Day 11 of Rummaging Photos & Dual Peeping Days

Since 2006 my Favorite Panamanian and I have always taken the Columbus Day (Yes, I still call it that while being married to a lady with a hefty percentage of Native American blood) holiday to drive through western Massachusetts and Vermont to enjoy the foliage. We didn’t accomplish that this year because we were still in New Jersey making sure the FBR made it to and from school. Tuesday was the return day so that left Wednesday which promised to be a spectacular fall day. Unfortunately (for me at least) the Panamanian Mafia had been at work and my wife had planned an outing with her mom and the Neighborhood Mafioso for that day. To rub additional of that proverbial salt in the wound, they were going on a trek to one of the signature spots of our Columbus Day outings – the bridge of flowers in Shelburne Falls.  We hadn’t been there in a couple years and I last saw it when it was used as the fictional town for the final season of Dexter.

Wife and I at Spofford Lake Yesterday

After a taxing weekend (the FBR is an energy vampire) and long drive I was all too willing to allow the ladies the free day as my Man Cave inhabitation quota was cratering. I told them to watch out for lurking Bill Cosbys and they returned reporting a totally successful day with truly inspirational autumnal colors enroute. Strangely, and I’m not sure I fully understand the feeling either, I felt deprived and said we had to go on our usual trip on Thursday, even though it was going to be raining.

The Wednesday Ladies on the Loose

Even 90-Year Olds Can Have Fun

Bridge of Flowers in the Background

Mom in Law on the Bridge

The Neighborhood Mafioso

I got my wish but we decided to tone it down after the long previous day for my mother-in-law. Late in the morning I started wandering north through Central Massachusetts towards my hometown using the back roads and was quickly reminded that I didn’t have to drive far to see the fantastic fall colors. I live amongst them. It was a very nice drive with my wife taking no less than 7,464 photos and chastising me for not slowing down enough when a particular tree caught her attention. It was also a trip back in time with both very good and one very bad memories.

A Selection of the 7,464 Photos Taken

Where my Dad Died 

We crossed over the back roads I used to recon seeking a more direct route to Keene from our former home in Charlton. I found myself driving through the Grace Forest outside Orange, Massachusetts which was a memorable track form my youth as we used to use it to get to the annual Thanksgiving Day celebration with my father’s family at my Aunt Margaret’s in Palmer. We reached the New Hampshire border in Winchester and that’s where the one very bad memory asserted itself as we passed the place where my dad was killed by a drunk driver in 1977. Some more back roads driven found us on good old Route 63 in Spofford which brought its own set of memories from the exceptional high school/college beach parties at Pittsburgh College Roommate’s home as well as some ill-conceived streaking episodes (kind of had to be there).

Back at the Lake of So Many Memories

My Travel Buddies Yesterday

Lunch with Keene Friend

We planned on a late lunch in Keene so we rolled into town, kidnapped Keene Friend and found most of the down town eating establishments weren’t open. Another indication of the staffing crisis in that industry. We ended up at Applebee’s watching yet another traffic circle being constructed (Keene is plagued with a rash of these – I blame Central Square for that) Mostly they seem to help so I shouldn’t complain. Traffic is such a huge problem in a small town. I hadn’t planned on staying any longer in my hometown but the lure of TJ Maxx was just too much to resist for certain Panamanians. She dropped Keene Friend and I off at Penuche’s Ale House with the admonition that I could only have one beer because she wanted me to drive home. She even charged Keene Friend with ensuring that happened. I rightfully told her that the amount of beer sent downrange would be in direct correlation to the amount of time she spent shopping. I think we all know where this ended up heading. Keene Friend and I had a great time catching up and were eventually joined by my Kindergarten Friend who’s still a working stiff, but only for eighteen more days. When my Favorite Panamanian did eventually show up she caught me mid-beer (decidedly not my first) so she and her mom joined us for a short while at the bar. A very fun day, indeed. She did a very good job driving home.

At The 'Nuche with Keene and Kindergarten Friends

These Ladies Finally Showed Up

Let’s plunge into today’s continuation the memory rummaging with photos mined from the basement storage bins. I think I’ve only got one more day’s worth of photos after this which I know my son and daughter will be happy about:

FAVORITE SON

First Time Skating, Cranston, RI Early 90s

In Panama 1997

Kid Could Sleep Anywhere

I Think I probably Put him up There
Ft McNair Haunted Home 1988

Doesn't Look Thrilled About Meeting Mickey

York Beach, ME Vacation Late 80s

Skyla Was his Dog, Getting Ready to Push my Son out of Bed
Leavenworth, KS Home 1996

Best Buddies

Mililani, Hawaii, 1994

Annandale, VA Birthday Late 80s

Cranston, RI Home 1989
That's When we Got Those Stools!!

Grandma's Home, Keene, NH for Christmas Late 80s

Visiting me at Work, Schofield BArracks, HI 1994

Back at Grandma's House

Was Always a Lego Maniac, Annandale, VA Home Late 80s

Always a Sense of Style

Basement of Our Annandale, VA Home Late 80s

Cake Sampler with Me Late 80s

Outside our Haunted Ft McNair, Washington, DC Home 1989

FAVORITE DAUGHTER

With me in Our Leavenworth, KS Home 1996

A Bit Earlier, Annandale, VA mid-80s

All Grown Up! Charlton, MA Mid-2000s

Posing by Dad's Gym Stuff, Cranston, RI Home 1991

With her One-Person pet - Mindy the Cat, Leavenworth, KS 1996

With Uncle Keene Friend 1990s

Ft Campbell, KY Birthday 1997

1st Communion, Cranston, RI 1992

Traditional Panamanian Garb, Ft Leavenworth School, 1993

With her Mom, Same Day

High School Soccer, Ft Campbell, 1997

With that Damned Cat Again

So Cute

Her First Teenager Party, Ft Leavenworth Home 1996
I was Sent to the Basement for the Duration

Helping Great Aunt with Cake,
The Rhode Island Years Early 90s

With me in our Haunted Ft McNair Home 1988

Easter Egg Hunt Annandale, VA mid-80s

SON AND DAUGHTER TOGETHER

Watching TV With Me Late 80s

With Beloved Tia Peg on Mom's Front Porch, Keene, 1986

Schofield Barracks, HI Home 1995

Basement of Annandale, VA Home Late 80s

Yes, I Have a Brother to Torment, Annandale, 1985

With Great Aunt/Soxfather & Newly Arrived Namesake Nephew
Visiting our Mililani, HI Home 1994

Teenagers, Late 90s, Don't Know Where

Helping Dad Work Out 1986

In Front of Our Mililani, HI Home 1994

Newly Arrived and She's Already Lurking 1985

Waking Great Aunt up During a Visit to Annandale, VA 1987
Some Serious Green Shag Carpeting Throughout the House

Enjoying Hawaii North Shore with My Best Friend and his Family
I'm Deployed on Peacekeeping Mission in Egypt at the Time 1994

Same Year Christmas, Only One I wasn't with Them

Three movies fell in my A-Z effort, two keepers and one, not so much: Bloodshot (much better than I remembered, Vin being Vin), Bluebeard (How the mighty have fallen, Richard Burton in his most embarrassing role, his last words in the movie - "I'm so disappointed"; even Joey Heatherton's prodigious "talents" can't save this) and Body Double (Depalma trying to be Hitchcock, a good movie despite the lead actor)

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                      

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; 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; Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

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 [JP1]