Sibling-ing

Okay, I know that’s not a word, deal with it. Great Aunt has learned, to her delight, that all the praise I’ve heaped on Las Lajas over the past years was not exaggerated. I often said to my Favorite Panamanian over those same years that my big sister would absolutely love this place. She’s a real beach and pool person. Needless to say, we’ve got both with the added benefit of not having to worry about such mundane things such as cold water in either location. Great Aunt used to get mildly upset when I would send her pictures from here while she was suffering through a polar vortex back home. She abashedly admitted to doing the same thing over the past few days with some of her friends.

Sis and I at Saturday Sunset

With my Favorite Panamanian as well

Great Aunt is freaking out my Favorite Panamanian a bit with her sun worshipping. My wife has taken on the role of pseudo-dermatologist due to my repeated bouts with skin cancer. Speaking of that, putting this chemotherapy cream on my shoulder twice daily has turned into true torture, one week to go. My sister is freaking her out because she doesn’t think she needs to wear sun screen. We’ve tried to convince her that the sun down here is much closer than northern climes and can bring an absolute beating if ignored. She has begrudgingly applied some sun screen the last couple days.

Beach This Morning

She’s spent most of the past two days in either pool or enjoying the gentle breezes under our bohio on the beach. She’s a huge animal lover and is thoroughly fascinated with the wide range of birds that cruise the beach. She’d never seen a live pelican before and she’s now inundated with them each day. There was a very funny moment during the Family First Friday Facetime call. The FBR was shocked to see Great Aunt with us in Panama and quickly noticed that she had just come from the pool. You could see the longing that the pool-loving FBR experienced with this revelation. She’ll be here in a couple weeks and we anticipate a difficult time getting her out of the pool.

A Sampling of Saturday Sunset

We’ve fully indoctrinated Great Aunt into the mysteries of our daily, well lubricated, sunset ceremony which involves joining the rest of the condo residents on the beach to watch the sun sink into the Pacific. Friday was a bit of a disappointment as a distant cloud bank obscured the final moments but Saturday more than made up for it with a typically spectacular light show. Great Aunt also seems to have brought typical dry season Panama weather with her for the first time since we arrived. No rain, no humidity, temps in the 80s, and constant cooling breezes. In other words – paradise. The best part of the trip is the obvious relaxation she’s experiencing – she has more than earned that over the past year

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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 3^rd 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