Dawn and Little One take a break after a long walk
Still Early September, 2016
Wes and Joyce return!
It’s been a long three months, but it’s been a short three months. I’ve commented on the time paradox here in Panama before. I can’t believe the time has gone so quickly. For the last couple of weeks we’ve been counting down the time we have left on the island. As the end gets nearer, we have a growing feeling of sadness.
We made a last minute run through the house cleaning anything that didn’t move. Little Bit was taking a nap, but when Dawn started sweeping him, he high-tailed it for the jungle.
Really, Dawn keeps things so neat and tidy we had little to do, but we cleaned already clean surfaces anyway.
What we did have to do was to move out of their bedroom. After spending three months living in a thousand square foot master suite, we were once again relegated to a guest room the size of a walk-in closet.
The Tallman’s caught an early flight from Panama City to Bocas, so we picked them up at the airport at seven thirty a.m. They were tired and stressed from the travel, but I could tell they were happy to be home.
It didn’t take us long to slip into their routine. They get up early in the morning, Dawn gets up with them, I think out of a sense of duty. I join them a couple of hours later. We have coffee and eat Johnny cakes, then attend to whatever chore is the most urgent. The general philosophy in the house is “don’t do today what can be put off until tomorrow.”
We eat dinner around six p.m., much earlier than Dawn and I usually eat. After dinner, they read for a couple of hours and go to bed. I usually turn on the TV and watch a TV series or a movie. The amazing thing is that Joyce has joined us for a little television at night. Wes usually sits on the sofa and either reads or watches for a little bit, then goes to bed. If we’re watching a movie that Joyce is interested in, she may stay up until it’s over.
The dogs are either confused or in heaven. With three people showering them with love, they don’t know where to turn. They’ll come in the room and go to Joyce. She pats her chair and tries to get them to jump up, but they notice Wes and go over to him.
Wes talks to them and tries to coax them to jump up and join him, but they see Dawn. She coos and talks to them and they don’t know what to do. Finally, they seem to have settled into a routine of Peanut jumping up on one end of the couch and Little Bit on the other, with Wes in between. They soon fall asleep and all the fussing and fretting over them seems to have been a waste.
The poor dogs are exhausted. Wes takes them for a long walk first thing in the morning. An hour or so later, Joyce takes them on a walk through the jungle and on the beach. Then Dawn decides to go check the beach for turtle tracks and the dogs go with her. By the time all of this is done, Wes is ready for his mid-day walk and off they go again. Then Joyce decides to throw the bones from last night’s dinner in the ocean. By now, I’m awake and Dawn wants to show me her latest discovery on the beach, so off we go.
We get back and it’s time for Joyce’s next trip to the beach, so the dogs are close behind. Then Dawn walks down to the creek (Our blue lagoon has morphed into a creek) for some solitude.
Guess who goes with her?
After Wes’s evening walk, the dogs are dead tired. They find their favorite spots for a nap and are gone.
I will say that all of this walking keeps them in good shape. I hate to admit that our walking schedule was somewhat less strenuous than Wes and Joyce’s and Little Bit was developing a bit of a belly, but those days are long behind them.
Wes and Joyce return!
It’s been a long three months, but it’s been a short three months. I’ve commented on the time paradox here in Panama before. I can’t believe the time has gone so quickly. For the last couple of weeks we’ve been counting down the time we have left on the island. As the end gets nearer, we have a growing feeling of sadness.
We made a last minute run through the house cleaning anything that didn’t move. Little Bit was taking a nap, but when Dawn started sweeping him, he high-tailed it for the jungle.
Really, Dawn keeps things so neat and tidy we had little to do, but we cleaned already clean surfaces anyway.
What we did have to do was to move out of their bedroom. After spending three months living in a thousand square foot master suite, we were once again relegated to a guest room the size of a walk-in closet.
