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.
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. 
Very Fun First Friday Pizza Crew
Chow Mein Passing By
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. 
Post Pizza Gelatos
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.
Saturday Sunset From Meeting Location
Back on the Beach for Sunday Sunset 
With Augmented Crew
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.
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 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; 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
No comments:
Post a Comment