We stole a march on Father’s Day by journeying up to New Hampshire yesterday with Great Aunt to celebrate the holiday with my son’s family at the ABFA’s parents’ home that also involved a rain-soaked walk down memory lane at the site of a favorite childhood haunt. Before I get to that recollection I have to chronicle yet another well spent celebration of the First Friday of the Week with our serial partners in crime, the Neighborhood Mafiosos and our other Worcester friends. Our favorite dancing location, up until a few years ago, when it closed, was Maxwell Silverman’s which always featured a semi-age-appropriate crowd for us. The owner opened a place in Worcester’s Union Station called Maxwell’s Luciano’s. We’ve had mixed luck there over the years there with dancing usually preempted by some major event in the adjacent, impressive rotunda.
There was a funny moment as I was wrapping
up the family Facetime call, when my Favorite Panamanian charged downstairs and
said we were already late picking up the Mafiosos. I was confused (I know, a
natural state for me) as she had told me we were picking them up at 6 but that
turned out to be the time our reservations were for. High adventure ensued as a
panic driven rapid clothes change and charge down the street took place. We
ended up only eight minutes late and the other couple had arrived on time to
secure the table. We thought we had another dud after the tasty meal as the place
was decidedly on the dead side. We had a fairly loud discussion at the table about
that which I think the Matre’d overheard. We had paid our checks and were preparing
the walk out when the music volume turned up and the dance floor was
illuminated. We stayed on and had another one of those fantastic Friday nights
of dancing with these great friends. One of my former employees and his wife
was in the crowd and I’m sure a little shocked to see his former boss’
gyrations. I hope it didn’t cost him too much sleep afterwards.Father's Day Dinner Crowd Yesterday
We drove up to Hudson, NH on Saturday and
arrived before my son’s family. The ABFA’s parents live a short distance from where
Benson’s Wild Animal Farm had been. Benson’s was a treasured family day trip
every summer when I was growing up. I have clear memories of the animals and children’s
attractions, along with the picnic grounds near a lake. Benson’s closed in 1987
and ever since I met the ABFA’s parents, learning of the proximity of the
former site I wanted to visit. This offered a perfect opportunity and the ABFA’s
most excellent dad guided Great Aunt and I over to what is now a city park. The
rain started to pick up as soon as we pulled in so Great Aunt and the ABFA’s
dad stayed in the car while I ventured off in search of memories. Friday Night Fun
The "Large" Benson's Farm Lake Foundations
It took me a few minutes to get oriented
as the park had the audacity change over the past fifty years. I found the lake
and was able to navigate via the many walking paths over to the zoo area. There
wasn’t much left. One of the things I was surprised at (but I shouldn’t have
been) was how much smaller everything seemed. I guess I was a bit smaller the
last time I trod these grounds. The lake was much smaller and the zoo area,
what was left of it, much more so. I found a couple foundations and one preserved
site, the Old Lady’s Shoe. There were a couple overlooks into former animal enclosures
but the rest of the area was unrecognizable. Still, a lot of fun traipsing through an area
that held so many childhood memories. The Old Zoo Area
The Old Lady's Shoe Seems So Much Smaller Now Old Wishing Pond The Overlooks
The Former Center of the Park |
Stone Lions from Benson's Now Adorn a Nearby Front Yard |
Riggins and my Son BRS and her Dad Goomba and her Abuela Grandpa Became a Climbing Tower Son and ABFA BRS Linguistic Lessons
The ladies created a truly special
dinner featuring a healthy quotient of dead animal flesh (they knew their audience).
As always, at these gatherings, it was so much fun sitting around the table
talking with these special humans. BR3 proved the provenance of her heredity by
abandoning her chicken nuggets for some steak. We reconvened in the sunless porch
after dinner for additional BRS linguistic exercises. BR3, not wanting to be
left out of the entertainment, starting the climbing an extensive cat perch
next to her dad. The lady shows no fear. The ABFA recounted a very funny story
from BR3’s pre-school class. At home her parents call BR3 “Goomba” as an
affectionate nickname. When asked at school what her name was, she tartly replied
with her first name and then added “Goomba” as her given name. Too funny.Grandpa, You're Not Paying Attention
BR3 Climbing Lessons Continue Dad, I Made it!
My Favorite Panamanian was charged with
driving home through the rain since, if I haven’t mentioned it, a respectable
amount of Coors Lite was associated with the day’s festivities. I was awakened
this morning with my Favorite Panamanian feeding me breakfast in bed. She’s
also forbidden me from doing any manual labor today as she waits on me. A
pretty good deal. On the way back from church we stopped off at the
Neighborhood Mafioso’s home to wish them a happy Father’s Day and she presented
me with a bag full of homemade whoopie pies. The day just keeps getting better.
Happy Father’s Day to all the great dads out there, especially my Favorite Son,
Wingman, and, of course, upstairs, the best of us all, Soxfather.Two Silly Ladies
Two movies fell in my A-Z watch, both keepers, Transylvania time, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, much better than remembered, poor Keanu; and Dracula Untold, Turks versus the vampires, who you got?
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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 3rd 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
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