AN ABUNDANCE OF BUTTERFLIES....

PANAMA!

Motto:  The Land Divided.  The World United.

According to some sources, the first expeditions to Panama arrived in August when butterflies are most prevalent in that part of the rain forest.   Hence, the name Panama which in some Spanish translations means "an abundance of butterflies".

I also arrived on my first expedition to Panama in August, but centuries later when Panama City was celebrating its 500th anniversary and the Panama Canal was also celebrating a milestone anniversary of its expansion.                                                                          

I never thought I would get there.  Seeing the Panama Canal was one of those items on my bucket list that I finally removed some time ago when I realized that there was probably not going to be opportunity to get any farther south of the United States border than Mexico.  

Then with our new revised bidding process at work which is NOT based on seniority, I saw this trip to Panama City pop up last month when I was looking for a trip to trade out of  a two-day assignment that had me working on a Saturday.  I must have logged on almost the moment it had been posted because after my surprise that I had actually been awarded that trip, the messages from other flight attendants began to find my VM and my inbox.  "I would like to take your trip to Panama City " with variations of "and I will give you my Narita trip or any other trip in my line" or some other offerings that I really wasn't interested in.

In spite of having to be to DIA by 4:30 a.m. on a Friday...and having to work on Saturday with a release time after midnight... I wanted to go on this trip.  I couldn't believe I had actually "scored" it considering that for so many years this kind of assignment was totally out of my reach.  

So began my second adventure in Central America.  Most importantly it was a possible opportunity to see the Panama Canal which my dad used to talk about A LOT!  It was he from whom I cultivated a fascination with history and geography.  His interest in people and places found fertile ground in me, largely because of his own interest and the enthusiasm with which he shared his passion for the people and places in the world.  

But I didn't have a clue how I would actually get to the Canal.  Just being in the county in close proximity was the first step--and I would have settled for that if nothing else--but I wanted to SEE the Canal.  My dad had taught me about locks and canals as we went on vacations and encountered them (definitely planned ahead by him, I'm sure) most notably to the locks in Puget Sound.  Then I saw the ones in Michigan at Sault Saint Marie for myself when we were coming home from living in Virginia.  They are pretty fascinating pieces of engineering, though I am not at all into that kind of stuff except for the wonder of their purpose.

On the flight to Panama City I queried everyone else on the crew if they had been there before, what would I have to do to get there, etc.  My flying partner in the back (She was the FIRST one to beg me to give her my trip because she had lived there and wanted to see friends and a whole bunch of other reasons.  I had turned her down, but she had convinced the original person on the crew just the night before to trade with that promise of a Narita trip.  She was one of those flight attendants  you'd be glad you only had to fly one trip with!)  

She turned me off with her "so superior" attitude of "know it all" , so I turned to the First Officer who  told me that even though the Marriott Hotel we were staying at was 30 minutes away, there are tour guides in singular cars that would take one person or more to the Canal, guide them through the museum, allow the passengers to watch the IMAX movie and bring them back to the hotel for $60/car.  The First Officer said he would go with me.

Then began the nightmare of our flight.  Number 47 on the runway to take off from Houston.  It took over an hour.  (Put me in mind of that episode of Buster and Babs--Bugs Bunny's nephew and niece--cartoons that my kids used to watch in which their human friend was at the controls of an airplane and said something like, "Number 75 for take off.  But why wait..." as he pulled back the stick and the plane shot straight up and out into the sky.) 

Then I realized that my position on the plane which I have bid for EVERY month and been awarded that position EVERY month since last October suddenly changes when there is a language qualified person on the crew.  Then instead of working in the back like I prefer to do, I was suddenly in charge of the forward galley which, not only do I NOT like to do, I'm no good at it because of the osteo-arthritis in my right hand.  I just can't make my hand work like it used to.  Fortunately, the purser had only been with the company for about a year and a half.  She said she would handle things in whatever way I wanted to do.  I told her I was a "cracker jack" aisle person.  So, I would do all her boarding announcements, let her be the "bartender" while I took orders for predeparture drinks and run them out, take the meal orders, and after she prepared the trays I would serve the passengers, and all the rest that goes with that assignment.  She agreed.  That made my time up front for two flights less stressful, for sure.  Thank you, Lea!

