Distance

I haven’t been writing for the last few days for reasons that will eventually become abundantly clear. I have continued to take pictures and most of this post will surround those. We returned to the beach on Thursday morning with my mother-in-law in tow to find the power was out at the condo complex. That isn’t an unheard-of situation as the condo sits at the very end of what we used to call a logistics tail. Power goes out pretty regularly but it usually restored in short order. The complex has a generator which runs the elevator and common areas but not the individual condos.

Wife, Tia Loca and Neighbor Poolside

We waited all day for the lights to come back on and heard increasingly pessimistic reports from the condo management folks. Luckily the stove works with gas so all we needed was the ignitor which we had spares for. As the sun set we learned the power would not be coming back that day as the crew had gone home. We were desperate at this point because we had a very full fridge packed for anticipated visitors this weekend. Around this same time my wife’s sister, Tia Loca, arrived with her son to enjoy our darkened state.

Thursday Sunset Crew

I had packed the fridge with a couple bags of ice and initiated a strict denial of opening the fridge door for anything short of absolute need. I was reminded of the old ice boxes from 3 Stooges days. The ice was melting by Friday morning and the condo management guy suggested we buy a long extension cord and run it down the hall to the common area. This saved our bacon. Literally. There was an upside to the whole power outage and that was the night sky. Without ambient artificial light the stars just popped. It felt as if you could reach out and touch them. This was devastatingly beautiful on the beach with the entire horizon filled with the star field.

Candlelit Condo

Tried to Take Picture of Night Sky

Beach Friday Morning

We slept with all the balcony doors open but two mosquito coils lasted all night and kept us bug free. My Favorite Panamanian woke me up at one point because that night sky was dazzling right outside our open door. There are worse places in the world to pass a prolonged power outage than Playa Las Lajas. Our designated handyman showed up Friday morning to install our new hot water heater as well as a kitchen light fixture and fix a doorknob as well as install curtain rods throughout for future blackout curtains (we have way too much sunlight at times). We spent the day on the beach with a very nice breeze blowing. We were sitting with one of our neighbors by the slimy green pool (2 days with no filter) when I noticed the fan turning in our upstairs condo – power came back!

Finally Got Some Photos of Back Home

BR3

BRS Sliding With ABFA

BR3 Bundled Up

Finger Painting With Dad

BRS Doing BR3's Nails

Despite that marvelous night sky, we closed up for air conditioning Friday night. It wasn’t that dazzling. You know. Saturday was a big family gathering where I was scheduled to cook my annual Panamanian turkey dinner. Tia Loca had located a frozen turkey in Panama City and transported it to us. The power outage assisted with the whole defrosting situation. I prepped the turkey Friday night and put it in the oven early Saturday morning (after figuring out again how to start the oven). I was just about to head to the beach for my morning workout when I was informed the oven was out and as I was looking into that, the power went out again (!). Fortunately the oven was gas and lit back up without challenge although we spent the rest of the day monitoring it to insure it didn’t go out again.

Friday Sunset Crew

Wife and Tia Loca Boogie Boarding

The turkey came out on schedule and I was prepping the rest of the meal when the Panamanian ladies decided it was time to hit the beach for some boogie boarding. They assured me they would only be twenty minutes. The meal had been sitting and waiting for twenty minutes when they finally came back. I was not allowed to comment on their timeliness. I wasn’t that brave any way since I was seriously outvoted. We still had a lot of fun with one of the PanaGals blaring some American oldies over a speaker (power came back at five hour mark) which had Tia Loca dancing and singing along. Note to readers – Tia Loca is a MUCH better dancer than singer.

Lights Came Back On!!

We were back on the beach for the sunset but instead of watching that, a volleyball game broke out. The condo complex has a sand court set up and I’ve never seen anyone using it until this game. It’s been at least ten years since I tried playing volleyball and it truly showed. There were some seriously sore muscles afterwards. We ended the day at the dining room table paying that silly, but highly entertaining game of passing right, left, and center with everyone starting with $3. We played two rounds of that with high comedy the rule. The ladies decided to break out a bingo game but I demurred as the combination of meal prep, boogie boarding, volleyball, and beer consumption (yeah – I could do that again) combined to make the couch seem like a better alternative. I put in the latest James Bond flick and my wife’s twin sister joined me on the couch. I put on Spanish sub-titles because Tia Loca was boring into my beer supplies and becoming increasingly vocal (those who know her will be amazed she has a higher vocal level) My decibel blessed sister-in-law made hearing even the action sequences a real challenge.

Morning Beach Walk with Tia Loca and Wife

Tia Loca on Grill

Pre-Dinner Sing and Dance

Turkey, Obviously

Turkey Dinner

Dollar Passing Game

Bingo Girls

The 355 was the date night movie back in David on Wednesday night. This movie sported some of the best actresses around in a female-centric action movie that fell nearly flat on its face. I was excited to see the cast in action and they were all very, very good but the story made absolutely no sense and the action was nothing more than a regurgitation of things we’ve all seen before except a female was throwing the punches instead of the latest refugee from the WWF (is that still a thing?).  The action scenes were very well done but it seemed like a TV movie that had been gussied up with some A-List level talent in the casting but the casting only. Huge disappointment.

Sunday brought a huge change in my life. I’ve never fully appreciated the sacrifices my Favorite Panamanian made when she left Panama to follow me around the world. I’ve noticed over the last month how much I’ve missed being in the States as several friends and family faced some challenges. Keene Friend 2 lost his mother while Covid invaded some close family members and another friend battles a life-threatening condition. It was searing to not be able to offer support outside of words. The big one was dropped on Sunday though with news that fundamentally changed my world. It sucked most if not all of the joy out of this place. One of the people I’m closest to in the world has been diagnosed with Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and is rapidly degenerating. It’s come on so suddenly and from nowhere that I’m at a loss and feel totally unmoored. It’s an impossible situation. I’m looking into tickets home now.

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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