Festing October

First of all, I think it is unconscionable that it is already October. After the pandemically challenged 2020, 2021 is flying by, even with the attendant lingering virus. Since we didn‘t have any planned activities this weekend I opted for a quick thunder run up to my hometown to hang with friends. My resident Panamanians were enthusiastic because they knew this meant an afternoon of shopping. I consider this a very small price (not really that small) to spend an afternoon hanging with some of my oldest friends.

At the Pour House

We started out at Keene Friend’s house because I learned earlier this week he had never seen the movie Venom and I felt honor bound to correct that failure now that the sequel is out. I knew the dark humor of the movie would be perfect for him. After a few minutes trying to figure out how to start his Blu-ray machine (it doesn’t get much use) we settled back to enjoy the carnage. Then it was off to the center of Keene to accomplish some reconnaissance in service to next month’s birthday pub crawl. Our recon target was the place that used to be Scores.

Outside Trax with Keene Friend

Scores had served as the final stop and most fun of earlier crawls but it had gone away a couple years ago due to poor management. As Keene Friend and I approached, the sign in the window stated it was open but we walked in to find the place, now called Trax, deserted. A bar tendress and waiter soon arrived to say the place really opened at five but since they were there and it was alumni weekend for the college they decided to open earlier. They said they had a wild night on Friday with the alumni, probably remembering the place from Scores. I can attest someone had fun because my feet stuck to the floor as I walked across to the bar; evidence of wasted beer and patrons. We opted to sit outside since the inside was kind of depressingly dark, only one of the dozens of TVs was working and the guy was giving the sticky floor a much needed mopping.

After a couple beers we wandered down to the Pour House where we sent out notifications to other high school friends to see if they could join us. My Kindergarten Friend put in an appearance around his other vast Saturday duties which included cooking burgers at our old high school’s football game. In a startling announcement the Cantankerous Friend revealed he was in Greenfield, MA after a bike ride. That wasn’t the astonishing part, in his message to us he said the bike ride through the Berkshires had truly humbled him. Who thought that was even possible! 😊

The Dirt has Returned Out Front
Still Waiting the Final Asphalt Coat

We had a great afternoon watching the Red Sox try to secure a playoff bid with the assembled Pour House Sox fans. The Pour House cemented its status as the new final stop on the pub crawl with great service and a lively crowd both inside and outside at the head of the square. I have to pin down my daughter to discuss FBR birthday plans so I can finalize coordination for the date of my birthday pub crawl. The aforementioned alumni had swarmed the downtown eateries we usually patronize after a thunder run, so we ended up at a Mexican restaurant next to my mother’s old grocery store. I think it was called Mi Jalisco but a lot of beer had gone down range by that point so don’t quote me. You can quote me as saying the food was good but, as with the rest of the day, the company was even better.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BR3 – granddaughter #3, 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; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course; 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; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; 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; 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; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn