I was retiring to Costa Rica. All my “stuff” would not be coming along with me.

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This was a chance to simplify my life, to get rid of all the superfluous things that I had thought at one time I wanted and needed.

I didn’t even know where I would be living beyond my first month in Heredia. There was no way I could wag around boxes and boxes and BOXES of “stuff” until I found a permanent home!

When you are in the process of discarding all the “stuff” of your life, what do you do with all those files – all those recipes – all those photos and sketches and brochures, and bits and scraps of what for some reason have become known to you as important pieces of paper?

What about those income tax records? All that “official” stuff that we think we should hang onto whether we really need to or not?

The answer is elementary, my dear Watson. Buy a scanner, and get to work. Scan all that stuff into your computer and onto CDs, buy a few of those cute little padded carrying cases, and voila!

Four file drawers, three boxes of photographs and the goddess only knows what else fit magically and safely onto a few discs that filled up about five CD carrying cases – and those fit snugly into my luggage.

This scanning was a major chore, don’t get me wrong! I spent hours on end slaving over that scanner, but what a wonderful tool it is!

Arlene paid me bucks for it, and once the job was done, it found a new home at her place. Did I ever get my money’s worth out of that contraption! I’m surprised it still worked like a charm, but it did. Still does, she tells me.

Talk about clutter removal systems!

My advice is buy a scanner now and start reducing your paperwork whilst thou mayest. You never know when you might want to pack it up and join us here Costa Rica! You could do quite a bit worse than give in to any such “whim.”

Costa Rica Dogs.



Costa Rica is overrun by abandoned domestic animals as well as wildlife. Animal shelters have become a growth industry there. I am thinking about finding a pooch at one of those shelter to take home with me.

I have not had a dog since my hippie days in the 60s (when I didn’t believe in working at “real” jobs, and thus could take my dog along with me everywhere I went). After Jock-Hans died, and once I began to spend the majority of my daylight hours at the workplace, it just didn’t feel right to leave a dog at home alone all day, so I have refrained from having one.

When sweet ol’ Jockle-Lockle died, my heart broke. I would tell everyone that I never wanted to own another dog because a pet’s lifespan is so short that a person is just setting her/himself up for heartbreak when you fall in love with one. Now that I am in my 60s, there is a fair chance that any dog I get will outlive me!

Not such a wonderful thought, but, hey, at least it will be his heart that breaks, not mine!

I hope he will understand my rudimentary Spanish!

This article is one in a continuing series that chronicles Lair’s move to Costa Rica from the United States. Watch for a new article each week.