Shaky Pana-Gal Invasion and Overdue Conflagration

I was forced to handle the Thursday sunset by myself as the Upstairs Neighbors were back in David and my Favorite Panamanian was in church (of course). That was solved decisively on Friday. Friday, though, didn’t start out auspiciously but turned to be a pretty special day; as Friday’s have a tendency to do, being the first Friday of the week. As to that less than positive launch. The power in the condo went out late Thursday night and remained off until nearly 1pm on Friday, our longest power outage of the year, so far (not a record we were looking to set). We also had the threat of another nationwide strike which would include shutting down the InterAmerican Highway for 24 hours.

Fully Staffed Sunset Crew

Got to Debut my New Japanese Lounge Shirt
Courtesy of RI Friends

 That wouldn’t be a huge issue on a normal Friday, but my Favorite Panamanian had arranged for her annual sister/cousin weekend and all her visitors would need to use that highway to reach Las Lajas. The omens continued in the wrong direction as I was reading on the beach when I noticed the rancho started to sway. The last big earthquake we experienced caused one of the ranchos to fall over so I didn’t want to take my chances, even thought hey have been reinforced. I stepped out and the quake continued with the water of the pool suddenly sporting waves. The Upstairs Neighbors came around from the parking lot where they were trying out their new rental car when it started shaking. Again, bad omens.

Quake Occurred at Red Dot, We Are at the Blue Dot

Oh Yeah, The Bed Was Fixed as Well and Delivered

Friday Night Pizza

However, Friday more than redeemed itself; as the Pana-Gal invasion happened with my wife’s two sisters and three cousins all arriving safely. Tia Loca, my boogie board buddy, joined me for the best waves of the year so far. She even fought off the urge to dig clams and joined the rest of us for a fun sunset ceremony. You’ll notice from the photo that I was no longer the only one in the sunset crew. We followed that up with a trip into town for pizza. We had to make do with Natrulamente because Sunset Pizza has shut down for a couple vacation weeks. We really missed our usual haunt but at least Chow Mein the cat made an appearance and set up shop below our table.

My Nemesis

Now, as to that titular overdue fire, a huge piece of driftwood has been haunting me for over a year. It is/was the remains of a fairly large tree that washed up late in our time here last year. I planned on burning it last year as it was unsightly as well as a perfect outlet for pyromaniacal tendencies. It led a charmed life, however, as every day I planned its destruction, we received a heavy rain that soaked all the available driftwood. I thought of it as a mission unfulfilled as we returned to the States. I was surprised to see that it was still on site when we returned this year. It had burrowed into the sand and taunted me every day as I walked past it to the surf.

Burn, Baby, Burn

With my Burn Buddy, Enjoying the Fire

We finally had a long stretch of hot, dry days over the past week and I decided the time had come to burn it on Thursday night. My Favorite Panamanian requested that I delay until Friday so the Pana-Gals could participate. I grumpily acquiesced, knowing there would be some sort of huge rainfall on Friday to thwart my plans. The tree’s mojo had evidently faded as we got a hot, dry day to further bake all the potential fuel. After returning from pizza, I made my way to the tree and started stacking driftwood on top of it. My gallant Upstairs Neighbor joined me and he proved to be a real asset as I had discovered gathering wood in the dark isn’t half as easy as it sounds.

Pana-Gals Finally Showed Up

Once we got the fire started, he brought a couple chairs over and we enjoyed the tree’s overdue demise as the fire rose to epic heights. Eventually his wife joined us and even later the Pana-Gals finally came down. The fire was so hot at this point that we had to set our chairs well back. It was a perfect night with a steady breeze and the usual millions of stars showing up over the Pacific. As I talked with our neighbor, we both agreed there is something special about just sitting with family and friends and staring into a fire. One of his most cherished photos is of his son and he sitting around a fire. I was reminded of so many Las Lajas beach fires I’d have over many years, including one where I later learned Wingman was trying to gather courage to ask my permission to marry my daughter.

Pyro Tending to Fire

The Whole Group

I went out this morning and nothing remained of the still smoldering tree. Strangely, I had gotten used to it and my normal beach view while reading felt altered. No regrets though, that tree had gotten overconfident. It was still a very special night gathered around the beach bonfire with family and friends. There is something intrinsically special about that, probably dating back to caveman times when that constituted a night’s entertainment.

All That Remained This Morning

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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