Beach Day En Fuego

The First Friday of the Week was celebrated in elegant style yesterday thanks to the Upstairs Neighbors and their visiting brother and sister-in-law. My own family semi-abandoned me by bowing out of the First Friday Family Facetime call for various reasons (all valid) while my Favorite Panamanian stayed inside dealing with a cold. The Neighbors’ bunch filled in admirably even though we were both guilty of calendar malfeasance. Yes, I know, that last statement requires explanation. If you stop interrupting me, I can get to it. (sorry I was imagining explaining this to my spouse).

Very Fun Coco Loco Table

Both the Upstairs Neighbors and I received a text saying there would be a live singer down the beach at Coco Loco (the former Johnny Fiesta’s). The text said the event would be on Friday afternoon, so we all planned on going. As we drove up yesterday, there was virtually no one at the place. At this point we checked the text and realized the event is for next Friday. Not to waste an opportunity, we decided to stop in anyways. I’m so glad we did because it was a very fun afternoon. The beer was very cold, there was a nice offshore breeze, a couple well equipped thongs across the street, and a very entertaining table. At times, the unplanned occasions are the best. Without the music and huge crowd, we were able to converse and enjoy the company. A couple of iguanas crawled in on the rafters to check out what was going on as did a veritable herd of ducks. One of the best aspects of life at the beach in Panama is how relaxing life is. Yesterday was a perfect example and a lot more relaxing than usual, just a great afternoon hanging out with friends, old and new. My only complaint was the arrival of a delivery car which blocked the view of the thongs. It was almost as if my absent wife ordered it.

The Target Stump in front of What We Got for a Sunset

I know this will upset all my sunset “fans” back in the States but we were rained out of the sunset for the first time all year. Rainy season is definitely around the corner. My Favorite Panamanian came down to join us, but when she saw the rain, turned around and went back upstairs. This was funny on a couple levels because I told the Upstairs Neighbors as we sheltered under the rancho, that with the rain, my wife would never come outside, not knowing this had already happened. The rain  was problematic on a couple levels. We had promised a beach bonfire for the visitors and they were leaving Saturday morning. We had been gathering driftwood all week in preparation. We had a tight window to prepare the fire because our chosen target, the huge stump from the last fire, was besieged with the highest tide of the year. We had to wait until the tide receded to set up the fire and had only about a half hour before sunset to accomplish this. Then the rain started. It was almost as if there were some cosmic forces trying to prevent our conflagration.

Success!

The Gallery

We persevered. The clouds cleared, after the sun was definitively set, and we made our way to the site after a hurried dinner. I was a little nervous about the rain soaked tinder but after a tenuous start, it blazed away in typical Las Lajas fashion. I was able to assuage my pyromaniacal tendencies by shuttling a constant stream of additional wood into the fire. That damnable stump continued to laugh at my efforts to reduce it. There was a vigorous lightning storm in the distance out on the bay which added a light show. It was another entertaining beach bonfire and we were able to send off the visitors with another memory. We didn’t have to worry about cleaning up because that high tide would be back in the early morning hours.

The Resident Pyromaniac at Work

I went out this morning to find I had finally made some headway with the stump. All the branches which had been so solid when we left had burned off and the stump itself was a mere shadow of itself. Victory!!!! In another, most welcome win, Keene Friend 1 returned home today. He fought a persistent cough while he was here and finally got some medical care to address it when he got home.

All That Remains of Stump

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