The Bridge of the Americas spans the Panamá Canal on the Pacific side. Ancon Hill, is the green hump rising above on the far side of the canal in this picture. Casco Antiguo (the colonial quarter) on the upper right, with the Cinta Costera highway curving into the bay of Panamá and encircling this historical… Continue reading Bridge of the Americas
Category: Being a Zonian
Canal Zone: Stamps of a Forgotten American Colony
Found my childhood stamp collection! Here’re some Canal Zone stamps. Heroes commemorated include: President Teddy Roosevelt, who championed the building of the Panamá Canal as a national security necessity.Dr Gorgas who discovered the source of Yellow Fever, which killed workers by the hundreds. Canal construction stopped for a year while they worked to eradicate the… Continue reading Canal Zone: Stamps of a Forgotten American Colony
My First Vaccination
In my first memory of being vaccinated, I wasn’t quite 6 years old. Early 1970s. The nurse, a tall man dressed completely in white except for shiny black shoes, set a stainless steel tray of paraphernalia on a table beside me. He sat on a stool which he rolled up to me and injected one… Continue reading My First Vaccination
Remembering Ancon Hill
Ready for a trip down my memory lane? This picture posted on FaceBook reminds me of my first job. It was a summer student assistant job while I was at Balboa High School, in the former Canal Zone of the Republic of Panamá. This was 1983 or 84. I was 16 or 17. The rest… Continue reading Remembering Ancon Hill
John McCain, Zonian
John McCain’s Wikipedia entry is already updated to reflect his passing. He was born August, 29, 1936 in the Panama Canal Zone (Coco Solo, on the Atlantic side). So in addition to being an Arizonan, he was a Zonian by birth. What I appreciated the most about him in recent years was his courageous pushback… Continue reading John McCain, Zonian