Return to Sender

For years now, at least 10 years, and possibly longer, we've been getting mail addressed to a person who never lived here. And this isn't just the usual mis-addressed junk mail about "Buy your cemetery plot early and save 40%!" but legit, important mail that I imagine the person it's being sent to actually wants. It's quarterly statements from one of his retirement accounts.

Over the years we've tried everything reasonable to correct the problem. At first we sending the letters back with various forms of "Return to sender/Wrong address" written on the envelope. They kept coming. We ask the Post Office for help. That was like talking to a mailbox. We searched the person's name online but found nothing definitive. We even called the insurance company that manages the account, explaining the situation to an agent there. They refused to look up the account unless we also gave them the account number. The full name and address of the account holder weren't enough. That would mean opening the letter, which seemed like it could run afoul of federal laws around mail tampering, so I declined.

The letters keep coming. One day as we were listening to music in the car a classic by Elvis Presley came on, and I suggested to Hawk, "Maybe they're respond if we wrote the whole lyrics to Return to Sender on the envelope."



So she did.

Well, not the full lyrics. And also not the correct lyrics. 🤣

I added the musical notes 🎵 and signed it "Elvis" to clarify the intent.

Hiking Las Mozas Waterfalls

Panama Travelog #21
El Valle, Panama - Thu, 26 Dec 2024. 1pm.

The day after Christmas in Valle de Antón, Panama was shaping up to be a good day. My legs were still achy from the hike to the top of La Dormida and back two days earlier, but I was starting to push them. This hike at Las Mozas stream canyon was about the right amount of pushing. Billed as a nature trail it was a bit harder than I expected. In the US the designation "nature trail" almost always means it's fairly level and well graded, suitable for people who don't walk very well. Here in Panama nature trail means literally what it says: a trail that's in nature. And what counts as a "trail" is, apparently debatable.



The trail starts off paved the first 20 meters or so from the parking lot, crossing a foot bridge over small side stream. But then the trail becomes just a route over the natural rock on the side of the stream. The rock here is volcanic, so that means it's very uneven. And it's wet. Normally I'm a strong hiker and this wouldn't bother me but today, with my wobbly ankles, I've had to step carefully.



There was even a spot where I decided not to go further. The rock ledge in front of me was narrow and tilted sharply to the side. Add in the wetness, and I saw myself likely taking a spill. Hawk went ahead and got past the obstacles with no problems, though she moved slowly through some of the dodgy areas. I made the photo above with a telephoto lens, so she's already past the worst part and is on what was maybe the third-worst part. 😅

After Hawk disappeared around the bend a small family came up out of the canyon. They were moving very gingerly, too, over the uneven and slippery rocks. They were native English speakers so I asked them, "Does the route get worse than this ahead?" "No, though it also doesn't get much better," they answered. "But your wife says you should go anyway." 😂

I secured my camera bag over my shoulder (didn't want it swinging around), checked my hiking pole, and steeled myself to do it.



I'm glad I joined Hawk and the falls; they were worth hiking through the pain.

BTW, an interest part of the nature of this nature trail is that this stream canyon is a volcanic fissure. It's a fault that opened up in the mountains surrounding the Antón Valley. Recall the whole valley is actually a caldera, a bowl. Most volcanic calderas don't have natural drainage. Instead water pool into a lake, like at Crater Lake in Oregon, US. But here the water that flows down into the valley from various streams flow out through this canyon.