Post C-Day Road Trip

I was up early yesterday for no good reason other than I had a half day of employment to attend to.  I was able to intercept the Keene Friend who was attempting one of his patented early morning escapes.  He had to get back to Keene to prepare to host the last of our Christmas traditions - the December 26 party at his house.

Work was about as much fun as you would expect after basking in the reflected glow of time spent with family and friends over the last couple days but I actually got a lot of work done because my excellent boss wasn’t in.  He usually stops by a couple times a day to share his views on the political leadership and then kidnap me to see something.

My Wife and the Newest PanaGal

I left a little after noon to pick up my wife since we had to journey into Boston to pick up a new addition to the pantheon of PanaGals, a close friend of my wife’s twin sister.  She’ll be staying with us for a couple weeks and my wife forgot to de-conflict her arrival with the December 26 party.  My wife was reaching out to her own Panamanian roots in terms of timeliness and I had to urge and nudge to get her moving.  Due to our late start we might have fractured a few traffic laws enroute to Logan International.

Luckily it was not a normal Friday rush hour in Boston and we cruised right into the airport and parked after Buddy sufficiently inspected the garage security guard.  The PanaGal’s flight had already unloaded and she wasn’t anywhere near the baggage storage.  We set out in search, my wife inside and I outside (duh).  I was armed with a name, a description (dark hair, a backpack, and glasses), and little expectation to find a Panamanian wandering the cold.  I did pass a gal who met the description and after trying her name on her it turned out she was made of sterner stuff than the garden variety Panamanian as she strolled outside in the cold. 

Assisting my Son with TV Construction

We were soon safely under Buddy’s care and took advantage of the missing Boston traffic once again.  We made it to Keene in less than two hours after pulling out of the airport (again – a few traffic regulations may have been stretched).  We arrived to find a house full of friends and family with my son/ABFA, Keene Friends 1 & 2, and of course the Cantankerous One. 

Keene Friend did his usual fantastic job of hosting and there was food literally covering every flat surface of his house.  This meant Buddy was sentenced to his cage since the food was at tail level and would stand little chance of survival.  There was also a rat with a hormone problem masquerading as a dog which Buddy may have mistaken for a snack or play toy in need of evisceration.

Keene Friend with his Christmas Gift

The first task was assembling Keene Friend’s new television which the older folks wisely allowed my son to put together.  I’m not saying we’re technically challenged (we are) but this did allow my Cantankerous Friend to provide his running commentary on my son’s performance which was entertaining to everyone with possibly the lone exception of my son.

The ABFA and Son

The rest of the night followed with people coming and going and food and drink flowing seamlessly with the company of some really special people.  They immediately drew the new PanaGal into the conversation.  She did avoid the customary 15 minute marriage with the Cantankerous One – something of a PanaGal tradition.  The food was eventually reduced enough to place at a higher level and Biddy was released to clean whatever was unfortunate enough to fall on the carpet.  

My Wife Rescuing the PanaGal From the Cantankerous Friend

The night ended entirely too early as people eventually had to make their ways home.  We spent the night in Keene since we wanted to stop in to wish an old family friend a Merry Christmas this morning.   Buddy attempted a late night escape from his kennel by tunneling through the bottom.  He was unsuccessful at everything except waking Keen Friend up.  Other than that this marked the end of a very successful Christmas celebration that more than adequately plucked the heartstrings despite missing two very important people.  As Keene Friend said this morning as we were leaving – “We did good this year!”   Indeed.