Happy Place Re-established

I have one very happy Great Aunt on my hands. Last year she journeyed here for her first ever use of a passport. She fell deeply in love with the condo pool, especially since she was luxuriating it in the middle of January. She named the pools her “happy place”, something she was certainly owed after what she’s had to endure over the past couple years. As I am writing this, she is back in the happy place again. We picked her up at the David airport yesterday as she emerged. She’d had a long day since she got up from her airport hotel in Boston at 4am. What a difference a year makes as she was so much more confident this time around and handled the trip, including the plane change in Panama City, like a champ.

At Terra Last Night

With my Big Sis

In Her Happy Place This Afternoon

We stopped off at Terra Ristorante for dinner since they are one of the few places that serve a gluten free menu. We had just arrived when Great Aunt made a rookie mistake by commenting on the possibility of rain. While we’re in the dry season, there has been a few rain storms, mostly confined to the mountains. It was a mistake because as superstitions go, it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. She said she wanted to see what a tropical downpour was like after hearing me talk about them for so many years. A few minutes later there was a loud drumming on the restaurant roof as her wish was redeemed.

Afternoon Pelican Parade Finally Posed for a Photo

Thursday Sunset Ceremony

It rained for about half of the trip back to Las Lajas which added to the usual adventure of driving at night in Panama where some cars believe tail lights are a luxury item they can do without. The annual village festival was underway in Las Lajas as we made our way through town which definitely added to the local color. Horses were tied up at the local saloon, a bull fight was underway in the small corral erected for just that day, and Panamanian music was blaring. The added benefit gained as our slowly moving car wended through the crowd was every time the headlights fell upon one of the local lasses, she felt obligated to start dancing. I told my Favorite Panamanian that it was important I remain laser focused on the road ahead. It's so good to have my big sister in residence as it probably saved me a head rap at that point.

Thursday Sunset

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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