The Happy Home

It seems like there’s too much time in between these posts. The last post was about the flight to Panama. I touched down safely on American soil a few days ago and I’ve been settling back into winter and home life.  That’s a huge gap.

So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to give a quick update that includes every single thing that happened in the last few weeks from the time the plane landed in Panama to this very moment (okay… I’ll just give you the highlights). I’ll try to come back to highlight the highlights and explain in detail how amazing/relevant/fun or enlightening they were in later posts, but this year is moving so quickly I’m not sure if I’ll ever have a boring week to get reminiscent in… here’s to hoping.

1. First day? Flat tire in Panama City at 3 a.m.
2. Linda. Oh Linda, there’s so much to say about this woman. Linda deserves a post of her own. That one is going to happen next week. Possibly tomorrow. For now, I’ll just tell you that Linda’s the kind of woman whose 19 year old cat rides in first class on international flights.
3. Peanut butter and banana sandwiches. That’s pretty much what I lived on for six days. It’s way more awesome than it sounds.
4. Stayed next to Nombre De Dios which is where Columbus ran into the Americas. It translates to “Name of God.” Linda said that when Columbus hit Panama, he took one look around and said, “What in the name of god is this place?” I’m sure that’s totally historically accurate.
5. Meditation and yoga on the beach for 6 days. Seriously, you have no idea how long I focused on the left upper corner of this rock…  Or how long I sat on this stump with my eyes closed… 
6. Worked out of a screened in cabana on the beach. Fudge. That was awesome. Here’s a picture.
7. Pomeranian guard posse in the jungle. There were about ten of them that would gather on the roof when anyone walked by… Here’s a picture of that too. 

Panamas jungles are green. The air hangs about you during the day and it smells like warm mixture of pine, palm and marijuana. When you’re on the equator, you’re pushed up to the heavens. You’re literally closer to the sun, moon and stars. There’s something about this area that both roots you to the earth and pulls your mind to the sky. In the quiet rhythm of the sea, I was able to experience mental silence. In the thin veil of wet air, I was able to exist without thought. With my feet scraping up against the dead reef, I was able to become mesmerized with the space in between the stars, instead of the stars themselves.

And there we are. Once again, I’ve been too wordy to fit it all into one post and we’re out of time. I need to get back to work. What do I do? I’m a CIA agent. What? You thought I was a smelly hippie? How. dare. you. I might just hunt you down and challenge you to a dual. And when I slap you with my fair trade, hemp mitten, you sir, will be sorry.

So stay tuned for next week’s Panama post. We’ll head over to Luna’s castle, meet some amazing people, and then we’ll impulsively hop in a car with a bunch of strangers to an electronica festival on a tropical island. For reals.