Refit and Kobbe Ladies

Astute viewers of my Facebook feed will realize I didn’t torture them with yet another of Las Lajas spectacular sunsets yesterday. No, I have not decided to take mercy on them. I denied myself that pleasure for the simple fact that we were running out of food and needed a resupply run back to David. You throw in a good action movie showing at the local cinema and Thursday was pretty well fried. Back home in the frigid north, my incomparable high school classmates staged a takeover/mini-reunion of the Pub in Keene to welcomed home a classmate returning to visit from Atlanta. Missing something like that is one of the few occasions to cause me to regret not being back there. The Cantankerous One as well as both Keene Friends represented our gang at the gathering. KHS ’73 just rules, there is no plausible argument anymore.

Kobbe Ladies on the Beach Wednesday

Cantankerous Flanked by Keene Friends 1 and 2

Before heading into David, we indulged in some nostalgia of our own on Wednesday. I met a fellow second lieutenant during my initial training at Fort Benning in 1980. He was married to a gorgeous Panamanian lady which offered me my first indication of what was in store since I knew I was going to be stationed there. Before that assignment was finished, I emerged from a well received exploration of Panamanian pulchritude married to my Favorite Panamanian. The lieutenant and I were assigned to the same infantry battalion at Fort Kobbe and our wives got to know each other. That was the only times we were assigned together but we ran into them over the years and they remained good friends. He and I sufficiently embarrassed them by singing military ditties from a high rise balcony (but that's a story for another day). He’s now a successful author and she was visiting family here in Panama. They conducted a mini reunion of their own Wednesday when she and my Favorite Panamanian got together on the beach with her godchild. These Chiricana ladies age spectacularly well.

With Tia Loca at Terra Ristorante Last Night

Back to that hunger induced run back to David. My Favorite Panamanian has been busy scribbling meal plans for weeks involving some upcoming visitors and yesterday was the day those meal plans had to be translated into actual food. I also obtained supplies to hopefully repair my severed boogie board. I’ll let you know how that goes. We stopped for lunch at the David TGIFridays. It’s been there forever but this was the first time I’ve ever been in. I was truly excited about a very American tasting cheeseburger (the simple things in life). After some serious pillaging of the local grocery store, which included her giving me a long list of the toughest things to find, we rushed back to her mom’s house to pack her freezer before grabbing Tia Loca for a trip to the cinema. We followed that with dinner at one of my favorite places in David, Terra Ristorante. So, missed the sunset back in Las Lajas but it was still a day well spent and I made it back to Las Lajas to fall asleep to sound of waves.

Good Friend Walking a Rat with a Hormone Problem

One of those upcoming visitors will be the FBR accompanied by her mom, my daughter. I scored some Fruit Loops for her yesterday, the FBR, not my daughter. The FBR has the 90^th day of school coming up and they’re going to mark it by all dressing up in 1990’s fashion. Unsurprisingly, I know nothing about that since I wore a uniform the entire decade, but luckily my daughter has her mother’s fashion sense and took on the project. The photo below shows the results. As far as the photo above, it pictures Soxfather’s long suffering brother-in-law. He and I always bemoan the fact that he’s been saddled with a series of small and noisy dogs. He asked my daughter to take this picture when she was in RI recently to demonstrate to me that the trend continues. I blame his wife, a well-known and disavowed photo critic.

FBR, 90s Style

Den of Thieves 2, Pantera was a predictably good action flick. Predictable because of the Gerard Butler O’Shea Jackson pairing. Butler plays a disgraced cop who joins up with an international criminal ring, led by Jackson, the only one who got away in the first film, to rob a diamond market. There are some huge plot holes, like why the organized criminals so readily accept a former cop into their team, but with action movies you forgive a lot. The two leads make a very good buddy paring, from opposite ends of the law enforcement spectrum. This is a lot less gritty than the original but the robbery was great cinema keeping the audience on the proverbial edge of the seat. A great addition to the action genre.

