Arthurian Precipitation

I know I’m guilty of exceeding good manners in praising my winter home here in Playa Las Lajas. Those family members and friends who have come down here to visit not only understand but also probably agree with my hyperbole. So, it will come as a surprise to no one that I am now going to compare my Panamanian home to Camelot. Sorry. Had to go there, but not for a greatest of reasons. I love living in Panama with only one caveat, only during the dry season. What does all this have to do with King Arhtur’s home base, you would understandably ask. For the last week we’ve had a number of rain storms, but they only occur after sunset. (lyrics from the song, The rain may never fall till after sundown). It’s a not a complete match though as the rain doesn’t fall as much as it descends. The Panamanians refer to it as “agua cerro” which literally means, water mountain. Think of the heaviest deluge you’ve ever experienced and you’ll have an idea of what the normal Panamanian rain comes in like. I’ve got to recalk the living room windows before we leave because there’ll be eight months of this on a daily basis while we’re away.

Sunset Crew a Couple Nights Ago 
Wife Hiding Behind Me Because her Hair was in a Turban

Night of Four Sunsets

So, the last couple sunsets haven’t been epic as the clouds hang around, building up to that nightly inundation. They made up for it a couple nights ago when, accompanied by the upstairs neighbors, we experienced four separate sunsets as the sun peeked in and out of clouds as it descended. A viable sunset isn’t required for the sunset ceremony as we gather even when its cloudy because sitting on the beach, sipping adult beverages with good friends is a recipe for the good life. Last night we had some adventure as well. We noticed a farmer’s tractor down the beach with a bunch of young guys working up the beach with what looked like fishing nets. We joined the upstairs neighbors in a guessing game of what was actually going on since they weren’t going out beyond hip depth in the water.

Last Night's Fishing Crew

Working the Nets

Their Haul

My Favorite Panamanian, ever the social one, decided she was going to walk down the beach to investigate. That was when I floated my theory of a cocaine delivery gone wrong and these were the drug dealers policing up the wreckage. That gave her pause, for about five minutes, before she ambled over to see what was going on, with the upstairs neighbor as security. Thankfully, it was just a group of friends fishing. They were doing really well despite their shallow depth and had a bucket of fish for their dinner table. These must be the buggers that bump into my leg while boogie boarding. The Keystone Cops construction company is back at it down the beach, with the huge tube visible from our living room. After failing with the back hoe, they waited a week and showed up yesterday with some kind of fabric to coat the huge pipe with. They stood it back up and seem to be trying to dig it in by hand from the inside again. This promises to be interesting.

The Pipe is Back Up

Blast from the Past on Instagram Today
Wingman Back in the Day

We were back in David for a short stop yesterday as we brought my mother-in-law home after a week long stay with us here at the beach. She really seemed to enjoy her stay, even with the elevator still out of commission. This means, (and I know a bunch of you were worried about this), that I can safely walk around the condo in my underwear again. This may, of course, in turn explain my wife’s foul mood as well. I’m always nervous when my Favorite Panamanian declares we’re driving back to David because she inevitably finds collateral reason to extend the stay well into the evening. Think manicure and friends to visit. This usually means I’m sitting at her mom’s house reading and waiting. Not the worse fate in the world (because of the reading) but, I mean, have you seen the view while reading here at the beach. Despite an unscheduled trip to a clinic and a lab with her mom, she was only gone for four chapters.

Condo Complex Seen from Beach Last Night at Sunset

The Crew

I'm on the Left with the Upstairs Neighbors

The Rain That Eventually Chased us in

We waded through the usual onerous David traffic to hit the requisite supermarkets and were on our way back home by 3pm (win!!). We stopped for lunch at a roadside favorite of my Favorite Panamanian. It was a really good feed and then I had to make the hour-long drive back to the beach with a very full stomach and a pair of eyes that were demanding to shut. We’ve all been there after too big a lunch on a hot afternoon. We arrived in time to join our upstairs neighbors for the aforementioned sunset ceremony. We were still there well into the dark of night when the approaching rain storm we’d been watching march across the waves towards us finally arrived and chased us inside. Still even with the increased rains and attendant humidity -

In short, there's simply not

A more congenial spot

For happily-ever-after-ing than here

Beach This Morning, Still Cloudy

Still Beats the Hell out of this
Ring Camera shot from our Front Door Back Home 
This Morning

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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; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course