So, we were late arriving into Panama City.  Right in time for Friday afternoon traffic.  A slow crawl into the city which made our arrival so late, there is no way we would have gotten to the Canal before the Visitor Center closed.  What good would it have been to get to the Canal and not be able to go up to the observation deck, take a picture that PROVED I had been there, peruse the museum, and watch the IMAX movie narrated by  none other than Easy Reader (for those of you who remember The Electric Company) Morgan Freeman.  As we were checking into the hotel, the First Officer said he was sorry to bail on me but the time constraint made it an unattractive prospect.  And they had to leave on an earlier flight in the morning so no time then.  But....he would buy me a beer.  I thanked him, but no thanks on the beer, and went to my room.  Then I put on my regular clothes and went out for a walk on crowded, crowded city streets to do some sight-seeing on my own.  

If EVER there had been a time I mightily wished Louis was there with me on a layover, this would have been at the top of THAT list.  Still I enjoyed going out and walking to see the sights until it was getting dark.

Okay, I tried to reason away my disappointment.  So I didn't make it to the Canal.  I made it to Panama which is some place I thought I would never get to see.  Get over it.

But I thought a lot about it that night after I went to bed.  "Come on!  You're a grown woman!  You've lived in two foreign countries, there isn't a real threat of danger in going to the Canal by myself, you can go there and still be back by noon in time for the pick up, and you're not that BIG of a ninny!"  

So, I got up the next morning, got ready, and presented myself to the Concierge down in the hotel lobby just after 8 a.m.

He walked me right out to the first of MANY identical touring cars lined up at the hotel, introduced me to the driver in a white golf shirt with touring company logo,  told him what I wanted to do, and asked if I were okay with the $60 fee the driver pointed out to me on his price sheet.  YES!  And I got in.....

The First Officer was right.  This was NOT difficult.  These are people in business to take tourists like me--safely and informatively--where we want to go. The driver who didn't feel confident speaking fluent English, communicated with me by speaking Spanish into his smart phone app which then appeared immediately in English so I could reply in English and immediately my response translated into Spanish.  WOW!  (I since learned this is just a ho hum regular thing--not the spectacular feat I was struck with.)

And, also just like the First Officer told me, the driver stayed with me during the entire visit to the Visitor's Center except the IMAX movie which he said they would not let him accompany me, but that he would meet me in the parking lot when it was over 45 minutes later.  On the observation platform, the driver introduced me to his friend who gave me a whole tour guide as we went around the entire expanse of the perimeter from one vista to the next.  It was great!  Informative but not stuffy, and I loved seeing the grandeur of the expanse from the Pacific to the Atlantic Oceans as he was pointing out the ships and the old Canal and the most recent addition of a larger Canal to accommodate the huge ships now.  

Next was the Museum.  You might already know I read every word on EVERY placard.  The driver was patient while I did that, guiding me from one exhibit to the next with offers here and there to have him take my picture.  This was stuff I had learned in my own history and geography books while I was in school.  

Ross' words floated through my mind.  The ones he always used to say while we were doing the tourist thing everywhere we went with the kids.  "Well, you've heard about it.  You've read about it.  You've seen it on TV.  And now here you are!"  Incredible that a kid from a little hick town in Wyoming has been able to see so many wonderful things around the world.

I had asked the driver if there was a place at the Canal where I could buy souvenirs.  He said  yes, but they were expensive.  He told me that after we left the Visitor Center, he would take me to a shopping area in Panama City that had Mercados where I could purchase souvenirs for less money.  He did that when we left, according to his word. 

 Along the way he took me through all kinds of areas in the city where he also kept up a running commentary of where we were--"the most humble part of my city", the beautiful cathedrals, and the modern buildings.  Sure enough we pulled into a narrow street crowded with shoppers just like me.  He parked in the middle of the street and went into the Mercado with me where I spent some time looking at local artifacts, Panama hats both plain and decorated for the 500th anniversary of Panama City, and YES!  Nativity sets!  Of course I had to have one. 

