It’s
been decidedly less isolated here over the past week. We had the PanaGal remain
with us after her family returned to Panama City on Friday. This gave my Favorite
Panamanian a partner in crime so I was left to my own devices, never a solid
course of action. The visit was fortuitous since it coincided with this weekend’s
NFL playoffs so I didn’t have to worry about the not so silent censure I sometimes
receive for watching too much football. Added bonus – they made brownies!! It’s
amazing how fast those things disappear, a complete mystery, of course.
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| First Friday Sunset |
This
meant I was on my own for my morning beach walks over the past couple days
which is okay because it remains to be extremely cool to be walking on a
tropical beach and having it completely to myself as far as I can see. I was
finally able to get a picture of one of the roving crab herds I wrote about in
my last post. It was a small one so imagine this herd about ten times larger
and you’ll have an idea of what I’m seeing each morning. The birds have also discovered
the enhanced menu and are in a serious swooping cycle to thin the herds, thoroughly
entertaining (probably not for the crabs).
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| The Crab Herd |
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| Friday Sunset |
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| Saturday Morning Sun Rising over a Thankfully Extinct Volcano |
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| Saturday Sunset & Wife |
My
beachside reading continues apace. I’ve now knocked off ten Jack Reacher novels
since I arrived in Panama and am getting to ones I remember well. I love the
Kindle’s ability to store so many books and last year discovered how much fun
it was to circle back and read books from years past. Last year it was the
Travis McGee novels and this year it’s all Reacher, so far. This has reduced the
frustration of waiting for favorite authors to publish something new. An
unintended consequence of getting older, I can’t remember the books I read
years ago so it’s like experiencing them new all over again. Pretty cool.
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| Sunday Morning Beach |
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| Solitary Beach Walk |
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| Wife's Family Arrives |
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| Our Bohio Was Full |
Yesterday
we were joined by large group from another branch of my wife’s extended family.
It did everything to make me feel really old as the mother of two young
children was someone I remembered as being a child herself seemingly last year.
Her mother, now a grandmother twice over, is younger than either of my own
children. Like I said, I’m old. It’s truly weird, or self-deceptive, how often
that still surprises me. They were a fun group of ten that stayed the entire
day with us on the beach.
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| Wife Happily Surrounded by Kids |
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| Happily with a Baby |
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| Beachside Nap Time |
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| Wife with her Fam |
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| Sunday Sunset |
They
had a four-month-old baby which immediately, and predictably, ended up in my Favorite
Panamanian’s arms. I classified this as a needed granddaughter fix. This all
freed me up to watch yesterday’s playoff games with even less of a chance of
being in trouble. The games were fun and my upstairs neighbor joined me to
watch Buffalo go down. The increased visitors this year is a great tendency and
it only gets better from here. Later this week Great Aunt will be joining us
for more than a week!!! Shortly after she departs, we’ll have all three granddaughters
and their parental units in! It just doesn’t get any better than that. Oh,
yeah, it’s snowing in Worcester right now.
 |
| FBR Had a Daddy Daughter Weekend |
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| Intense |
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| How do I Get One of those Axes?! |
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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 him her single days in Brooklyn; 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 3rd 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; Soxfather -
my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course
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