Note: This Valentine’s Day post is dedicated to my boyfriend/inamorato/whatever, Michael.
Another good morning to my readers, from Boquete, Panama.
Today’s topic — hovering above us (not unlike the moon I just saw in the Panama sky) — is “Lost and Found.”
When I am in unfamiliar surroundings (or familiar surroundings, too, if the truth be told), I spend too much time worrying about losing things. This topic has appeared in this blog before. Indeed, I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve written about this and linked to previous posts.
I’m aware of this issue, right now, because I’ve recently lost track of these three things:
- The room key.
- My camera.
- My jacket.
Now, losing track of something is not the same as losing something. While losing is permanent, losing track is temporary.
The three items, above, all had a different arc of return:
- My room key was something I especially did not want to lose, so I spent time convinced I had, when it was always in my possession.
- My camera was something I left behind at Blogging Central (Boquete) 1 after completing yesterday’s post, and it was returned to me within minutes.
- My jacket was something that I left behind in a cab and it was returned to me before I was aware of its loss, by a driver I had judged inaccurately.
In each case, I felt relief, gratitude, and familiar surprise about:
- My capacity for distraction, and
- The inaccurate judgments I form, every day.
Okay! So much for the “Lost” part of today’s topic. Let’s look at some images I found yesterday, shall we?
From the Coffee Plantation Tour:
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Something else I easily lose track of? Details, especially regarding topics that don’t relate to ME. And I don’t drink coffee. However, lots of people I know love coffee, so that makes coffee more interesting to me.
Nevertheless, details escape me. Here are some details that stuck with me, from yesterday’s tour:
- The coffee fruit, or berry (seen in the last photo) is sweet.
- Most coffee berries have two beans, which have the shape we’re used to seeing.
- Some berries have one bean and — even more rarely — three beans. Those Anomaly Beans have different shapes.
Our wonderful guide, Raúl Velázquez, showed us examples of the three different types of beans.
Somehow, I lost track of that Multiple Bean Photo Opportunity, so I can’t show you the different shapes now. I can tell you that I found the unusual shapes — the anomalies — particularly beautiful.
I have many more photos of the coffee tour, including these …
…. but because I am more interested in people than processes, I wanted to make sure I introduced you to David, a young man from Germany, who was on the tour, with two friends from school.
I asked David if I could take his picture because I found him helpful and kind, yesterday. David first spoke to me when I was hesitating whether to be the first to climb the ladder up into the coffee-sorting machinery. He said, “Are you going to be the brave one?” And I replied, “Yes, although I don’t know why.” Then, when I was up on the top, he offered to take a photo of me with my camera. So I asked him if I could put him in my blog. And there he is. Thanks, David!
Okay! Well, I had more to show you from yesterday, including the “Mardi Gras Parade,” but I’ve lost track of time. Peggy and I are going, together, on a “Panoramic Tour” of the area, very soon, and I’ve got to get some breakfast first. I think I can find time for ONE image from the parade, though ….
You just never know what you’re going to find, at any particular moment.
Thanks to Raúl and David; to coffee beans, people, and hearts of all shapes and sizes; and to you, of course, for reading today.
1 Blogging Central (Boquete) = A common-area hallway (due to Wi Fi challenges)