My Latest Adventure

This is my first card. My friend’s father passed away yesterday, so I made this for her. She likely will not receive it for a while, but I hope it makes her smile.

I met Nancy and Beth for breakfast this morning. The plan was for me to meet Nancy at the entrance to Santa Lucia, where she lives. She doesn’t know where I live, so I told her “sure” I can do that. I am up Volcancito Road from Santa Lucia. I thought I could make it down the hill in ten minutes…easily…ha! My memory did not serve me very well. I used to live up here and walked and down this hill every day. I had no idea it was going to take me 30 minutes, not 10. I eventually caught a taxi and met them at Isabella’s.

Which was excellent!

I met a new person at breakfast this morning. His name is Jack. He’s a talker, but nice enough. From Chicago. I already know that he grew up in a family with eight kids, spent his summers in Boulder. Worked in construction, got his MBA and built computers. Knows a lot about supplements. Saved a woman’s life by helping her rid herself of cancer by using marijuana. Loves Elon Musk because he has made three-quarters of a million dollars for him.

I sent a message to Cathy (hostess) today asking her how she deals with scorpions. She gave me a number of tips and then shared this story with me:

“Funny scorpion story….
I was making batidos, grabbed a glass from the cupboard forgetting to check it, poured blueberry batido in the glass and gave it to Larry. He was busy and let it sit for a few minutes…. Took a sip and then pulled a batido laden scorpion out of his mouth. Fortunately, it was dead. He held it up and asked me ‘what is this?’ I smiled and said ‘a scorpion, my dear.'” 🤣

Barb is stopping by tomorrow. Can’t wait!

Getting back to blogging is proving to be a bit challenging. But it’s all coming back to me.

I am now settled in my fabulous room in Boquete. It’s called the Glass Casita at Finca Wild Orchid. This is truly heaven. I simply cannot believe my life sometimes. (Sorry for the breathing noises.)

I am all unpacked and settled in. The first thing I did upon unpacking was practice calligraphy. It doesn’t get any better than this.

Getting here from Panama City was pretty straightforward. I went to bed last night at 7:30, p.m., so I woke at 2:30 a.m. I arrived at the airport at 4:30 and sat and finished my book, In the Castle of Flynns. I highly recommend this book, especially if you grew up Irish Catholic in the 50s. You and your family are in there.

I arrived in David on time, and both of my bags were present! I was picked up by Fernando – all arranged by Cathy, my hostess here. We stopped at Gago, and I picked up a few essentials for dinner this evening, and then we stopped at Nancy Peterson’s to pick up my “three” boxes. Oops…actually five, but some were pretty small. Fernando then dropped me off here.

Tomorrow morning, I’m meeting Nancy and Beth Abrams for breakfast. Sunday, Barb Fiorucci is stopping by. It’s so much fun seeing people again.

Looking forward to spending most of this first week doing absolutely nothing strenuous. My back is about 80% better right now, and I don’t want to jeopardize that. I brought my Meta Quest virtual reality with me. I’m looking forward to doing some of the workouts on there.

I’ve begun creating my to-do list. Never a dull moment. I’ve been putting some things off until I got here. First thing is to start working on our church auction. I’ve already been nudged about getting that started. Then there are cards, writing, Spanish classes, Soul Matters prep, and calligraphy…of course. Nice to be back.

Just checked into my room in Panama City, where I will spend the night. My flight for David leaves at 7:19 tomorrow morning, which means I will have to be on the shuttle at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow. I left home this morning at 3:30 a.m. Thank goodness Dan drove me to O’Hare; it makes things easier.

My main bag was checked through to David at O’Hare. Once at the gate, I thought I might as well check my carry-on so I wouldn’t have to deal with putting it in the overhead compartment. I didn’t realize that that bag also was checked through to David. I sat for too long in baggage claim waiting for my bag. One of the staff nearby assured me that it would be coming. He said it just takes time for them to unload sometimes. I finally went to customer service, and they informed me that it was checked through to David.

Next stop Customs. When I got to the desk, the agent said, “You made a mistake on your form. You have to make out a new one.” So, back to baggage claim to fill out a new form. So happy no one was waiting for me. Happily, the lines were not too long.