The Tallman’s caught an early flight from Panama City to Bocas, so we picked them up at the airport at seven thirty a.m. They were tired and stressed from the travel, but I could tell they were happy to be home.
It didn’t take us long to slip into their routine. They get up early in the morning, Dawn gets up with them, I think out of a sense of duty. I join them a couple of hours later. We have coffee and eat Johnny cakes, then attend to whatever chore is the most urgent. The general philosophy in the house is “don’t do today what can be put off until tomorrow.”
We eat dinner around six p.m., much earlier than Dawn and I usually eat. After dinner, they read for a couple of hours and go to bed. I usually turn on the TV and watch a TV series or a movie. The amazing thing is that Joyce has joined us for a little television at night. Wes usually sits on the sofa and either reads or watches for a little bit, then goes to bed. If we’re watching a movie that Joyce is interested in, she may stay up until it’s over.
The dogs are either confused or in heaven. With three people showering them with love, they don’t know where to turn. They’ll come in the room and go to Joyce. She pats her chair and tries to get them to jump up, but they notice Wes and go over to him.
Wes talks to them and tries to coax them to jump up and join him, but they see Dawn. She coos and talks to them and they don’t know what to do. Finally, they seem to have settled into a routine of Peanut jumping up on one end of the couch and Little Bit on the other, with Wes in between. They soon fall asleep and all the fussing and fretting over them seems to have been a waste.
The poor dogs are exhausted. Wes takes them for a long walk first thing in the morning. An hour or so later, Joyce takes them on a walk through the jungle and on the beach. Then Dawn decides to go check the beach for turtle tracks and the dogs go with her. By the time all of this is done, Wes is ready for his mid-day walk and off they go again. Then Joyce decides to throw the bones from last night’s dinner in the ocean. By now, I’m awake and Dawn wants to show me her latest discovery on the beach, so off we go.
We get back and it’s time for Joyce’s next trip to the beach, so the dogs are close behind. Then Dawn walks down to the creek (Our blue lagoon has morphed into a creek) for some solitude.
Guess who goes with her?
After Wes’s evening walk, the dogs are dead tired. They find their favorite spots for a nap and are gone.
I will say that all of this walking keeps them in good shape. I hate to admit that our walking schedule was somewhat less strenuous than Wes and Joyce’s and Little Bit was developing a bit of a belly, but those days are long behind them.
Yikes! More snake stories
Speaking (or writing) about all of this walking, I need to tell you about Dawn’s latest adventure.
Our heroine was on her favorite walk down to the creek. Most of the trail is through the jungle, occasionally coming out on the beach until there is an obstacle, then it jumps back into the jungle.
Dawn was walking through the dense forest when she had to duck her head to get between two tree branches. For some reason she doesn’t know, she stopped and looked at the branches.
One of them moved!
A small yellow snake, which we later determined to be a slender hogshead pit viper, was on the branch. By the way, pit vipers are lethal. We’ve talked about snakes a lot once we discovered we were living in the land of snakes. Some of my Boy Scout training must have rubbed off on her. She froze, then carefully backed away.
When we get to that spot on the trail, we usually just brush the branches back and go through. I hate to think what might have happened if her instinct hadn’t made her stop before plunging through the trees.
Our heroine was on her favorite walk down to the creek. Most of the trail is through the jungle, occasionally coming out on the beach until there is an obstacle, then it jumps back into the jungle.
Dawn was walking through the dense forest when she had to duck her head to get between two tree branches. For some reason she doesn’t know, she stopped and looked at the branches.
One of them moved!
A small yellow snake, which we later determined to be a slender hogshead pit viper, was on the branch. By the way, pit vipers are lethal. We’ve talked about snakes a lot once we discovered we were living in the land of snakes. Some of my Boy Scout training must have rubbed off on her. She froze, then carefully backed away.
When we get to that spot on the trail, we usually just brush the branches back and go through. I hate to think what might have happened if her instinct hadn’t made her stop before plunging through the trees.
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