Sweetest Caroline

I have no illusions whatsoever about the likelihood of the Red Sox reaching the World Series this year but last night was one of the sweetest renditions of Sweet Caroline I’ve ever heard echoing through the hallowed confines of Fenway Park. The Red Sox were on the verge of eliminating a supremely overconfident Yankees team from the playoffs. I know there are a bunch of Panamanian friends who are in mourning today who believed the Yankees, who came preening into Fenway expecting an easy victory, would win easily. I’m a from believer in karma and the Yanks ran into a buzz saw as the Sox finally put together a complete game and crushed their hated foes.

New Jersey Sox Theater

We were on the family text chain throughout the game. Wingman had set up their backyard theater to watch the game with friends in New Jersey, deep in the heart of the Evil Empire. When the Sox put the game away in the 7^th inning Wingman reported his neighbors, Yankees fans I’m sure, asked him to quiet down. That sounds pretty civilized. If the reverse had happened in South Boston, Molotov cocktails probably would have been involved. It was a great moment shared with the fam, albeit electronically. Soxfather forwarded this cover from yesterday’s New York Post, love it!

My spirits aren’t the only thing getting boosted this week. Both my Favorite Panamanian and I are getting our Covid booster shots on Friday. I was stunned how easy this was to schedule after the knife fight it took to get the original shots earlier this year. I guess I should thank the idiotic anti-vaxxers for the abundance of vaccine availability. I’m just left to wonder when this benighted group of uninformed bozos will choose to re-enter civilized society. When you are part of a society there are norms you have to accept for that society to function. Vaccines have been the bed rock allowing humanity to leave the plagues and epidemics that marked their first 10,000 years behind. I’m not gong any further down that rabbit hole, watching the Yankees slump off the field is just too positive a moment to diminish. I even smiled leaving the dentist this morning, a true first.

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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