Julie, one of our water buffalo, just had a male calf! Today, at the conclusion of Iti's and my morning walk, we decided to visit the dairy and give our congratulations to Julie and check out her calf. As soon as I came up to the sweet, little calf he came ambling towards me, with his adorably awkward gait, and began licking my outstretched hand. He is like a puppy! He just came up and starting to nuzzle and lick me! I love our buffalo! Julietta, another of our buffalo, also began to nuzzle me as soon as I came up to pet her. Amazing animals! And thanks to our two lovely mother buffalo—Buffy also has a young calf—we have been enjoying fresh buffalo mozzarella at the farm! Simply delicious! We have a dairy that is set up to milk cows, buffalo, and goats. It also has a room set up to make cheeses, yogurt, butter, natilla (a type of Costa Rican sour cream), and other delicious things. Part of the reason breakfast is my favorite meal here is because I am constantly surprised with fresh goat and buffalo cheeses and yogurts.

Luna Nueva has just been teeming with life! When I first returned from my trip to Panama, Iti and I were going up to our rooms late in the evening when she said “Oh, I forgot, we have guests,” and then stopped to turn on the path lights. I wasn’t aware that we had any guests that day and was a little confused until the lights shone on a herd of sheep. Our sheep had been moved to the grassy area next to our individual bungalows--they're kind of like our portable lawn mowers. We then heard a little, yet strong, “bahhhh.” One of our sheep had a lamb! Though it is now a few weeks old, it is still as adorable as the day it was born, snow white and so loveable!

We also have two litters of Vietnamese potbelly piglets! One litter is a month old now, while the other is just a few weeks old. They are so adorable! And the runt of the youngest litter is impressively strong for its size—he’s a fighter! All the guests say they just want to scoop him up and take him home, but sometimes runts end up being the strongest of their siblings.

I have never lived in a place where there is just such a constant and profound display of life. All the plants that spring from the earth and animals bringing new life into the world are a constant reminder of how precious and incredible life really is. In short, being at Luna is renewing, enlivening, and simply good for the soul.