Kurzbeschreibung
As I wrote and shared stories of the Canal Zone during the era of American sovereignty, friends encouraged me to formalize them in a book. Thus All American Colonial Boy came to be. I submitted excerpts to the Panama Canal Society’s quarterly, the Canal Record. But not everyone interested in the Zone is in the PCS so I offer these pleasant recollections to the curious and all who cherish the memories of a past unique-in-the-world way of life.
Breakwater: Four boys with more bravado than brains set out to cross Limon Bay in cayucos unsuited for the voyage. Swamping in shark infested waters and playing chicken against the Atlantic surf is just good fun.
Mongo at High Noon: Isolated on an island between a bay and a swamp the boys of Coco Solo invent their own games. Spinning tops is a yawn. Sharpening the tips and tossing them hard enough the chip concrete and split the toy of your opponent is Mongo.
Shaking Hands With The Devil: Panama is jaguar country. Now and then the children of Coco Solo would wake to discover one of the man eaters, culled from a nearby ranchero, hanging from a neighbor’s stoop. Dare ya to touch it.
22nd Jamboree: The Americans of the Canal Zone embraced the traditions of their homeland and few things are more American than contact football. It was embraced and celebrated in the season opener, the Jamboree, a round robin of football invented by Coach Luke Palumbo. Generations of Canal Zone youth participated in the local spectacle. This story is dedicated to my quarterback and friend, Michael Spagna, who died too young on the Boyd-Roosevelt highway.
Coco Solo Christmas: Tops in Zone cherished Americana was Christmas. It was no small feat to bring a winter holiday to the near equatorial tropics. Evergreens were shipped in, palm trees were wrapped with lights, and if you were good, Santa’s sleigh would stop in front of your house. Carolers would sing, “On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Five Coconuts.”
This book is the second of the Canal Zone Shorts series. Book one is Jungle Joyride and available on Kindle.
Breakwater: Four boys with more bravado than brains set out to cross Limon Bay in cayucos unsuited for the voyage. Swamping in shark infested waters and playing chicken against the Atlantic surf is just good fun.
Mongo at High Noon: Isolated on an island between a bay and a swamp the boys of Coco Solo invent their own games. Spinning tops is a yawn. Sharpening the tips and tossing them hard enough the chip concrete and split the toy of your opponent is Mongo.
Shaking Hands With The Devil: Panama is jaguar country. Now and then the children of Coco Solo would wake to discover one of the man eaters, culled from a nearby ranchero, hanging from a neighbor’s stoop. Dare ya to touch it.
22nd Jamboree: The Americans of the Canal Zone embraced the traditions of their homeland and few things are more American than contact football. It was embraced and celebrated in the season opener, the Jamboree, a round robin of football invented by Coach Luke Palumbo. Generations of Canal Zone youth participated in the local spectacle. This story is dedicated to my quarterback and friend, Michael Spagna, who died too young on the Boyd-Roosevelt highway.
Coco Solo Christmas: Tops in Zone cherished Americana was Christmas. It was no small feat to bring a winter holiday to the near equatorial tropics. Evergreens were shipped in, palm trees were wrapped with lights, and if you were good, Santa’s sleigh would stop in front of your house. Carolers would sing, “On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Five Coconuts.”
This book is the second of the Canal Zone Shorts series. Book one is Jungle Joyride and available on Kindle.
