This rathaus (“town hall” in German) is a familiar sight for marketgoers in the old town of Heidelberg.

Citizens might visit the rathaus to pay a traffic ticket, register for waste pickup, or in the case of my good friends, get married.

My Poppie is a robust encyclopedia of riddles, catch-phases, dirty jokes, and one-liners. As a young lad, I took great pride in dedicating these “Poppie-isms” to memory so I could repeat them across the school bus isle.

Poppie had no issue with me stealing his best jokes. He was delighted that I’d also become a ball-busting leg-puller.

When the two of us ran into one of his buddies (especially if they were a known sailboater), he would ask me what I thought of sailboats.

“Sailboats are for cheap people.” I would parrot back.

Poppie is a lifetime boat captain, submariner, diver, and mechanic. To Poppie yes, boats are for recreation and leisure, but they are also tools. This painting celebrates a certain type of boat, very typical of what you’d find at Cardinal Cove Marina.

Soda is a colloquial concept in Costa Rican Spanish. An identifier for the familiar open-air dining establishments along major freeways and backroads alike. Hardy casados and fresh juice are soda staples. The scene in this painting shows the objects accumulated in the alleyway beside a memorable soda in Guanacaste.

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