Thickair Blog

Today I started seedlings for the soon-to-be vegetable garden. One idea in coming to Panama Zone 12, is that we imagined we could grow much of our own food. After seeing movies such as The Future of Food, you can never know just exactly what is in or behind the food today. The only way of knowing is to grow it yourself, and who can argue with the taste of a home-grown tomato?
Some of the fun things I am going to attempt to grow are artichokes, black peppercorns and a new herb called shiso. So far I have three tomato plants going that I rescued after they sprouted in the compost bin. It seems that daily they grow a half an inch or more. There is claim that I am going to have someone finally (manana!) show up and help me construct the actual garden.

One evening, after the moon had risen, the crewmen sat around the campfire drinking rum and telling boisterous stories. After a few drinks, Jeronimo bragged that he had the power to transform himself into a jaguar. The men grumbled and whispered to each other, goading him to prove his boasts and become a wild cat in front of many witnesses.

Jeronimo grinned, then picked up his shotgun. “Do not move from this circle. I will now walk into the forest. I will fire one shot and then you will see a jaguar climb up that ceiba tree behind you. I will pause and look down upon you, then I will disappear back into the jungle and return with the morning light.”

With that, he slipped away from the campfire and tramped into the forest until he was out of sight. The men flinched when a gunshot rang out. Within minutes a massive, male jaguar crept into their view. The wild beast dug his claws into the bark of the ceiba tree behind them and sprang up to a sturdy branch high above their heads. A few men cried out, others crossed themselves, and many more ran for cover. The jaguar’s eyes glowered, watching them scramble behind trees to hid themselves. He opened his cavernous mouth and roared ferociously, then crawled down the trunk and bounded back into the jungle.

From Sastun by Rosita Arvigo

Our quest for a place tropical began after hearing about Rosita and her amazing apprenticeship with a Mayan Healer in Belize. We traveled to Belize to have a look. Belize was incredible, but it wasn’t quite right for us, so we chose Panama instead. I was reminded of her story this week.

My dog and I try to go on walks, as it keeps us both sane. We were having a ” I hate it here” morning, because we had been out of power for over a day and the power company wouldn’t even answer the phone. We went out for a walk to release some bad juju. Sometimes we go up the mountain Cerro Iguana because its close and easy. It is a dirt road that winds steeply and quickly up the mountain. Every time I have been I have seen a morpho butterfly pass in front of me. There is a place where I let Sadie off of her leash so she can get a drink, a jungle lined waterfall. This day, I did not allow her off her leash because there were other people on the road, normally we are alone. It was still drizzling rain and was very quiet, as we turned the corner approaching the waterfall, in the road, a large wild black cat stood drinking from a rain puddle in the road. Sadie was completely quiet. The cat was startled but very slowly he turned and in two gracefully long leaps he was gone and over the cliff above.

It was truly exciting. After he was gone Sadie started going crazy and I am so thankful that this day I had her still on the leash. Since I have been trying to identify what it was. I looked online for info on all of the types of wild black cats. His graceful leap was exactly like the silhouette of the jaguar automobile logo. He was what I imagine to be small for a big cat, but bigger than my Australian Shepard and his tail was fat and equally long as his body. So I learned that the jaguar is nearly extinct, so it is not likely to be one of those. Some say it was probably a jaguarundi or an ocelot. And according to the images I drudge up online, none of those match what I saw. My conclusion is that I saw possibly a young or female black panther. Truly a once in a lifetime experience.

For the past few days there has been a cold front hanging out over Panama. I don’t exactly understand what this means except that I know that it has been extremely windy and rainy for this time of year. The winds at night howl and because there are so many trees around the sound makes it seem like the gusts are much stronger than they are. We are only tracking them to be 40 miles per hour or so. In Colorado, we routinely had 80 mph chinook winds, however these seem stronger. Also the moon has also been waxing full. So I don’t know if these are good enough explanations for my dream or not but this is what I saw.

I saw a landscape of a steep mountain range touching the ocean. The mountain was a blue grey color and the ocean was a silver blue, as it would be at dusk. The sky was also dark grey except for at the horizon. A distinct line or crack of light was apparent at the intersection. My body was being pulled, as though an astronaut, weightless, but whatever was behind the light was pulling my body toward it. Hands clutched to the Earth but my feet and legs being pulled toward the light. I kept thinking, how could I be falling off the face of the Earth, its round, there is no edge!