You will notice from some of the accompanying photos that my Favorite Panamanian and I are no longer in the People’s Republic of Taxxachusetts. We completed our annual dive south to our Las Lajas beach condo on Thursday. That meant a undecorating the house from Christmas, closing up the house, coordinating with the house sitter, cleaning the house (a wifely priority), getting to the airport (thank you Keene Friend), flying to Panama City, flying to David, driving to the condo. All this done with the added requirement of recovering both emotionally and physically from the rigors of Christmas. This would have been a tall order for a team of two but my wife was sidelined starting on Monday by a stomach bug that kept her in bed until our actual deployment.
That meant the cleaning fell to me, never my strongest suit. My Favorite Panamanian
didn’t think anything should be shelved because of her illness (I tried) and
she felt well enough to provide what she knew was needed supervision. I was
given crash courses in floor maintenance and delicate material washing. It meant
a couple really late nights but we left the house in its usual pristine shape.
The best medicine my wife could have taken was seeing her family again. To make
that happen, Keene Friend came down Wednesday night to make the early morning drive
to the airport with us. Copa once again has direct flights to Panama from
Boston which makes life so much easier. 
With the Fam at El Fogon
There
were a couple of surprises, but in a good way. They have opened a new domestic
flight terminal, where we catch the flight to David, in Panama City. That meant
there was no sardine packed bus trip to an awaiting plane as in prior years.
That’s always a lot of fun with a bunch of people getting off long flights dressed
for colder weather first experiencing the joy of Panamanian heat jammed
together for a bus ride. Our luggage arrived with only one minor casualty which
is fine since we always need less luggage for the return home. My wife’s entire
family was waiting for us at the airport and I had a real feeling of coming
home (2d home, but a home nonetheless).
First Atlas of the Winter
My
brother-in-law had the needed pick-up truck to handle the six suitcases (we
never travel light because, well, who I travel with). After the obligatory
first Atlas beer of the deployment, I treated the entire family to dinner at my
favorite David eatery, El Fogon where my favorite waiter treated me like a
returning hero (generous tipping will do that for you). We returned to my
mother in law’s house and the day, which had started at 4am and the busy week
caught up with me. I was in bed by 9pm and slept like the proverbial dead. 
Back Home Again
Yesterday
was another day, much like the past week, of non-stop chores. We had to lay in
our supplies for the upcoming condo stay which meant a couple of very expensive
grocery store runs. After that soul rending experience, we returned to home and
rallied with my brother-in-law who had volunteered to once again shepherd our
suitcases to the beach for us, which is good because there was no way we could
have managed the suitcases and the accumulated booty from the morning’s grocery
store depredations. In the early afternoon we set out for Las Lajas and after
clearing the abysmal Friday traffic around David were free and clear all the
way to the beach.
Our First Las Lajas Sunset of the Winter
This
is where I had a real sense of returning home as we walked into the condo and
saw the beach through the balcony doors. There was a lot of work to do of
course, the place having laid empty for seven months. My brother-in-law and a
nephew helped lug all the supplies and luggage up to the condo. Thank God the elevator
was working. We set to work getting everything stored and unpacked. We took a
quick break for an abbreviated First Friday call with the fam back in the
suddenly balmy Northeast US. I didn’t make it down to the beach yesterday and
had to catch the first of Las Lajas’ signature sunsets from the balcony but we
did yeoman work getting everything set up. I got the Super Streamer functioning
which was task one if I want to watch football this weekend.
Back in N.J. the FBR and Her Mom Got the LOL House Together
This
morning was a return to my morning beach routine. I walked out shortly after
waking up and had the entire beach to myself for my morning workout. It felt as
if no time had passed since I last walked out of the surf. I think my body is
trying to tell me I’m getting too old to boogie board but I will continue to ignore
it. My wife’s family is coming down late today to celebrate New Years with us.
I’m looking forward to that as it means a period of sustained laughter. I’m also
looking forward to next week and hopefully some rest. 
"My" Beach This Morning
Keene
Friend is one of the only people brave enough to try and buy me movies for Christmas.
I say this because I have a fairly complete collection of every movie I think I’d
ever want to see but, as usual, he succeeded admirably again this year. I had
to watch both of the movies he gifted before we came down. The first was Zero
Hour which was a complete hoot. I never realized the classic comedy movie,
Airplane, was actually taken almost word for word from a much more serious
1950s film but it was. The unintentional comedy level is through the roof as Ted
Stryker tries to overcome his wartime experiences and pilot a suddenly
pilotless airliner through the Rockies. It isn’t a bad movie but it’s impossible
to watch without harkening back to Airplane, even to the seemingly inexplicable
(but enjoyable) side plot of the well-endowed pilot’s wife being roused to come
to the airport. So much fun.
Saying Hi to old Friends During Morning Beach Walk
RECURRING CHARACTERS:
ABFA – Amazing Best Family
Athlete - my daughter
in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter
#3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel -
second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue
about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut
Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor
of the big river; Curbside Girls – close
friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which
grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of
course); FBR - First Blog Reader -
first granddaughter; First Friday –
celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene
Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene,
NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend
since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife –
her US sisters, my wife is the 3rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew –
son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia
member; 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; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate– high
school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the
Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather -
my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course
No comments:
Post a Comment