Lessons For The Planner

High noon. The internet goes down again. I relax into it, joining Ali Sun on a walk north along the eastern shore of Carenero. Crabs, birds, surfers, locals. Something catches Ali Sun’s eye – a cross between a lizard and a bird she says. Velociraptors – who knew?

The ocean’s gentle, lapping waves to our right, jungle to the left. We reach surfer’s point – two dozen of the species dot the big left-right break.

2 pm, Mother Internet returns. Later we receive word our airline, Aeroperlas, permanently shut down operations shortly after depositing us on Bocas. I will have to go to the airport to see if I can get a refund on our flight back to Panama City in three weeks.

But wait, there’s more. I get an email from the US State Department. Indigenous protests have again shut down the Pan-American Highway – our route to Boquete in a couple weeks.

It is here I, the planner, meet my edge. Relax, no worries, mon. I turn my attention to more productive activity, helping with dinner, writing a blog post.

Heather makes coconut-encrusted sole with a passionfruit sauce. Warrio chips in with patacones, green plantains fried in coconut oil, smashed into patties and fried again. Todo bien.

Ali Sun and I take a walk in the moonlight. Blue crabs scuttle all around us, brandishing a giant claw but more content to back into their hole in the sand.

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