Our second weekend in Panama turned out to be a time of firsts. Mostly good, but a couple decidedly not so. We’ll lead with the good since that is what life is most assuredly about. We finally got to spend time with my wife’s fantastic family. While Las Lajas is a dream quality paradise, the major reason I wanted to have a place in Panama was my wife’s family. They are just salt of the earth nice people that I love to be around. That had been denied since our latest return out of concern for my mother in law’s health. She’s bearing down on ninety years and we wanted to keep her safe after our travels.
More
than a week of no symptoms so we figured we were safe enough for some modest
contact, still masked and distanced. The occasion was the celebration of my brother
in law’s birthday at his house; more correctly, in the shaded patio outside his
home. We first stopped to visit two of my wife’s uncles, one of whom is on last
rites level of care. I was a little shocked to see the once robust uncle
looking frail to the point of skeletal, but it was nice being able to greet
him. We arrived at my brother in law’s house to find him firmly in place behind
his signature grill dispensing burned animal flesh with abandon. 
Birthday Boy Behind his Grill
Mother and Sister in Law 
Trying Unsuccessfully to Convince me about the Clam Sauce
I
joined him in downing a “few” Panamanian beers although he has a rather disturbing
habit of adding tomato and clam juice to his beer. I consider this borderline sacrilegious
but he swears by it. I didn’t take him up on the offer to taste it. We spent a
great afternoon surrounded by the family as well as the family of my brother in
law’s wife. There were no less than three cakes, including one featuring chocolate
cake topped by chocolate chip cookies. I don’t have to leave it to your imaginations
which way I went. I Facetimed in both of my kids and their families to wish
their uncle a happy birthday. He has a great relationship with both of them.
The FBR took note of the small dog running around yapping and I was directed to
get the camera as close to the “dog” as possible. Luckily there was cake and
beer associated with the experience.
The Cakes!!!
My
wife, predictably, had the honors of the night time drive back to the condo
where we found power restored. We also found the entire building literally
encased in a flying insect swarm, mostly newly hatched termites. The rain over
the preceding couple of days were the most significant since the end of the dry
season and resulted in the birth of the next generation of bugs. Since our
condo stands out like a beacon in the surrounding darkened countryside at night,
they descended en masse, including Panama’s version of the 17 year cicadas
which are every bit as ugly as their American cousins. The condo’s gecko squad
was not up to the challenge of consuming this many insects, although they gamely
tried.
The "Dog"
We
found one wall, near a lamp, with nearly twenty assorted insects crawling on it.
My wife, despite her Panamanian roots, cannot tolerate bugs so I deployed the
vacuum cleaner which made short work of the accumulation. I also laid down a chemical
barrier under the door and the balcony access points. That solved the problem although
it’s tough to fall asleep, despite all the birthday beer, after seeing that
many insects and imagining them crawling across your face. You see, I’ve been away
from the infantry too long, where that was an acceptable sleeping arrangement.
Wife With Sunday Visitor
Sunday
dawned as the best day so far, which is a hard standard to beat. My Favorite Panamanian
was expecting a visit, our first, to the condo by the Panamanian Mafia member she
had lunch with earlier in the week. They were gong to consult on re-decorating
the condo which has me extremely nervous. We decided to meet them first down
the beach at my wife’s favorite beachside restaurant. The friend was
accompanied by two family members and as soon we arrived my wife and her friend
launched into what turned out to be a seven hour conversation. The rest of us
were allowed a few words at sporadic moments. Removing my tongue from my cheek,
it was great catching up with this friend. She reminds of the time in Northern Virginia
with the other members of the Mafia which made that last military assignment so
special, socially.
Our First Visitors This Year
We
returned to the condo while I set up shop on the beach and the ladies went up
to the condo to decide its stylistic future. This may have been the reason so
many beers went down range on the beach or it could have been the fantastic
weather. At any rate, I counted it as a win. We’ll see how long that feeling
lasts as my wife drove back to David today to shop with her friend and make
some of their visions reality. Again, a little nervous. The fantastic day was
topped off with another one of those Las Lajas sunsets and this morning an
early shower resulted in another Pacific based rainbow. My chemical barriers
kept the hordes at bay an all was good after an extremely well spent weekend. 
Wife, A Little Silly on Beach During Sunset Walk, Condo in Background
That Sunset
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| Another Rainbow This Morining |
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| Beach This Morning |
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 3rd 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
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