September Seeping

Somehow, completely athwart expectations it is September, when did that happen?! (I know it was yesterday – I’m trying hyperbole on) This was the first weekend all summer that I recall where we didn’t have a trip or some other commitment so I finally tackled another wall project that I’ve wanted to address for over a year. Before that transpired I had to get through the First Friday of the Week. That included a well-executed celebration for said First Friday at Brew City. While there, a discussion on the home repair came up. One of the ladies made a seemingly innocent comment about the need to have a good handy man around the house, this one named John (her brother). Some in the crowd, myself included, immediately seized on her statement, “Every woman needs a John around the house.” While we all understood what she meant we all broke out in laughter. She caused a second round when she thought we were laughing because she was talking about a toilet.

The Mafia Gathers on Friday

I returned home to find we had another Panamanian Mafia gathering to attend at a nearby house. We were marking the birthday of a member of the mafia and spent a very cool few hours out on a back deck laughing and celebrating. These are really special people I am privileged to hang out with on a regular basis.

Really Fun Gang

On Saturday morning I was already back from Home Depot with my initial load of supplies before my Favorite Panamanian even got out of bed. The area in front of my cosmetically challenged fire pit was on a steep incline due to the hill and I’d planned for a long time to flatten it out and put in my of my retaining walls. If you sat in a chair in front of it and leaned back – you kept going. I re-learned the age old lesson every infantryman knows all too well – digging sucks. While it looked like a small bulge in the earth it turned out to be eight wheel barrow loads worth. My wife, finally awoke and came out to offer her patented and less than well received guidance on what I was doing wrong.

The Starting Point

Patio Stones Moved back

Why my Back Hurts

Receiving Guidance from my Favorite Panamanian

Hump Removed

It was a beautiful New England late summer day with almost no humidity which made the delay in getting to this worthwhile. I’ve done so many of these walls that when I started laying down the bricks it actually went pretty quickly. I ran out of gas around 5pm after my second trip to Home Depot and decided the coup de gras would have to wait until Sunday morning. That allowed me to enjoy the last vestiges of a perfect summer day out on Deckzilla reading. Motrin was a key contributor to sleep Saturday night and I awoke Sunday ready to finish off the wall. My wife was skeptical since she dredged up yet another Catholic day of obligation which meant I had to go to church with her at 11am.  That provided for a less than leisurely pace but I declared victory right around 10.

Wall Started

Point I ran out of Bricks on Saturday

 

End of Day Saturday

Wall Completed on Sunday

Mission Complete

The rest of Sunday was consumed with leveling off some of the garden hill stairs (finally), sealing some cracks in the driveway and then attending a birthday party for our next door neighbor’s four year old granddaughter. That turned out to be a lot of fun as the brother of my next door neighbor, Syrian immigrants, was a real card and there was a healthy amount of ice cream cake involved. This was the perfect treatment for a severely taxed back. I promised my wife I would rest today – writing doesn’t count.

I Couldn't Go Another Whole Blog Post Without a Granddaughter Pic

BRS and Favorite Son on the Beam

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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; 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^rd musquetera (musketeer); 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; 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