I've been reading about the heat wave in the States and being ever so thankful that I'm here rather than there. Thus far, the rainy season has been perfect: beautiful, sunny days in the seventies until late afternoon, and then a good shower to keep the garden in shape. It's been particularly fortuitous for me because Edwin is on a month's vacation, so I have garden duty. We've brought in Gerardo, one of Dalys' sons, to mow once a week, but I've been handling the weeding and pruning. I also took the opportunity to sweep through the orchid casita, repotting or remounting plants and moving some outdoors to trees which finally have grown enough to provide them some shade. The garden is on the cusp of maturity, and I spend a couple of hours each week hosting tours for folks developing their own plots.
Larry's recovery has been slow, and it's clear that it'll never be complete. We had a setback this week when he began experiencing pain and reverted to using crutches. After five days, the surgical site opened slightly and began oozing a clear fluid tinged with blood. He reverted to soaks in epsom salts, cleaning, and bandaging to forestall infection, but most of the pain went away, along with the crutches. A visit to Dr. Chen downtown confirmed my diagnosis that this is part of the healing process within the foot, that the fluid buildup, most likely lymphatic, needed an escape hatch. After fasting tomorrow, he goes in Monday for a complete blood test to make sure all is okay.
We just went through a three-month period during which everything chose to break at once: the pond pump, the generator, the remote control for the gate, the ice maker, and the under-cabinet lights in the computer room/study. It took an eternity and then some to have everything repaired. Promises made, promises broken. Trip to assess the problem followed by trips to obtain parts. Parts not available, parts ordered, wrong parts received, more promises, more promises broken, etc., etc. Now everything is working, and we're waiting for the next shoe to drop. Interspersed with these aggravations was a multitude of trips, phone calls, and e-mails just to pay property taxes. Panama has many, many charms, but customer service and efficiency are not among them.
In addition to gardening and continuing work with Bid 4 Boquete, I've really been enjoying my book club. Interestingly, although we choose one book a month, everyone seems to branch out and comes to discuss a larger body of work. Tomorrow, for example, we meet to discuss The Paris Wife, a historical fiction piece from the point of view of Hadley Richardson Hemingway, Hem's first wife, about their years in Paris in the twenties. The club members I've spoken with found it unsatisfactory, as did I, and therefore branched out to read a Hadley biography as well as A Moveable Feast and The Sun Also Rises, which flesh out the period. Some have read the entire Hemingway canon in preparation for the meeting. This is the usual pattern, confirming our reputation as the Boquete literari. But now we've branched out into travel. One member who harbors a fascination with Turkey researched and discovered a $1500, 13-day trip to Turkey next March. Another member agreed to go with her, word got around, and now seven of nine book club members are making the trip, along with the daughter of one member. We'll fly out of Newark, spend three days in Istanbul, and then travel by motor coach to Candakkale (near the site of Troy, which we'll visit), Kuddadasi, Pammukkale, Konya, Cappadocia, and Ankara, before returning to Istanbul. Hotels, most meals, entries to archeological sites, and an English-speaking guide are included. Not having traveled this year, it gives me something to look forward to. Larry's daughter, her husband, and one of the three daughters have agreed to come down to keep Larry company and out of trouble while I'm gone.
Finnegan and Kitty Kitty continue to delight, but poor old Chyna is really showing her age. For the most part, she's hung up her guns and doesn't even get excited about the occasional dog that strays onto the property when the gate is open, although the door bell still elicits a half-hearted protest. And when Kitty bites her on the butt, she just gives a desultory back kick. Chyna has to be lifted onto the bed now, and between her flatulence and awful breath is not the most desirable of sleeping companions. But we love her and will stand by her.
It's a particularly tranquil time right now, with Doc and Charly on an extended visit to the States (where they report having spent four days in D.C. with one of their sons without electricity and temps in excess of 100 degrees), Edwin on vacation, and Penny Barrett (the major co-director of B4B) off to her 50th high school reunion in Michigan. It looks like the rain may be coming earlier today, in which case I intend to curl up with another Hemingway book so as to be fully armed for tomorrow's book club meeting.
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