Judy Richter

Right?! Whoever said that never lived in a rainforest. So far, in 2025, our property has been struck by lightning four times. Four!! We’ve lost one camera, 4 video intercom cameras, 3 gate motherboards, 2 gate programming boards, and one gate remote receiver board. Oh yeah, and one video intercom screen. 

Seems like a lot, right? That’s what our insurance adjuster said, for sure. We even have a video of a strike hitting a concrete post outside our garage that exploded, embedding concrete bits into the garage door. After the second strike, we thought, wow, we must be really unlucky. Or, dare I say it, karma had struck us where we live. Much as I hated to admit it, it seemed like a possible, if not logical, conclusion. 

After an intense jag of self-reflection, and hopeful to disprove this theory, I discovered that lightning can be a symbol of transformation and renewal. Yes, that sounded better. An abundance of lightning can symbolize the process of manifesting intent. Karl and I are in a constant process of transformation – from the corporate ratrace chasing the almighty dollar to the pura vida life style living in a tropical paradise. And, of course, I am manifesting my intent to create a novel that will capture the essence of our newly transformed lives in Costa Rica every single day.

A few days after the fourth strike, while sitting on our patio drinking coffee with our Tico builder and friend, he burst that bubble. He told us to forget about all that karma bs. We are living on land with many Dipteryx oleifera, aka almendro trees, which are specially adapted to attract lightning. Seriously? Yep, Google confirmed it. With a side note that gold in the ground could attract those strikes as well. That was hilarious because gold is a major plot thread in my novel. So go figure. My intention to write a bestseller with a plot throughline featuring gold, sitting under a D. oleifera tree, explains it all. Pura Vida, my friends.