It’s Carnavales time in Panama now, a four day holiday involving loud music and water hoses in various towns, families hanging out together, maybe swimming in the nearest river, and people generally enjoying time off. The idea is to let off steam before the beginning of lent when you are supposed to be thoughtful and subdued.

The band played at the Boquete Brewing Company last night and it was a blast. The roads were fine in spite of festivities in Dolega and extra check points on Via Boquete. We started early, 5 pm, and the crowd kept growing every hour. Management asked us to play and extra hour, and it was close to 10 when we stopped and the place was still full and overflowing. It’s so fun to play to a crowd who is so enthusiastic!

But, a word about the weather. We left David – hot, dry, sunny, breezy, probably in the low 90’s. We spent the evening in Boquete – wet, rain, barareque (wet mist), cloudy, windy, and very chilly. I wore my sweater and sweatshirt for most of the evening. How can a place just a short drive away feel like a different world?

Today it’s the David world again for us – hot, clear, sunny, and lots of wind. We headed out to Pricesmart (a membership store like Costco) and it was very quiet around town, and also in Pricesmart which made shopping fast and easy.

Apparently they were very ready for Carnavales festivities and the necessary beer. That’s at least twice the amount of beer we usually see there.

Sushi?! I don’t think I’ve seen sushi in Panamanian before. It’s probably here somewhere, but not common. I couldn’t resist. It’s as good as any other grocery store sushi, if my distant memory serves. They also have a new spot for soft ice cream and frozen yogurt.

There always seems to be something new going on and it makes David feel very alive and thriving. Along the way an older building was gone, I imagine to make room for something new. There is a huge new supermarket that we haven’t checked out yet. There is obvious activity at the site of the new metropolitan park. In just the short drive across town it seems like half the businesses have been built in the 5 years since we arrived.

Speaking of the new metropolitan park, check out this 12 1/2 minute video showing what it’s going to be. It’s incredible! A lake, a model of the canal locks, planetarium, botanical garden, amphitheater, dog park, place for old people, a therapy area for people with disabilities, children’s playground, bike path, restaurant, more things than I can remember.

Yeah, we’ve got it going on around here!

Change subject – I found another picture in my collection. I love to putter around in the yard and grow things, and why not grow things that also produce food? I had yucca by the front door that was getting scraggly and tall, so I dug it up. And, the bunch of bananas out back were looking quite plump so Joel cut it down.

I gave away half the yucca but we still have three big bags in the freezer. In the yard I also have fruit trees (limón, oranges, guanábana, thanks to the neighbor who planted them for the owner when she lived here). I have planted plantains, pineapples, cashew trees, passion fruit, a tree that grows those huge yellow lemons, avacadoes, moringa, ginger, not sure what all else along with flowering plants. I’ve dug a million weeds to allow the grass to grow back in the front, and planted perennial peanut in back, an excellent and attractive ground cover.

Life in Panama. How are we so fortunate?