Powerless

Before I get around to recounting how we spent the day of birth of my Favorite Panamanian as well as another monumental occurrence, I must take this moment to gripe about being without power from 3am to 3pm today. It’s never fun when the a/c cuts out and I can ominously hear the waves crashing on the beach a lot clearer than usual. I kept waiting for it to come back but blankets were eventually discarded as the room heated up. A major pole apparently came down in San Lorenzo causing a black out in a huge swath of the province, including us, at the end of a very long logistics tail. Of course, there are worse places to spend a day without electricity than a tropical beach, so there’s that. The condo has a generator which powers the elevators as well as some common areas and we have a standard operating procedure to run a long extension cord to that common area for the refrigerator (can’t let the beer get cold).

Birthday Lunch Yesterday!

Now, as to yesterday’s hugely important day. February twelfth has always been a day of celebration as it marks the birthday of my Favorite Panamanian and her twin sister. That meant some celebrating was to be had. We were in the midst of that when we heard Great Aunt could finally add the title of grandmother! Namesake Nephew and his wife welcomed their first child together, a 9-pound baby girl. The mom in this case deserves a medal, that’s a large child! I’m so happy my nephew has his first child, and I warned him about the predictable ability she eventually will wield, winding him around her finger (I think that’s already started). Great Aunt forwent her annual trip here to be there for her granddaughter’s arrival on the scene. I don’t think she could be any happier, welcome to the family little one! Can’t wait to meet you!

Namesake Nephew - A Proud Papa

His Wife - The True Hero

Welcome to the Fam!!!
Going to Have to Come up with a Blog Name

Newest Grandma!!!

Now as to that Panamanian with a few more of those birthdays under her belt. She was pleased to hear about yesterday’s birth because she’ll finally have a family birthday she will not have trouble remembering the date of (inside family joke). Her stated desire to celebrate her own birthday yesterday was to spend as much time with her family as possible. We set out with our visiting Rhode Island dignitaries for David where we picked up my mother-in-law and then headed for the mountain town of Boquete. My wife has a favorite Peruvian restaurant there and we linked up with her twin sister and one of the PanaGals there. It was a fun lunch although there were some uninvited mosquitos and flies in the open air restaurant. We mentioned this to the staff, and we soon had some rotating devices on the table that kept them totally at bay, kind of cool.

Birthday Girl At Lunch

The Rotating Devices

The Birthday Twins With Their Mom

And the Visiting Rhode Islander

Lunch was followed by the obligatory stop at the Boquete Italian Gelato emporium. My Favorite Panamanian commandeered two young Indian kids that were begging out front and bought them each an ice cream cone. Their mother didn’t look happy that they hadn’t scored cash but the kids were beaming. We headed down out of the brisk mountain air for the swelter that is David for another run at the grocery store before stopping by my mother in law’s house again. Tia Loca had prepared (bought) a birthday cake for her twin sisters which, in a major win for a certain gringo, was the first Panamanian cake I ever had without fruit laced liberally throughout. Yes!!!

Twins and Their Cake

I was keeping an eye on the clock and calculating we could make it back to Las Lajas for the sunset after Facetiming with my son’s family when I made the tactical error of telling my wife that our daughter and FBR were on their way home and would be able to Facetime her in about an hour. All plans to leave were shelved at this point as we waited out that hour. Did I mention it was sweltering? We also had a torrential downpour which at least cleaned the dust off the car. The delay also allowed time for my brother-in-law and his fiancé to arrive. The call happened with the solid internet there, as opposed to our spotty service. I didn’t complain because I could see how happy my wife was with this time with her family. She later told me the best part of her birthday celebration was the time she got to spend with her family. A feeling we have in common.

Tia Loca Firing it Up

The trip back to the condo began a period of weird events, including the aforementioned power outage. We were making our way over the bumpy last few kilometers towards the condo when we spied flashing blue lights of an emergency vehicle ahead of us. We kept expecting it to pull into one of the houses or the Show Pony hotel but it continued down to the condo complex. Upon arrival the caretaker informed us a swarm of bees had set up a huge nest right next to the condo common area and were not being good neighbors, decidedly territorial. When that happens here, the fire department is called. As a refugee from the 1970s I remember the horror stories of Africanized bees and once spent a couple days in the hospital after the patrol I was leading kicked up a nest that resulted in me getting stung a few dozen times. I should mention I’m allergic to bee stings. Anyways, they take these bee swarms seriously and the firemen had a special outfit with a tank to disperse some lethal agent and five minutes later we were de-swarmed. The caretaker was out there this morning shoveling the pile of dead bees into a pail.

This Guy Was Cruising the Beach This Morning

The strangeness continued as I finished my morning swim workout. I was getting out of the pool when the balcony doors of one of the first floor condos opened to reveal a crowd of attractive ladies surrounding racks of clothes. A short time later a pair of guys came around carrying photographic equipment. While I was reading on the beach a couple models appeared and the photography started. I later learned a new boutique was opening in David and this group was shooting advertising photos. I tried to appear nonchalant while stealing glances at the procedures. This went on throughout the day. I was a little miffed when the models started donning bikinis that my Favorite Panamanian declared it was time to drive down the beach for lunch. It’s almost as if she timed it that way. Lunch at Plinio’s at our ancient camping spot brought with it the usual intense nostalgia as well as the pack of dogs in residence (still, those missed bikinis!!).

The Photo Shoot 
Couldn't Take One  Any Closer Without Being a Creep 

Lunch at Plinio's

The power came back on while we were at lunch bringing with it the blessed A/C. Shortly before leaving I had told the condo caretaker that I expected him to have the power back on by the time we returned. Even though he had nothing to do with it he was proudly awaiting our return to personally report the situation had been handled. I told him he was the first guy I was going to for all future power outages and his grin slipped  a little. We had a super turnout for the sunset crew, biggest of the year so far. The sunset was a little cloudy and we christened the visiting Rhode Islander as a harbinger of rain, apparently she has a history. There must be something about Rhode Island because Great Aunt has the same effect when she visits.

Today's Sunset Crew

Photobombing my Own Photo

Today's Cloudy 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 her single days in Brooklyn; Czech Connection – Czech couple who’ve become good friends along with their daughter (the Czech Shadow); 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 (whom I miss more than I can ever explain); Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course