Month: December 2023

I spent a good part of the day today getting my work area set up outside. Linda, the landlady, was concerned that I was doing this and warned me about the wind. I heeded her warning, and set everything up so that it is easy to take inside at night.

Now I’m thinking I might ask Jerry if he has a tarp. I just felt a few raindrops, and I don’t want to have to rush if it rains. Last year, when I was higher up the hill, it rarely rained. As a matter of fact, I cannot remember a single day of rain. But Linda said it does rain here, so I want to be prepared. There are a number of microclimates here, so, although it didn’t rain up there, it may very well be the case here.

Shortly after I wrote the above, I sent Jerry a text and asked if he, per chance, had a tarp. He showed up in less than five minutes with one. It started to rain almost immediately. I quickly covered my spot with the tarp and came inside – Bob’s yer uncle!

The tarp just blew off!! Okay, a redo…with rocks holding down the tarp; so far, so good. It gets incredibly windy here. I remember one year having to put my full body weight against my front door in order to be able to close it against the wind. And people have a hard time getting out of their cars.

I spent part of my calligraphy time this morning making this for Jenn and John. I redid it SO many times. Who would guess there were so many spellings for “birthday.” I kept getting it wrong.

I walked into town yesterday and visited a dentist. Her name is Khristel Gutierrez. She is the daughter and sister of the Fernandos I talked about earlier. I texted her shortly after I arrived and asked if she made the dental appliances that prevent snoring. She said she did, and they are $350. I planned to get one from my own dentist in Spring, and the cost was $650. Yes! Dra. Gutierrez assessed me for size and will order it from Panama City. I have to see her four times.

She said that the first week is just exercising with it. Something about manipulating a small ball with the tongue. She told me that she has had very good results with many patients reporting improved sleep. Hope so. I’m almost as annoyed with my own snoring as I used to be with Dan’s!

Now I want to work on getting off the Ambien. I’m only using about 2.5 mg per night, and I realize that this is likely psychological, but I don’t think my doctor is going to continue refilling my prescription. She told me that the medical community is changing their policy on this, not prescribing for people over 65. I’ve heard that cognitive behavioral therapy can help with this, so I’ll give that a try.

The walk into town is fairly easy – all downhill. The only issue is that the road is very narrow, and there are no sidewalks. I was happy I walked over 5 miles yesterday, and my foot felt fine. It’s been bothering me since I felt a snap while walking in October. Diane, my massage therapist, thinks it’s an inflamed tendon. I’m continuing to massage it with Tiger Balm. I’m hoping to walk most days while here. Dan and I are planning to do a Camino in May, so this will be my prep.

Couple of photos from yesterday. This yellow tree was so vibrant against the blue sky. And this is, by far, the biggest beetle I have ever seen. The photo may be hard to judge, but it was at least four inches.

I did a little grocery shopping at Super Baru and found that some of the freezers and shelves were a bit sparse. I was able to get everything I needed for a couple of days. Nancy picked me up, so she could give me the table. We stopped at Sarah’s vegetable stand so I could get some garlic. I walked in and asked the guy sitting at the cash register if they had “ajo.” He said yes and pointed down the aisle to his left. I walked down the aisle and saw only fruit. He asked again what I wanted. Again I said, “ajo.” This time he pointed to a back wall. He said he thought I was asking for an “apple.” He laughed and said he wasn’t expecting me to be speaking Spanish. So, to him, ajo sounded like apple.

Nancy stopped in for a while after she brought me home with my table and groceries. We had a nice chat. Tomorrow I’m going to go to Lady’s Place for a pedicure, and then I’ll be able to visit with Kathy. She lives upstairs from there. I also heard that Betty was finally able to get a propane tank, so the holiday dinner plans are underway. It should be fun.

Barbara is still not feeling well. We might get together this weekend.

I made a pretty good beans-and-rice dish yesterday. Wish I could have gotten cilantro. Today I’m going to have some steamed calabaza (pumpkin squash) and cabbage on the side.

