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I have not had a pedicure since October, after I finished the Camino. Today was the day. Yadira is a traveling manicurist/pedicurist. She came right to my house and gave me a great pedicure. She used an electric sander on my feet. They feel and look great. Yadira brought her son, Juan David with her. What a cute kid. He busied himself for a while at my painting table. I was amazed by his artistic ability at only six years old. He then spent some time on my laptop and finally had an experience with the VR. I am so amazed by how young children so readily dive into the technology. I just asked him if he knew how to use a Mac, and he said yes. So, I said, “Go ahead.” Within minutes he was watching a sitcom. Amazing.

I was surprised that Yadira said she traveled 40 minutes from her home in Potrerillos (that is so hard to say) to Boquete. I have heard the name of the town, but I didn’t think it was so far away. I checked Wikipedia, and it said it was 10.6 miles from Boquete and takes 35 minutes to drive. Wow! That surprises me. It must be hilly and/or windy.

This is Yadira’s second job. She also works at a business that provides dental equipment. I think that’s what she said. It’s nice to have encounters like this where I can communicate in Spanish. It doesn’t happen a lot. I can now speak with Yadira and Yahaira (the cleaning lady) in Spanish.

Yadira’s husband is an attorney. He dropped her off here and returned to pick her up. The logistics must be interesting.

Today’s “Zentangle.” I put that in quotes because I learned on the Zentangle Facebook Group that this would be called Zentangle-Inspired Art. Traditionally, Zentangle does not use tools like compasses, rulers or erasers. But most of the commenters said, “You do you.” I love that saying. One commenter said, “That’s fine. You can feel free to do it any way you want. You may discover, however, after doing it for a while that you no longer want to use those tools.” We’ll see. Right now, I’m enjoying this technique,

So satisfying. I think I finally have this one down. I was having difficulty remembering what line went where when (yes, like that kind of feeling). As I was falling asleep last night, I thought of a solution. I divided it up into steps with each one in a different color. Yay!! Now I don’t have to keep rewatching the YouTube video.

I will have to share this with my friend, Lynda Stuber, at home. We were on a Zoom call the other day with Kathleen Johnson and Diane Hennum. She saw the cards I was making and said she wanted to give it a try. I told her, “DO NOT start with the Celtic Knot.” But who knows, she may be able to do it easily. But I’m here if she needs me.

My favorite podcast today. They are talking about cold exposure and brown fat. I was up to two minutes in the cold shower. I was so happy to learn today that 30 seconds is the maximum recommended exposure time.

Dan made fun of me for posting my dinner photos, but I don’t care. This one is called Moroccan Spiced Stew.

It was pretty good, but I can’t say it was great. Truth be told, things are starting to taste very similar. I’m going to have to mix it up a little more. Not sure how I’m going to do that yet, but I am hoping that with the arrival of The Blue Zones American Kitchen, I will find inspiration. Also, his book is more Mediterranean focused, and I love those flavors.

Kathy sent me a text today that my package is on the way. The cookbook is in that package. as well as new paints. I found some images on CreationsCeeCee that I want to paint.

I finished creating the cards which I plan to donate to our church auction. And I also made a packet for a friend here who wants to give them as a gift to her daughter. So, now it’s all just playtime for me.

My friends, Natalie Kelly and Sally Zigmund, both of whom I met through Boquete Health and Hospice, are going to come here one day for a kindergarten session. Love kindergarten. It’s so much fun living this again through Cordelia. I love all the photo updates that Sara sends.

I find it so awesome (rarely use that word, but sometimes it’s perfect) that kids like Cordelia will be able to go back and view their early lives with so much more clarity than we did. Still photos are different than videos. In videos we see behavior, so there is less left to memory.

I have a date with Terrie Silverman this evening. We are going to discuss the movie In and of Itself. I was happy that Terrie asked if I wanted to discuss it. I have been wanting to watch it again, and this was a great impetus.

Creating Zentangle images is my idea of a very good time. I’m going to make a number of these. It’s interesting to see how they change from one to the next. And it is great brain exercise. This time through watching the video, I took notes. So, hopefully I got all the steps correct. Rewinding the video can become tiring, not to mention disorienting.

