Putting the House Aside, Life is Great!

For the most part, all you hear from me is bitching about our house.  You probably think we are having a rotten time.

Not true...life is great!  And, the bitching is stimulating.

Back in January, February and even March, I had a lot of time on my hands.  And, it bothered me.  I like to stay active and have things to do.  

But now, I have to fight to have an evening free to read a book.

If anything, we complain about a lack of time.  A typical comment is "how did I have the time to work in my other life?"  

Because the USA amenities are not available, a whole new assortment of activities arise.  Ones that require creativity and self generation.  

The arts are big.  There is a play about every two months, music every week and all sorts of crazy events.  

The last one was lady's night out where they all dressed like "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" and went bar hopping.  I saw them about 10 pm and, yes, it was getting pretty drunk out.  None of the women were seen the next day before 3 pm, by the way.

It is fascinating and invigorating to live where you have to generate activities.  It knocks the staleness out of life right now!

Because the bar is so low, people venture out to try things that they would never dream of in the good ole US of A.  It is too threatening back home where most activities are professional and off limits to the common man.  Yes, there are a lot of terrible performances but everyone eats it up!  These are generous audiences.  They will watch anything and like it.

The absolute best activity is having the leisure to stop and talk to someone anytime you want, without concern for time.  I have gotten to know many people and you can guess that most people here have to be a little big crazy, so they are endlessly interesting.

I am also really thrilled with playing music again.  What a pleasure.

I was listening to my first cords during practice today and marveled at how good they sounded.  Clean, crisp, vibrant and clear.  I am starting to clean it up.  About time.  The days of playing drunk in bars are about 30 years long gone.

We had a real treat tonight.  A current movie, "Doubt".

We have only watched 2 current movies since we moving to Panama.  It was so much fun.  And, it is like experiencing the magic of a movie for the first time.  Well, I know, that is an exaggeration but it was great.

Tomorrow, we have nothing planned.  A little hiking, a little music, maybe the neighbors will cook us some fish in banana leaves over an open pit fire.