I met Dr. Timothy Zellmer three weeks ago at the Boquete farmers market, that reminded me of the Mt Hope sale; though no livestock, only organic foods and crafts. I even met some Mennonites that come every week from Volcan, 90 minutes away toward Costa Rico. Tim was giving away free Kindle downloads of his new book, that I finally read during the Houston Cleveland leg Sat afternoon. What a treat!
Tim, born in Minnesota as I, though 11 years later, grew up exposed to his grandpa’s Hereford bull breeding ranch in the Dakotas, immersed in the vibrant cowboy-Indian culture next to two Indian Reservations, the Lower Brule and Crow Creek, as I, within 30 minutes of the White earth Reservation. His father was a pastor in the MN, ND, and MT Lutheran Churches. My dad was in the lot and I sat with him during the ordeal, but mom’s prayers over-ruled and I escaped being a PK. And fortunately too, as I garnered more than enough of my own challenges/baggage!
Tim and a friend after high school in ’77 hiked the Appalachian Trail (AT) dreaming of someday having a Hostel on the AT. Back then on the trail, they called it the Miracle of the Day. Now it’s called the Trail Magic, where everyone sees you doing your hard thing, and they are so attracted to that. People join up when they see you are living your life aligned with a vision. (What does that remind us of?) Writing is now his hard-thing now. Not mine, yet!
His path led him from working as a cowboy dentist on those two Indian reservations and many others to now living with the native Ngabe tribe in Panama. Having been in Boquete 15 years now, he has evolved into a flexible entrepreneur and a committed humanitarian. He was former president of the Rotary Club of Boquete, before entering the field of hospitality, building the Hotel Central Boquete, juggling roles from builder to barista, closely fulfilling his hostel dream spawned during his AT hike in ’77.
Below is Chapter 21 from his recent book, “The Best Place in the World to Retire? Boquete, Panama, titled Service, Volunteering, and Gratitude.
I really love you guys. I call you my superfans. I love the way you make me feel. I love to trade stories. You get me tell you of long-forgotten things I’ve learned, seen, or done. You’re the ones who make me dust off long-gone memories of places I’ve been. This story will guide you toward happiness in Boquete.
Once, when I was helping my mom run Meals on Wheels back in Ponca City OK, we delivered free meals to the homebound, both handicapped and elderly. My mom gave me a big black trash bag and food for an old lady.
I asked, “Mom, what’s this for?” She said, “This lady never throws anything away. We must steal back the old food and throw it out because she won’t do it! She eats like a bird. And I’ve noticed since we started delivering here that she keeps pecking at the old stuff, and I think it will kill her.”
My eyes bugged open, and I asked, “We’re stealing her old food?” She answered, “Yep, And I need you to help me do it. I’m going to distract her in her back room. Before then, I’ll stack up all the old stuff, so you grab it when she’s not looking!” I was worried.
She said, “Head straight to the car and don’t return. Hide it in the trunk where she can’t see it. She’ll have a fit if she catches us, so we both have to be real careful about this, OK?” I nodded, shocked but in agreement, and we headed in.
Sure enough, her refrigerator was full of a library of crushed-down, half-food-filled clamshells from past deliveries. She whispered, “The other drivers don’t do this, but they should. I’m sure it’s because she has a hissy fit over it. She was a pack rat! My mom was right. She could die from this!
Good grief! I could see from the green stuff out of the ones on the bottom that she could be developing a deadly botulism strain. My mom beat on the door but then walked right in. It wasn’t even locked. The old lady came, and my mom hugged and kissed her. Mom asked her how she was doing and told her she loved her. She did it while diving into the refrigerator and pointing at the problem.
I thought, holy crap! She wasn’t kidding. In a high happy voice, she says to the lady, “Let’s move some stuff around and make room for the new, OK?” Then she proceeds to stack the old stuff on a stool she’s drugged out from the corner.Holy smokes, I thought! It was such a tall stack that it could not fit on the stool. She was stacking it on the floor, too.
Then my mom distracted her by pointing to pictures of the lady’s family and asking her about them, and they wandered into the back. I stood there dumbfounded, horrified. Behind her back, mama pointed at me, wiggled her finger, and suddenly turned around and gave me a look a cat burglar would provide his partner when they see the owners stirring in their bed at night. She whispered, “Now!” I whipped out the bag hidden in my pocket, filled it as quietly as possible, dashed for the door, and loaded it in the trunk. Then, I hid, waiting in the car.
About three minutes later, my mom came out of that house with an enormous, satisfied grin and a happy gait. She gets back in and drives us to the next customer. And you know what she says to me with a big dumb grin? She says, “Those who Help are Happy! If we can, we should. Not for them. We do it for us. Your dad and I get such joy from doing this. You can’t imagine.”
Boquete has a long list of volunteer opportunities. Volunteering is a good lifestyle choice here. It gets you out of the house, you will meet nice people, and you will serve the mission of your group you volunteer for. It’s good for your heart; you’ll feel great helping others.
Ride The Joy Bus of Gratitude. People who lead lives of service tend to be the happiest people ever. So, I hope, that you found this book to be of good service on your life journey…
No comments, except I just thought you all could benefit from some “lighter” material.