Dream Laced Return

As you can tell from the accompanying photo, I am no longer flying solo her in Las Lajas. My Favorite Panamanian returned yesterday afternoon just as the power was restored after a day long outage tied to some line maintenance. The day was not without some metaphysical elements though, enough to laugh out loud. My wife said she had a very vivid dream early yesterday morning where she heard me calling out her name as if I was in danger. About the same time, I was having a dream here where I was swimming in the ocean and was suddenly dragged underwater by a huge shark. I saved myself by grabbing the shark’s eye. This wasn’t the only highly unbelievable aspect to the dream, when the shark grabbed me, I was racing across the ocean using an Olympic caliber butterfly stroke. I’m sure my current location had all to do with the dream’s motif.

Partner is Back

My Favorite Panamanian is highly superstitious and was unsettled about my safety after her dream. The only way we can communicate is either by text or FaceTime. Of course, as I wrote yesterday, the power went off in the morning so both of those methods were not available since they depend on the Wi-Fi signal. All my wife knew was that I wasn’t answering the phone or her many texts. Her sister told her not to worry since the electricity here is prone to blackouts, weirdly, especially on Wednesdays. I was blissfully unaware of my wife’s predicament/concerns. As she was making her way back here and had just entered the beach access road, she was passed by an ambulance heading in the other direction.

Sunset Last Night

Predictably, the electricity returned just as she was pulling into the condo parking lot and I later understood why she was so happy when I answered her call to summon me to help unload her purchases. It was so good to have a partner to watch the sunset last night. We had Facetime calls with the kids as well as Great Aunt and Soxfather. BR3 was especially pumped to see us and immediately launched into her repertoire of games. The FBR was doing her homework (kindergarten has changed in the last sixty years). She was writing down all the words she recognized while reading. I was duly impressed. My Favorite Son is three days into his new job and seems to like it. He said it could potentially be boring but after the stress of the last couple years boring could be good.

Beach This Morning - Buzzards Gathered 

Vultures Circling Over my Walk

The Panamanian Air Force (vultures) was back out in strength this morning during my walk down the beach. They were having another conclave around something dead a couple hundred yards down the beach. As I made my walk, I noticed I had a bunch of them circling over my head, a la an old western movie as someone is crawling across the desert. I was led to wonder if they knew something I didn’t. I tried to strengthen my gait so they would take me off the menu. I returned to my seat underneath the palm trees and noticed a huge swarm of bees circling the top of the tree. I was concerned due to my colorful history with bees in Panama (story for another day) and I'm allergic to bee stings. I thought they were building a nest but it turns out palm trees have flowers and they were doing their jobs as this one was flowering. So today's tropical lesson learned, palm trees have flowers. Weird. I know.

Flowering Palm Tree
Flowers are Yellow and on the Left

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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 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