Coffee Time
You guys are so lucky, I was going to treat you to another off the cuff political diatribe but instead, I have a cool link.
On Tuesday there is the annual Best of Panama Special Reserve Coffee Auction, right here in Boquete. Buyers from around the world bid on the local homegrown from these parts, and there should be (according to an email I just got) a link on the above linked site for everyone to watch on Tuesday May 29th 7:30 AM Pacific, 9:30 AM local Boquete time.
For the time being there is also at this very moment a link to launch a movie if you ever wanted to see the Boquete and the Baru Volcano areas. It's quite simply an amazing video for the fact that it was made in 2005 and seems like it came out of the fifties or sixties and you have a substitute teacher for social studies. Pure cheese, but with happy native Indians and sustainable growth stuff thrown in so you know it's new. (You can also listen in Japanese.)
Attacked the yard again today. The blisters have turned to quasi calluses and I put on the outfit: long sleeved shirt, big boots, hat and gloves. I only managed to get one bite behind my left ear, though I did see some big nasty looking spider trying to skedaddle out of the way of my trusty machete. I was pretty productive as I wore my Dickies pants that have a side pocket (usually for cell phone use) where I kept my file and sharpening stone.
I stayed out for the first two rain showers as well, and as I made my way 360 degrees around the whole mess back to the top of the hill, I looked down upon my work and said it "was good." Bushed, I started down to the back patio for a well-deserved smoke, but when I reached in my pocket the pack had turned to so much mush. I slogged over to the general store, got a fresh pack, a new lighter and a grape soda and wandered to the back of the house to set the late afternoon plan.
I didn't finish the first weed before the clouds opened up again. It was quite the downpour and I watched the water in the canal to see how it was behaving. After a bit I looked over and saw water coming over the far corner of the concrete patio and poked my head around, and for the first time it struck me; I don’t have any gutters on the damned house.
It will be interesting to see if I can get the landlady to install some, but it will be a push. I also discovered the other day, and confirmed today, that I have another water eye up on the hill where I've been cleaning up. The project keeps getting more interesting.