I purchased an eight figure set including the Holy Family, two animals, and three Panamanian "wisemen".  In the shelf display, the baby Jesus was missing.  I asked the clerk.  And she told me it had been stolen.  What a shocker!   That happens in Panama, too.  But she had a set in the back which included the baby.  And now I can hardly wait to display my new Nativity set which I got from a Lamanite country which wasn't a gift to me (all of which I dearly love!) but I was actually "there" for this one.

Here are some factoids (not in any order, just off the top of my head) from the museum and from Morgan Freeman's narrative which began with Balboa's Spanish expedition in the early 1500's when he first saw the Pacific Ocean.  Balboa.  Now there's a name I recognized from elementary school history lessons!  Loved the movie from the first word of the presentation.

--the locks work entirely on the principle of gravity.  There are three sets of locks the ships go through to achieve the correct level of water to proceed from one side of the isthmus to the other.  Opening each of the three locks raises the ship just the right number of feet to the next lock, etc. until the ship reaches the lake.

--the Canal does NOT cut across the country from East to West.  The canal starts out due South and then makes a sharp turn to go straight East.  (Had to readjust my mind's eye on that one!)

--though a French company first started the canal project in the late 1800's they failed when the engineer, who had successfully built the Suez Canal, ran  into difficulties.  Not dry desert he was working with this time.  Rain forest, hot and humid temperatures, disease borne by insects, land slides, etc.  Whole different ball game....

--the United States took over the project after they spent ONE DAY around 1900 backing the Panamanians to break off with Colombia to whom they belonged.  The US had originally thought of building a canal through Nicaragua.  But now Panama was the place it was to be built.  The original Canal was finished in 1904

--the Canal is just shy of 50 miles long and connects 160 countries in shipping routes that no longer have to go around the tip of South America to get from the Pacific to Europe or from the Atlantic to Asia

--though the United States had complete control of the Canal Zone in perpetuity, there came a time when things didn't go so well.  It's operation was intended only to break even.  But the Panamanians felt like their country should get some monetary benefit from the canal.  Jimmy Carter and the Panamanian leader signed a treaty in the 70's that Panama would take complete control of the Canal at noon on December 31,1999.  

--more than a hundred years after the original canal was completed, a second canal parallel to the first was completed which now allows larger ships, some as long as the Eifel Tower is high,  presently carrying cargo on top and not just in the hold, to transit through this miraculous waterway

--it takes about 8-10 hours for the complete trip through the canal

--about 13,000 ships go through the Panama Canal every year

--toll fees are expensive and are based on cargo, size of the vessel, etc.  The smallest fee was $.036 in 1928 paid by Richard Haliburton when he SWAM  through the Canal.  The most expensive fee to date was in 2018 charged to a Polish vessel with over 13,000 shipping containers.  That fee was over $1,000.000 and change!

-- Brazil may be the only country that comes to mind when you think of "rainforest", but Panama's Darien jungle is a lush area near the equator that is also a major part of the Central American rainforest.  Adds up to heavy jungle and stupefying humidity

--after my "history lesson" that day, I had a better picture of WHY Louis had been in Panama in late 1989 while he served in the Army.  The Army had been called in to quell any disturbances that were arising in the clash between the US presence and the native Panamanians who wanted the US out--and it was during this time that the Army ultimately captured the notorious dictator Noriega after he had been terrorizing much of Central America for years.  Louis has always said he felt that the US presence in Panama, though not popular with everyone, was a plus for that country.  It gave Panama the foundation for what they were able to carry on and do for themselves as they established a free country with eventual control of the Panama Canal

--and finally...there are about 16,000 species of butterflies in Panama.  Definitely "an abundance"

I'm so very happy that I was able to see this divided country that unites the world.  

AND...MY DAD WOULD HAVE LOVED IT, TOO !

NOTE:  As it turned out, my "know-it-all" flying partner DIDN'T know it all.  When I actually got to the Visitor Center, she had told the hours of operation wrong, how to take a transport to get there, and more.  She said taxi was better.  But taking a taxi was about $40 just one way without all the "extras" I got from my guide.  AND...she decided she was too tired to hook up with her friends after all!  So, there you have it. One trip with her was a week's worth! 

THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER....

"A little bit of summer 

is what the whole year is all about...."

Today is August 21, 2019.  And it is the first day of MY summer!  Yea!  It has arrived at last!  And I say, "Better late than never."  

