Great Aunt Effect & BRS Day

Following my policy of not mentioning any real names means the title of this post is not fully explanatory. In my last post I chronicled the unsavory weather that Great Aunt brought with her, combined with her unfortunate request to experience tropical rain. We thought we had escaped the incurred curse until it reasserted itself yesterday in the mountains of Panama. Great Aunt is a huge fan of birds and Panama offers a truly remarkable supply of same, including the ones spending their winters here from up north. One of the highlights of her trip here this year was a scheduled trip to the mountain rain forest with an exceptional guide. That guide is a recognized expert on Panamanian fowl and has literally written the book on them. In 2005 he authored an illustrated guide to Panamanian birds. He holds advanced degrees in both biology and ecology and is sought after by construction firms to perform ecological impact statements. Oh yeah, he’s also my brother-in-law.

Great Aunt with our Guide

Into the Mountains

Looking for Birds

On Sunday he went up into the mountains to recon the best locations for Great Aunt to see Panama’s verdant bird population up close. Yesterday, we linked up with him in David and he drove us into the mountains above Boquete. This is when Great Aunt’s curse struck again. A cold front was caught in the central mountain range which meant low clouds, high winds, and a steady mist like rain, called (please excuse my attempt to spell this), “bajarackes”. When my brother-in-law heard about the curse, he suggested we should call it “El Effecto de Great Aunt” (insert my sister’s name in place of Great Aunt). I, of course, immediately latched onto to this appellation. Great Aunt simply rolled her eyes and muttered something about younger brother’s lifelong penchant for mischief.

Some of the Views

One of those Trees

The bad weather had driven most of the sought after birds under cover as they hunkered down, out of sight. Luckily, we had, literally, the guy who wrote the book with us. We would pull over in the rain forest and as we tried to pinpoint birds, he would identify the birds making the omnipresent sounds and then show us their picture in his book. At one point he said we were incredibly lucky to hear an especially rare bird sound off. We saw a few of our elusive prey but the trip was more than redeemed with our guide’s continual education concerning both the flora and fauna we were seeing. He pointed out the huge, seemingly dead trees that still sported green foliage. A plant related to the pineapple will start growing in a tree and then sends roots down (think Tarzan vines), which thicken when they reach the ground. While the tree eventually dies, the plants continue to thrive. Your daily dose of tropical ecological education.

Canopy Trek

A Couple of the Hotel Rooms

A Mountain Stream with a Farmer's Bridge

A Couple of our Guide's Friends Ran into us Here

The Road

Coffee Plantation

Constant Flowers

I have to mention the road we took for our initial foray into the mountains. The paved road wound through the ubiquitous coffee plantations and petered out to a double concrete track. It made for some nervous moments as a passenger. I envisioned a large truck coming down the mountain, surely around the next sharp turn. We were fortunate for the experienced driver as he expertly avoided the feared collision. We had a full-size bus pass by us at one point. The road went up and up until ending at an eco-resort called the Canopy Trek. We stopped off there where Great Aunt had what she described as the best cold brew coffee she had ever had. She said Dunkin Doughnuts paled in comparison, which amounts to near blasphemy for a New Englander. I guess it helps when the coffee is grown within fifty meters of the brew. While we didn’t see a lot of birds, the trip was memorable for the nearly constant fabulous views, including Panama’s usual explosion of color with tropical flowers. A great day.

Tuesday Night Dinner

It was truly a week of superlatives as I scored the best cheeseburger I’ve ever had in Panama courtesy of our upstairs neighbors. Tuesday night they invited us to accompany them down the beach to the Las Lajas Beach Resort. They’ve established status as a regular at the restaurant. I hadn’t been there in over ten years. We last stayed there for our anniversary and saw a billboard announcing the building of a condo complex down the beach (the rest is history). The normally quiet restaurant was packed when we walked in, courtesy of the large bus parked outside. A group of American farmers were on a tour of Panamanian eco-farming techniques and this was their night at the resort. Since we were with regulars, we were served fairly expeditiously and I became acquainted with the aforementioned cheeseburger. My Favorite Panamanian has been after me to wear shorts more when we go out to eat (here in Panama at least). I finally succumbed to her pleas for this dinner and yesterday was able to point out the numerous mosquito bites I acquired. All of the beach restaurants are open air and while the overhead fan kept the bugs at bay over the table, underneath they were having a party with my exposed skin. She at least looked a little chagrined. My fault for not putting repellent on the legs, rookie mistake.

The Birthday Girl

With her Dad

And Mom

Off to School

Wish we Were There Today

I’ve kept the biggest, most important news of the day for last. Today marks the 6^th birthday of the BRS. She’s celebrated a couple of her birthdays here with us in Panama but now that she’s a full fledged school attendee we had to factor in school vacation weeks. At least we get her here in a couple weeks to celebrate with her. She is a consistent source of joy for grandparents. She shares a secretive smile every time I see her, as if she knows how special she is. She’s especially proud to be a big sister to BR3 despite BR3’s penchant for chaos. I know she’s got her dad and a couple grandparents (guilty) wrapped around her finger, an ability granddaughters apparently acquire at birth. So, happiest of birthdays to the BRS, a reliable source of love and pride.

