Cold Beater

I know that I squawk a little too much about the vagaries of getting old with my twenty-year-old mind making decisions for a sixty-six-year-old body. I’ll add another to the list by saying this older body has a tougher time fighting off colds than younger versions of myself did. With all the pandemic protocols in place I’ve had a very healthy last two years, well outside the whole skin and prostate cancer stuff, not even a sniffle has darkened the horizon. BR3 put an end to that last week when she passed on her cold, probably while she was seated in my lap demanding I share my breakfast with her. She’s very insistent. My younger self would have knocked this thing down in a couple days. I think I’m finally getting past it here on the sixth day. On the upside, I channeled a little Phoebe Buffay, telling my Favorite Panamanian that I thought my cold effected voice sounded a lot sexier than normal. I’m still trying to figure out why she laughed so hard.

Oreo-ed

I’ve been very active during the last week, making my swim workouts and everything else but the cold still dogged me all week.  I don’t think my tried-and-true heretofore successful technique of just ignoring it will work anymore. This will, of course, fall into yet another “told you so” category for a certain Panamanian lady I live with. I am getting psyched as we find ourselves a week away from when the first family members start showing up for Christmas – way, way too cool. BR3, the family new Typhoid Mary, had very little to say last night during our call. She was learning the exquisite joy that comes from eating an Oreo cookie. ‘Nuff said.

Date night on Tuesday had my wife and I at the movies to see West Side Story. I’ll be the first to tell you that I didn’t see the need or even interest in reviving this iconic 1960s classic, but Spielberg, right, so I went to see it. I’m so glad I did because the master has done it again. He reinvented the story while keeping all the memorable songs and updating it with 21^st Century sensibilities while leaving it set in the 1960s. A lot of the credit in the acting category goes to newcomer Rachel Zegler as Maria. She’s luminous and is blessed with a phenomenal singing voice. She’s more than helped by Ariana DeBose as Anita. I figured this was something I would sit through as a favor to my Hispanic wife who inevitably would make the comparisons with our own story, decidedly less tragic than Maria and Tony’s. I loved the movie and it helped I understood the Spanish spoken without subtitles which I thought made the film seem more authentic. I count this as the biggest surprise of 2021, but it shouldn’t be, should it. Spielberg.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – 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