Fallen Angels

I Think my Favorite Panamanian and I have recovered from our week long, child care boot camp at my Favorite Son’s home last week. He was laughing at us last night when we talked about the experience. He tried to talk some smack but we then reminded him that we held our own despite the thirty years he had on us. I hope in some distant future he’s reading these words as he tries to keep up with his own grandchildren upon reaching our age. He also reminded me that I forgot to mention one of the best parts of my week up in New Hampshire with him. We’re both huge fans of the Lord of the Rings movies, my favorite of all time.

One of the Survivors

Back when he was single and childless, we had a couple Saturdays when we would get together and watch all three movies (extended versions of course) in sequence. These twelve-hour marathons were so much fun despite the obvious disapproval from my Favorite Panamanian and later the ABFA. While to the casual observer this might seem like an immense waste of time, both my son and I revel as we’re transported back to the end of the Third Age of Middle Earth. It had been many years since our last marathon, interrupted by life in so many ways. My son received, from me, the 4K version of the movies last Christmas and hadn’t watched them yet. He came up with the idea of watching one each Wednesday through Friday nights after we finished up Man Cave construction and the BSR/BR3 retired for the night. The wives were once again flummoxed by our plan but supported us in a good-natured way. We finished up each night around midnight and I can’t promise you that eyelids were never fully engaged but we saw all the important bits; especially the two charges of the Rohirrim. Good times.

Dwindling Population

Upon our return Saturday we were pummeled by some fairly ferocious winds overnight. I came out Sunday to survey the damage and was saddened to see two of the terra cotta angels from my wife’s vast garden complex had been blown off their perches and were irrevocably broken. I mention this because these statues are some the last reminders we have of my mother. She went through an angel phase and her children dutifully bought her a veritable legion of them over the years for Christmas and birthdays. When she passed away, my Favorite Panamanian, being the top family gardener acquired control of many of them. They’re been with us ever since from Virginia, to Rhode Island, to Charlton and our two houses in Worcester.

The First Batches - Peanut Butter Blossoms and Spritz!

They survived the ravages of Buddy the Wonder Pooch although I’m not saying there wasn’t some super glue holding certain appendages attached. I thought of mom every time I passed by them on my way to raise the flag each morning and it was on one of those trips that I found the shards. Mom was the biggest part of my life for good and bad for almost fifty years and I liked having those souvenirs to remind of the good. She would have been pissed to see them broken and maybe she sent me a message because I acquired a inch long gash on my index finger as I was picking up the debris. Sorry, Mom.

Central Control for Additional Cookie Production

We are approaching the holidays and there’s a laundry list of fairly significant actions I have to accomplish ahead of that. I finally got cranking on them yesterday while my Favorite Panamanian was decisively engaged with Christmas cookie baking (YES!!!!). I will be officially retiring on 31 December and yesterday I applied for social security to take effect in January when I reach my full payout. It made me feel a little old. I then tried to make airline reservations for our January trip to Panama only to discover that Copa is once again abandoning Boston. This will require another trip to New Jersey in order to fly out of JFK. I was just about finished with that and moving on to other actions required on the list I’ve created when my wife mentioned the car registration expires in February. I will, of course, be lounging on a beach during that month. I learned this morning that I could renew the registration online and knocked that out just before I started writing here. Now it’s on to the annual Christmas letter, changing all the monthly bills to electronic form, canceling the newspaper, contacting the pharmacy and only about eight or nine other things. Oh, and finish Christmas shopping. December 2021, not for the faint of heart.

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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