Between a combination of bad weather and my United schedule, the covers have been on the patio furniture since last summer except for one day when I took them off--for a whole three hours.  Then the sky opened up and poured another round of heavy rain.  That was back in June.

We took the furniture out of the basement early this year to accommodate Orion and Briggs having to sleep down there while Burgandy is living with us until her new house is built.  Bad thing is that it was so early--well, not really that early--the heavy snow in May soaked everything.  The cushions, the pillows, the nap blankets, AND the chair covers.  Everything was heavy with wet--and some of the pillows got mildewed before everything dried out.  Tossed those....

When everything finally got dried out and all the dead leaves and springtime critters of the insect variety got cleaned out, then that was when I took the covers off.   For the three hours.  And after Louis and I ran out of the house to put the covers back on during the pouring rain, that's where they stayed until today.

For most of the summer I have had only one day off in between trips.  There was either a daily rainstorm or I had so much other stuff to take care of, there wasn't time to go outside.  The flower pots never got tended to.  I did pull out all the dead stuff during a nice day in the late fall.  While I was doing that, I broke open the heads of the flowers and scattered the seeds over the soil in each flower pot and kind of raked them into the dirt.

It was those few seeds that sprouted in the spring with help from whatever snow melted into the pots.  They  were the only seeded flowers that graced the back patio.  They were anemic, stringy, spotted with white here and there, and not evenly distributed in the containers.  Still, I did think they were worthy of being watered since they had made such a gargantuan effort to sprout and grow, willy-nilly or not. The whole patio looked pretty pathetic.  Plus, the three huge branches from the backyard trees which blew down months ago were still in the side yard along the fence.  UGLY!

However, Louis sawed the tree branches into smaller pieces on Saturday.  Then Burgandy and her boys carried them to her truck, and off went that unsightly mess to the yard recycle place up in Fort Collins.  Done.   Quite unexpectedly, another bad windstorm came up just as they were finishing the toting to the truck and blew most of the leaf debris right out of the yard!  How fortuitous.  Unfortunately, the wind also blew down two more smaller branches at the same time.  The trees' densities are getting thinner and thinner.  I have come to know first hand why my dad would moan about the wind being so destructive to the trees.  

Feeling desperate the last two months because I couldn't get outside to take care of the patio, I paid $85 to get some help from kids in the ward and other kids out of the ward.  But, in spite of detailed written instructions and a walk around the yard with each of  them to help them see what I was expecting, not a lot got done.  Not one was interested in finishing the job, though I pay generously at $10 an hour and furnish a little notebook for them to keep track of their hours and write down a description of what they have done.

So, back to the old adage:  "If you want something done, you better well plan on doing it yourself."

Today I did just that.  Figured generally making my little Garden of Eden inviting would take about two hours.  Three, tops.  After all I was only planning on removing those anemic blossoms now interspersed with weeds, preparing the soil with fertilizer (not that I'm going to plant any seeds at this late date in the year anyway) sweeping down the patio, arranging the furniture, putting out the cushions for the chairs at the table, and planting the little cacti into the fence boxes opposite my kitchen and bathroom windows.  I was smart enough to know that pulling the weeds in the rocks wasn't going to get done today. 

But what I did get done took me over six hours!  Untangling the hose just so I could use it took a half an hour.  It seemed like everything I did just had some little glitch attached to it.  But lucky me, today was one of the handful of days since the beginning of July that hasn't been in the 90's.  Just a nice pleasant 70 degrees until about one p.m.  then it shot up to 83 degrees, but it was still doable to work in.  Hot, but I managed because I kept the image in my mind of how nice everything was going to look. 

 And now that it's done, it does!

I am really looking forward to coming down the neighborhood path behind our house tomorrow after my walk.  It's going to look soooo good!  I'm hoping there will be a few days in the next couple of months that I can go out and sit and enjoy the peaceful surroundings.  Sitting outside has always made my summer worthwhile in the past few years.  

Now see for yourself how pleasant everything looks, in spite of a dearth of flowers which in other years have been abundant.  I think you will agree....

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!

PRIMARY GRADUATION 2019....

I was released from my calling as Primary President in the Carlson Farm Ward today.  I pretty much knew it was coming.  My counselors and I have served close to four years, and since the beginning of the year I have been hearing remarks from all kinds of people that we have been in there LONGER than any one else in the Stake.

