This week has already seen at least five murders and four fatal road accidents, according to a report by the Red Cross.

Massy Ferguson in Concert
Traditional American roots music, 5:30 p.m., Hotel Villa Caletas, road to Jacó, Puntarenas. Info: 630-3020.

Last Day to Enroll Kids in Adventure Day Camp
Sports, nature activities, games and field trips for ages 6-12, Escazú, Jan. 7-11, enrollment ends today, 289-0404, advkids@gmail.com, www.adventuresunderthesun.com/adventurekids.

Yesterday saw a light drizzle around lunchtime in San José, a rarity for this time of year and, according to local lore, a foretelling sign of rains to come. As yesterday was Jan. 2, legend has it that February, the second month, will be rainy, too.

Here in Costa Rica, old wives claim the meteorological office needs no more scientific system to predict the weather than to note the climate on the first 12 days of January.

Slightly reminiscent of United States and Canada's Groundhog Day, in which a groundhog forecasts an early or late spring, in Costa Rica the soothsaying beasts are early-January drops. The 12 days are known as las pintas because they paint ( pintar, in Spanish) the weather for the forthcoming year, each day representing one month. If it rains tomorrow, the fourth day of January, for example, you can expect it to rain in April, the fourth month of the year.

For the dry season, it has been unusually precipitous, with hard rains over the Christmas holiday. This had no bearing on the pintas, but nevertheless caught Ticos off guard.

Residents in neighboring Nicaragua have also experienced an unusual dampening of their dry season.

Whether the legend will prove true this year, wait one month, and time will tell.

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Deadheads and Phish-heads, take note. The central Pacific coastal town of Jacó Saturday night will host a benefit to promote environmental education with musical guests hailing from such legendary U.S. bands as The Grateful Dead and Phish.

Veteran Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, recently honored along with former bandmates for lifetime achievement at the Grammy Awards, will team up with Phish bassist and singer Mike Gordon as well as guitarist Scott Murawski of the band Max Creek.

The bands bridge two generations of peace-loving listeners, mastering a style of folk-fused rock that prizes live performance and lengthy, entrancing improvisation.

They are scheduled to take the stage at 8 p.m. and will play three sets of covers and originals at the Doce Lunas hotel, according to co-organizers the Jacó-based Central Pacific Chamber of Commerce.

It's not the first time Kreutzmann and Murawski share a bill. Fans of both the Dead and Phish – known as Deadheads and Phish-heads, respectively – found each other on the same tour circuit in 2006 following the Rhythm Devils, a band made up of Kreutzmann, Murawski and guitarist Steve Kimock.

The show is just one of the latest projects supported by the chamber of commerce to foment environmental awareness on Costa Rica's Pacific coast (TT, Aug. 24, 2007). A portion of the benefit's p roceeds will help fund environmental education programs in the schools in the canton of Garabito.

Tickets, $20 a head, are being sold online at

http://mikegordontickets.rlc.net/MikeGordon/calendar.aspx, or in person at the Central Pacific Chamber of Commerce or at the door.

-Tico Times

This week has already seen at least five murders and four fatal road accidents, according to a report by the Red Cross.

Sadly, this begins the year right where 2007 left off.

Violent deaths in Costa Rica numbered 34 between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve 2007, casting a shadow over a festive holiday week and rounding off a year in which incidents of fatal road crashes and murders soared.

The figures only include deaths that occurred at the scene of an accident or crime, without counting people who died later in the hospital.

From Dec. 24 to 31, a total of 13 people died in automobile accidents and eight were murdered.

The Red Cross' annual tally rose by 54, to 966, from 2006 to 2007. Its medics treated almost 3,000 people who were seriously injured, the report said.

A total 399 fatalities last year were from road accidents, the main cause of death in the Red Cross report, followed by shootings and stabbings, which claimed 203 lives. Another 104 lives were lost in drownings.