Redeployment

I find myself back in the USA sans my Favorite Panamanian who remains in her homeland for another month. This was the easiest flight I’ve ever taken in terms of delays. Everything took place ahead of schedule and we arrived in Boston to find the cavernous immigration reception area totally deserted. I had never seen that before and was able to walk straight up to the counter instead of waiting in line. To top it off at baggage claim my bags were two of the first five off the belt. I walked out to find Keene Friend had just arrived to drive me home. It could not have been smoother, except for the emotions involved.

Miss this Gal!

My wife and I have found that separations as we get older become increasingly difficult. The past two weeks were so much fun that I felt guilty for leaving her there, even though she gets to spend the next month surrounded by family and friends. I think we’ve kind of grown on each other over the past four decades. She now returns to her role as designated taxi driver for her mother and two uncles as they navigate various structures of the Panamanian senior health care industry. She referred to my visit as a much needed vacation from those efforts.

The Last Sunset

We spent our last few days in Las Lajas doing exactly what makes the place so special. My wife and I returned to the Show Pony for a farewell drink/beer. She immediately made friends with yet another of the bartenders and proclaimed his Pina Colada up to her standard. By the end of the evening every time the bartender made a colada for someone else whatever excess remained was poured into my wife’s glass. I called it the bottomless colada.

At the Show Pony For Wings and Coladas

Walking Back to the Condo by I-Phone Light

She’s like that – she attracts people and they are soon her friends. Apparently she has the same effect on sea life or least that’s what I spent the last two days kidding her about. She would join me each day for my mid-day boogie boarding session. Each of the last two days as we walked out into the surf she was greeted by at least two devil rays. They’re relatively harmless but she freaked out. They were literally in the wave as it approached her, clearly visible. The first time it happened she simply said, “Nope” and turned around to return to the shore. The second day we were kidding her about it when almost the same thing happened but this time she had to use her boogie board to keep the rays from landing directly on top of her. She did not return to the ocean for the remaining time we had there.

Miss This View Each Morning from Our Balcony

And this View from My Chair on the Beach

She was a little aghast when I didn’t leave and just moved down the beach laterally to get away from them. I find it disconcerting to think about all the stuff that is living just beyond the shore line. On Sunday, my final day at Las Lajas I went out for a solitary farewell session in the waves. I was just beyond the wave break when a small fin emerged from the surface. I went ice cold (imagining Jaws) thinking it was a shark but it turned out to be another of my wife’s rays apparently waving to me and asking where their favorite human was. Once my heart returned to normal beating I moved down the beach again to give him some space and kept a nervous eye on the approaching surf. I miss it so much but for the company a certain Panamanian bestows more than anything else.

Somehow her Plants Survived my Absence
This One had no Flowers at all When I left

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                            

BR3 – inbound granddaughter #3, BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; PanaGals – female relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn