I’ve accumulated a lot of random photos over the last few weeks, so I figure I’ll just put them out here in no particular order.

First group – fruits. The mangoes and avocadoes bloomed, but we also had a few really windy days so I hope the flowers didn’t all get blown off. That would thwart our plans to enjoy the fruit later.

<complaint>I do not know why the text is on top of the photos here, but nowhere to be seen when you scroll through the individual photos. It’s never done that before and I can’t see how to change it. All too often people “fix” and “improve” things, and only make them more aggravating and complicated. I’m still figuring out the new, improved (ha!) blog editor, so please don’t “improve” anything else! </complaint>

I checked on my favorite mango tree yesterday and it has a lot less fruit than expected. I’m afraid the winds did blow off too many flowers. But there’s still enough fruit on that tree and others so later, I’ll be able to pick up some good mangoes.

You know there has to be pictures of bugs! I read somewhere that Panama has more kinds of bugs than the entire North America. I believe it, and if you like bugs it’s really fun here. Even if you don’t like bugs, be reassured that the vast majority of them are harmless and don’t bother you, so it’s good if you can learn to share your space a bit. I’m not a fan of putting poisons in my environment unless absolutely necessary.

We have surprisingly few mosquitoes which I really appreciate. Who would think, living in the tropics, that this would be so. But we have lots of birds, bats, lizards, and other mosquito eating bugs which must keep the population down. And, speaking of sharing space, there are always little lizards in the house which we appreciate because they eat bugs.

Next group of photos – Shopping. The Apple store moved to Chiriqui Mall so we went by to check it out. The big City Mall store moved to Chiriqui Mall and now the whole mall has been upgraded and it’s looking really nice. We were surprised though to find hardly any people there on a Wednesday morning. The Apple store was open and had an attractive display, but if you want to buy something you have to order it and they will send away for it. We didn’t ask if they do repairs and service.

On that outing, we also tried the Pricesmart Click and Go option. You place your order on their website, pay with your credit card, and pick a time you plan to pick up your order. We chose 12-1pm, and showed up just before 12. Someone came up to the car fairly soon, checked our membership card and wrote down our name. Then we waited about a half hour and our order was delivered to our car. Later I found an email sent at 12:35 saying our order was ready, so I’m not sure if it would have been faster if we had waited for the email. But, we got our order, and it looks like they checked out our order with a cashier so a couple missing, out of stock items weren’t charged. Since I don’t enjoy shopping even when there isn’t COVID around, and it wasn’t any longer than shopping ourselves even with the wait, this seems like a good option. They also offer home delivery so maybe next time we’ll try that out. Before you ask, I didn’t compare receipts to see if click and go is more expensive than shopping yourself, and I don’t know what it costs for home delivery.

And now, here’s everything else – the rest of the pictures. My usual routine is I go biking, do computer stuff on the terrace, or whatever else I want to do outside in the morning. When it gets too warm in the afternoon I go to my room and practice my bass. The dog comes with me and sleeps in the corner behind the door, usually in some silly position on her back. She stays with me like my shadow and if she doesn’t make it in the room before I close the door, she’ll be waiting right outside the door.

I’ve also been seeing a lot of iguanas lately when I’m out biking. I don’t know if they are looking for mates, or water, or what but I like seeing them. They can run amazingly fast, and hide really well in a tree.

The guyacans, the spectacular trees with yellow flowers are also blooming right now. I thought the summer winds blow off the flowers quickly, but it hasn’t been windy lately but my neighbor’s tree still lost its flowers in just a couple days. Enjoy them while you can.

And, speaking of weather, it’s been a strange summer so far. Usually it’s hot, dry, and windy but we’ve had quite a bit of rain. This last week has felt a lot more like rainy season, and we appreciate the rain! But, today it feels like summer again, sunny, hot, and windy.

So, that’s it for my photo collection of the moment. We’ll get back to our favorite subject soon – COVID – ha! But sometimes it’s just nice to enjoy more normal things, like the beauty and the fun things that surround us every day. And, as always we are thankful every day to be here, where we’re not freezing without power and water, or suffering the many other problems we hear about in the news. I hope you all out there are doing OK!

Take good care of yourselves and each other!