Panama Farm Life May 10, 2025

Thwonk....thwonk!   The early morning sky is barely pink.  Toffee is clanging his empty food bucket. A self appointed farm warden, he makes certain the farm runs by the clock.  Empty hay nets?  Clang! He bangs the metal rails with the net's metal clasps.  Yes, we hear it up in the house.  One of the other horses moved elsewhere? Toffee screams until he gets a response from the missing horse. If you haven't heard a horse scream... it isn't something that can be blocked by sticking your head under a pillow.  Or even using earplugs.  The scream is heard...viscerally. And so it goes.

The past two months have been, well...active.  The results bring to mind the tag line made famous by veteran ABC sports announcer Jim McKay who provided narration for the show's trademark opening: "Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport: the thrill of victory...and the agony of defeat."  Farm life in Panama certainly provides this.

Gary turned 75 at the end of April.  A victory compared to many of our friends who did not live to celebrate this milestone.  My dad's words sit front and center..."the good news is I have made it this far.  The bad news is I have made it this far".  I did not fully realize what he meant by the bad news until recently. All that goes with the aging body.  No matter how well we keep ourselves fit and active... things ache, things hurt.  Sometimes the 'get up and go' got up and went...without us.  (Thanks for that one, too, dad.)

Earlier in April, a good friend's beloved horse died.  On our farm.  In the middle of the night.  The horse was brought here for continuing treatment after exhibiting signs of colic earlier in the day.  For those that don't know about such horse things, colic is a problem with the gut ceasing to function.  Simply stated, the ingested food creates an intestinal block and produces gas and toxins. Without veterinary intevention, colic kills.  The cause of colic can be one of many things and not easy to consistently prevent.  In the states, difficult colic cases are resolved with surgery to remove the offending blockage.  Here in Panama, surgery is not an option. Except, perhaps, on the private thoroughbred farms.  That is a different Panama not available to the general public.

This horse's symptoms were not exact and did not necessarily point to colic.  Diagnostics here are limited to mostly observation, especially in the middle of the night,  as Panama lacks sophisticated facilities for advanced testing and surgery.  Sadly, the standard of treatment did not resolve this colic. And no autopsy could be done to confirm a diagnosis.  With respect and love, some of the tail hair was clipped as a keepsake and the horse was covered with a tarp until removal could be arranged.  Defeat. Agony.

The heavy rains of October and November left our coffee diseased and decimated. Some of the stock, already at the end of life, was not hearty enough to withstand nature's onslaught. The harvest in January was minimal.  

Coffee production is of value to us in several ways.  We love what we grow.  The yield gives us a fabulous brew, brings in a bit of money in sales, makes for a fabulous gift or donation, and offers a tax deduction. What to do... bring in a coffee consultant, of course! A friend of Carlos and Amanda, who works with large producers, stepped up to the plate.  Yes, those large producers who influence the direction of the global industry.  We are so very lucky to have access to this talent and that the consultant will make the time to work with us.  We are micro producers in comparison and we know that he is doing this more as a favor.  

We quickly follow his directions. Prune the surviving trees, remove the dead ones, spray for fungus, fertilize. A race to be done before the rainy season begins again.  We don't beat the early rains. But the work was completed in between the rainiest of days. Defeat...out of which victory will eventually be realized.

One late afternoon a truck pulls into the farm loaded with a mare and baby.  A filly at 4 months old and the age at which the weaned baby will be separated from the mom.  Gracie was settled in her stall and introduced to the other farm residents.  Meanwhile, her mom was quietly loaded back into the truck.  As mom disappeared out of sight, Gracie became frantic.  Screaming all through the night and the next day.  This felt more difficult for Gary and I than for Gracie.  Visceral. On the second day, Gracie looked toward the other horses for company and comfort. 
Porky visited her stall and grunted a lullaby.  Bird sounds once again filled the air.

Gracie is Carlos and Amanda's new filly.  Her lineage is top-notch quarterhorse stock from the U.S. and she will be a prime donor for ovum production in Amanda's embryo transplant venture.  (The demand for this service was explained in a past post)  For now, Gracie will enjoy growing up on the farm and making new friends.  Training has already begun and she is proving to be a calm and gentle girl.  Victory.

Ding!  My cell phone.  Alex spots a small black bull that has crashed through the rock wall and is now enjoying the produce grown on our farm.  We know who it belongs to.  Not the first visit from one of his cattle. No need for panic. This time removal is fairly easy. A small victory.

The new villa is now rented to a terrific retired couple from the states.  From the start of their residence on the farm, the trials began. Farm dogs barking non-stop at them and their service dog, beetle season, windy season, the march of the scorpions and... the dead horse under a tarp. Although they had already spent 6 months in Coronado and were familiar with Panama, farm life is very different from a high rise condo at the beach.  

New construction always presents a few kinks that appear with time and our villa was no different.  A toilet that won't flush consistently.  The kitchen sink faucet that came loose.  The smell of the septic permeating the laundry room.  Some kind of water leak from somewhere.   Finding the correct parts and obtaining an immediate response from the contractor to fix things... victory!  Patience, cooperation and understanding from the renters?  Thrilling!

Amanda and Carlo's daughter, Pilar, is 1 year old this month.  She is a natural around all the animals with absolutely no fear.  Watching her grow and spending time with the family is pure joy.  Too soon she will be her own little person and hopefully fully bi-lingual.  I take my job to read to her in english very seriously!  Thrilling!

Four and one-half years now on Finca Bodhichitta and the premier spanish word in our vocabulary is 'mantenimiento'.  Before you whip out your translator...this is the spanish word for maintenance.  The major construction completed, our focus and direction is on maintaining what we created.  Preparation for the season changes, especially for the rain, now heads the list.  Sanding, sealing, repainting, repairing, replacing, cutting, weed whacking, trenching, planting, spraying...well, you get the idea.  We could not maintain the farm without our worker and his extended family. 

Maintenance on the horses is also a thing to do at the end of dry season.  Vaccinations, floating (grinding) of the teeth and other annual treatments are important to keep up with.  An ounce of prevention is worth that pound of cure.  To keep our farm healthy and active is a thrilling victory!

Spanning the farm to bring you the constant variety of our life here...