But "closer" that I am, I was hoping it would be AFTER the Primary Sacrament Presentation which will be on September 29th.  Not a priority for someone.  So, we were put out to pasture today.

With every calling comes an eventual release.  But when you have what I have come to feel this time around was the best calling in the Ward, it was easy to put that "release" in the back of my mind.

When Bishop Child called me to be Primary President, I had just celebrated my 70th birthday.  Though I had served many times before as a Primary president or a counselor, the last time  thirty-three years before was when Britty was still a babe in arms.  I was 37 years old.  Quite a difference.
Not only did I have NO children in Primary, I was old enough to be their grandmother or in a few instances their great grandmother.  WOW!

I asked Bishop Child what he would like me to do.  He commissioned me to help the kids KNOW they are each a child of God.  I said I could do that.  And that I knew the scriptures are true.

So, we began with I AM a Child of God in every reference we could.  And we  emphasized that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ's family no matter how old--or how young, in this case--we are.  I told them we were going to call them Brother ______ and Sister _______.  Along the way we bore testimony of that principle every time we taught.  We helped the kids see that Primary was where they jumped on the Covenant Path with baptism, and that we were there to help them to choose the right so they would STAY on the Covenant Path.

It was a terrific chunk out of my life.  I saw a multitude of tender mercies come my way with changes to "unchangeable" schedules  which popped up at United--either a last minute SNAFU that put me in the right place at the right time, or waiting until the 11th hour to see that some WONDERFUL someone had been prompted to pick up my trip so I could be there for special meetings, the annual Primary Sacrament Meeting Program each year, or just being able to be to Church.

We finished our tenure as a Primary presidency with two significant events.

1--Missionary Initiative last week when I invited the Elders to come and share with the kids things THEY could do to INVITE people to Church. Also, a brother in the ward came and told about being invited to Primary when he was little, Scouts as he got older, and Seminary.  He was baptized the day after his 18th birthday because his mother wasn't keen on the Church.  Kids CAN make a difference when they invite their friends!

Then we gave each Primary child a Pass Along Card with instructions to brainstorm and discuss with their families whom they could give it to and invite someone to Church.

2--Primary Birthday Celebration.  Today marked 141 years since Aurelia Spencer Rogers organized the first Primary Association.  We celebrated every kid's birthday today by giving them three pencils--red, yellow, and blue the Primary colors.  Each had a different message:  Happy Primary Birthday!  Come Follow Me 2019, and Primary Makes Me Happy!  They also got a book mark with Primary Come Follow Me 2019.  All in time for school to begin on Tuesday.  And there was a sugar cookie for everyone with the message Happy Birthday to the Primary and to YOU!

In all it has been a memorable run.....

But today was Graduation Day!


NOTE:  This release comes at a time when I am pressed at United because my requalification is next month and I haven't even STARTED the 35 hours of computer classes I have to finish before the end of August so I can die in September at that awful, awful CQ.  Actually, I should have had them done by the 15th.  I don't think that is going to happen as I leave in 30 minutes for Atlanta.  So, no Primary responsibilities will help some, I think.  Maybe it IS another tender mercy from the Lord.....

ONE WILD RIDE!

The last employee bus for United leaves the center core at B Concourse for the airside employee parking lot at midnight.  Consequently, everybody at DIA that late in the day wants to make sure they are on it.  The alternative is to take the train to the A Concourse and go through those secure exits to ride the bus with other airline employees who work on the A Concourse.  Believe me, you don't want to go THAT route.

I've had to do it a couple of times when we arrived AFTER the midnight cutoff.  Once I was with some other United people who obviously had done that middle of the night thing before, and they left me while I was trying to badge myself through the door.  By the time the bionic reader said "ACCESS GRANTED", they were long gone.  And as I looked around in an unfamiliar place, I didn't have a clue where I was supposed to go.  It didn't look at all like our bus pick-up areas.  I was wandering around in the dark until I saw the lights of the bus approaching and then followed it as quickly as I could to board it several feet away.  The other time I don't remember the details, but it was traumatic enough that I DO NOT want to ride the A Concourse bus if I can get out of it.