Great News from Down the Beach
The Buddy Doppelganger was not the Dog Who Died

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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 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; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Augmentation

Yet another weekend has perished and tomorrow we will have been here for an entire month which seems implausible. That’s what happens when you’re having this much fun. We received reinforcements this weekend to embellish the enjoyment. We had a full nine person complement for First Friday night pizza in the village. The Panamanian elements of the Seis Amigos have yet to make an appearance since our arrival but his sister was in town with her kids and mom so we dragged them along with us. They were a great addition to the Friday festivities. The pizza was delayed when the kitchen caught fire due to the excess cheese on one of the upstairs neighbors’ pizza which made her the target of some well-meant ribbing. We also had another fleeting sighting of Chow Mein, the wayward Sunset Pizza cat of legerdemain. She passed by as we were partaking of the post-pizza gelato, obvious upset her access to beg at tables has been curtailed by the newly enclosed eating area.

Very Fun First Friday Pizza Crew

Our forces were further reinforced on Saturday with the arrival of my mother-in-law and Tia Loca. This meant I had my boogie board buddy back to conquer the waves with. Tia Loca is so much lighter than I am that she has a lot easier time catching waves but is also more prone to flipping over, so there’s that. We didn’t get a Saturday sunset ceremony because we had to attend the annual condo owners annual meeting via zoom scheduled at the same time. We went upstairs to view the meeting with the neighbors as well as our new next-door neighbor. There’s going to be an additional charge again this year since the roof needs some repair, owning property on the beach can be expensive due to the corrosive salt air, but you can’t beat the views.

Chow Mein Passing By

Post Pizza Gelatos

My Favorite Panamanian was up in arms at the efforts of a couple fellow owners trying, again, to get the condo association to approve letting them lease their condos via Air B&B. Tis is currently prohibited by the association bylaws. I was simultaneously translating, via What’s App, the procedures for our new neighbor’s husband who was watching from Oregon. The B&B effort was roundly voted down as the issues of non-owners bringing a host of issues (think spring break). We raised the blinds as the sun set so the Oregonian could see what he was missing.

Saturday Sunset From Meeting Location

Sunday the condo complex was very mobbed including a full complement of thongs which I always appreciate for aesthetic value only, mind you. The upstairs neighbor was helpful in this regard during the sunset ceremony (back on the beach thankfully) when she pointed out a full moon behind us. It was part of a matched set cavorting near the common area. Both Tia Loca and my mother-in-law joined us for the sunset ceremony, an augmentation extremely welcome. The sunset was perfectly timed to fall between the two NFL Conference Championship games which I truly appreciated, although I didn’t like any of the four teams playing. The two teams I wanted to win both lost but the two best teams did advance, Kansas City with their usual help from officialdom.

Back on the Beach for Sunday Sunset

With Augmented Crew

I knocked out a couple movies this past week thanks to the magic that is the Super Streamer. My Favorite Panamanian only lasted a few minutes of Anora due to the nudity and sex. You’ll not be surprised to learn I continued to watch. I loved this very strange love story of a Brooklyn sex worker and the son of a Russian oligarch. You can’t help but fall in love yourself with Anora but I was really surprised/pleased by the comedy liberally injected after all the sex. The Russian bodyguards and their boss were too funny and I’m so glad one of them was nominated for an Oscar for his depth in portraying a guy doing what he has to but at the same time falling for Anora. Well worth a watch as long as nudity and sex don’t offend.

I wasn’t as big a fan of Nosferatu. Obviously, I watched this alone because the wife doesn’t do horror (other than marrying me). There is some real texture to this retelling of the original vampire movie’s plot. We’re in Germany instead of England for this go round and it’s Orlock instead of Dracula coming out of Transylvania. The cast was great with the exception of Ms. Depp who hasn’t inherited her dad’s acting genes. She’s getting a lot of praise but I found myself dreading whenever she appeared on screen and not because she was scary. Bill Skarsgård, on the other hand, was terrifying as the grizzled and insatiable Count. This was more grim than truly scary but, as I said before, great texture.

