The Panama Adventure

The devastation of the fires is just incredible. I’ve been following news and updates from here while my daughter concentrates on taking care of herself and her family. They are fine at the moment, back at home, and even have power but they are packed and ready to go at a moments notice. The fire above them seems to have burned down and become calmer, but there is a more active fire below them prompting new evacuations, and the wind is expected to start blowing hard again today. The in laws are nearby, also fine though they don’t have power, and they are also packed and ready to go. It’s watch and wait for now.

There are multiple fires in the area. The Tubbs fire is the one that swept through Santa Rosa. The area had a considerable amount of rain in the recent past so the grasses and plants really grew. Then the rain stopped, everything dried out, and the winds starting blowing, some at near hurricane strength in the mountains. It’s a perfect recipe for fire disaster.

This from the local newspaper. Bennett Valley is just below my daughter.

I watched a live presentation last night by local officials. There is an incredible amount of help pouring in – firefighters and equipment from all over the state, gas and power people and equipment, hundreds of police and national guard, Red Cross, telephone services, medical help, and volunteers. Most are working around the clock. They pledged to stay as long as necessary to help people recover. Financial help is also coming, and insurance adjusters and FEMA are on site.

My heart went out to the fire chief though. He was almost in tears when he told about Sunday night. They had every available resource on the Tubbs fire but there was nothing they could do to stop it. Soon their job turned to banging on doors and getting people out, saving lives over property.

Hopefully the winds today won’t push fires into new areas to do more damage, and hopefully this crisis will be over soon. People look exhausted. Then comes the long process of recovery and rebuilding.

Meanwhile, here in Panama, the country is beside itself with excitement. The soccer team is going to the World Cup! Soccer is a really big deal here, and it’s such a big accomplishment that the president has declared today a holiday for everyone.

I realized last night that yesterday was my five year anniversary of living in Panama. I was too focused on other things to even think about it at the moment. I’ll have to gather some thoughts and write something later.

My older daughter lives in Santa Rosa, California. She was awakened in the early hours of Monday morning to learn that large parts of the city were being evacuated because fires were rushing into the city. Conditions were very dry and there were high winds, 30 mph gusting to 50 and even 70 in the mountains! There was no stopping the fires under these conditions and soon 20,000 acres, and more, were on fire, and this was only one of a number of fires in Northern California.

It is now Tuesday morning and it’s hard to find updated information. My daughter (with husband, two little kids, and a cat) first went to a friend’s house in a nearby town and later, when her in laws decided to evacuate also, they all went to her aunt’s house south of San Francisco so they are all safe. Her house is just outside the latest evacuation zone maps that I can find, and the in laws are right on the border so I think chances are good that their homes will be ok but it’s too soon to say for sure. As of last night fires were 0% contained and though the winds had decreased, they were still blowing.

This is my daughter and her sister on her wedding day.

This is Paradise Winery now, totally destroyed. The wedding photo was taken on the gravel walkway you can see on the left. (Above photo is from the winery’s Facebook page)

I have seen entirely too many photos like this of various houses and buildings on fire, and the whole area looking like an inferno. I saw a live broadcast from the Home Depot parking lot yesterday and the decorative trees  in the parking lot were going up like torches, one by one,  and smoke and flames were billowing from th buildings just beyond.

This is Fountaingrove, a lovely area on a hill with beautiful vistas and high dollar  homes, and it’s completely destroyed. These are affluent people who certainly have insurance and the means to rebuild, but can you imagine having no home today? Where would you go? How would you start to rebuild your life? Now imagine being a homeless person, and there are many in Santa Rosa. I’ve seen them in tents, and those with cars and RV’s fill the parking lot to overflowing every night where my daughter works in her government job. Oh, and BTW who knows the condition of her workplace. A mobile home park two blocks away burned to the ground.

I know disasters happen all over the world, often with huge losses to lives and property, and often to people who have no means to rebuild. But, this is my daughter, and a home and city I’ve visited many times. I know whatever happens they will come through but I hate to think of the trauma, and many of her friends and coworkers who have lost everything.

Today I am thankful to be in a Panamanian block house with a metal roof where pretty much nothing happens. But, my mind is mostly elsewhere at the moment.

We love living next to a wooded area because of all the wildlife, mostly birds and bugs. Maybe not so much the scorpion that walked across the patio almost under our feet last night, but the majority of the wildlife is beautiful and harmless.

These birds hatched in a little nest in our front bushes. I tried not to bother them much, but when I went to check about a week after this picture was taken they were gone. I hope they flew off with mom instead of being someone’s lunch.

We have tons of grasshoppers. I think the coolest at the large black and red ones, but these interesting grasshoppers are the largest. My neighbor’s first response is to grab her shoe and get ready to smash it because they eat plants, but she’s not allowed to do that in my yard. It’s a safe for critters zone unless they are really causing a problem.

I happened to glance out the window yesterday and saw this laughing falcon sitting on the tree branch. They are very cool  birds but really loud when they have something to say. As they are warming up they sound like they are laughing, thus the name I’m sure.

