Truant Returns

Okay. I know. I’ve been away from Frail Deeds for almost a week, an almost unheard of diversion. That is the key word though. Diversion. I’ve been diverted from writing by spending most of the intervening time on one of the world’s most beautiful beaches surrounded by some of the best people in the world. You throw in the annual Panamanian Carnivale season and, well, enough said. Last Friday we drove inland from the beach to pick up my crazy (loca) sister in law who had driven up from Panama City with a co-worker who lived in the village of Las Lajas.

I Blame This Lady for most of the Diversion

We grabbed her and headed further inland to my mother in law’s house in David. This trip was necessary because Saturday would see a Carnivale Party hosted by my wife’s cousin of the legendary laugh. My wife’s entire family would attend and that was a recipe for entirely too much fun. I’ve spent nearly four decades going to parties at this house and they only get better which is incredibly difficult considering how much fun they’ve always been. They have a raised, covered platform in the front yard where I usually set up shop. One of the traditions of Panamanian is free flying water. At the big city level celebrations fire hoses are used.

Another Challenging Afternoon in Las Lajas

Loca on the Loose with Garden Hose

My Favorite Panamanian Providing Cover

My “loca” sister in law was the first to acquire a garden hose in the driveway and soon everyone within squirting range was soaked. This is an interesting problem now that everybody carries less than water resistant electronics. Mine ended up in the rafters of the platform because I was one of the prime targets of my beloved sister in law. Target one though was her brother and the battle was epic. The party started around noon time and didn’t wind down until nearly midnight. That is the longest time I’ve continuously drank beer in a long time. Certainly not a record though, remembering my college fraternity days and St Patty’s Day, but I digress.

Picking Oranges for the Party

The Party Grill

Cooking by I-Phone Flashlightn

My Wife and the Pana-Gals Garbed up fro Carnivale

Of Course Dancing Broke Out

With the Ring Leader I'm Married To

The Next Generation

Sunday we loaded up the car once again and took a side trip up to the picturesque mountain town of Boquete. We tried out a new restaurant my wife had located and then returned to Las Lajas with both my mother in law and the loca. We got back in time to enjoy another breathtaking sunset on the beach. For some unknown reason my Christmas turkey is something of legend within my wife’s family. She somehow acquired a butterball turkey in Panama and I was charged with re-created an entire Christmas dinner for her extended family on Monday. It was a bit of a challenge with the small oven we have and I’m not a great estimator when I have to cook in centigrade. A bus load of the party survivors showed up in the early afternoon.

Boquete Lunch

The Cook at Work

Had to Bend the Ends of the Pan to Fit it in the Oven

Locusts Descending

La Loca

The meal was a huge success with my wife running samples of the dinner to other friends within the condo complex. That’s another change due to Carnivale the condo was as full as I’ve ever seen it. We usually have the entire building to ourselves but the parking lot of was full. This also had the corollary effect of really slowing down the Wi-Fi which is another reason I haven’t posted, when it takes nearly a minute for a single picture to load. Well that, and my wife staring daggers at me when I’m at the computer instead of socializing.

Cook Eats Last

My Wife Sat Between us to Referee

The Main Table

Star Gazing with La Loca

On Monday my now dried off brother in law and his wife showed up to spend the night with us. Of course my wife had saved a sample of the turkey dinner for them. I was really touched they took time out of his very busy schedule to come down and hang with us. It is definitely a spectator sport to watch he and his sisters go at it. With their presence the condo reached its maximum population and the inflatable bed had to be deployed.

My Kindle is Perfect for the Beach

Five Books Down since I arrived

I should mention what traveling the roads are like during carnival which peaks on Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, just like Fat Tuesday. The Panamanian police take drunk driving very seriously. In anticipation of the partying ongoing there are nearly ubiquitous police check points set up, including on interstate level highway. Each car pulls up to the police who checks the driver’s eyes. This is much more active than US police customs and probably wouldn’t be tolerated up there. It does get your attention though. We had to divert on some dirt tracks as we traveled through the village of Las Lajas because the entire main street was closed off in order to properly celebrate carnviale.

The rest of the week was spent at the beach as the condo population gradually dissipated as people had to return to work. My loca sister in law’s ride back to Panama City was a co-worker who stopped by to spend the afternoon with us on the beach along with her teenage son. She was a lot of fun and I can only imagine what that six hour ride was like. Thursday saw our last guest depart as my wife and I drove her mother back to David. Driving back into civilization after a week in very isolated paradise was eye opening. Traffic in David is always like a roller coaster ride and it was more startling given our car free existence for the rest of the week. My wife and I charged around on a couple of errands and hurried back to spend the last three days of my vacation with just the two of us in the condo. I sense some additional diversion upcoming.

Meanwhile Back in New Jersey

The FBR is Perfecting the Eye Roll

And Escape Technique

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BR3 – inbound granddaughter #3, BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; 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; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn