TICO TALES

Fred Used to Live Here

Poro (Erythrina poeppigiana) (Credits: Alejandro Bayer Tamayo)

I was standing in the kitchen last week as dusk approached when the sounds of thunder, earthquake, building demolition, and airplanes crashing sent me fleeing for cover in the bathroom doorway.

When I was a kid in Japan, earthquakes were frequent, small, and rarely dangerous. Whenever she felt a rattle, my mom would scoop me up and head for the nearest doorsill, which someone must…