Tomorrow I will be met at the airport by Fernando, a taxi driver. Cathy (the caretaker of the Wild Orchid Glass Casita, where I’m staying in Boquete) arranged for Fernando to pick me up, go to my friend Nancy’s to pick up my boxes, and take me grocery shopping. Thanks Cathy!!

BTW…it’s 80 degrees here right now.

I love this photo. There is a lot going on. We can see the expressions on the faces of the Smiths as they are reacting to what they perceive as an attack on their identity.

Although the image is a bit disturbing, I find Smith’s Twitter comment hopeful: “got all dressed up to choose chaos.” Of course, the operative word here is “choose.”

I read this morning that the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences is launching an official inquiry into the incident. This is great news. I heard that over one billion people witnessed this event. If they also have the opportunity to witness an exploration of what it was that caused Smith to “choose chaos,” it can be an enlightening experience for many, many people.

I feel that the emphasis needs to be continually placed on “choose” and “choice” and any other iteration of this word. The good news is that Smith already used this word in his Twitter response.

As the Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl said, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.”

Right now, I choose to have faith that he will be able to explain what went on in his mind at that moment. The world is watching. He can be a role model for many.

In the 1939 film we watched Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. We are now watching in real time as Mr. Smith Awakens...or not…you never know.

A few more “thank yous” waiting for their beads.

#awakening #willsmith #cardmaking

Can you tell I don’t have anyone to talk to?

In response to Will Smith’s hitting Chris Rock, Sam Crosby, Sky News Contributor on the Paul Murray Show, said this. “C’mon it’s the most human reaction for a husband to defend his wife’s honor like that.”

I say, more’s the pity.  Crosby is intimating that it is normal or acceptable to express emotions with violence.  

Because this type of violent reactivity is common, even respected by some, does not mean it is acceptable or optimal. Violence begets violence. 

Violent behavior shows a lack of self-control and a lack of self-awareness, both of which Smith demonstrated. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” 

Again, I hope that Smith is reflecting on the value of this moment. 

As I’m sure millions of people are responding to the drama of last night’s Oscars, so am I. In case you don’t already know, in short, Chris Rock, as he was preparing to present an award, made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s baldness. Pinkett Smith apparently has an autoimmune condition which has caused her alopecia (baldness). Upon hearing the remark, Will Smith walked up onto the stage and slapped Chris Rock in the face.

Later, as Smith was accepting his award for King Richard, he apologized for his behavior and said, “love makes you do crazy things.”

I was saddened by this weak defense of his behavior. It is not love that makes us do crazy violent things, it is just the opposite, it is ego, identification with a story, one based in fear. It is ego, the weakest point on the spectrum of who we are that makes us do crazy things, not love, which is at the highest point of the spectrum.

Smith apparently believes in a story that tells him he must defend at all costs an idea of who he thinks he is. He talked about the character Richard Williams, father of the famous tennis stars, Serena and Venus Williams. Smith compared himself to Richard Williams, who believed in protecting others, especially people in his family, especially women.  What did he think he was protecting them from?

I am heartened to hear the media responses to Smith’s behavior, which were generally disparaging, citing lack of self control and the ultimate rejection of violence as an answer. The Oscars presentation is in many ways an opportunity, especially for young people, to view role models. Smith’s behavior is not something worth modeling.

However, I am also hopeful. I hope that this is not the end of Smith’s drama. This is an opportunity for him to see how his thoughts led to an episode of suffering, which resulted in a poor choice, but one which can also lead to an awakening. Choose again. Learn what it really means to choose from love.

I had a pretty lazy day today, recuperating from my evening with Barb and Murray. Barb is just back from her visit to the U.S. to visit her daughters. It was great to see her again. I made puttanesca for them again, and with that we had fresh tuna (raw) with Murray’s famous hot sauce, and some great wine. I spent the night and came back and did a bit of work on my cards and the blog.

I went to a new restaurant last week, once on Thursday for lunch with Sally and then again yesterday morning with the gang. The restaurant is called Taburete. The ambience is charming. I wish I could say the same for the food.

I saw this video today on the Boquete Community Group. Vaughn is one of the pickleball players I have met recently.

It’s a week of “lasts.” My last Tuesday Market, my last Trivia Tuesday, my last knitting group, my last cooking. Time to start thinking about packing and coming home. It was wonderful, but I’m ready.

