Horsing Around

My Panamanian Cowgirl

While I was indulging my whimsical journey to New York City in search of Matthew Scudder on Saturday (see yesterday’s overlong post) my wife had a very busy time down in the tropics. The annual “feria” was going full swing in her hometown. It’s like a county fair but a much bigger affair to the Panamanians. Each larger town has a feria and since David is one of Panama’s biggest cities and the provincial capital of Panama’s breadbasket – Chiriquí; the feria is big deal.

Horse Take Over David

While I was talking with her I could hear the hoof beats of dozens of horses passing by on the street. Each feria brings a huge herd of horses into town as any self-respecting vaquero within range puts on his Sunday best to parade through the big city. The horses vie with the auto traffic and the always adventuresome Panamanian driving habits but somehow it all works and creates quite a spectacle.

My wife sent the above picture where she channeled her own vaquero in a hat provided by

The PanaGals

Folk Dancing at the Feria

Yesterday's Palm Sunday Procession Through the Streets

our bank. She and the accompanying PanaGals looked to be having a very good time, which is their “go to” move. They followed that up with a birthday party for my brother in law’s wife who has the recognized, most ribald sense of humor in the entire country of Panama. She’s been having a lot of fun kidding my wife about her imminent return and spousal reunion. I’m sorry I missed the party which had to have been a good time. I was touched by the photo below which shows the birthday girl dancing with her husband while my wife’s parents danced behind them. With Panamanians there will always be dancing.

The Panamanian Birthday Girl

Always Great Food

And Dancing

My granddaughter was also out partying yesterday. One of my daughter’s best friends was also celebrating her birthday and wisely invited my granddaughter. When they all lived in New York City the birthday girl came up for a couple visits and was always a lot of fun. The First Blog Reader made the rounds at the party, testing out a variety of laps. The birthday girl got some quality time with her, color me jealous (for time with the granddaughter – obviously).

During my Saturday travels I finished off my next Joe Picket novel, In Plain Sight, by CJ Box. These books improve each time out. This time Joe’s family is threatened by a psychotic family member of one of the earliest villains in the series. At the same time one of the most prominent families in the Saddlestring valley is having a feud that’s threatening to devolve into a shooting war. Joe is of course drawn in and perseveres despite the immense challenges placed in front of him.

One of the best aspects of Box’s books is the distinct detail he provides on the spectacular surrounding countryside. Now that I’ve sated my Scudder fixation I’ll have to start looking into a trip to Wyoming, but of course, I already have a plan for that. Here is an example of which I speak as Pickett is out game wardening:

“By the time Joe found the southeast corner of the quadrant, the dark clouds had redoubled in scale and continued their advance. Thirty miles away, he could see spouts of rain connecting the clouds to the earth, an illusion that made it look as though it were raining up. Rain in any form was a revelation. “Keep on rolling,” he said again, wishing he could see the secrets and motivations of the people in the valley with the same long-distance clarity. Instead of mule deer, he happened first on a herd of pronghorn antelope grazing and picking their way across the tabletop flat of a butte. Their brown and white camouflage coloring which worked for eight months of the year, failed them miserably against the pulsing green carpet of spring grass and made them stand out like highway cones.”