Friendship Trek

Well, back home in Worcester after another one of those patented thunder runs up to my hometown of Keene, New Hampshire. Buddy exacted the price of his almost immediate confinement upon arrival in Keene by extorting his usual walk around the block from Keene Friend this morning. We followed the hallowed and time tested scenario of starting Saturday afternoon off at the Elm City Brewery. In a blow to our usual excitement upon arrival our favorite bar tendress was not on duty. We persevered through this obvious shortcoming and our faith was redeemed when she showed up later in the afternoon. I’ve probably been a little verbose when I extol the virtues of these weekend soirées because we had a list of people we had previously promised to notify if we undertook another which consumed the first fifteen minutes after arrival. We do seem to have an inordinate amount of fun at these gatherings, nothing can beat an afternoon with good friends.

Keene Friend and I at Elm City

After reacquainting ourselves with the aforementioned best bat tendress in Keene we decamped for the sports bar Scores to complete our dance card. We were joined there by none other than the Cantankerous Friend who hitchhiked across the breadth of the state to join us. It was fun catching up with him on the rare break he took from caring for his elderly father. I caught him up on the shared adventures with his former wife (of 35 minutes) while I was in Panama. We dropped him off on our way home which afforded the opportunity to drive down the street I grew up on. The lights were on in my old house which gave a view of some of the renovations the new owners have made. It felt good that the bones of that beloved old house were serving a new family.

And the Cantankerous One at Scores

Since we were back at Keene Friend’s house embarrassingly early we popped in a movie to watch. Keene Friend had gifted me, Lost Boundaries, based on a true story of a light skinned black doctor who passed himself off as white in the 1930’s and 40’s. The coolest aspect was the story was based on an actual doctor who plied in trade in none other than Keene, New Hampshire although it’s called Keeneham in the movie. There were a lot of personal connections as Keene Friend grew up in a house directly cross the street from the doctor and my mother worked with him at the local hospital.

I’d heard the story many times but this was the first time I ever saw the picture which was fascinating. It was a brave film for the times it was made (1949) even though white actors were used in the critical roles. It exposed the idiocy of race based character judgements. Racism never fares well when exposed to the light of day and while this movie didn’t make any strident arguments, the story was eloquent. It was a good way to end the day and eradicate the effects of a little too much Keene Kolsch.

Some samples of my daily photo fix from California: