My Favorite Panamanian returned yesterday from spending time with her mom and everything seemed to click back in place. My carpet cleaning received passing grades which wasn’t the only surprise endured. The clouds which had been our constant companion since she left abandoned us for most of the day. Some returned late in the day to provide an elegant background for the sunset which was the first one we could observe since she departed. She joined the upstairs neighbors and I for the sunset ceremony and relished in the fact we attached the return of the sun to her presence.
She's Back!
My
other pre-deployment activities (windows and balcony projects) were also roundly
praised by my better half which led to wonder what phase the stars we’re under.
She’s usually capable of liking what I’ve done but also pointing out corollary
aspects I should have addressed. I’m not complaining, I’ll take it, especially with
the remaining projects we’re facing over the next week. The suitcases came down
out of storage this morning and this is a girl who treats packing as if it is a
fine art. This runs headlong into my own technique, or I should say, lack of
technique. This promises to be interesting but I have a ready supply of beer on
hand. I’m making the switch from my Panamanian staple of Atlas back to Coors
Lite because that transition shouldn’t be overlooked as we prepare for our
return. For political reasons I didn’t add that to the written list of what we
have to accomplish as we prepare to close up shop here.
Reunited with the Sunset Gang
Today
is an important day also for a completely different reason, it marks the day of
birth of none other than that “famous” individual, the Cantankerous Friend. As
usual, we’re on different continents when this day rolls around, but I hope to link
up with him week after next on a thunder run back to my home town, adult
beverages will be involved. My friend has evolved into something of a renaissance
man since his retirement, although he’d probably want to argue with me on that
point (it’s what he does). He’s an avid bicyclist now and has toured across the
country on some truly impressive rides. Even more remarkably, he’s taken up
snow skiing at our advanced age, including an epic trip to the French Alps this
year that I hope to hear about when we get together. So happy birthday to one
of my oldest friends, rock on!
Cantankerous and I the Year We Met
My
Favorite Panamanian’s return wasn’t the only reunion taking place yesterday. As
we were walking in from the sunset ceremony, we heard the distinctive barking
of three hyperactive, small dogs which heralded the return of the Panamanian Couple
to complete the assembly, once again and for the last time this year, of the
Seis Amigos! We spent a lively forty minutes catching up with them on their
balcony. They, and my Favorite Panamanian, joined me for the morning boogie
boarding session today. It was so much
fun to have four of us out in the surf. Predictably my wife and her counterpart
from the Panamanian Couple got into a conversation and temporarily forgot where
they were. I was trying to get their attention when a particularly large wave
arrived to remind them, funny stuff. Regrettably I don’t have any pictures of
our boogie boarding session because, well, the aforementioned waves. We finished
the boogie boarding and ended up in the pool where the conversations continued
in a much safer environment. Those had to be abandoned when I pointed out that
it was nearly eleven o’clock and we hadn’t had breakfast yet. They’ll be here through
the weekend though, having returned to say good bye to us before we leave.
Color me very touched.
More Recently
Yesterday's Sunset
Waiting for the Bus 
Still Loves her Teddy Bear
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Yoga Time with Mom
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 3rd 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
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