And I made this! No, it’s not a joint. It’s a tortillon, which is used to do the shading on the Zentangles. Thanks again YouTube.

Another creation. This one is called Scorpion Trap. I put these bowls under the legs of my bed and put Ratax inside (sticky paper). Hate to kill them, but I don’t want to sleep with them.

Betty took me to Bulk Organics this morning. I love that store. I was able to buy nutritional yeast, cardamom pods and coriander. I needed the nutritional yeast to make the Vegan Parmesan Cheese. Stay tuned.

I just made this dish, Cabbage and Rice, which is one of the recipes from The Blue Zones American Kitchen.

At first bite, I thought, meh, kind of boring. But then as I chewed it, the cabbage and dill combo hit my palate. I am having a hard time not eating the entire pot. Definitely another keeper.

This was today’s Zentangle. I’m not sure if I can call what I am now doing Zentangle. In the videos, the instructors do not use rulers and things; it’s all freehand. But I much prefer the straight lines and precision. I actually went to YouTube this afternoon to learn how to use a compass. It’s been a long time. Now I have to figure out how to get rid of the tiny indentation from the compass point.

Barb stopped by this morning. She took me to RedNBlue to pick up my package from Jolene, and then she drove me over to El Salto to show me where the possible rental is located. I didn’t see the house yet, but I still would not want to walk back and forth to downtown from there. The road is narrow, and there are no sidewalks. No thank you. It is still open for consideration, however, if the price is right. Barb said she can’t imagine it would be inexpensive because it’s a huge house. We’ll see.

So, Jolene sent me a package. She also sent one to Michele and Kathy. We were told that we could not open them until I received mine. Then we were to do a Facetime and open them together. This is what was inside:

I just love this little guy. He will be with me here as I do my calligraphy every morning. He always brings a smile to my face. He will probably move later in the day to my card making table.

Tomorrow I finish the final read-through of the book. I told Stephanie I was going to have this done by Sunday night. It will be done. I am now accountable. Accountability works for me. Next week is major revision time. I say major now, but it may not be all that big a deal. I’m going to try to just go with the flow.

Can’t remember if I wrote this or not, but on Thursday, at the end of my PT routine, I got up off the floor without using my hands. This was a very good moment. I am paying more and more attention to how I react to back pain when I feel it. The respond-vs-react rule works here as well as in other situations. I can choose to respond to the pain instead of reacting. I still feel it, but I no longer allow fear to enter the picture. I just change my thought to, “Okay, thanks. I’m fine.”

In these and in other art videos on YouTube, the instructor many times says how satisfying something is. These were truly satisfying and joyful for me today, and the soundtrack on the video was great!

My shadows need work, but I have to wait until my tortillon arrives. That’s the little instrument you use to pull out the shadow lines at the very end. I’ve been using an eraser, which obviously is not ideal. Kathy was going to go to Michael’s today and buy Zentangle supplies because she is going to try it as well. She will then send them to me in my care package with other supplies I ordered, including the Blue Zones American Kitchen Cookbook.

Another satisfier: I made my own peanut butter today. No sugar and super chunky. It will be dinner on a Granny Smith.

I was introduced to a new word yesterday by Peter Sterling, Sally’s husband. The word is allostasis. Peter and a co-worker apparently created this word while doing their research in neurobiology.

Here is the entry from Wikipedia (where Peter is credited for creating this word): Allostasis proposes that efficient regulation requires preparing the body to satisfy the needs before they arise by budgeting those needed resources such as oxygen, insulin etc., as opposed to homeostasis, in which the goal is a steady state. Allostasis, stability through variation, was proposed by Sterling and Eyer in 1988 as a new model of physiological regulation. The goal of every living being is to “find and maintain a steady state for survival” ^[2] which is achieved through allostasis and homeostasis. The term allostasis is used more frequently now since it is more inclusive of the idea that not everything in the body is in a single steady state meaning that there are varying levels of energy.^[1]

I’m going to have to pray on this one…:) I will have to ask Peter how these needs can be anticipated. Always something new to learn.

