Home Cooked

A Selfie Yesterday with my All Too Excellent Crew

I received the relief from the incipient loneliness with the sure fire cure that always presents itself whenever I get the chance to return to my home town and hang out with high school classmates. After cleaning up from a morning snow storm I headed north to Keene in the mid-afternoon and shortly thereafter found myself safely seated at Scores which has become the go to place for these type gatherings. Keene Friend and I were shortly joined by the Cantankerous Friend and, after his weekly Penuche’s reconnaissance mission, my Kindergarten Buddy.

FBR With her Newest Friend

We settled in for a session of memory gleaning and catching up which has the aforementioned almost medicinal effect. I made the tactical error of changing from my usual light beer to the weekly beer special which was tasty but a lot more potent than my usual fare. Later in the day Keene Friend 2 fit in an appearance with us between high school hockey games. The crew was completed in the later afternoon with the arrival of the Connecticut River Sea Captain who gave us the epic river cruise when my mother in law visited last summer.

New Jersey Snow Play

I sent him a text telling him we had gathered and his answer was a terse – “15 minutes”. The potent beer kept the party rolling although that was more attributable to the excellence of the company. It was a perfect sized group that was small enough that everyone could take part in the conversation. In the night’s most stunning development the Cantankerous Friend admitted he might have a sarcastic sense of humor. Once we all picked ourselves off the floor from the sheer shock of this revelation the evening continued.

My Granddaughter - The Fashionista

The potency of the beer finally reached a point where a retreat to Keene Friend’s house was in order. Thankfully he volunteered to drive because I was in no shape to accomplish that task. Cantankerous Friend joined us there for some Athens Pizza. The after effects of the powerful beer meant I had to relearn the importance of waiting for freshly delivered pizza to cool down before eating it. I awoke this morning to a very tender mouth roof.

The FBR was back in stride down in New Jersey and having some fun with the residue of the same storm I spent the morning cleaning up from. I think she had more fun with it than I did. So we both had a very good day yesterday. I count the re-establishment of the friendships with my high school classmates as the best unexpected benefit of my retirement back to New England following my time in the Army. It turns out I graduated with some of the finest people I’ve ever encountered in my worldwide wandering.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                            

BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law, formerly known both as MEF – Most Excellent Fiancé & MEG – Most Excellent Girlfriend; Wingman – my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt = my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rdmusquetera (musketeer); Buddy – AKA the Wonder Pooch – family dog, a black lab – hates squirrels, died in 2017; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog, surrogate grandchild while awaiting arrival of the BRS; PanaGals – female relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Excellent Boss – my former direct boss at work; Deckzilla Dude – senior citizen carpenter/contractor; Voices of Inappropriate Worth - members of public who come to every Worcester public meeting to complain, all are on public assistance along with demeanor issues