It’s the dog days of summer here in Panama – the heart of the dry season. Where we live, in Alto Boquete, the days are warm and cloudless but we’re treated to spectacular cloud displays almost every late afternoon/early evening. We haven’t gotten any significant rain since mid-December, but early in the evening yesterday a huge thunderhead skipped around the area and taunted us with a fair amount of thunder and lightning, plus a cool breath of earth- and rain-scented air. We got nada, but we’re taking it as a sign that the rainy season is just around the corner. It’s been calm lately but in recent weeks we’ve had some epic wind. It often sounds like our roof is blowing off, and I have never lived in any other place (including my home turf of West Texas) where it sometimes feels like the wind might completely pick me up off my feet, Dorothy-style. Since this is our first…