Opinion Forum

I Am Fed Up!

September 19th, 2012

But a beautiful view can be inspirational.

Falconry is “the ancient art of taking wild quarry with a trained bird of prey.” The expression “fed up” derives from an old falconry expression: a hawk was said to be “fed up” when it had a full crop (storage pouch) and was therefore no longer interested in food or flying. When “fed-up” in that now archaic sense, a human sits around feeling bored and doing nothing. I am for the moment fed up in that sense. Perhaps this post will help me to get over it. I am also “fed up” in the more common modern sense of being disgusted, and that’s probably among the reasons why I wrote the article posted earlier today.

My wife and I live in a beautiful and somewhat remote rural area of the Panamanian highlands at an elevation of about three thousand feet above sea level. To our South on a clear day, a bay leading into the Pacific Ocean can be seen. To the North Volcan Baru, an extinct volcano and the highest peak in Panama, rises to 11,300 feet above sea level. The large window in my home office looks out upon Volcan Baru and, during our present “winter” (our rainy season) when it is generally clear in the mornings, the mountain is beautiful in its majesty. Later, it hides behind clouds. During the dry season (our “Summer,” due to begin in a few months), it is usually visible all day although the top is often shrouded in cloud.

There is a circular flower garden outside my window and, until Monday, there had been a dozen or more banana plants in the center obscuring the view of Volcan Baru. We have far more banana plants elsewhere, yielding many more bananas than we could ever need or want, so we decided to have a three or perhaps four meter wide swath cut through the interfering banana plants to permit a better view. Now I have it, and I find it inspiring. Here is a photo I took this morning from my office.

The banana plants remaining in the flower garden are to the left and right in the photo. The trees still partially blocking our view of the base of the mountain are in a neighboring orange grove. On a very clear day the mountain, although several kilometers distant, seems almost close enough to touch. Here is a virtual tour of Volcan Baru. By clicking on the insert at the bottom of the frame, the peak can be viewed from the first overlook.

Just glancing out the window at “our” mountain is a relaxing diversion from whatever I may be doing.

(This article was also posted at Dan Miller’s Blog.)

Articles written by Dan Miller
Tags: Panama, peace, Volcan Baru
Categories: Life, Politics | Comments (2) | Home

2 Responses to “I Am Fed Up!”

Tom Carter | September 19th, 2012 at 11:07 pm

At least in terms of American politics, I’ve been fed up with the whole business for quite a while. I read about it and try to keep up, but like the sated falcon, I’ve had about as much as I want at this point. I don’t have your view, unfortunately, though.

By the way I noticed in the virtual tour of Volcan Baru than along with all the antennas, there’s a cross on top of the mountain. Be glad you’re not in the U.S. — the ACLU and their official enablers would get rid of it pretty quickly.

madrabbit375 | September 26th, 2012 at 10:46 pm

I am originally from the Chicago area. My father voted Republican all of his life, until the day he died. Since then he has voted Democratic.