Missed Comeback

Wait a minute! Someone told me it’s April! That can’t be right. I’m guessing I might have lapsed into “magical thinking” where I wished this month away so I didn’t have to consider the date, not too far hence, where I’ll have to leave my boogie boarding behind. That’s not bad enough but yesterday, also in April, the Red Sox staged an unlikely comeback for the ages and I didn’t see it. Yep. Missed it. After slavishly following everything Red Sox related for the last few days I settled in to watch the game, excited for a now healthy Chris Sale start. All of a sudden, the Red Sox were behind 7-1 as Sale looked more like a batting practice pitcher than anything near dominant.

Wife and I with her mom and PanaGal at Pizza Place

I tried to assuage my feelings of despair with a little boogie boarding. That helped and I didn’t object when my Favorite Panamanian suggested we drive into the village and score some pizza, even when I learned the Sox had closed the deficit to 8-5. Last year’s team would have folded. We had a fun, if very humid, pizza dinner in Las Lajas. I joked with our upstairs neighbors before we left an hour before sunset that I hoped we would be back in time for the daily sunset ceremony. I then opined that odds were long since I would be escorting three Panamanian ladies. I was fortunately out of hearing range of said ladies when I made that comment. It was dark when we started driving back to the beach.

At The Pony

My Favorite Panamanian had been “jonesing” for a pina colada at the Show Pony ever since she was treated to one during the epic visit of our progeny in February. Since our route took us right by the Pony, we ended up in their poolside bar. My wife was especially excited when she saw the same bartender on duty but she had to send the drinks back when they arrived without an appropriate level of decoration. I was impressed that my 90-year-old mother-in-law did a respectable job herself with another huge pina colada. Experience will tell.

BRS and BR3 Helping ABFA Cook

This all leads up to reacquiring a Wi-Fi signal at the Pony and learning the Red Sox had, in fact, come back and won their game with a walk off home run with two outs in the bottom on the 9^th inning. That homer wouldn’t have happened if the Baltimore left fielder hadn’t dropped a routine fly ball by the previous batter. I immediately looked to the sky and thanked Soxfather because I’m sure his spirit was circling in left field when that fly ball went up. Whatever it takes. When I texted the “kids” earlier in the game expressing my unhappiness, first the ABFA and then my favorite daughter texted me videos and pictures of the granddaughters. That certainly helped my calm, at the time. Soxfather and the granddaughters, a winning combo.

FBR and her Skateboard

She's so Shy

Can't Wait to See all Three, Maybe April isn't all Bad

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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; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him 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; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; 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