The Beach Has Gone To The Dogs!

It all started when I agreed to take care of Jim Hatch’s dog named Miss Piggy. I didn’t mean to, but I fell in love with her. She is a very intelligent wild looking Panamanian dog (see the picture in her doggie bed before she ripped it apart the next night). Maybe it was all of those long beach walks that bound us together. Or was it the time she worked through her total fear of the ocean and plunged in anyway? Now she practically body surfs! When I realized that Jim would return in mid-January, and I would have to move to Colombia to keep Miss Piggy, I decided to start looking at the dog adoption sites. The only dog I was attracted to was Chester, a 2-year old male English Shepherd. Before I could act, he was scooped up by a family from Bocas del Toro. A week later, I found out that Chester’s adoption had fallen through. So, I adopted him! We’ve only been together 1.5 days, but already we have bonded. Of course he probably would have bonded with anyone. As the book says, “As far as your English Shepherd is concerned, you are the center of the universe. A desire to be with you is fundamental to his character.” He and Miss Piggy are getting along fine as the video shows.

On a different subject, Richard and Nina have returned to the beach from Alaska. They were my first visitors last year and bought a condo (on the opposite end from mine) a week after they got here. Richard will be here 2 months and Nina 4 months. So far, we have been having a ball: 60 mile bicycle rides; 11 mile mangrove kayak trips; rumba and bolero dance lessons; salsa dancing; long beach walks. Tomorrow, Chuck Frey from Montana (and former Forest Service colleague from Alaska) arrives. Maybe I’ll have a dance partner for a couple of weeks!

In case you are curious, the bird is a Brown Booby (male Pacific race) that Nina captured (with her camera) when we were biking on the beach. He didn't move and I wonder if he was injured. We also saw a Roseate Spoonbill flying high above the mangrove system. What a beautiful pink bird, especially in flight. Last but not least, above are olive ridley mama turtle tracks I captured this morning in front of my house!