doing nothing at all is hard work

My toes are waving hello at you from the other end of the hammock at my new home away from home. Yet another product of my unwillingness to plan or at least schedule ahead was that the only flights with a seat left were at 6:30 am and 5 pm. So at 4 am I had an incoherent conversation with a man I presume was at the front desk of my hotel about taxis and airports. (Dave, if you are reading this, I know 4 am is not early for you but it felt like hell.) I was dreaming that Emily Brown and I were having a conversation about a very large ham that she and Chris had been gifted and she was just getting to the part where she was going to tell me what she did with it. Now I'll never know. I'm an island dweller for now, and embracing the life, even if just for a short time. I rented a bike, which is now staring at me from the curb, and got the lay of the land while bathing in my own sweat. But then I had a late breakfast sitting looking out at the water and the boats with the breeze cooling my skin, and feeling good about not having to figure out where I'm going to sleep tonight, and how I'm going to get there. Mind you, by tomorrow I will probably feel the urge to move along but today is a good respite. And tomorrow is May Day, which is apparently a good excuse for a holiday here. I'm in Bocas del Toro, which feels a bit like any ocean-side town in a warm sunny place that tends to fill up with ex-pats and tourists. I've had a late morning nap to make up for my lost dream and now I'm considering a cocktail. I was amazed to find that this place-the entire island- does not have a bookstore. If I'm ever an ex-pat in my golden years, I shall have a bookstore to feed the habits of those like me. My Spanish works quite well, it turns out, once I was speaking with people who are used to talking to non-native speakers. Yes, I know that means I speak it badly but we knew that already. By the way, feel free to leave comments. They won't show up right away, but I'll post them as soon as I get back on line-unless you ask me not to, of course. Clay, I tried to get photos yesterday of what I think were 'wild' bee hives as I rode through the country side. We slowed down a lot because believe it or not, the PanAmerican Highway turns into a rutted, dirt road in places (like your road, Dennis), but of course there were never any at the side of the road at those exact times. I don't quite know how people do this 'nothing' thing for any length of time, but I'm going to give it a try.