Winding Down

This is my last Sunday on the beach for 2025 and it went down with style, as did the rest of our last weekend in Las Lajas. We accomplished our usual First Friday drill of a sunset crew followed by a trip into town for some of the best pizza in Panama at Sunset Beach Lounge. The crew is starting to wind down as well, with the latest arrivals, our next-door neighbors, leaving the condo complex tomorrow. This weekend had a lot of moving pieces, not even considering the rabid packing of my Favorite Panamanian. Everyday things, like the living room rug, are disappearing into the myriad collection of plastic containers she employs to store the condo’s accoutrements.

The Birthday Boy and I on our Balcony Today

We took a break from Saturday’s packing list to journey back to David for a surprise birthday celebration for my brother-in-law. His birthday was earlier in the week and his wife arranged for the lunch in a restaurant we’d never been to before which led to us following Tia Loca, who claimed to know where it was through the usual maelstrom of David traffic. Somehow we made it there only fifteen minutes late. We were the first ones there, this is Panama. It turned out to be a fun afternoon with my jaw getting a true workout with the toughest meat I’ve had in a long time. It was fun to see the look of surprise on his face when he walked in the door and saw us all sitting there. His wife’s grandson, the dancing fiend from their wedding, had Tia Loca up for a round of dancing before we left.

Bro in Law Surprised Saturday

Tia Loca and Her Boyfriend Dancing

I made a deal with my Favorite Panamanian that I would go to the lunch if she could overcome her usual tendency to remain in David much longer than planned. I had a date with the Saturday sunset that I was bound and determined not to miss. While we were at the luncheon we received these photos of the BRS and BR3 on an Easter egg hunt Saturday morning. It brought a lot of gasps from the Panamanians, most of whom have never seen snow in person. The loudest gasp was from my wife. I had to assure her there was no way we could postpone our Thursday trip home. Worcester received over 5 inches of snow in a rare mid-April snowstorm. I also guaranteed it would all be melt by the time we got home. The old hope springing eternal kind of statement.

Snowy Egg Hunt

BRS and BR3 Were Prepared

Surprised BR3 Posed for this, She Usually Runs Away

Thursday Sunset Crew - No Sunset

Friday's Crew - Again no Sunset but Great Pizza Afterwards

We made it back in time for both the sunset and my afternoon boogie boarding session with the Upstairs Neighbor. We had to deal with some of the strongest waves of the year and the rides were glorious if a bit spine compressing. Tia Loca was also with us, having arrived shortly before we did. In a major development and an indication of how awesome the waves were, she avoided digging for clams for the entire time. A true first. Boogie Boarding will be one of the things I’ll miss most after we leave (yes, I know it borders on unseemly for a guy my age to still be boogie boarding, but, deal with it).  The Upstairs Neighbor and I form the unofficial Condo Boogie Boarding Team. His wife snapped this picture of us walking out to the waves earlier in the week.

I'm on the Right

The Saturday sunset ceremony was memorable not only for the spectacular colors but for the rising of the full Pink Moon (whatever the hell that is – looked orange to me). My Favorite Panamanian and Tia Loca went through a bunch of different poses to highlight the huge moon. It was cool to have the sun setting in the west while the moon was simultaneously rising in the east. That is what is kind of very cool about the Las Lajas beach. Each sunset is different though usually very beautiful. It owed us a couple this weekend after getting rained out a couple times earlier in the week.

Tia Loca Pink Moon Posing

And the Wife

Then Both of Us

Then Tia Loca Again

And You Know Who

Saturday’s fun didn’t stop with the sunset ceremony. We gathered later that evening for another night of games on the beach. We set up tables under the lights and played a vigorous game of Flip 7. We’ve all become huge fans of the game Wingman exposed us to late last year. The ladies tried teaming up again but relented after I reminded them it was an individual card game, they were very good sports this time out. Both Tia Loca and the Upstairs Neighbor won a round and performed memorable victory dances. I was too slow with the camera to capture either. My penance was to perform my own victory tango when I won the last game. I timed it perfectly to finish before any of them could get their cameras in action. This was not a sight the Western World is ready for yet (if ever).

Game Night on the Beach

Tia Loca and the Wife Fully Engaged

As Were the Upstairs Neighbors

The Tail End of Tia Loca's Victory Dance

The fun continued to roll into Sunday when my brother-in-law and his family showed up to spend the day with us. I moved our grill down to the beach and he and his son-in-law took up the grilling duties. The dancing fiend was also there but Tia Loca dodged her dancing duties by disappearing down the beach to predictably start digging clams up again (she left with a huge haul). We set up tables underneath our rancho and the ladies produced a fabulous collection of dishes while the grill-meisters kept a steady flow of dead animal flesh to the tables. It was a day extremely well spent as it gave us a chance to pass time with my wife’s more than excellent family. They’ll be working this week, so we’ll only see them to say goodbye and that made the day special. I think we’re doing the departure celebrating well this year. Sometimes it gets hurried and contentious but I’m not getting that vibe this year (at least not yet). I’m so looking forward to seeing the friends and family I’ve missed so much over the past four months. I’ll keep praying the snow melts before Thursday night.   

Pool Filled up with our Sunday Visitors

Lunch Under the Rancho

The Grill Team

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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