Hot, Damn Hot

You know the heat is approaching infernal levels when even the Panamanians are complaining that it is too hot. That was the situation we found ourselves in yesterday as we executed a mild celebration of our 40^th anniversary. I think I’ve adapted well to the daily 90+ temps but when you start throwing in 90% humidity, I’m one of the first to start waxing philosophic about the New England springs. Since we’re at my mother-in-law’s house in David we didn’t have the ever-present offshore breeze of Las Lajas, not to mention the pools and Pacific Ocean. To remedy the situation, we took off for the hills, literally. We drove up to the mountain town of Boquete, along with my mother-in-law and wife’s sister, where the temperature was ten degrees cooler with some mountain breezes. I enjoyed the drive up as I watched the outside temperature reading steadily drop as I headed higher.

At the Retrogusto Yesterday

We stopped for lunch at Retrogusto, a restaurant we’ve eaten at before. It wasn’t a pleasant a visit this time mainly due to the service. I’m thinking the boss was away on a sleepy Sunday afternoon. The food was fine but the wait for any kind of attention was abysmal. It wasn’t one of those situations where they were very busy and were short of personnel either. We waited nearly fifteen minutes before they took our order and the drinks were delivered after the food. They never came back to see if we wanted refills (big surprise – I did) and we had to execute a tackle drill just to pay the bill. Luckily the food saved the day as it was every bit as good as I remember. Still, with all the other choices in Boquete, we won’t be back.

There were a Couple Requests for a
Photo of the 40th Anniversary Ruby  Ring

We topped off anniversary day with a date night movie. Note to self, do not attempt the movies here on a weekend again. We’re used to walking up to a nearly empty theater on our weeknight forays and that was certainly not the case. The movie was worth it though. The Batman is yet another in the seemingly endless series of caped crusader reboots and while the characters are old hat, this one takes you in a different direction. It doesn’t go into the cosmic level events of recent DC universe goings on. It’s basically a police procedural about the always morally challenged Gotham City and a pair of orphans. This is a new take on the Batman origin story and Pattinson really surprised me in the title role. I thought he was too metrosexual to sell the needed Y-chromosome aspects of the hero but he does it. He reminded me of the surprise Michael Keaton achieved when he was so effective despite the lack of physicality (at that time). Pattinson transforms from a waif-like Bruce Wayne into a supremely dangerous superhero. The movie is long but I hardly noticed the time because of the relentless pace. The rest of the cast was equally good especially Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman and Paul Dano, who always plays an awesome psycho, as the Riddler. I also heard Colin Ferrell was in the movie but I never saw him. I checked afterwards and he played a major role as the Penguin but was unrecognizable underneath a veritable mountain of makeup. There were also some very subtle odes to the prior Batman incarnations that you’d have to be a real fan (guilty) to catch. I always love it when a series film reboot does that. So, at least for this film, the hype was redeemed. I loved the movie.

Farrell With and Without Makeup

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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