himself off, took it in stride and immediately got back to work on his installation without another thought.
I have attached a sneak peak of this work, any guesses as to what it might be?
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