I saw this in my backyard yesterday while I was making dinner. I tried to get a photo, but I wasn’t fast enough. I found this image in Google Images. This is exactly what it looked like. It’s called a jaguarundi. I think he is probably the guy who landed on my roof the other night. At first I thought I was seeing a house cat, but it was too big, more muscular and stealthy. Thrilling moment…

Snared another scorpion the other night. I’ve got this down. They are not fast, like cockroaches. I cannot figure out where they are coming from. The bathroom looks totally sealed, but that’s where I find them. Yahaira, the cleaning lady, said that they are brought in by the breeze. Others say they are moving indoors looking for water because this is the start of the dry season.

I had a lovely day with Sally Zigmund today. She picked me up and took me to her place for lunch. Sally, and her husband, Peter, both retired professors from (I think) Penn State, have a beautiful farm of orange trees. They have lived here for 18 years. They go back to the U.S. during the rainy season.

Susan and Dan Harvey, my neighbors, came over for dinner this evening. They leave here on Saturday for their new digs in town. I’m going to have a look at their new place as another possibility for next year. For dinner I served the black beans with papaya salsa that I made last night. I’m going to have to research the arehpa (corn cake) part. It was kind of like polenta, but got dry after it sat for a while. I’d prefer my recipe for corn cakes.

Peanut butter is on the list!!

And this is my latest new recipe. It’s called Black Beans with Papaya Salsa on Corn Tortilla.

This is another one of Dan Buettner’s recipes. This one is from the Nicoyan population of Costa Rica, one of the Blue Zones he researched. It is my first time making corn cakes. The result is very much like polenta. At first it felt mushy; I was expecting it to be like the corn cakes I usually make, but those, I think, have egg. Anyhow, once I started thinking polenta, I loved it.

I had it for dinner this evening, and I invited Susan and Dan (neighbors) over for dinner tomorrow night. They are leaving on Saturday, so I wanted to cook for them at least once before they left. They are moving into town. I envy them…but only in their proximity to shopping. I think I’m in a good routine, though. If I walk into town on Tuesday mornings, I can check out the market and buy whatever items I need there or at Super Baru or Romero.

After shopping on Tuesday, I caught the bus going back up to Volcancito. I timed it perfectly. The bus was packed, so that meant they were ready to go. I asked the driver if there was space for one more. Of course, there always is. He asked the elderly gentleman sitting in the front passenger’s seat to let me get in the middle. I was squeezed between the driver and this guy. And I am not making this up…once we set off, they both started picking their noses feverishly. What the!?! Is this required?

Before I came to Panama this year, I knew I wanted to attempt something geometric with my card making. I brought a geometry set with me, and I was ready to go. I watched a couple of videos on sacred geometry on YouTube, but they were not helpful. Too fast; no verbal instruction.

Then today, I found this…

It looks perfect! And this is a beginner video. I love the music.

Ash sent me a lovely message this morning:

“Same corrections here too. But over all I see progress and your hard work is paying off. Keep it up Christine. Your script is getting more refined with every practice sheet. Good!”

The older I get and the more time I spend on these creative endeavors, I realize that I love precision. It’s beautiful.

I told Ash today that I now have two friends who would like to travel to India with me. Terrie Silverman commented on one of my posts that she was interested. Great! I think I may contact a travel agent soon. I don’t even want to think about the logistics of this one. I spent all my planning energy on the Camino and getting down here.

I watched this video last night. It is a real mind blower. It’s called In and of Itself. Derek Delgaudio is the most amazing magician/mentalist that I have ever seen…with a strong spiritual message… Stephen Colbert is one of the producers of this film.

As I was in my kitchen preparing dinner this afternoon, I saw a huge cat walking across my backyard. At first I thought it might be a kotamunde (the raccoon-like animal they have here), but the legs were too long; it was more svelt; and it moved quickly. It was larger than a house cat. I think it is a feral cat and may be what I heard land on my roof the other night.

