Routinely

Okay, so we’re into February already which means we’ve been in Panama for more than a month. That seems incredible on certain levels because it doesn’t seem that long. Of course, it would seem a lot longer if I had to deal with 30 inches of snow and a persistent polar vortex, but I digress. We’ve had a fun weekend with Tia Loca and my mother-in-law in residence. We linked up with them at First Friday pizza at Sunset Pizza in the village. That pizza dough remans one of Panama’s hidden treasures. Las Lajas is gearing up to celebrate their patron saint which has meant nearly daily Catholic masses. That has made my Favorite Panamanian and her visiting Rhode Island counterpart very happy.

First Friday Pizza Crew

I’m glad because apparently my wife had some sort of revelation while in church that led her to realize she wasn’t taking full advantage of life on the beach. She only had to refer to her husband to see what is involved in that equation. She has boogie boarded no less than three times over the past week, which is more than she did all last year. She hasn’t mastered the whole step out of the way when I bear down on her, trying to skim by her closely. My eye is healing well.

Today's Cloudy Sunset Social Hour

Tia Loca continued her obsessive need to dig clams, and she roped my Favorite Panamanian into a prolonged hunt yesterday. So much so that my wife had a really sore back today. Our freezer has a huge bushel of clams to be addressed. That’s always fun. Before they met their frigid end, one of Tia Loca’s victims launched a vicious attack on my mother-in-law. She was helping her daughters rinse their haul when one of the little buggers latched on to her fingernail. It was so funny seeing all three ladies try to figure out how to remove the clam without damaging the fingernail, because, as we all know, that is more important.  

Clam Attack

Our streak of fantastic sunsets seemed destined to end today with an uncharacteristically cloudy day. Or so we thought. My stalwart sunset social crew showed up despite the heavy cloud cover and Las Lajas rewarded us. We couldn’t see anything of the actual sun setting and while we still had our merry socializing, we suddenly noticed the entire western sky had lit up. Ten minutes after the sun had disappeared (so the internet informed us) the whole sky was illuminated. It looked like an airborne river of lava. We were seriously mesmerized. The photos don’t do it justice. We concluded that this would rank amongst the best sunsets even though we didn’t see any sunsetting. It’s what we do.

Started out Subdued

Then

Boom!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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; Upstairs Neighbors – American couple and great friends who live in condo above us in Panama; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Respite

I’ve protected you all from my fractured prose for the last few days. I’d like to claim that it was out of sympathy for the trials most of my favorite people are going through dealing with the monster winter storm. That I didn’t wat to inflict continuous coverage of what my situation was in stark contrast to the frozen north. If I’m completely honest though, I’ve just been lazy. That’s easy enough to do when you’re in my situation. Not only living at a tropical beach but also having some of the best weather we’ve experienced since arriving. The dry season with low humidity and gentle offshore breezes all day long have finally arrived in force.

Last Night's Welcoming Dinner

I know my family was grinding their teeth when they read the second sentence above. They were dutifully sending me pictures of what it was like in the storm zone. In typical response I sent them a view of what I was looking at and proclaiming we’d had no accumulation. I know. Kind of cruel. You can see the extent of the cruelty when I show you the photos I received and sent. Yep, Kind of d**k. I have suffered some casualties in the storm though. Our house sitter reported the demise of my snowblower which decided to die when confronted with the mountain of snow it had to address. I luckily have some of the best neighbors in the western world as our next-door neighbors and the Neighborhood Mafioso helped us coordinate a workaround.

In New Jersey Walnut Surveying the Aftermath

Their Deck

Meanwhile in NH Riggins is Thinking "C'mon!!"

BRS and BR3 Ready to Play, Once they Can Get Out of Garage

The View From Our Condo I Sent

Ring Camera View of Our Front Yard in Worcester

In a major development, my Favorite Panamanian has finally decided to enjoy living on the beach. She’s spent so much time and effort planning her upcoming birthday celebration that I’ve had to pretty much go it alone at the beach. I know, we all have crosses to bear. Earlier this week I was surprised when she showed up for the morning boogie board session toting her own board. I’d been extolling the return of Las Lajas signature surfing waves, but this was the first time since we arrived that she joined in. The Upstairs Neighbors snapped these photos from their condo. I think they were as shocked as I was.

Wife and I Boogie Boarding

We also have resumed our morning beach walks, which I enjoy because it gives her a chance to fill me in on everything I need to know (willing or otherwise). We took our first walk to the western end of the beach since we’ve been back and encountered a big surprise. There’s a river that runs behind the condo and empties into the Pacific at that end of the beach. Heretofore there had been a definite channel as the river cut through the beach. That was gone. It’s been replaced by a huge bay covering a significant portion of what was previously beach area across the river.

Morning Walk

Birds Didn't Appreciate Our Approach

The New Bay

We spent a couple days this week back in David. On Monday we did a huge grocery run to lay in supplies for what promises to be a very busy February. We also took in a movie with Tia Loca. Yesterday we were back for a couple of reasons. My Favorite Panamanian through social networking had gotten a clue as to a good hairdresser (this is apparently big news). The hairdresser was located in the picturesque mountain town of Boquete. We also were scheduled to pick up the first of our February visitors, our friends from Rhode Island, later in the day.

We Got in a Sunset on Tuesday

So. I was cruelly yanked from my beach earlier than planned yesterday so I could get my wife and her mother to this new hairdresser appointment. After some extended reconnaissance we located the salon and I was summarily dismissed to amuse myself while the ladies were attended to. I walked around the town in the very cool temperatures (for Panama) and took in the beautiful views. It was in the low seventies, so I saw a couple Panamanians wearing parkas. I set up shop in the shade in the central park to read away the time waiting. I finished my latest Travis McGee novel and decided some gelato from our favorite gelato shop in Boquete would be nice.