My trip yesterday was a long, but supposed to be easy, three-legged turn.  Mid-afternoon check-in.  Three short flights.  Same plane.  Same cockpit and flight attendant crew.  Back by 11 p.m.  Even if there were a wheel chair person we had to wait for, it would have been enough time for all passengers to deplane and take the back elevator to the first bus stop.  All by midnight....

Only....it didn't happen that way.

When we got on the aircraft  in Denver to go to Las Vegas, the pilot told us there was something wrong with the plane.  We sat around waiting for mechanics.  Finally when they came, they ascertained that we couldn't take that plane.  So, we sat around waiting some more until they took an aircraft identical to ours that was coming in from --SOMEWHERE-- and had us take that instead.  By then we were over an hour late leaving and the domino effect is in full force.

The next flight, same aircraft, is obviously late arriving in Las Vegas.  Then it is late leaving Las Vegas for Los Angeles.  Then it is even later leaving Los Angeles for Denver.  We're looking at the time.  Getting closer to midnight.  Fortunately, ATC let us go "fast" and it narrowed the delay to about 40 minutes by the time we got to Denver.

Oh, but it's late night.  By this time people have been asleep because they were tired of waiting in the gate area, or for whatever reason.  They had a hard time waking up.  The caterers and the cleaners were already onboard because this is a "quick turn"  meaning the aircraft is late and there isn't the normal amount of time for it to be serviced.  There is a jumble of people as I tried to get my suitcase and bags together to get off AND GET TO THE LAST BUS!

I had to run interference with the cleaners and finally shut the lavatory door on one cleaner so my suitcase could clear the small space left for me to go down the aisle.  I hurried down the jetway and ran into the crew taking the plane to Dulles.  My crew is nowhere in sight.  There was no, "Hurry, Georgia.  We'll hold the bus."  Or taking a minute of two to make sure I was able to get off, too.

NAW!  They didn't want to miss the bus either.  And now with the mixed crews we have, there is none of the FA loyalty we used to give each other on the UA side as a courtesy.  A "good-bye".  Or a "nice flying with you."  These people are off and gone!

By the time I crossed the concourse and let myself down to the "apron" level and rushed out the door to the tarmac, the bus was on its way to the next stop. Is all I saw were the tail lights.

"Wait! Wait!"  As if they could hear me.  I stood there and thought,  "What am I going to do.  Can I go back up the way I came down?  And if I did, would I be fast enough to catch the bus at the center core after dodging all those people on the escalators?"  Instead, I started to run down the tarmac to the next stop with my suitcase trailing behind me.  It wasn't really THAT far away. I ran harder!

I heard a horn honking.  Oh, now I'm in trouble for running in this area with all the ground equipment around.  But it was a young ramp guy driving an empty baggage train.  He pulled to a stop.  "Get on!  We'll catch it so you can make it out."  He reached for my bag and my tote and then held out his hand.  Instead I threw my suitcase onto the running board, hitched up my uniform and climbed up to sit in the seat beside him.

We took off!  Yet that crazy bus  was already stopped and gone at the center core.  We screeched around the corner of the terminal and saw it racing to the stop where the ground people get on.  It was almost like it was keeping just out of reach.  As it got to the last stop, there was actually one lone person who was waiting to get onto the bus.  We both yelled at him, "WAIT!  WAIT!  DON'T LET THE BUS LEAVE!"  As that worker disappeared into the bus, I told the ramp guy to stop.  I grabbed for my suitcase off the running board and nearly lost my balance as I tried to get to the bus door.  The ramp guy was running right behind me with my bag and my tote.

I snapped everything together, told the ramp guy he was the BEST (if I'd had time I would have given him a big hug and a kiss--at least asked his name), and stumbled onto the bus with my stuff.  And there were my crew members--shocked to see me!  "What happened to you?" they said.  We thought you had decided to go the other way."  The dialog cloud over my head was saying, "Right!  You really gave a care."  I went to the back of the bus and sat down to catch my breath.

And that was the wild ride I had to make sure I caught the last bus.  I still got home in the wee hours of the morning.  But not the EARLY wee hours.  Tender mercy for sure--and it will be an entry in the little gratitude journal my ministering sister gave me a few months ago.

Once again--ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL!