Fishing Tournament

No, I didn’t go fishing. I know absolutely nothing about fishing. But, they wanted music in the afternoon for the contestants, so that’s why we were at a fishing tournament.

The day was absolutely gorgeous so we enjoyed the drive down. It was only 30-45 minutes from home on good roads, through pretty little towns and neighborhoods, until we ended up near the water.

First though, before enjoying the scenery, we had to do our thing. A new place is always a bit of a challenge as we figure out where we are going to put everything so it works for us. Then we seem to be plagued with equipment gremlins lately. We were hardly into the first minutes of the first song when we blew the fuses, and they had to run more electric cords to us so share the load. But, that worked. Then part way though one of our PA speakers decided to quit. Thankfully the other one was loud enough to make up for it. (Why does everything work fine at home, and then weird things happen when we are out??)

We were under the red tent and there were some vendors on either side of us. There were also people selling food and drinks on site. The crowd wasn’t big but the people were enthusiastic, and took a lot of photos, selfies, and videos. Many talked with us to say they appreciated the music, told us about some of their favorite songs and bands, and we made some new friends.

I loved seeing the area and I went down to the water on every break to stretch my legs and enjoy the beautiful views.

The clouds were gorgeous in the afternoon! This isn’t open Pacific water so it’s calm and tranquil.

I saw quite a few fishermen with coolers and buckets full of fish. I asked this guy if I could take a photo of his so he spontaneously posed for me. I’ve noticed that Panamanians often love getting their pictures taken, which is fun.

On another break I went back to the dock. The sun was starting to get lower in the sky, and there were quite a few people waiting for fishermen to come in.

On our last break the sky was just beginning to have some color. All the fishermen were in and it was quiet at the dock. I’ve been here quite a few years but I still marvel at the beauty of this country every time I’m out.

Eventually our time was up and it was too dark to play more, even with some lights. It was a fun afternoon though. We packed up happy, hot and sweaty, but glad we had the opportunity to do this gig. I’m lucky that I work outside enough that I’m more acclimated to the heat than the guys, but we all survived. 😁

I know haven’t written much lately. There just hasn’t been much that I’m interested in talking about. But then, we had this great afternoon. Otherwise, it’s just been regular life. We are settling into a bit of a routine with our weekly gig in Boquete, but this was the first week that we’ve had two gigs. Sunday in Boquete was great though, lots of happy people, and lots of dancing people (who didn’t get told to sit down). Is life getting a bit more normal every week? It seems so.

Our virus numbers are slowly going down and they are vaccinating thousands of people every day. Now anyone over 12 years old can get a vaccine (Pfizer), and large amounts of vaccine continue to come into the country to make this possible. It seems like this has been the main topic of conversation for SO long and I don’t want to say a lot, but I’m glad there is good news. And, they have relaxed the curfew again so businesses, restaurants, and our main venue can stay open later. It was nice to play without carefully watching the time.

I’m not expecting much else to go on in the foreseeable future but who knows. Maybe one day we’ll go visit the new stores at the huge new mall hear us, or I’ll see a cool bug I haven’t seen before. My grandson got me hooked on Minecraft so I’ve been having fun figuring out that game. He likes to explore new lands and fight strange creatures, and I’m more interested in exploring the same land and redecorating it. I’ve decided that rollercoasters are a very efficient way to get around, and I made my way all the way to the sea! Yes I know, I am easily amused. ha!

I don’t even want to think about the US and world news, but I am very concerned for you all out there! Please take good care of yourselves and each other.