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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 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; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Board Sadness

It’s been a completely non-busy week here at the beach which I consider a considerable accomplishment considering who I’m married to. I’ve been able to immerse myself in a true retirement lifestyle. That isn’t always possible when my Favorite Panamanian launches on one of the several hundred ideas she always seems to have circulating within her mind. I’ve been able to complete the morning workout routines, followed by beach reading, followed by breakfast, then back to the beach for more reading, lunch, stationary bike workout, and then the afternoon boogie board session culminating in more reading on the beach. This is followed by the biggest and most cherished event of the day, the daily sunset ceremony with my dedicated crew.

The Crew Yesterday with our New Member (l)
Note I had the Binos but no Skinny Dippers :(

We added to the crew yesterday with the arrival of our new next-door neighbor in the condo. She’s a Brazilian gal married to an American from Oregon who is still back in the States working. We initiated her into the mysteries of our nightly sunset ceremony. Earlier in the day, during the morning workout I saw a pair of buzzards take up residence overlooking me. This was a regular occurrence last year and it always begged the question if they knew something about my health that I didn’t. I guess the word finally got back to the flock that I was back because they were back on station yesterday.

My Personal Coaches 

The Turtlenecked Grasshopper

Speaking of Panama’s fauna, my upstairs neighbors took a photo of the mongoso sized grasshopper, with turtleneck, that I wrote about seeing on the fence of the gas place last weekend. You can see why I was so impressed. My Favorite Panamanian took our new neighbor down the beach to Plinio’s yesterday and learned some sad news. The black lab who always jumped into my lap there, reminding me so much of Buddy the Wonder Pooch, died last week after being bitten by a snake.  He was inquisitive, as are all labs.

R.I.P. my Friend

That’s not the only bad news. I am sad to report that my best buddy on the beach, my blue boogie board, is severely damaged. During yesterday’s afternoon session, I felt it become a little too flexible as I rode down a large wave. Upon reaching shallow water I checked and saw the telltale break across the surface revealing the broken Styrofoam below. I’ve had to switch to the yellow one now, a serious break in etiquette. I’ve been searching the internet for ways to repair Styrofoam and I’ll give it a try but prior efforts at earlier incarnations of similarly broken boogie boards have all failed miserably. I should probably be planning an appropriate funeral rite for this old friend. You see, it isn’t all pleasing all the time in paradise. We do have these sunsets though and, come to think of it, it is the First Friday of the Week!!!

The Board Before its Final Ride

But Then We Had this Sunset

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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 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; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Back in the Saddle

My geographic bachelorhood ended in rather dramatic fashion on Saturday as my Favorite Panamanian ushered me to her true “happy place”, the dance floor. She’d been sidelined from that beloved activity since her knee went hors de combat last summer followed by September surgery. We’ll get to the dance floor eventually, but I must recount my journey to join her. The First Friday of Last Week rolled around, as scheduled, which had the stalwart upstairs neighbors allowing me to join them for pizza night after the obligatory sunset ceremony. Since they were driving back to David on Saturday morning, they saved my wife a trip to pick me up. The aforementioned wife forgot to take our depleted propane tank for the balcony grill so that fell to us.

Together Again

She had reconned a PanaGas location on the highway back to David and we accomplished the refill amidst the surrounding arcane requirements while taking in the absolute largest grasshopper I’ve ever seen. It was reposed in the surrounding fence at the gas place and had to be nearly a foot in length and appeared to be sporting a turtleneck (not kidding). Of course, I forgot to get a picture of it but I was impressed, it looked vaguely pre-historic. They dropped me off at my mother in law’s house and I was reunited with my Favorite Panamanian.

We celebrated by immediately setting out to do something really romantic, grocery shopping. I’d put a serious dent in our food supplies during the past week so that was needed. We had a fun dinner at El Fogón with my favorite waiter/friend Everardo. Fortunately El Fogón was showing a NFL playoff game so I caught the last quarter of the Kansas City – Houston game. I must really like my Favorite Panamanian because I only saw one of the four playoff games this past weekend. Just saying. After dinner my wife and Tia Loca prepped for the big event of the weekend, the aforementioned dancing.

