On July 18 friends and relatives gathered for the launch of my first book. The event was a bit rough given the whole COVID-19 worldwide pandemic. We gave a lot of thought and prayer to how we could launch the book on a virtual platform. We wanted to make the event available to the majority of our friends and family. Facebook live event turned out that the best way to make the launch event available to the most people, so that was the platform we selected. I scheduled guests who we thought would be able to join us in person from our condo here in Panama. A few days prior to the launch, we learned that the weekend would be total lockdown here and our guests had to be given the option to prerecord their greetings. We had all but one of our guests record their greetings. The other joined us in person. It looks like we had over 300 of you join us in real time or watch it later. I am sharing a replay here for any of you who would like to see it. Replay of “2 Retire In Panama?” launch event
I have also taken a little time to work on my You Tube Channel where you can find the prerecorded messages of my guests.. A visit to my You Tube channel is also a great way to see some of our adventures. Please feel free to subscribe to see future updates. The short segments of the Panama Canal are pretty awesome. These are clips that I used in my previous blog post, The Panama Canal Tour, during our first trip to Panama. There is also numerous picture video clips of our recent trip to Israel. Many of these videos I produced for my friend and author Mesu Andrews; others I made for myself. It seems that I have gotten better at these as time goes by, and I will share future adventures there. When you click on the links here just use the back browser to bring you back to the remainder of the blog post.
A look at my previous blog posts in the archives will give you all some insight into much of the content of my book. A picture paints a thousand words. My writing skills are still a bit raw and my mentor tells me to strive to paint pictures with my writing. The pictures are there for all to see in the blog posts.
Since the beginning of our adventures in Panama, the blog has been my way to share with friends and followers. During that time, I have found myself following several blogs of others living or adventuring abroad. When the pandemic started many of them used their platform to let their followers know where they were trapped and how they were dealing with it. A couple of them used their platform to complain about the situation and blame the governments of the world for the predicament. Jen and I chose not to post much about what we were going through. We recognize that the situation is all in God’s hands and how we deal with it is deeply rooted in our faith in Him. We are thankful every day that we are spending the pandemic in Panama. The government here is often criticized for their handling of it, but we have felt safe in the knowledge that they are taking extraordinary measures to keep us safe.
When we returned home from our abbreviated vacation in the Holy Land, we were quarantined in our home for 14 days. At the end of the quarantine the Ministry of Health called us to confirm our good health. It was about then that nationwide restrictions were imposed to minimize the movement of people and the spread of the virus. Our restrictions remain in effect with men and women allowed out for 2 hours, 2 or 3 times per week. These times are on alternating days based on the number on one’s Cedula for Nationals and passport’s for residents. This time is for shopping and visiting the pharmacy. All restaurants have been closed and are allowed only to serve delivery and takeout. The churches, pools, beaches, and gyms (even inside condos) were all closed and visiting friends was forbidden. Netflix and Hulu became our best friends. Most recently many of the restrictions are being relaxed and we are now enjoying our pool and gym. We have been able to have friends for lunch and a friendly game of Dominoes, as long as we follow certain protocols.
I spent the majority of the time during lockdown finishing my book. Once the rough draft was completed it went through many edits, a bit of rearranging, and formatting. I then had to develop the cover and submit it for approval at Amazon. It took a great deal of work to bring it to fruition. I was thankful for the hours of seclusion which kept my butt in the chair.
Social and main stream media are not always our friend. I spend a great deal of time on social media now promoting the book to potential readers and keeping on top of what is going on in the community. People seem to use social media to bash one another and complain about how the pandemic is being handled. There can be valuable information there; but everyone has to sift through it to find what is good and worth reading. It seems that at times the mainstream media is not in our best interest either. Daily news from around the world tends to twist the news to benefit certain political and other agendas. I implore all of you to keep yourselves safe in a way in which you are comfortable. If you have health concerns, aside from COVID, stay at home where you will not be exposed. If you must go out in public, wear your mask to protect yourself and others.
I am being asked now when I will write another book. I will not commit to anything until I see how the first one pans out, but the questions cause me to think about what I may write. Jen says I need to take a stab at fiction. I wish that there was enough content in the sunsets for a book. Every evening we enjoy marvelous sunsets. I could not share a blog post without pictures and I am choosing to share a few of the pictures that I have taken during the lockdown. God paints us a beautiful picture daily and we are thankful to be able to enjoy these gifts from Him.
I think that I have given you enough for now. I would like to point out the icons on the bottom of the post. Follow us on any of the social media platforms there. I admit that I do better at keeping up with some than I do on others. Please like and share everything I post so that I can get the exposure needed to make the book successful.
As a thank you for being readers and followers of my blog, I am offering the Kindle version for half price until noon Central Time on July 30, 2020. Buy the Kindle version here .
Blessings from Panama,
Greg and Jen
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