Views from my Walk Around Boquete

I accomplished that and was a couple chapters into my next Travis McGee when my newly coifed wife showed up. I asked her how she found me and she laughed. She knew I had my kindle and blithely said she just looked for the nearest shady spot where I could sit and read. I am predictable, apparently. I had my revenge when I revealed I had made it to the gelato shop. She was shocked at my temerity, but I told her it was her own fault for leaving me unsupervised. We finished up our Boquete stay with lunch at one of our favored restaurants. We were, strangely, the only ones there, a huge change from earlier visits. They’ve raised the prices a lot and with so many other choices I guess people have voted with their feet. The food was still good. As our departure route took us by the gelato place, my Favorite Panamanian executed her patent move, batting those incredible eyes at me. So, I had a second serving of the Oreo flavored gelato while my wife had some sort of pink concoction.  

Boquete Lunch

Gelato Time

We were back in the oppressive heat of David in time for the flight. I watched the temperature climb fifteen degrees in the car as we descended out of the hills. This is the second year in a row that our Rhode Island friends have visited. As with last year, they’re renting the condo downstairs owned by the Panamanian couple of the Seis Amigos. My wife’s family joined us in a welcoming dinner in the rapidly becoming famous eatery, El Fogon. They’d left Boston with a temperature reading below zero and were now doing more than ninety degrees better. Sorry, a last chance to rub it in.

The movie we saw, Mercy, was better than what I’m reading on the internet. Chris Pratt stars as a futuristic cop accused of murdering his wife. He has ninety minutes to convince an AI judge of his innocence or face summary execution. It offers a real comment on the intrusive nature of today’s intent infusion into our lives as the judge can access virtually anything connected to the internet, which is, basically, everything. The judge is played with clinical detachment by Rebecca Ferguson, so good in everything she does. While the bulk of the movie is the two of them facing off in a closed environment, it highlights what good actors they both are. The first fifteen minutes drag a bit but if you can wait through that, it is a great movie building up suspense as we hang on each development with the almost obligatory twist.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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; Upstairs Neighbors – American couple and great friends who live in condo above us in Panama; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Sorry

I’m not really, but I feel the need to apologize to my loved ones and friends. They are bracing for an epic winter storm. They’ve been spared that over the last few years but the one that is bearing down on them reminds me of 2015 which is the last time I recall one so big. Of course, I was still employed at that time and required to go in to work until the governor shut down all the roads. I don’t think that will happen this time. During yesterday’s Frist Friday Family Facetime call I was speaking with Great Aunt about the cool fact of being retired means you can hunker down during these big storms instead of worrying about how to get to work. We had this conversation after my son and daughter had signed off because I don’t think they would have embraced our feelings as thoroughly.

Sunset Pizza Last Night

Meanwhile, Back in New England

The apology part comes in when I consider what I’ll be doing during the storm. The attached photos show the view from my usual spot at the beach under my favorite rancho while the other depicts the view from our condo. I took these yesterday when the Pacific was looking particularly picturesque. I did my time behind a snow shovel growing up and then fought the good fight against the driveway from hell for ten years at our Charlton home. In my mind, I’ve earned the right to bask in the sun while New England gets buried in snow.

My View from the Rancho

From the Condo

At least New England knows how to handle snow. I expect everything to be back to normal by Wednesday after the Monday cessation of the storm. I also note that our nation’s capital is receiving over a foot of snow. I pray for those poor souls. I lived in that area for a  total of ten years over the course of my military career. It snows there every year, but it seems to surprise them every year. An inch of snow calls for widespread panic and the closing of just about everything. I can only imagine what’s going on there now with this much inbound.

Yesterday's Sunset Social Crew

For those of you worried about the state of the condo and my Favorite Panamanian’s impending return, I’m happy to report that I passed with flying colors when she returned on Wednesday. The last part of my geographic bachelor time was spent in cleaning and laundry. I then vacated the condo and spent most of the day on the beach so I wouldn’t mess up the results of my efforts. Sacrifices must be made. It was good to have her back, and she decided to join me for a couple early morning beach walks after her return. In a major surprise, she grabbed her boogie board and joined me yesterday to ride the waves, the first time in 2026 for her. It helped that the Las Lajas surf has finally returned to its usual power and height after a very tepid start to 2026. We completed First Friday celebrations with the sunset social hour followed by pizza/gelato in the village at Sunset Pizza. We were joined in these efforts by our most excellent Upstairs Neighbors who make those efforts sublime.

Yesterday's Sunset

Finally, I know this might set off some of my very liberal friends as well as those who occupy the other end of the spectrum, but I’ve started watching some videos from Bill Maher who I never  thought was very funny. That opinion has changed and I also like some of things I hear from him on that spectrum. He echoes a lot of my own thoughts on the need to move political discourse to the center versus the firmly entrenched viewpoints for the both far ends of the right and left. I know liberals experienced apoplexy when he had the temerity to accept an invitation to dinner at the White House. He still criticizes Trump but he also rightly goes after the hypocrisy and idiocy the far left inflicts on us daily. I know Trump provides such a glaring and rightful target but that doesn’t mean the left should get a free pass. Maher does in with humor and without the vitriolic you get from Fox “news” pundits. I especially like what he says in this video about the state of news. It highlights something important we’ve lost.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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; Upstairs Neighbors – American couple and great friends who live in condo above us in Panama; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course