Cave In

As predicted in my last post, this latest news emanates from the Man Cave. Yes, I have to get used to wearing long pants and socks again, not to mention shoes. My nearly four-month sojourn in the tropics certainly spoiled me when it comes to sartorial choices. I’d also forgotten how cold the tap water can be. I’d been lulled into indifference when I turned the water on in Panama because even the “cold” water came out lukewarm. That is certainly not the case with good ole New England water. It helped me wakeup rather abruptly when I stuck hands in the flow this morning.

Last Time on the Beach

I needed the wakeup after a long day of travel Monday. All day Sunday was spent cleaning the condo and sealing up the furniture to endure the seven months of neglect it will undergo. My Favorite Panamanian insists the condo is cleaned to a sterile level even though no one will be in the condo for those seven months. So that was fun. We finished up and I was loading the suitcases in the car just as the sun was setting. We wandered back out to the beach for one last sunset and found the four condo friends who we miss so much already. They gave us a great send off as we left for the drive to David.

Friends Sending Us Off

The Last Sunset

Condo Sealed Up

I hadn’t checked email all day while cleaning and the upstairs neighbor reminded me I needed to see whether my bid for an upgrade to business class on Monday’s flight had been successful. I pulled out the phone and learned the good news that we’d earned the upgrade. That made the drive a little more pleasant but halfway back to David both of my hands started cramping up meaning I had to drive with fists clenched (not as much fun as it sounds). My Favorite Panamanian made the usual comments on the failure of my aging body and the fact I wasn’t accustomed to wielding a mop and other cleaning implements, which led to hand cramps, as much as I had that day.

Mountain of Mail Waiting for us at Home

FBR at Dad's New Restaurant

An early Monday morning trip to the David airport followed a deep Sunday night sleep at my mother in law’s house. We had a long layover in Panama City but found the new terminal has really started to be developed and that included a Sports Bar. I’ll let you guess where we ate lunch. You could tell the gate for the Boston flight by an overwhelming collection of Red Sox caps which felt like a bit of homecoming. Business class is definitely the way to travel. I’m officially spoiled. Stalwart Keene Friend was waiting at Logan when we arrived. In a huge change, the immigration process has been incredibly simplified. There were no more robotic screens to work through and they even shortened the usual terminal long walk. We walked right up to a counter and thirty seconds later we were at baggage claim. Keene Friend had us home a little after midnight. Good to be home, but I’m missing the sound of those Las Lajas waves to put me to sleep.

Picked up my A-Z movie watch with The Day After Tomorrow, really scary global warming scenario with Roland Emmerich once again getting to demolish major cities, very entertaining and a define keeper.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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