A day late, but that’s fine. So, this is what I missed at home. John and Mickey both so love Christmas. John is a better Santa every year.

I Zoomed with Dan’s family on Christmas Eve. When I was speaking to Mickey, she asked me where my decorations were, and then she just shook her head in…disappointment?…sadness? Not quite sure. However, I am quite sure if I had children, I would be more excited about and invested in the holidays, but it just feels stressful to me. But I love it when other people do it!

I need a cookbook!! This plant-based eating is very exciting, but I need help. I just ordered Dan Buettner’s book, The Blue Zones American Cookbook. The Ikarian stew was so delicious, I think this will be my go-to cookbook while I’m here. It is not as easy as I thought to get good recipes online. Many sites tease you with a photo and the ingredients, but then they disappear. You have to subscribe to the magazine or source to get the recipes.

So this next dish I will consider a failure. It does not even merit a name. It is the Hawaiian sweet potato. How do we say dry? OMG. It is so starchy. It needs to be in a soup or a stew. Definitely needs a bit of hydration.

I mixed it with sauteéd garlic, onions, green pepper and zucchini, but it needed more help than that.

I’m going to try two new Buettner recipes this week: Black Bean Tacos with Papaya Salsa and Cabbage and Rice. I’m going to walk into town tomorrow to the Tuesday Market. Hope they have all the ingredients I need. I’ve decided I’m going to try two new recipes a week. Stay tuned.

I finally did laundry yesterday. It was time. This is what laundry day looked like. I’m going to see if I can get a bit of rope to run between the trees, or maybe not. This worked…:)

And this is my latest card joy:

This was my favorite listen today: Mora Medical. It was supposed to be about starting a plant-based milk company, but it was more about people being open with their mental health and dealing with stress of balancing work, passion and family. Loved it.

I just love making this card:

I made a couple of these this afternoon after returning from the Chiriqui Progressives party at Kinnears’. Joyce and Scott have been the bedrock of this group since I’ve been coming here. Now they are planning a move to Mexico. The community here will miss them, I’m sure.

While I was making these cards, I was listening to a Rich Roll podcast in which he was interviewing cardiologist Joel Kahn. I got about halfway through it and had to pause it. It seemed like an avalanche of information, and I felt like Kahn was speaking directly to me in regard to this genetic potential that I have.

Heads up…it is not a rare genetic predisposition. I don’t remember the exact statistic he cites here, but it was significant. I’ll listen to the rest tomorrow…when I’m rested up:

While I was at the party this afternoon, I met Christine. She thinks she may know of a possible rental for me next year. It is in an area called Salto. It’s sort of on the other side of the hill from me. Christine told me that the place is only about a km from downtown. That sounds great so far.

I had a lesson with Ash yesterday morning, and I got scolded. He was trying to get me to connect two letters, and I couldn’t remember how to do it. “Think!!” he said. Then my head started to hurt, and I just couldn’t get it. Then he went through and demonstrated what he was talking about.

I said, “You never taught me that.”

“Yes, I did,” he responded. “Don’t say things like that. I don’t like it.”

Then he commenced to pull out my file and pointed to the exact spot where he had demonstrated this once before. It apparently didn’t click with me at the time, and I have continued to do it wrong. I apologized profusely, and now we’re friends again.

What I find very interesting about Ash is that he is one of the few calligraphers who does Engrosser’s Script, and he is pretty much self-taught because there is no written instruction on this type of script. He just looked at the old records and figured it out geometrically. His script is so beautiful. The concept he was trying to get me to understand today was one he had to figure out on his own. He said he was elated when he figured it out.

Ash and I talked again about the possibility that I might visit India at this time next year. He is very excited about that. And now, my friend, Patty Walker, said that she may want to go as well. He said that he would be happy to Zoom with us and discuss our plans and make recommendations. Fun!

Ash asked if he could use our house sometime during the winter so that he can experience our climate. Dan and I are both fine with that.

And this is what you get when you give a neighbor a handmade Christmas card:

Cheryl also gave me this butter to try, and I so hope that it is allowed on the plant-based diet. I’m not sure about some of the ingredients, but the taste is great. I’m going to have it on my Hawaiian baked potato soon.

