City Born Girl in Panama Country Life

  Eye of newt, toe of frog... no, scratch that.  Head of bat and kidney of rat. Our farm cats are fierce hunters.  Almost daily we find pieces of...things... and that starts a game between Gary and I.  What is THAT?  And what animal did it come from?  Gary's veterinary and research career makes the ID fairly easy.  My ability to ID, not so sharp. The last week or so has been a real challenge living on the side of this mountain. The forecasted deluge came in fast and furious.  Locally, foot bridges have been swept away, sections of the roads have washed down the slopes, trees have fallen across power lines and brought them down, homes have flooded and the coffee beans are drowning on the trees.   Damage and hardships are felt all through Panama. Pieces are missing from the main highway along the route from Panama City to the west side, where we live, and on through to Costa Rica.  This rain event is something very unusual especially ...

  There is living on a farm.  And then there is living on a farm in the tropics.  In Panama. Retirement has many definitions to those who chose to define their later years rather than just go with the flow.  My definitions of  living an easy, laid back, bucolic retirement on a farm in the tropics of Panama have not necessarily matched with my expectations of achieving same.  Expectations smashed by reality.  An atom smasher type of smash. Total obliteration. A few days back, the custom designed hay elevator decided to break.  Yes, exactly when the 180 bales of hay were delivered. The hay was stacked in the car port area of the barn instead of riding the conveyor belt up to the specially designed hay loft.   The metal axle supporting the golf cart tire driven by the motor that made the conveyor belt rotate just...broke. Our very crafty Rube Goldberg hay elevator design had failed. On a Friday, repairs would not be possible until the speci...

  Panama Farm Life October 30, 2024 This morning...complete silence. I am awake before Codi. The fur babies on the bed stir and seek my hand for a morning scratch and doze off once again. The night before unleashed the most hellacious lightning storm of the season. Gary and I counted the seconds between the flash and the thunder. Close. Too close. Our solar charged batteries did not waver. We have power this morning and the farm came through the night in one piece. This time. Last year around this same time the farm took a direct hit. Our electrical grid, security cams, internet and gate motors ...toast. Lesson learned. Reconstruction includes copper grounding rods and surge suppressors at every building, electrical box and gates. And internet cable replaced with fiber. Cost? Don't ask. Peace of mind? Maybe not priceless but damn close to it! The pig screams. Still dark in this early morning, I grab the hand-held spot light and survey the area below from the terra...

 Panama Farm Life October 19, 2024 I awake to silence...before any taps on the door.  Codi still asleep on the new leather sofa in the main room.  Of course.  I open the front door and he trots out into the damp dawn.  Turning to the coffee maker, I begin the ritual... grind the beans, fill the water tank, insert the unbleached coffee filter, count out the scoops and hit the brew button.  The flock of noisy resident green parrots flap past the terrace in search of their breakfast and white egrets silently swirl overhead. The morning sun turns Baru golden and I watch the rays play on the peak.  All is right... for a moment. Porky grunts in the distance and the grain buckets are banging. The front door now open, the girls scramble outside in pursuit of Codi.  The morning rituals shift into full chorus. Alex mentioned that the hens were no longer producing many eggs.  Old chickens.  And they were roasters not laying hens.  The decision...

  Panama Farm Life October 8, 2024 Tap, tap, tap.  Codi's wakeup comes a bit early this morning.  20 minutes early to be exact.  5:10a. His determination is clear so I swing my legs out of bed avoiding Lila, Lilly and Marta snuggled up  tight  against me.  Outside the lights twinkle in the valley below appearing as if the sky and the ground have reversed positions and the stars now hug the wet ground.  The rain was demonic the day before lashing the farm with fury and sending the horses back into their stalls for protection.  Water puddles persist on the clay pastures as the sun climbs. Codi sprints out the door anxious to start his farm rounds.  I, on the other hand, move slowly toward the kitchen to start the coffee and take inventory of my various aches and pains in this damp morning.  I hear my dad's words in my head, "aging is not for the feint of heart".  Each time he would tell me this, I would roll my eyes.  Now, I...

  Panama Farm Life October 3, 2024 We live in tumultuous and stressful times on our planet.  Nasty politics, war, famine, disease... same ole', same ole' just a different century, and complicated with technology and media blasting out fake news.  But, this is the century I live in. The way I stay grounded, positive and sane is to focus on what is in front of me an a day to day basis.  And that is our farm... The morning is dark with cloud cover.  My eyelids flutter.  My pillow is... wet!  Lilly has struck again!  Lately our 5 month old Jack Russell thinks our bed pillows are the perfect place to take a piss!  Thankful it was the pillow and not my face.  I roll out of bed as Codi marks 5:30a...tap, tap, tap.  He trots out the front door eager to start his farm survey. I prepare the coffee and view whisps of clouds drifting along the valley floor gathering ground moisture as they go. The overnight drizzle was relentless.  And the...