2/3 of the Amigos

I believe my high school algebra is serving me correctly when I translate four out of a group of six equals 2/3s.  Confirming that is the case, I am most happy to report that we were fortunate enough to form up 2/3s of the most excellent group of “Seis Amigos”. My Favorite Panamanian and I, along with our upstairs condo neighbors, and a Panamanian couple who also inhabit our condo complex form this auspicious group. Our upstairs neighbors were traveling back to the USA from Europe and decided to stop off for a quick visit yesterday, therefore achieving the .66 quotient, which forms a quorum in some quarters. We all missed having the final two members of our group but they remain in Panama, something to hope for in the future. We’ll all be together again in 2024 for further adventures.

4 of the Six Reunited Last Night

Last Time We were All Together
I Think I was Wearing the Same Shirt

Our guests had spent the last few weeks visiting their daughter in Amman, Jordan and then traveling throughout the Middle East and Europe. I was getting tired just listening to all the places they visited: Petra in Jordan (including a sampling of camel milk!), Israel, Cyprus, Lebanon (!!!), Switzerland, and England. That’s a very ambitious itinerary and, as with most things, they were very self-deprecating about their adventures. I was interested in their Lebanese experience and they confirmed it was as broken a place as you’ve heard. So sad for the former Paris of the Middle East. They arrived at our home after taking nearly three hours to drive the forty miles from Logan. They had rented a car and chose not to get the very expensive toll road fee. That meant they had to use non-toll roads all the way to our house. I didn’t know it was possible to get anywhere from Logan without using a toll road. They accomplished it but t was not a fun experience.

As They Left This Morning

Their rental car odyssey was on top of nearly 24 hours traveling from London, through Newark, of all places. After Deckzilla drinks, we took them out to eat at Val’s, figuring, correctly, that they were starving for some truly American cuisine. They were very happy the menu didn’t include a single offering of falafel.  A test of true friendship is the ability to pick up the relationship after long separations with hardly a blip. I believe we more than passed that test as it was if we had left Las Lajas yesterday and were back out on the beach for a sunset. It made the anticipation for our return at the end of the year all the more valid. We had a lively breakfast this morning before they hit the road to Connecticut to link up with family and, yet another high school reunion.

Finished Another Puzzle While Watching Baseball Playoffs
All my old "Friends" From Hammer Horror Movies

Sure Sign Autumn Has Arrived in the House
C.C. Unlikely to Survive the ABFA's next Visit

Yep, Wife Has Transformed Front of House for Autumn

One movie fell in my A-Z watch, a keeper: Ghost Rider, didn’t realize it was a Marvel movie, Cage, being, well, Cage, awesome.  

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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