Betty took me to Bulk Organics today. I’m set. Now all I need are the fresh veggies.

I had a Zoom meeting with Carin yesterday, we agreed to do a Zoom conversation, which she will record and then play at church. Works for me. Nice and easy.

Can’t remember if I already posted this, but I just booked our room (the last one available!) at Las Lajas for Jolene’s visit in January/February. Barb and I are going to pick Jolene up at the airport in David and go right to the beach. We will spend three days there and then come back here and explore Boquete for the last two days. And Las Lajas has a beautiful vegan menu, but I’m still taking my own coffee.

I left my door open for a little bit yesterday morning while I was talking to a neighbor.

I sent Cathy a text and asked how she dealt with this. She said to just open all the doors and windows. I opened one door, and it flew out.

And then…

My first scorpion. He was crawling along the bathroom vanity. I used my tried and true capture method with drinking glass and card stock. I think the entry point is the shower drain. It is now covered. I can see no other possible entry point. We’ll see.

There are just a couple of the beautiful flowers I saw on my walk into town the other day.

I’m using up ingredients in my refrigerator to create soups and stews. I was shopping at Garden’s Gate in Hartland a number of years ago, angsting over what flowers would go together in my window boxes. I shared this with the woman who kindly came up to help me. She said in her very sweet southern accent, “Honey,

I’m using up ingredients in my refrigerator to create soups and stews. I was shopping at Garden’s Gate in Hartland a number of years ago, angsting over what flowers would go together in my window boxes. I shared this with the woman who kindly came up to help me. She said in her very sweet southern accent, “Honey, God duhn’t make anything that duhn’t go together.” And that’s what this stew is: onions, garlic, radishes, beans, bok choy, carrots, red bell pepper, sweet potato, tomatoes and rice.

Yesterday was the birthday party at Gloria’s for her and Betty. I was able to give them their gifts and hand out the Christmas cards I made. I didn’t know beforehand who got the cards with the mistakes. There were two. Nancy said she got the one that said “Happy Holiays.” She said that is was fine, that it just made it more of an original Christine piece. Aww… Not sure who will get the other. I still have a number of them here to hand out on Christmas Eve at the Kinnears’ party with the Chiriqui Progressives.

The flowers are quilled with centers of Italian glass beads.

The party was fun. It is nice seeing people again…and trying to remember names.

I met one new guy named Jamie. I asked him if he was with someone or if he was single. I asked it only to see if he could share with me the name of a partner whom I did not yet know at the party. Then I awkwardly realized that it sounded like I was hitting on to him. He said, “No, I’m single.” Then awkwardness continued as I said, “Oh no, I didn’t mean to ask you that, I don’t really care… No, it’s not that I don’t care…” Please just stop talking.

He handled it very well, and when I told him I was trying to remember the name of another woman at the party whom I met last year, he said, “Well, maybe you should return to the site where you met her, and her name will come back to you because memory is context dependent.” He then launched into the research that supported this. Really very interesting, but I’m not going to do that because I can’t remember where I met her. Cute guy though. So many nice people here.

Barb stopped over today. We are planning a trip to Las Lajas during Jolene’s visit in January. I got the last available room at Las Lajas. The only thing I don’t like about the place is you cannot cook in your room. You are pretty much forced to eat in the dining area. I don’t remember the full menu, but I’m guessing there are meatless options. I know I’m bringing my own coffee. Barb is going to see if her friend’s place is available. It has a kitchen.

The rest of the day I spent going over the book for the zillionth time (slight exaggeration). A reorganization scheme is coming to me…slowly. I wish I loved writing as much as I love making the cards. The cards are mindless joy. Writing hurts my brain.

And then…I created another soup. Looks like the other one, but tastes quite a bit different. So this is what’s on my menu for the next couple of days. This one is garlic, onions, carrots, celery, sweet potato, collard greens, white beans, tomato paste and canned tomatoes. Love that I can get these beautiful organic veggies from Finca Santa Marta.

Okay, time for Spanish class and hot cocoa!