After Action Assessment

Sadly, today marks my last full day at our beach front condo, at least for 2021. I’ve always lectured my kids on being optimistic so this must be what is known as an acid test. It’s bad enough that it’s my last day but a lot of that day will be spent cleaning and preparing the condo for hibernation. One does not simply let a place sit, without preparation, in the tropics. I guess it’s a bit like owning a boat, a lot of preventive maintenance involved. You’ll notice, as I am writing this, that I survived my adventures yesterday taking down the balcony blinds. I only made the mistake of looking down (instant vertigo) twice while I was doing that.

My Daily View from Condo

I’m going to spend some time reviewing the past month which was the longest I’ve ever stayed at the condo and served as a dress rehearsal for the winter long stay that was supposed to start this year but was Covid killed. This was also the first time we stayed here in April which is when the Panamanian wet season starts to kick in, so we were leery if it made sense to plan a stay this late in the season. It turns out April wasn’t so bad, there were some rainy periods but not the day long deluges you get at the height of the season.

Sample of Daily Bug Body Count in Balcony Doorway

There were some differences though. The biggest, or I should say the most noticeable, was the increase in the bug population. Insects are a given in Panama, even during the dry season but I was genuinely shocked by the nightly onslaught. Actually, it was only a few nights and I’m told those nights were a result of colonies of winged termites migrating. This didn’t turn out to be a problem though. We sprayed the doorway and the balcony doors every week and this barrier held out the worst of it. There was a pretty healthy body count on the balcony in the morning but this also attracted the ever present birds to some in and feast which was fun to watch. It did rain a lot but these were usually late afternoon passing showers with only a couple of thunder storms. I actually waited out a couple of the storms down on the beach underneath the bohio reading (wife thought I was crazy).

Waiting out a Rain Storm

Another change for this time of year is the overwhelming presence of land crabs, emerging from the holes all over the place. These little buggers were everywhere, at least until the food chain got energized. They were orange and black and made it into the building on a regular basis; one even rode the elevator up to our third floor. On a nighttime ride back to the condo the road literally looked like it was moving with hundreds of them. Their time seems to have passed though as the local bird population has pretty much eradicated them. They grab the crab, fly up, drop it to kill it, and then feast. One day my Favorite Panamanian drove down the road and felt like she was in a Hitchcock movie as hundreds of birds were sitting on a fence waiting for the crabs to show themselves.

Land Crab

As I said, this was our longest stay here so, as you can tell, I had more time to observe the local wildlife. We apparently had something called a “Mepache” paying nighttime calls to the pools. According to my zoologist brother-in-law, that’s a Panamanian raccoon. We only knew of the visits because he decided to defecate in the pool one night (the Mepache, not my brother in law). That closed the pool for a days and the caretaker set up a sniper nest for couple nights. Staying so long this time I also saw the full cycle of the tides which was fascinating to watch each day as the high tides crept closer and closer, culminating this week by reaching the bohios.

On the Beach This Morning

I was able to work fairly easily form here. It wasn’t a whole lot different than the past few months from the Man Cave, although the view is definitely and infinitely better. It was kind of entertaining to poke fun at my New England co-workers during zoom calls by showing them my beach view while they dealt with some late April snow. This stay offered me the opportunity to establish a good morning workout routine, assisted by the FBR’s early morning wakeup calls. I’m definitely in better shape now than when I arrived, despite an almost legendary level of Atlas beer consumption.

Family Beach Walk

Finally, the visitors; the true highlight of our stay. Although there are still the pandemic restrictions we were able to host my wife’s family and a couple other friends during our stay. It more than validated our plans for upcoming years where I’ve been encouraging friends and family to come visit. I should add a word here on the Panamanian pandemic response. It is obvious they took it a lot more seriously than the US did. Everyone here wears a mask, all the time. Every store you walk into requires a temperature check and use of hand sanitizer with someone posted to make sure you comply. I was totally impressed with the measures involved and a little embarrassed by my country’s performance. So, in the final analysis, our April stay more than validated our retirement plans. The only conflicts were the difference of opinions between my Favorite Panamanian and I about my boogie boarding exploits, but that’s been going on for years. We’re looking forward to 2022 and a now four month stay at the condo.

Best Part About Our Stay - My Roommate

Balcony Spa

Sunset Last Night

Note the High Tide - Beach All but Gone

Beach This Morning

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BR3 – 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; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; 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