SAND IN YOUR TUNA FISH...SANDWICH

    

I woke up this morning at 5:00.  Outside the wind was high, I could hear the trees blowing and feel the warm breeze coming over the veranda through the patio door.  The sky was still black and the lights of Boquete stood like jewels against the velvet that lined the valley.  I leaned against the door frame for a moment and listened to the familiar crow of an old rooster from somewhere down the hill.  I was content.  I had nothing to add and nothing to take away, and no reason to do either one.

     I've had fun over the past few weeks sharing my adventures here in this little blog.  In retrospect it has been invaluable for me to have someone to talk too, someone to laugh with.  That is how I handle the craziness that comes my way.  It comes in waves that can be unpredictable and often dangerous, as it does for everyone.  One minute you are walking along, splashing playfully in the water, and the next you can be tumbling in the undertow as your world is disintegrating beneath you.

     But you fight your way back to shore, frightened, exhausted, and a bit disheartened, unsure, after such an ordeal, if you will ever return to the water.

     Still, if life is the ocean then the shore is where its gifts are offered; and a decision must be made.  Do you sit on the beach, knees drawn up,  content to watch the wonders of life come and go?  Or do you risk being swept out to sea again by splashing through the water, adding treasures to your collection?  Either way you will end up dead, of that you can be sure.

     My point is this; I am going back to Portland with a heart full of treasures.  Treasures I would never have collected by sitting on a blanket under an umbrella.  I truly feel like I have found a home here in Panama.  I know, that if I decided to do so, I could step right back here and live happily ever after.  I will miss Boquete when I am gone.  How much I will miss her is hard to tell, especially while I'm still here. 

But, one thing I do know for sure, is that

SURF'S UP!

Whether you try a new food, consider a new

point of view, or move your funky ass to Panama - 

"Jus, get up offa dat thing; Dance and you'll feel betta!"

Live life to it's fullest

"And, when you catch a wave you'll be sittin' on top of the world!"