Sunset Ceremony Crew

Pinterest Strikes Again, Wife's Latest Invention
Toilet Paper Laced with Toothpaste and Lit in Soda Can
to Ward off Mosquitos

Last Couple of Sunsets

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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 him her single days in Brooklyn; 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; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Into Each Life etc. and Then a Space Station

We’re about half way through Great Aunt’s Panamanian adventure and yesterday we finally got a typical dry season day. I wrote in the last post that she had joked about seeing a tropical rain for which she was almost immediately rewarded with same. After driving through her summoned rain on Friday night, Saturday dawned with an ominous cloud cover, very unlike a typical February day around here. It remained cloudy for most of the day and while still tropically warm the sunset was obscured by those clouds. We moved the sunset ceremony from the beach to poolside because it probably would have taken a court order to get Great Aunt to leave her happy place within the pool. That was still a lot of fun as we roundly blamed Great Aunt for the lack of sun.

Great Aunt and I Walking Beach Yesterday

Cloudy Saturday Morning from our Balcony

Poolside Sunset Ceremony

All We got for Saturday Sunset

That culpability extended into Sunday with another cloudy morning but mitigated to a certain extent when the sun emerged in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the clouds returned for the sunset ceremony but we still celebrated, fairly certain the sun did in fact set behind the cloud bank. That time was lightened up with a Facetime call with my son and his family. They had just returned from the BRS’ birthday party. She was on cloud 9 (sorry about that image – no blame for Great Aunt there) as she danced around all the presents her friends had bestowed upon her. BR3 was her usual, “on the brink of sanity” self and informed her abuela that she expected sprinkles on her cake in May.

Great Aunt in her Happy Place

They're Building a New "Rancho" Down the Beach

Afternoon Pelican Flyover

In addition to Great Aunt’s meteorological impact, the air conditioning in the guest bedroom she occupied stopped working. On Monday morning I drove into Las Lajas to retrieve our AC tech who couldn’t identify a problem but inserted some more freon to get us through the week. As mentioned above, Great Aunt’s climatological curse was finally overcome on Monday with a truly perfect dry season day of bright sunshine, steady ocean breezes, and a truly spectacular sunset. It was the FBR’s turn to call in during the sunset ceremony. She is keeping track of the number of days until she joins us down here (it was 18 last night). She’s been a lot more talkative since we arrived down here, I think it’s the pool and beach views.

FBR Was Messing with the FaceTime Filters Again

Last evening’s sunset ceremony was truly memorable for a couple of reasons. While the actual sun setting was picturesque, what we call the “secondary” sunset was one for the record books. I was walking back to beach next to the pools when I had to stop and marvel at the amazing colors stretching over nearly half of the horizon (see picture below). Great Aunt won the contest for spotting the first star but that wasn’t the only celestial spotting that took place. One of our upstairs neighbors noticed a star like object that seemed to be moving. I thought it was a plane initially but then noted that it was moving way, way too fast for an aircraft. Someone suggested it might be the International Space Station. The upstairs neighbors quickly checked the internet and learned the ISS was, at that moment, passing over Panama. It was incredibly cool as it moved from one side of the sky to the other in less than a minute. A truly memorable sunset ceremony, fully redeeming Great Aunt’s tattered reputation.

All we Saw was a Fast Moving Light But it Was Cool This was the Source

Monday's Superb Sunset

The Stop and Gasp Moment

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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 him her single days in Brooklyn; 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; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Happy Place Re-established

I have one very happy Great Aunt on my hands. Last year she journeyed here for her first ever use of a passport. She fell deeply in love with the condo pool, especially since she was luxuriating it in the middle of January. She named the pools her “happy place”, something she was certainly owed after what she’s had to endure over the past couple years. As I am writing this, she is back in the happy place again. We picked her up at the David airport yesterday as she emerged. She’d had a long day since she got up from her airport hotel in Boston at 4am. What a difference a year makes as she was so much more confident this time around and handled the trip, including the plane change in Panama City, like a champ.

At Terra Last Night

With my Big Sis

In Her Happy Place This Afternoon

We stopped off at Terra Ristorante for dinner since they are one of the few places that serve a gluten free menu. We had just arrived when Great Aunt made a rookie mistake by commenting on the possibility of rain. While we’re in the dry season, there has been a few rain storms, mostly confined to the mountains. It was a mistake because as superstitions go, it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. She said she wanted to see what a tropical downpour was like after hearing me talk about them for so many years. A few minutes later there was a loud drumming on the restaurant roof as her wish was redeemed.

Afternoon Pelican Parade Finally Posed for a Photo

Thursday Sunset Ceremony

It rained for about half of the trip back to Las Lajas which added to the usual adventure of driving at night in Panama where some cars believe tail lights are a luxury item they can do without. The annual village festival was underway in Las Lajas as we made our way through town which definitely added to the local color. Horses were tied up at the local saloon, a bull fight was underway in the small corral erected for just that day, and Panamanian music was blaring. The added benefit gained as our slowly moving car wended through the crowd was every time the headlights fell upon one of the local lasses, she felt obligated to start dancing. I told my Favorite Panamanian that it was important I remain laser focused on the road ahead. It's so good to have my big sister in residence as it probably saved me a head rap at that point.

Thursday Sunset

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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 him her single days in Brooklyn; 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; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course