Subject: Hi Maren!

Hi  Maren! 
Nice to hear from you. Sorry for the slow reply.  I'm behind on about everything these days! 

You mentioned Nick is now 28.  How is that possible?  :-) I have this mental image of him as a kid.  The problem with that scenario is that it raises the question: 'What does that make me?" Next subject... 

I'm extremely busy doing my thing, managing several business activities, 5 dogs (see below) and trying to enjoy life as much as possible.  I really love where I live and the lifestyle I've been able to achieve.  Life is good.

You know what a die hard Packer fan I am and have been all my life.  Well, I'm not going to watch the game today.  I've just lost interest, sad to say.  Injuries have forced them to play with half the team being reserves, Rodgers is out and this whole 'take a knee at the national anthem' BS and the political correctness from NFL leadership has just left me cold.  Not that anyone cares, just a sidenote. 

Early October Tropical Storm 'Nate' swung very low in the Caribbean and being that I'm on top of a mountain ridge it hit Panama (we never get hurricanes) and hit me pretty hard here.  I was in bed all night listening to trees crashing all around me just waiting for one to come through the roof and say hello.  Thankfully it didn't happen but it did leave a mess.  I was stranded for 3 days with the road blocked in both directions. No water for day 1. No electric for 3 days and no internet or cell phone for about a week.  Had to break out the old camping skills!   
As for the dogs, you saw that picture of me holding princess (here) and Bear, one in each hand as newborn puppies.  When Chacho and Marimba left me, I thought to myself, OK I can have a little freedom now and come and go as I please.  Well a friend of mine who has 10 -20 dogs at any given time (rescues mostly) tempted me with the puppies and I couldn't say no.  Here is Princess giving me that look 'Why aren't you petting me?' with my house helper Anthony, who's from Venezuela, playing his 'cuatro' (Venezuelan 4 string small guitar).  Princess is my girlfriend.  She is obsessively possessive and jealous of any attention I give the others.  I'm her boyfriend and that's it! 
Reagan, on the left, I rescued from the road 3 times.  Long story.  Tried to give her away and found her on the road again.  Was driviing down the mountain one day, passed a dog in the rain on the road.  Didn't pay much attention.  Looked in my rear view mirror and this dog was running as hard as she could chasing me down the road.  I stopped to see what was up and lo and behold it was Regan who I rescued before and gave her to my neighbors.  She was pals with Bear and Princess so she knew us, me and my car and recognized me on the road enough to start chasing me as I went by.  That was all I needed.  She was mine now.  Mippi was here at the house when I moved in so she just came with the house.  Then Angel is a young'un just appeared one day and as many times as I tried to chase her away she wouldn't leave. She kept trying to find a way in the gate or fence. First on one side, then another and after morning of futile attempts to shoo her away I finally broke down and let her in.  She's #5 and living a good life ever since! Lucky girl.  She knew she'd have a good thing here and wouldn't leave until she got it!  

I'll leave you with some storm pics below... There's more but this gives you an idea.. 

Christmas is coming. Can you believe it?   More later..
Love 
Mark
PCF World Mission LLC, Apdo. 858-1260, 1260, San Jose, Costa Rica
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