Okay, I’ve been away from Frail Deeds
for a couple days. I know all you frozen New Englanders have been missing my
daily recitation of just how beautiful life on a tropical beach paradise can be
and yes, I know all about the potent nor-easter bearing down on you for Saturday.
(honestly, I do feel bad about that) I had to tear myself away, actually under
orders from my Favorite Panamanian, to make a supply run back to David. We were
out of beer so it was a mission critical situation. We also needed some food, I
think. It was weird as this was the first time in a couple weeks that I wore
shoes and long pants. I missed the beach almost immediately. The evening before
we left, the local pelicans put on a stunning aerial display. I see them every
day, mostly cruising in large lines along the top of the surf. They must have
finally spotted a school of fish because they were dive bombing into the water between
waves. It was pretty cool.
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| Favorite Panamanian and I on our Beach Walk This Morning |
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| Hard to See Photos of Pelican Dive Bombing Campaign |
We used the opportunity of our return to
my wife’s hometown to rejuvenate our Tuesday date night tradition by going to a
movie while in David. We went to a brand-new theater in a recently opened
massive shopping mall (yes, they still have them down here). The movie was godawful
but the theater was a delight and not just because we qualified for senior citizen
tickets of $2.25 apiece. Everything was top notch (except the movie – reviewed below)
and the seats were more comfortable than back home in Worcester. They had all the
same Covid protocols that we have to follow there as well. Before the movie, we
took my mother-in-law and my wife’s twin sister out for lunch at a new (for me)
restaurant I had driven by on my last visit. It was called “Beef” so there is
no need to explain the attraction.
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| Wife and her Mom Amidst the Bougainvilleas |
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| The Bird |
We followed that with a trip up to the picturesque
mountain town of Boquete. The stated reason was to secure Italian ice cream but
my wife was also in search of a turkey to follow the tradition of creating our normal
Christmas dinner here for her family. We thought we would get lucky in Boquete
since there is a large population of ex-pat Americans living there. We were a
day late as the store managers said all the turkeys had been sent back, literary
the day before. It was still a nice ride up into the mountains. I was inveigled
into a stop on the way back at a plant and flower vendor. My Favorite Panamanian has a plan to
plant three bamboo plants in pots on our balcony to soak up some the worst
afternoon sun since it interferes with her afternoon telenovela watching. We
didn’t find the bamboo plants but she is totally incapable of walking by bougainvillea
plants. I consider these thorn ridden plants as my personal nemeses back home. She has three large ones
that invariably end up pricking me whenever I walk within range. My wife narrowed
it down to two of the beastly things and asked me which I preferred. My answer
of “neither” was noted but ignored. The damned thing pricked me all the way
back to the beach from its back seat perch. I also saw a dramatic bird flitting
through the store, it was solid black with a striking red band . The picture I was
able to get doesn’t do it justice. Panama ends up being the winter home for
many migrating birds and this was probably an example because I’d never seen the
like before.
We returned late yesterday afternoon to
find blood on the kitchen floor. That was an unnecessarily dramatic way of
saying our freezer door had popped open and the hamburger in the door had
thawed and bled out. My wife was convinced the freezer had failed but I noted
it was still working and that if you’re not careful when you close the refrigerator
door the freezer door pops open. Apparently this happened as we were leaving the
day before and the freezer was open to tropical temps for more than 24 hours. We
closed the door and prayed (okay that was mostly her) and after a couple hours things
were freezing again. I was treated to a truly spectacular sunset while my Favorite Panamanian went to church in nearby Las Lajas (we hadn’t confirmed the freezer was really working yet).
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| Sunset Last Night |
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| Seen from the Pool |
This morning the buzzards had
stolen another fish carcass from one of the sea eagles directly in front of the
condo. The eagle seemed to making his case to the deaf ears of the vulture. My Favorite
Panamanian joined me for the morning beach walk to insure I received my daily
ribbing about the mystery woman I wrote about last week. The walk was wildlife
laden. We came upon a pack of five stray dogs. They looked to be having the
time of their lives cavorting in the waves. They were friendly enough but
quickly passed us by when they figured out we had no food to give them.
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| Buzzards and Eagle |
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| Beach This Morning |
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| The Dog Pack |
On the way back we came upon one of the
ubiquitous beach birds sitting on the beach. We knew something was off when he
didn’t fly away upon our approach. We stopped and my wife immediately went into
her hypersensitive mode, concocting all kinds of scenarios on how the bird
ended up there. I got a good look at him and said he was just old and tired.
She wanted to pick him up but I intervened saying picking up a potentially sick
bird was an incredibly bad idea. She claimed the dog pack we passed by earlier
would come back and eat him. While I thought that was exactly what was going to
happen, I told her they had passed him by once and if they came back, he would
probably find the strength to fly. For some unfathomable reason she listened to
me and we don’t have a pet sea bird, although she did roundly counsel the flock
of birds further down the beach for abandoning their elder.
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| The Sedentary Bird |
RECURRING CHARACTERS
BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – 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; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course; 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; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten
whom I reunited with after many years; 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 3rd 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
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