After five years here I’m fairly accustomed to the wildlife we usually see but it’s still always interesting. I love being surrounded by so much life every day.

It seems like everywhere you look something is being built or remodeled. One of the biggest projects is the Federal Mall currently under construction. It is being done by the same people who did Albrook Mall in Panama City and it’s going to be huge. We have been watching it since they first started moving dirt around, and it was a lot of dirt! The site is so big and involved flattening out a large area and removing rocks as big as a small house.

Work stalled for a while. I heard while they were getting permits and permissions and when it restarted, things progressed quickly. After all the intense music practice and successful launch, I am reclaiming other parts of my life like riding my bike. Last week I took a couple rides over to the construction site to see what was going on.

I’m not sure about the bus terminal however. I thought there was also going to be a new terminal next to the mall, and the workers I’ve talked with on the site say this is so. People in my neighborhood, however, say no. The terminal is staying where it is. I found this video that shows plans for a new terminal on the current site but it’s over two years old and who knows if plans have changed.

I guess time will tell. Remodeling the current terminal sounds like a huge disruption. It’s in a busy, congested part of town, and what are they going to do with bus traffic while it is underway? But if it ends up like the video it would be really nice. As they say, not my circus, not my monkeys. I only stand by as an interested observer.

There has also been a huge remodeling project going on for some time at the ball stadium. When it started I had no idea it would be so extensive!

And, speaking of the music, as most of you know I worked hard to learn to play bass to help out my husband’s rock band. We have five gigs under out belts now and it’s going better than I ever dared imagine. Last Sunday we played at the Boquete Brewery, a place owned by a couple working rock musicians and frequented by many young Panamanians. One of the owners was there and this week we were moved to Saturday when there is a much bigger crowd, and the owner even sat in and played drums on a couple songs. It was awesome! Next week we play on Friday because we are already booked on Saturday at the mostly gringo place, where they also booked us for more gigs when they first heard us.

If someone told me I’d be playing Judas Priest songs to an enthusiastic bunch of Panamanians in my retirement….  ha! You just never know where the road leads if you keep your options open.

Some friends suggested it might be interesting to share some of our favorite meals. We are lucky to live in Chiriqui where so much fresh produce is grown. There are markets and vendors all over town, and our veggie guy knows what we like, picks out the freshest and best he can find, and brings it to our door every week. I have fought a life long battle with my weight so it’s important that I eat right, and fresh veggies are a big part of that.

Todays lunch is tuna salad. You can add or change anything you like but this is my usual mixture – celery, cucumber, tomato, mayonnaise, tuna, and limón.

Limón (lemon) can mean many things here. There are little green ones that look like key limes, bigger green ones that seem to be regular limes, green ones like this that are orange inside, sometimes with gray/brown odd looking patches on the skin, and yellow ones bigger than grapefruits to name a few types. The only ones I haven’t seen outside of Pricesmart are the yellow ones we are familiar with in the US. But, whatever type happens to be in my kitchen I want limón on my tuna salad because I think it tastes wonderful. My favorite are these green ones with orange interiors.

Here we are ready to mix it up. The cucumber was huge so I only used half. I also have avocado in the freezer I should get out. When they thaw they are soft and can be used with or instead of mayonnaise.

Lets eat!

My friend Joyce took some videos Saturday night and they came out great. Thank you amiga! I stitched them together and put them on YouTube. Listen with some good headphones or good sound system so you can hear the music well.

First is Personal Manager (Albert King), then Runaway Train (Soul Asylum) with Chris on vocals, Werewolves of London (Warren Zevon), Hang On Sloopy (the McCoys), and last is Lets Go Crazy (Prince).

What you can’t see is that the dance floor which was absolutely packed on most songs. It was the coolest thing ever to see everyone having a good time!
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Whew! We did it! I mentioned in the past that I was learning bass, and this weekend we went out for my first gigs. It went as well and better than I hoped and our audience was super enthusiastic. So many friends came out to support me which meant so much to me!

We were busy with the gig and didn’t think about taking pictures, but we have this one we took on our last practice. I think a friend took some videos on Saturday night so when I get with her maybe there will be more to share.

I’m so happy! I worked really hard and wanted to do a good job.  I did what I set out to do, and it was really well received and appreciated.

Now though, I’m dead tired. It’s time to rest up and prepare for this weekend. And, Mike’s where we played on Saturday night, has asked us back for two more evenings! The Brewery is a standing gig every Sunday, so we are going to be playing quite a bit.

A big thank you to all my friends who came out to support me, and who have been encouraging and supporting me all along the way. And, a huge thank you to my husband Joel. It is his bass I am playing, his equipment I am using, his extensive experience and knowledge I am relying on, and his countless hours practicing with me that brought it all together. Also thank you to Chris the super drummer who has also practiced a lot with me and encouraged me always, and Gary for presenting this opportunity and for leaving his powerful bass speaker with me while he is away so I can blow the walls down if I want to 😁

I never imagined in my life that I’d be playing bass in a rock band and loving it. You just never know where the twists and turns of life will take you if you are open to new experiences.