En Fuego

Well, it’s finally happened. My pyromaniacal side was finally acknowledged with our first beach bonfire of the year. Not that I needed an excuse, but today’s is the BRS’ 8^th birthday so that provided the needed dedication. Ably assisted in gathering driftwood by my Upstairs Neighbor, I centered the conflagration around a huge piece of driftwood, really a tree, that haunted the beach with widely spread branches since its arrival a few weeks ago. My stated goal was to reduce this pesky piece of wood to ashes and restore order to our beach view. Okay. I really just wanted to sit on the beach and watch the flames. Sue me. Since my Favorite Panamanian was back in David on one of her interminable trips home, I was on my own for both the Saturday sunset ceremony as well as the start of my fire. I managed, somehow.

Friday Night Pizza Table

I was not prepared for how fast the flames went up. I anticipated having to coax it into life, but the sunbaked wood leaped into flames and I suddenly had a fire twice my height. Since the ocean was just feet away I wasn’t worried. I was joined by the Upstairs Neighbors and the couple visiting from Rhode Island. I enjoyed my usual routine of poking around the fire to ensure everything was being consumed correctly. The big tree was initially resistant. I started the fire at the junction of its many branches but it refused to yield for a respectable period of time. Of course, just as it looked ready to succumb, I received a call from my Favorite Panamanian reporting her arrival and the need for me to carry her purchases upstairs.

Fire Prepped

Rhode Island Visitor Performing his Fire Dance

Pyro Attending Flames

How it Began

I turned over responsibilities to my fire mates and they effectively monitored the blaze in my absence. A few minutes after my return the recalcitrant tree finally yielded and I was able to fold the wide spread limbs into the flames. Once I was sure they would not survive the night we declared victory and returned upstairs. I noticed later that someone was out messing with the bed of coals we had left. This morning, I saw that someone had dumped a huge stump and some kindling into the fire but nothing had caught. This ruined the symmetry of coming down to the beach and finding only a level bed of ash. I can’t believe the temerity of some people. You don’t mess with another man’s fire.

My Reaction to the Lawn Clippings Pizza

Prior to this landmark event, we enjoyed a spectacular First Friday of the Week sunset social hour. The “Halloween Crabs” have started to emerge. These black and orange land crabs pop out of the ground at this time each year and provide an interesting drive to the village for our Friday pizza as we had to dodge around both the ubiquitous crabs and the hunting parties of locals trying to capture them. The Sunset Pizza was its usual sublime although I had a couple moments. While my order of a pepperoni pizza is carved in stone, the Upstairs Neighbor is not so encumbered. He took the advice of the owner to try a certain pizza that shocked me when it arrived. It was almost totally green, and I quickly dubbed it “Lawn Clippings Pizza”. It looked like a result of someone mowing a lawn for the toppings. He seemed to like it though. Upon our return to the condo complex I engaged in my annual chasing of the crabs. I danced across the parking lot with a particularly mobile Halloween Crab.  

Sunset Pizza Owner Stopping by the Table

My Crab Dance

We had a fun First Friday of the Week Family Facetime call as both my son’s and daughter’s families are gearing up for their visit here in a couple weeks. I think at least part of that anticipation is due to the bone chilling temperatures they are currently afflicted with. I feel (a little) bad having the palm trees swaying behind me when we Facetime each Friday. Honest. In addition to inspiring beach birthday fires, the BRS, as my granddaughters are wont to do, discovered a hidden talent at a friend’s birthday party. She rode a horse for the first time and she turns out to be a natural. The ABFA sent a video where she is expertly trotting. Color me proud but unsurprised.

Birthday Girl Mounted Up

A Natural

We were lucky enough to have a visit from my brother-in-law and his wife this weekend. He has an important job with the government guarding the ecology and this was his first chance to break away and spend some time with us since we landed. He arrived shortly after I came up from last night’s fire and we had a very nice visit which culminated with lunch at the resort down the beach today. He’s already gone but it was very welcome. I’m going to miss the sunset social hour today, but only because the Patriots are in the Super Bowl which starts five minutes before the sun sets here. I’ll assuage the pain for you by providing the photos from both Friday and Saturday’s sunsets. Go Pats!!!!!!

Lunch Today

I finally saw Hamnet. I’ve heard so much about this that my expectations may have been inappropriately elevated. It’s a fine movie with powerful acting performances from the two leads but I was a little disappointed. I thought it had too many “cute” plot points that didn’t add to the story which was interesting enough without these. Good ole Will Shakespeare and his wife deal with the death of their son which leads to unbearable pain, which any parent could understand. The wife is bereft and inconsolable. Will returns to London and writes Hamlet as a tribute to the son which the wife is initially upset about. As I thought about it, this really is a well disguised “chick flick” which I would understandably not fully embrace. It is still worth the watch for the incredible acting by Paul Mescal and especially Jessie Buckley.

Friday Sunset Social Crew

Saturday sunset

The Crew

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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; Upstairs Neighbors – American couple and great friends who live in condo above us in Panama; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course