Routinely

Okay, so we’re into February already which means we’ve been in Panama for more than a month. That seems incredible on certain levels because it doesn’t seem that long. Of course, it would seem a lot longer if I had to deal with 30 inches of snow and a persistent polar vortex, but I digress. We’ve had a fun weekend with Tia Loca and my mother-in-law in residence. We linked up with them at First Friday pizza at Sunset Pizza in the village. That pizza dough remans one of Panama’s hidden treasures. Las Lajas is gearing up to celebrate their patron saint which has meant nearly daily Catholic masses. That has made my Favorite Panamanian and her visiting Rhode Island counterpart very happy.

First Friday Pizza Crew

I’m glad because apparently my wife had some sort of revelation while in church that led her to realize she wasn’t taking full advantage of life on the beach. She only had to refer to her husband to see what is involved in that equation. She has boogie boarded no less than three times over the past week, which is more than she did all last year. She hasn’t mastered the whole step out of the way when I bear down on her, trying to skim by her closely. My eye is healing well.

Today's Cloudy Sunset Social Hour

Tia Loca continued her obsessive need to dig clams, and she roped my Favorite Panamanian into a prolonged hunt yesterday. So much so that my wife had a really sore back today. Our freezer has a huge bushel of clams to be addressed. That’s always fun. Before they met their frigid end, one of Tia Loca’s victims launched a vicious attack on my mother-in-law. She was helping her daughters rinse their haul when one of the little buggers latched on to her fingernail. It was so funny seeing all three ladies try to figure out how to remove the clam without damaging the fingernail, because, as we all know, that is more important.  

Clam Attack

Our streak of fantastic sunsets seemed destined to end today with an uncharacteristically cloudy day. Or so we thought. My stalwart sunset social crew showed up despite the heavy cloud cover and Las Lajas rewarded us. We couldn’t see anything of the actual sun setting and while we still had our merry socializing, we suddenly noticed the entire western sky had lit up. Ten minutes after the sun had disappeared (so the internet informed us) the whole sky was illuminated. It looked like an airborne river of lava. We were seriously mesmerized. The photos don’t do it justice. We concluded that this would rank amongst the best sunsets even though we didn’t see any sunsetting. It’s what we do.

Started out Subdued

Then

Boom!

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