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| First Sighting of the Favorite Panamanian |
Yesterday was a very long day but I
consider it more than well spent since I ended up with a certain Favorite Panamanian
in my lap. I still can’t believe it was in the mid-fifties when I left
Worcester at 4:30am. It was strange to wake up in a Buddy-less house but that
did make leaving infinitely easier. I owe a huge debt to my sister who loves
having him as a guest member of her wolf pack.
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| The First Atlas |
Yesterday was the first time in the
many trips I’ve made on Copa Airlines that I was disappointed in them. I did
the web check and already had my boarding pass but it still took nearly an hour
to through the check in process. The people who didn’t do the web check in
moved much faster. When I finally reached the counter and asked the guy what
the problem was he didn’t have a good answer. I think the problem was in
personnel because I was watching one ticket agent who only processed three
people during that hour. I hope this isn’t a new trend. The service on the airplane
was the usual top notch I’ve come to expect from Copa. I was seated next to a
lady who lives a couple streets away from my sister; I love the small world
moments life occasionally throws your way.
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| Brother in Law and His Wife Welcoming me Back |
I had a two hour layover in Panama City
where I availed myself of the first Atlas of the trip. There’s kind of a
strange arrangement for domestic flights in Panama which have to use a different
entrance point than the vast majority of flights (all international) for
reasons I don’t understand. They put you on a bus that brings you out onto the
tarmac and drops you at one of the gates of the main terminal, again, I’m sure
there’s a good reason but I can’t figure it out. We were supposed to board at
4:44 but we still hadn’t moved to the bus at 5:10 so I assumed there was no way
we were going to make it. Somehow everyone got on the bus and on the plane so
we only left fifteen minutes late. They chopped more time off on the forty
minute flight to David. This is eminently more agreeable than the old eight
hour bus ride.
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| Arms Happily Full |
While waiting for the luggage in David
I got my first glimpse of my Favorite Panamanian and the long day suddenly was
more than worth it. It was so cool to be in that familiar presence again; we’ve
been apart way too much this year. She had already cycled through two rental
cars since the first one was infested with ants. She was accompanied by her
younger sister, the leader of the PanaGals. We followed her home where the entire
family had gathered to welcome me back.
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| Leader of the PanaGals - Finally Behind Bars |
A number of Atlas’ later the laughter had
still not ebbed. We had a FaceTime call with my Cali-Daughter which allowed her
grandmother and aunts some extended “cooing” time. They have determined that based on her preference for her left hand that she's going to be a lefty. This made her great-grandmother, the only true southpaw in the family, very happy. There had to be a break in
the festivities when all the ladies gathered around the TV to watch a critical
episode in the tele-novella they’re all watching. Somehow they’ve made a
novella about the Ottoman Emperor Suleiman the Magnificent; some things just
don’t make sense.
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| A Screen Capture From my Face Time Call with Granddaughter Wednesday Night |
It was so good to be around my wife’s
lively family again. I cherish these times when I get immersed in their love of
life. My father in law even purchased a huge supply of gingerbread bars which
he knows I love. It only gets better this weekend when the ABFA and Favorite
Son join us on Saturday followed by the California contingent (granddaughter included!)
on Sunday. The word “better” fails to adequately address the emotions involved.
Oh, and I just heard Worcester is getting 8-10 inches of snow today!
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| Turnover Maneuvers Continue Apace |
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| The Stay Puff Marshmallow Baby - Who Ya Goin to Call? |
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