Our quiet weekend as agreeably interrupted yesterday when my Favorite Panamanian and I joined the neighborhood mafiosos and other members of the Worcester Chapter of the Panamanian Mafia at Worcester’s annual Italian Festival. This used to be held near the center of town but the traditional Italian catholic church there was sold and it is now held in one of the southern neighborhoods. I wasn’t expecting much but they crammed a massive tent into a church parking lot and made a real effort to replicate the well-remembered center Worcester event.
We met up with friends at one of the many
tables and spent the rest of the evening warding off other attendees looking
for a place to sit. It was fun watching all the young families running around
and reveling in the fact that the days as a parent chasing young children were
far behind us. I temper that revelation with the realization that by the end of
this week we’ll have two granddaughters to perform the same tasks for. It was a
fun night hanging with friends as the festival flowed around us. As usual, the Neighborhood
Mafioso had friends and acquaintances stopping by all night. I believe they qualify
as bona fide Worcester min-celebrities.
A very Fun Group
More of the Mafia Arrives
After dinner a band started up playing
1970s classics, so right in our wheel house. It wasn’t long before we were out
on the dance “floor”. My Favorite Panamanian kept trying to guide me away from the
area in front of the stage. I was trying to figure out why when I looked over
my shoulder and the truth was starkly revealed. The band featured two singers,
the lead singer was a guy wearing as really bad wig and a rather stout young
lady who had a much better voice. The lady was wearing a short skirt that was
billowing up with the wind. My glance back educated me to the fact that she
should have worn a more robust set of underwear. She was about 150 pounds north
of qualifying for the ones she had on. My Favorite Panamanian had tried to protect
me. Still, once my eyesight was restored a very good evening spent with great friends,
lots of laughing.
Inside the Tent
Three movies fell in my A-Z watch as I finished
my run through the F&F universe, all keepers, Fate of the Furious, Theron deliciously
evil and fighting a submarine; F9, The Fast Saga, Dom’s brother appears great
climatic battle; and Fast X, cliffhanger as everyone return from the dead
The Band
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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