I did my last shopping for anything that will have to be cooked. I will miss the fresh produce and hum of the Tuesday Market.

Trivia was very underwhelming this week, at least in regard to the questions. I’m not even going to bother posting them here for you. Some were very arcane; no one got them right. Nancy and Betty were fit to be tied. I still enjoyed it. I love the ambience.

After Trivia we went to Tre Scalini for dinner. My first and last time there this year. It’s one of my favorites. I had the fettuccine with smoked salmon and chorizo. I’ve had it before, and I loved it. And then of course, there is always dessert!

I had an interesting “Boquete moment” this week. The other day, I was going out for my hike, and realized that my hiking pole was not where I usually leave it. I looked everywhere to no avail. I scanned my memory and guessed that I likely left it in a taxi when I was coming home with groceries.

I posted my dilemma on the Boquete Community Group Facebook page. Within minutes, a taxi drive answered that he would put out the word to his fellow drivers. Very shortly afterward, I received the message that my pole was located in George’s taxi. I was given George’s number, connected with him and made plans to meet in town the next day. I got the pole back safe and sound.

Cathy Doig stopped by today with the lease contract for the Glass Casita. All set for next year! Perhaps I will have fewer of this type of visitor who stopped by yesterday morning. He had the body of a Buick. Ugh!! But I managed to scoop him up and let him outside…where he belongs.

Today is Dan’s 65^th birthday.  Yay Medicare!!  I spoke with him for just a short time this morning, and then I lost my Internet connection.  He had dinner last night with our neighbors, Jay and Ann Lecher. Ann surprised him with a birthday tiramisu.  Sweet.

A few days ago, I was talking to Dan about how I wanted to celebrate my 70^th birthday.  I told him that in addition to walking the Camino, I was planning to do the Intuitive Painting retreat at the Christine Center during the first week in July.  I said that that should do it, unless there was something he wanted to do with me to celebrate.  “No,” he said, “I’m good.” 

And today’s play time was all about dandelions.  I started with the one on the top left and ended with the one on the bottom right. 

I have looked a couple of times, but walking has limited my searching. Today, I finally committed to finding Don Quike’s bakery. I knew the general area, but I kept getting it wrong. Today I even asked people nearby who didn’t know where it was. But I finally found him!

Don Quike has quickly built a reputation as the very best baker in Boquete, especially for his bagels. He was trained by Mort of Mort’s Kosher Bakery in Alto Boquete. I believe Mort is no longer with us (although the bakery is still there), and Don Quike has started a place of his own. The issue with many is that his hours seem to be sporadic. I asked him today, as I was buying my bagels, what his schedule is. He told me Tuesday through Saturday, 9 am to 3 pm. So, we’ll see.

My days are numbered here, but I am already looking forward to visiting his bakery next year.

This was my favorite email yesterday from Cathy Doig:

Hi Christine, 
The owner of Finca Wild Orchid, Mark Velci, has approved a 4 month lease (Dec through March, 2023) of the fully furnished Glass Casita at a rental rate of $825 monthly. 
The rent will include high speed internet & electricity. You will be responsible for refills on the propane gas tanks, as needed, which are $5.37 each. In a 4 month period I estimate you will need to refill 2 tanks. 
I will confirm the weekly cleaning and hopefully it will be no more than $25.
If these terms are acceptable I will draft a short term lease to secure the reservation for you. 
Cheers! 
Cathy

I am, as they say, “stoked. ” I didn’t mention in the initial blog about this place that it has a great kitchen with a six-burner stove and oven. I might even bring my copper pot down with me.

I just finished listening to this podcast with Soren Gordhamer of Wisdom 2.0 and Jon Kabat-Zinn. I choose to believe with my entire being in this perspective on what is happening in Ukraine.

Gloria’s sister, Angel, is here visiting from Cleveland. This evening we went to the Fishhouse for dinner. Never a disappointment. Angel and I both had the grouper with papaya/jalapeño salsa. Gloria had a fish sandwich.

Angel wanted to go out to listen to music, but the band at Boquete Brewhouse said they did not start playing until 9 pm (it was about 6:30). I don’t think so. Night-night.