Like A Tica

tico/tica: a born and raised Costa Rican man/woman

“How are you doing, hun?” asked my tica friend with concern on her face. She could probably tell by my heavy eyes and low energy that I was not up to my typical par.

I was honest; I was tired. I was hot. There was no break from busy season work and no shelter from the heat of the exposed earth. I was tired of watching trees be cut down every day. Tired of watching land be cleared by fire when it was already hot enough outside. I was tired of living in a construction lot. And tired of not having proper plumbing where I lived. Just tired. Hot and tired.

“You need to lay in a hammock.”

I laughed and agreed.

“No, I am serious. This will help.”

She goes on about how the earth holds heat and how resting above the earth so air can flow beneath the body helps to keep the body cool, “If you are always connected with the earth you will absorb and hold its heat.”

She continues on to say that a great thing to do, is to tie a string onto something nearby and hold onto it so you can give a little pull on the string to sway the hammock and keep the air moving around you.

I lighten up and joke, “I am getting proper instructions from a tica on how to relax in a hammock.” I continue with a laugh, “I love my life!”

She continues on very seriously, “And an even better way to do it, is to tie the string onto your toe so you don’t have to hold onto it. Then you can just…” She sticks her leg straight forward and moves her toes side to side with the rock of her ankle. She pulls her leg back in with a smile. 

I was in honest awe at the ingenuity and seriousness of the thought and purpose that goes into relaxing in a hammock.

This conversation was over a year ago. And as I found myself today low on energy, feet aching from the concrete earth beneath my feet, and brain melting into uselessness from the heat of the season, I surrendered. Into a hammock, I went. Feet off the ground. Suspended above the earth.

And though I did not have a string to grab onto or tie around my toe, I reached out to the fence next to me, hooked my fingers around the wire, gave a gentle pull, and released…

Swaying in a hammock. Breeze beneath my back. Tall trees to shade the smile on my face. 

Like a tica.