Back on the Dance Floor

Very Fun Group

The Sangria Twins

My wife’s brother had invited us out to the iconic Joron Zebeda. He and his lady drove us all to this favorite and immense dance floor. It was nearly empty when we arrived because it was so early, only 9pm. It’s an inside joke within the family that I am always the one who wants to leave, usually when the crowd starts to rev up, say around 2am. A small crowd eventually filtered in as we spent most of the time on the dance floor. It was really hot, Panama hot. I eventually devised a cooling off technique which involved placing my cold beer bottle on top of my head when we returned from the dance floor. They thought it was cute, but effective.

My Cool Down Technique

I should mention at this point that my Favorite Panamanian and Tia Loca were imbibing from a pitcher of sangria. Everybody in my family knows this is a situation fraught with danger. Sangria seems to have a magical effect on them. Tia Loca starts speaking fluent English and my non-drinking wife loses what small geographic sense she has. During a well-chronicled event over a decade ago in Panama City, she ended up wandering our hotel in the early morning hours searching for our room, but that is a story for another day. This time out, they were a lot of fun. Although my wife was singularly upset with me for not bringing my standard hangover prevention cure, Alka Selzer, with me.

Tia Loca and her Brother

This is led to a very funny event. We left the dance floor around midnight (truly early for this bunch) and as we were driving home my Favorite Panamanian said, based on her consumption of sangria, she needed Alka Selzer. This led to a trip to an all-night pharmacy where she boldly walked up to the outdoor window and declared she needed Alka Selzer, and was informed a black Alka Seltzer was available that was specifically designed for this type requirement (too much intake). The rest of us stayed in the car and laughed since she is usually a teetotaler. She returned to the car saying she told the attendant the cure was needed for us. I’m not sure the attendant bought that story either. When/if she sees I’ve posted these photos I’m probably on the couch for a couple nights.

Wife at All Night Pharmacy

Scoring her Alka Seltzer

Before heading back to the beach on Sunday we were invited for lunch at my brother in law’s lady’s home. That was a very fun gathering where we once again took up our roles of refereeing the back and forth between Tia Loca and her brother. Our hostess spent years creating a fantastic garden complex which we all know my Favorite Panamanian enjoyed touring. I eventually had to almost drag her out as they compared garden complexes. I was jonesing to get on the road back to the condo because of the third playoff game I was destined to miss. On the upside, we got all the groceries stored in time to join our redoubtable upstairs neighbors for the sunset ceremony. I finally saw an NFL playoff game that night and it was probably the best of the weekend.

Sunday Lunch

Yesterday was an interesting day here at the beach. My wife contracted last year with a local artisan to build us a bed frame. That was delivered yesterday with appropriate fanfare. Before he left “we” decided he should build us a couple bedside tables as well. Fortunately, he and I teamed up to convince my wife that a round table she envisioned for the dining room would be too large for the space available. Small victories. The power was out for a scheduled maintenance period during all this and we had our handyman in to fix a minor problem with the sliding doors to the balcony he fixed a couple weeks ago as well. Electricity came back and we were blessed with another fabulous Las Lajas sunset, with an additional friend in the crew. I was thinking of Keene Friend 2 last night as his beloved Notre Dame’s epic comeback in the college national championship game against Ohio State fell short. On the upside he’s on a retirement vacation himself, not too far from us, in Aruba.

Last Night's Sunset

The Crew

Our New Bed

Finally, apparently my earlier report about the BRS and BR3 losing all their kiddie makeup privileges was in error. The ABFA is their latest victim. They told her they wanted her to look like a tiger and this was the result. They asked my son, “Doesn’t Momma look Beautiful?”. I’m hoping he was able to achieve the needed level of diplomacy before answering. I miss seeing those girls. The internet at the condo is the worst it’s ever been, and all Facetime calls inevitably freeze up. You see, everything isn’t perfect in paradise.

Tiger ABFA

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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 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; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course