True Love

I have found a lot of love here in Panama, and this is the truest! A few Blogs ago, I talked about Chester (the larger English Shepherd) and Miss Piggy (Jim's Panamanian wild puppy). Although Miss Piggy lives in Boquete with Jim, she often finds her way to the beach where she spends some quality time with Chester. If you see her hitchhiking along the Pan-American Highway, please resist the urge to pick her up!

The Dentist Dr. Spiegal

Yeah, yeah... it's been a while since I last blogged.  Sorry!  It's the busy life of a retiree that gets in the way.  Hummmmm... Since I last blogged, I joined Jim Hatch's acting class in Boquete, took on a mini-job as Associate Producer of Jim's latest play "Sylvia" (a huge success that ran for 6 sold-out nights in Boquete), put many miles on my cool new Kona bicycle (riding around this flat farmland, waving to the friendly locals is fabulous), studied more Spanish, and was voted back on to the Las Brisas Del Mar condo association board (lucky me). Of course, the most rewarding thing I’ve done recently was going to the dentist in David. How could that be, you ask? Well, not only is Dr. Spiegal a good dentist (highly recommended by many of my gringo friends), he’s efficient, friendly and replaced two damaged crowns for only $250/crown. Right before I left Alaska, I had two crowns put in for $1,200/crown. The savings more than makes up for the cost of a plane ticket, if you get my drift.

Speaking of drift, I’ll be drifting back to the US in less than a month. My last trip there in October involved snow in Montana, so I’m hoping for better weather. Here is my itinerary:

• Leave my beloved Panama and dog Chester in the hands of Jim Hatch – April 13

• Spend time with Mom in Winlock, WA April 14 to April 21

• Attend the Juice Plus Conference in Phoenix April 21 to April 25 (I’ll get to see Pauline!)

• Back to Winlock to see Mom & dance at some Portland contra dances April 25 to May 6

• Return to Panama by way of a week-long Grand Canyon River Trip May 7 to May 16

• Back home May 17

I'll only be back home in Panama for 6 weeks before I head out again... this time to take Mom to California for the yearly 4th of July celebration. 
Time to take the dogs on yet another beachwalk! 
P.S. if you are wondering about these 2 pictures, the first one is Jim, John, Pauline, me and Chuck at Pauline's 50th birthday party (Thai catered food) and the second one is a picture of killer bees that my friend Nina took (this tree is located just a few houses from me).  If you study up on killer bees, you'll find out that they swarm at several locations before they build a nest (the queen is in the middle of the swarm).