Braving the Wild

BLOG. That is surely an acronym, but what does it stand for? Boring Longwinded Old Guy works for me, but how about those bloggers that are less than 105? Bright Lads On Gum or Bonnie Ladies Ovulating Gloriously? Someone must know.

Here in Panama the land down under the other land and above that big chunk, home to the murderous parrot, the terrible toucan and the killer coatamundi, it has gotten quite noisy. As I write I can hear the sound of some growling and beeping earth moving machine, distant hammering and the buzz of the world's largest insect the deadly weedwhacker. How will I hear the approach and prepare my defense against the packs of marauding parakeets? What sound will warn me that the ferocious yellow crowned euphonia is nearing my yard? And what to do if the Rufous Collared Sparrow should attack without warning? It's dangerous here in the jungle. One must keep his guard up and an eye out, even though that last seems quite painful.

Yes it takes brave men and women to be the vanguard to the army of immigrants about to invade this jungle wilderness of bright sunlight, deep green shadows and suspiciously clean air. Men and women unafraid of nature's wild creatures such as the Red Legged Honey Creeper that only this morning swooped down and eyed my peeled banana. I saved myself by breaking off a bit and tossing it to the winged menace because it's quick thinking actions that are needed to survive here in the primitive outback. Actually I was in the primitive outfront at the time, but you get my drift. Brave, bold actions such as the ones my wife and I displayed when twice this month we ventured into restaurants we'd never been to before. Restaurants where natives served us while smiling and saying incomprehensible things like "buen provecho." You can imagine the courage it was necessary to summon in the face of this dangerous politeness.

And yes I could go on detailing the threats from nature we face on a daily basis, the Buff Throated Salator comes to mind, but modesty compels me to down play our heroism and give more voice to the wonders we find around us as we scout the hinterlands looking for places to buffer ourselves from the invading northern hordes. And I would give voice to those wonders of nature such as cell phones and satellite television, but someone has added a ban saw to the human din outside and I can't hear myself think. So send us your best wishes to keep us safe from the fearful Flame Colored Tanager and I will soon send another chapter from the lives of people whose middle name is not danger, but something equally odd. Like Louis. Soon as it quiets down out there.