I arrived safe and sound in Boquete on December 1. After all of the doomsday warnings about not being able to travel to Boquete because of the social unrest in regard to a proposed copper mine, it all settled down a few days before my arrival date. There are still some gas, propane and food shortages in town, but it sounds like things are getting back to normal quickly.

Fernando’s son, also Fernando – and just as handsome, picked me up in David without a hitch. We had a pleasant conversation en route to Boquete, filling me in on his and his father’s new construction enterprise. Sounds like business was slightly affected by the inability to get supplies for a while, but he sounded hopeful.

We stopped at Nancy’s to pick up my three plastic tubs of supplies and arrived here at my new place, The Rainbow House, at about 7 pm. It’s a long day. Dan and I left for O’Hare at 3:30 am. So, that’s nearly 15 hours travel. The “worst” is now behind me. I’m so spoiled. I think of how arduous this trip would have been (if possible at all), say even 50 years ago. Now, getting here in one day is a piece of cake.

When I picked up my things at Nancy’s, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Betty had left a bag of groceries for me to get me through the next day or so: milk, eggs, cheese, a bagel, two apples, some roasted potatoes with carrots, and a bottle of wine. How lucky am I? Then, Betty came over last night with a complete dinner of broasted chicken and rice with peas and mushrooms. It is so great to see my Boquete family again. There’s a little bit of an upset going on with them right now, but I know how much they love each other and depend upon one another. Things will soon be back to normal. I believe that there are plans for a holiday party soon.

My room here is perfect. I have no complaints whatsoever. All I hear are the birds singing and an occasional truck vendor driving by, announcing his wares via the truck’s megaphone. Someday I’m going to find out what the heck he is saying. He just rattles something off in a monotone, and then the last two syllables are like music notes – one up and then one down.

Here are a couple shots of my room. So… For some reason (probably bandwidth), my videos are not uploading to YouTube, so I can’t post those right now. I’ll try again in my next post.

This one I’ll try to post by just copying the URL. We’ll see if it works.

Suffice to say right now, I couldn’t be happier. I have a fabulous view, lovely owners (Jerry brought me a homemade pumpkin pudding yesterday), a super-comfortable bed, and plenty of space. I even discovered that the patio, which I thought would be too exposed to the sun, is perfectly shaded by a giant banana tree – the one in the video above. I am in the process of borrowing a table from Nancy, so hopefully I will be out there soon.

I spent the day today at home, inside (mostly), doing calligraphy and getting my 20 pages off to Kathie for our meeting on Friday. I earlier asked if we could put it off for a week, and she said fine, but also that she was okay changing back. As it turned out, I felt ready to start writing yesterday, and told her that I would be ready by Friday after all. So, I spent the majority of my day wording on that. I also did some final rearranging of my kitchen and pantry.

Jerry came this morning to address the lack of hot water in the shower and also the running toilet. He comes immediately when I text him. He said he installed a new, on-demand water heater, and he hasn’t quite figured it out. Turns out the water must be left to run about 3-5 minutes before it gets hot. Something doesn’t sound right to me. I’m sure he’ll figure it out.

He also asked me if I could tend to the plants outside my door. That works for me! So, I have my own little garden.

The final task today is to see if I can get PBS on this television. I brought my Roku box, and this is a Smart TV, so we’ll see how it goes. I had a good laugh a little while ago. Just before I left home, Dan and I bought Mickey a new iPhone 15. That wasn’t the original plan, but I promised that I would get her set up on our Spectrum account before I left, and I couldn’t get an older iPhone to work. Just before I left, I went over and got it set up with her. Part of that was showing her how to use Siri. So, just a few minutes ago, I got a text from her asking, “How do I call Cheri?” I told her she was calling the wrong person, that it was Siri, not Cheri. She figured it out. She always does. That’s how I want to be at 92!!

Just heard a rooster crow! Love that.