blooming in the backyard

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Caesalpinia pulcherrima

There are beautiful things blooming in my backyard.  We spent the weekend at  home and enjoyed them.  We barbecued on Friday night.  The kids had friends over on Saturday and the detritus of their play is still in evidence all over the house.  It was alternately rainy and sunny and perfect for napping and reading.  I feel it is my duty to get my family out of the house and go for a walk or a bike ride, but this weekend I didn't insist.

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We even went to the mall on Sunday.  I avoid the mall on the weekend; actually I feel that going to the mall on Sunday is a kind of surrender to the superficial tendencies of urban Panamanians (people here really love the mall).  But we did get some errands done and some some lovely ice cream was eaten.  It wasn't completely evil.

Also I ran a 10k race on Sunday morning.  This wasn't planned, I signed up on Saturday afternoon.  Thinking of it as a training run, I tried for 75% effort and ended up finishing with the same time I had three weeks ago when I raced.  I had to go to the bathroom the entire race.  I would tell myself that I would duck into the next gas station or restaurant and then I'd keep going.  This is pretty dumb I know, but it was easier to keep going, stay in my groove, than stopping.  It wasn't horrible, just uncomfortable.    I will be racing 15k this coming Sunday.  I'm feeling optimistic and ready and I'll definitely be making one last visit to the toilet before the race starts.