New Englanding

Wife and Her Gang at Las Lajas this Past Weekend

New England is justifiably renowned for its malleable weather, especially around this time of  year. The past few days provide ample evidence of that. We spent a good week freezing after the last snow storm and still had a respectable snow pack on Sunday. I know this because I was out in it setting up the bane of my Christmas existence – the front yard deer (more on them later). Two days later virtually all of the snow was gone! Two days of nearly sixty degree weather and rain will do that. I awoke this morning to another four inches of snow after being told by the weather people to expect just a dusting.

Meanwhile in Worcester -  The Front Yard on Sunday

On Tuesday

On Wednesday

The front yard deer seemed to have been created for maximum frustration because even though I stake them into the ground the slightest breeze knocks them over. I was out in the snow this morning setting them up for the third day in a row and resorted to bungee cording them into my wife’s gardens. It really helps that the legs also detach every time they fall. At this point I’m hoping for a massive snow fall that would accumulate on the solar panels and then fall on top of them to destroy them. I know, very un-Christmaslike.

Deckzilla This Morining

My Favorite Panamanian is suffering no such issues during her Panamanian sojourn, although she did complain about some rain at the beach last week. She hosted a bunch of family members at the condo to celebrate Panamanian Mother’s Day this past Sunday. I get a kick out of showing the gathered family members what Deckzilla looks like when we are video chatting. I always get a collective gasp as the Panamanians generally question why anyone would choose to live in such cold conditions. They may be on to something there.

One of the Signature Las Lajas Sunsets

I did something last night that I haven’t done in a long time – I took in two movies in a single night at the theater. I did this because of the show times of the respective movies I wanted to see and felt a little silly. When I was young I would invariably sit through both the 7 and 9pm showing of the same movie because back in the day that’s the way movie theaters operated and evidently I was a little crazy. My cinematic fanaticism started early.

Queen and Slim is a very interesting and poignant love story told against the backdrop of a nationwide manhunt. I really liked the two actors playing the title role precisely because they seemed real and the romance developed rather than spontaneously arrived. The viewer is along for the ride as their feelings develop for each other. Daniel Kaluuya is already an established star and delivers as Slim but Jodie Turner-Smith as Queen is a revelation. I started out the movie disliking her but she wins you and Slim over as the movie progresses by shedding the armor she’s encased herself in. This is an actress to keep an eye on. Queen and Slim semi-accidently kill a racist cop in Cleveland during a really bad first date (even before the police shooting). They realize they’re now inextricably connected and make a run for it. This movie works by showing two really good people placed in an impossible situation who find each other in the process. Really good movie.

My daughter had been recommending Parasite for a couple weeks now. Seeing my first ever Korean movie with English subtitles wasn’t high on movie going agenda but I’d heard this was special. It was/is. It’s a scathing comment on class and the eternal struggle therein. It’s the darkest of comedies told straight forward with some very memorable scenery. The actors are uniformly perfect. A family of true under-achievers worm their way into jobs with a rich family who doesn’t realize they’re all related. They take advantage of the situation in every imaginable way only to run into a fascinating subterranean plot twist that I won’t ruin for you. The imagery is non-stop leading up to the climatic confrontation. I can’t recommend this movie enough – best dark comedy I’ve seen in a very long time.

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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