Seasonal

We are approaching the end of Panamanian summer. I know. There are so many of you in the frigid north who are just heartbroken with that news. Over the past couple days I’ve noticed the humidity rising during my morning workouts. On Tuesday we made a run back to David for provisions and while there experienced one of Panama’s signature deluges. The kind where you walk into the rain and are immediately soaked. I’ve told people that have never experienced a tropical rain storm that it’s hard to describe but it’s like having a constant series of buckets dumped on your head. The rain followed us to the Terra Ristorante where we had lunch. These storms mark the end of the dry season and will become increasingly common as March proceeds. By June they become a daily event.

FBR Chose the Face Masks for her Mom and Her

Panamanian Chicken and her Chicks Preparing to Cross the Road
Still no Definitive Answer

We returned to the beach yesterday to the first genuinely gloomy day we’ve had since arriving in Las Lajas. It felt almost surreal not to have the sun baking us. The waves were up to the challenge of the day and provided the needed boogie board rides to rescue morale. Although we gathered with our upstairs neighbors for the daily sunset ceremony, we had to end it prematurely when the sun refused to even peek out from the clouds. The early exit from the beach allowed time to see the nightly news from Boston instead of the usual west coast channels (I do love the super streamer). For those of you truly worried, the sun was back and baking today.

Beach This Morning

While back in David we checked out The Whale at the theater. I didn’t know what to expect from this movie. It hits you squarely in the jaw in the opening scene and doesn’t let up. My worries were unfounded as I was transported by a truly special cast, led by Fraser in the title role. He plays a grotesquely obese distance English teacher who is spiraling down while trying to reconnect with a daughter he abandoned when she was eight. I expected gimmicks for the obesity but Fraser comes across as genuine and very sympathetic. It’s a truly powerful and memorable performance as his character desperately tries to leave a mark as he feels his life slipping away. Hong Chau, as always, is fantastic as his only friend and supporter. You are brought into the back story gradually in the small apartment that has become the Whale’s world. This is one of those movies that stays with you as the Whale contemplates a life and its inevitable mistakes.

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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