A View From The Window

A view of our home office window yesterday about 6:30 p.m. It was a dark rainy day typical of our Tropical wet season. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

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Poems: Fall and Autumn Nature

FALL

golden, orange and yellow leaves glimmer in the setting sun
this is one of the first signs that summertime is done
I can hear the soft rustling as they fall from the trees
soaring and gliding as they are blown through the breeze
masses of leaves form into one

plants are decaying,
lifeless and swaying
shadows are growing,
less light is showing
animals sleeping,
no sound or peeping

the whole world knows that fall has begun

By:  sabrina ryans

AUTUMN NATURE

Rustling leaves echo
Branches sway as the wind gathers speed and
Scares the birds away

Thick clouds move
Across the sky
Shadows move with them

Icy wind cuts into skin
Catching breath is a struggle
Doors slam, windows rattle

But suddenly the clouds
Disappear
The screams of the wind fade

The sun is allowed to shine
People step outside
The birds return

By:  Poppy J.

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Poem: Autumn

The bright season of Autumn or Fall.

Autumn

Resplendent hues appease my vision,
Fall has fulfilled its yearly mission,
Sporadic breezes blow leaves around,
Forming multi-colored patterns upon the ground.

Sparrows utter subtle sounds,
As frantic squirrels make their rounds,
Brisk weather chases summer’s bugs,
Emerald lawns become saffron rugs.

Children pile all the leaves they can muster,
Indian summer provides added luster,
Autumn is a season full of esteem,
It is a time of nature’s brightest gleam.

By: Eddie Dulian

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Spilled Buttons

Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

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Colorful Threads

Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

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Pink Dreams

Snapshot of Paola, the youngest of the three “Twisters”. We babysitted her yesterday afternoon while her brother Abdiel and their parents were in a little league baseball game. As you can see, Paola was beautifully wrapped in pink. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

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Le Rouge et le Noir

As the morning morphed into noon, Apollo was rapidly glowing brighter and brighter.  I could see the strong rays of light darting through the guest room’s window piercing a Victorias Secret bag on top of a black TV set making it bleed in explosive red.  Tenuous and affrighted grays sought refuge on the walls of the room in the background.

This contrast of colors attracted my attention, and by an act of unconscious reflex made me capture the scene before the light was gone.  This is what I saw, a duel between the red and the black in the midst of a storm of light.  Here we go.

Snapshot of a strong red Victorias Secret bag on top of a jet black television set in our guest room one lazy Monday morning. Both colors contrasted with the soft grays of the walls in the background. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

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Green is a Beautiful Color

I’m psychologically inclined to appreciate the green color.  When I see something green, my eyes are immediately fixed to that coloration.  That’s the reason I enjoy the rainy season so much.  Even though the traffic is terrible when it rains, and you get wet, and you get your shoes soggy and dirty, all around you is painted green.  The trees, shrubs, flowers, grass; all are decked with green.  It’s lovely!  Maybe I have an Irish descent, I don’t know—they also enjoy the green color.

Below is a picture of a small palm inside a mall in the neighborhood of El Dorado.  Notice the magic spell of the green color.  Enjoy.

An enticing palm tree inside a mall in the neighborhood of El Dorado in Panama City, Panama. Nothing beats the raw beauty of the green color. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

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Green

Snapshot of a green small shrub and plants on pots. We are now in the middle of the rainy season and the color green is everywhere. This shot was taken in our back yard. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

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Colorful Houses

Afro-Panamanians have played a significant role in the creation of the Republic of Panama. Some historians have estimated that up to 50 percent of the population of Panama has some African ancestry. The descendants of the Africans who arrived during the colonial era are intermixed with the mainstream population, or are found in small Afro-Panamanian communities along the Atlantic Coast and in villages in the Darién jungles.

Other Afro-Panamanians are the descendants of later migrants from the Caribbean who came to work on railroad construction projects, commercial agricultural enterprises, and especially the canal. Important Afro-Caribbean community areas include towns and cities such as Colon, Cristobal and Balboa, in the former Canal Zone, as well as the Rio Abajo area of Panama City. Another region with a large Afro-Caribbean population, is the Province of Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean coast bordering Costa Rica.

These ethnic groups brought with them the rich culture with deep roots in the African continent.  One of the distinct characteristic is the beauty of their architecture.  Below are several examples of houses which depict their taste for large houses with ample corridors and high ceilings.  Many foreign visitors would love to own a house like these with wrap around porches to catch the cool summer breeze blowing inland from the ocean.

Snapshot of a large wooden house following the architectural style of the West Indies Islands in the Caribbean. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.

The bright colors used by the Afro-Caribbean to pain their houses adds to the charm of their culture. This house has colors similar to a tropical fruit. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.

Here again, bright and vibrant colors make this Afro-Caribbean house stand out from the crowd. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.

Snapshot of a small house at the entrance of the Afro-Caribbean area of Mi Pueblito in Panama City, Panama. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.

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