Winding Down and Reinforcements

Our time here in paradise is winding down as the rainy season begins its implacable advance. The humidity is way up and Sunday night our daily sunset ceremony was rained out for the first time since we arrived. I take an almost perverted pride in being out on the beach for the sunset and if it starts raining then I decamp to the balcony. That’s only happened once but Sunday was a different story. There was an overly active thunderstorm intruding and I’d have to have a death wish to wander out on the beach or the balcony. I’m not the brightest guy around but I know being the tallest object on a very flat surface during lightning strikes is not a good idea. We’re leaving a week from this Thursday although we leave for David the Wednesday before. This humidity provides the needed motivation.

The Reinforced Sunset Crew Yesterday

In a more pleasant development, our next door neighbors arrived over the weekend. He’s a guy from Oregon married to gal from Brazil whom he met in Panama; a very cosmopolitan situation. We and the Upstairs Neighbors recruited them last year when they were wandering on the beach and came over to talk with us. They bought the condo right next to ours and we’re looking forward to becoming friends with them. He still works so they can’t be here as long as we are, but Las Lajas will probably affect his retirement calculus. It does that.

Yesterday's Sunset

From Behind the Sunset Crew 

The sunset made a stunning comeback yesterday which coincided with the Upstairs Neighbor’s return from their Panama City adventures. My Favorite Panamanian didn’t attend because she was back in David running her mom around to different medical appointments. Leaving Panama will be a lot more difficult for her than me as it is every year. As her mother advances in age, I know my wife worries this will be the last time she sees her. My Favorite Panamanian has already started to keep herself (and by association me) very busy getting the condo ready for its eight month hibernation. She’s also started what she regards as an artform, suitcase packing. It’s always easier going north as we don’t have the results of her eight months of purchasing things for the condo and her family to pack.

I saw this picture while wandering the internets and it sums up life very succinctly. It is a very short ride and when you reach the exalted age I’ll achieve this year, reflecting on just how fast it got here is borderline startling. It seems like just a little while ago that the Cantankerous Friend and I “borrowed” change from our parents to buy candy at Arnold’s Convenience store or he and I played basketball at the Franklin School playground with Keene Friend and the PCR. Both Arnold’s and that basketball court have been gone for decades now which somehow seems impossible. Life will do that to you.

Finally, today is my brother-in-law’s birthday. He’s had a very busy year as he was selected by the incoming president to oversee the environment for the province of Chiriqui (analogous to a department of interior appointment). That’s, unfortunately, kept him very busy during our time here but he’s the prefect guy for the job. We’ve seen him on the television many times. Panama takes the environment seriously.  He hasn’t been too busy though as he found time to get married. Attending his wedding will serve as one of the highlights of our time in Panama this year. Feliz Cumpleanos Hermano!!!!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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