Soggy Festing

It’s been a while since I wrote here on Frail Deeds and not much had happened until Friday. That’s when something definitely went haywire with the cosmos as I learned my daughter wouldn’t be joining the family First Friday Facetime call because she and the FBR were going to a high school football game. You have to know those two to realize what a stunner this was. There was a very reasonable explanation as the FBR’s best friend’s dad is a high school teacher and invited the neighborhood gang to the Friday Night Game. My daughter is a huge fan of the TV series, Friday Night Lights, so she was up for it and the FBR, offered a chance to stay up past bedtime, was all in. She wasn’t the only one to miss out on the call as my son and his family were attending a Halloween party thrown for the BRS’ kindergarten class. It’s a sad comment on the status of my social life when both my 7-year-old and 5-yrear-old granddaughters have busier Friday night social lives than I do.

Signature Pumpkinfest Shot

Son and his Family

With Keene Friend

Saturday promised to be a treat as it marked the return of that iconic autumnal festival in my hometown, the Pumpkinfest. It was a toned down version of the earlier one which was ultimately killed by unruly college kids and stick head in the mud locals. The added benefit was my son’s family journeying across the state to take in the festival and to celebrate the ABFA’s birthday with us and Keene Friend. The weather was problematic as the rain starting falling heavily just as we pulled into Keene Friend’s driveway. Luckily both granddaughters appear impervious to bad weather and were not in the least bit daunted by attending the fest under umbrellas, especially when they heard candy was involved. The more acid test was my Favorite Panamanian, who, despite coming from one of the rainiest countries on earth, refuses to leave the house when it is raining. Apparently, all it takes is a couple of granddaughters for her to conquer that phobia. She looked out the window as we prepared to leave and said, “No Way!”. By the time we were all in the street she had joined us. So, please understand, these photos of my wife out in the rain and cold are not only extremely rare, but virtually astounding.

A Couple of Friday Night Lights, Daughter & FBR

Never Passes Up a Face Painting Opportunity

With her Best Bud

Game Time

The fest was about half the size it used to be but that was fine as you could definitely tell it was more geared towards families and children than it used to be. There was a fairly good crowd, considering the weather, populating the closed off portion of Main Street and the granddaughters were a little intimidated starting out but soon discovered most of the Main Steet merchants were offering candy to trick or treaters. They were all in at this point. We made our way up past the racks of carved jack-o-lanterns and around Central Square which had the signature large tower of pumpkins topped by a humungous one that initially scared BR3 so much she refused to approach it. We got past that for the usual Pumpkinfest pictures in front of the tower seen above.

Keene Friend had gifted the ABFA (a well known and self-acknowledged chocaholic) with gift cards for Ye Goodie Shoppe, Keene’s most famous candy emporium. That card was burning a  hole in her pocket so they entered the shoppe to put it to good use. They emerged laden a few minutes later. In one of the funniest moments of the day the BRS proudly displayed a candy necklace she had procured and another one for BR3. This is a treat she had long sought after and when we congratulated her, she said, “At Last!!”. While the granddaughters were still game, the well soaked adults staring steering the mob back towards the dryness of Keene Friend’s house. The necklaces did not survive the walk back and not because of the rain. The BRS and BR3 would have put Buddy the Wonder Pooch to shame with their voracious consumption rate while walking back.

BR3 Gets her Initial Candy Fix from Abuela

Then the BRS

The Birthday Girl!!

With her Girls

We arranged for pizza during our sojourn downtown and after that was sent to a hasty demise, it was time for ABFA birthday cake. I brought the favored family cake cleaver, Bonecrusher, for the ABFA to wield. Keene Friend cautioned the ABFA that he really liked his living room table and to please exercise caution while smiting. Keene Friend had arranged a special cake for the ABFA and unbeknownst to all, it had a secret ingredient. It was equipped with a dark frosting around the edges that had all the characteristics of a sci fi level bio hazard, in a funny way (never thought you hear about a funny bio hazard, did you?). The first inkling we had of the persistent qualities of this substance was when BR3 tried to sneak a lick into the side of the cake and emerged with a large black smear on her nose. Soon, anyone who came within five yards of the cake, emerged with a gob of the icing somewhere on their person. It seemed impervious to cleaning efforts which, as you can imagine, frustrated my Favorite Panamanian immensely, especially when it appeared on her favorite rain coat. I look down at my hand right now and can see shadows of the icing and I’ve washed my hands at least a dozen times since I last came in contact with it. I can only imagine my son’s and the ABFA’s kitchen look like at this point as we judiciously sent the cake and its haunted frosting home with them last night.

Heading Downtown

Soaked Main Street

Wife and Keene Friend

ABFA Loose in Ye Goodie Shoppe

Meanwhile, back at the cake cutting, the two granddaughters were supremely fascinated with Bonecrusher. I had to carefully extract it from their intense inspection before they started wielding it. I promised to leave the blade with the ABFA in December so the BRS can use it for her February birthday. The rest of the evening was spent watching two over-sugared (they’d been downing candy non-stop for four hours at this point) granddaughters bounce off the walls of Keene Friend’s house. He was a little shocked at their capacity for chaos. It’s been a while since he’s been around a scene of such extreme bedlam. I think he now understands why I say I’m always very tired after time spent with granddaughters. It was too fun to watch as their parents and grandparents took the action in stride while Keene Friend looked on with wonder.

Keene Friend Presenting Cake with Haunted Frosting

ABFA with Bonecrusher

Girls Want to Help

BRS Supervising the Cleave

BR3 with her Frosting Smeared Nose

Rare Quiet Moment as they Decorate Pumpkins

We reluctantly but understandably wished them a safe ride back across the state as they disappeared into the rainy night. We needed some rest at this point. Despite the fatigue I had a hard time falling asleep last night. I’m guessing I didn’t want the day to end (typical). I finally snatched a couple hours sleep before we went out to breakfast at The Pub. This brought with it the attendant memories as this was one of my mother’s favorite places. My Favorite Panamanian came up with a great idea. She would go shopping this afternoon and leave me to watch the Patriots’ game with Keene Friend. Who am I to argue with such solid logic? Besides we didn’t have anything awaiting us back home. I’d forgotten how much fun it was watching football with Keene Friend although I did take a short nap, on an installment basis, throughout the first half. The Patriots, uncharacteristic for this year, led for most of the game against their much better foe from Buffalo. Keene Friend 2 joined us in the second half to further embellish the enjoyment level when New England first gave away the lead and then won the game with a stunning last minute touchdown. Another one of those weekends where my family, friends, and my hometown combine to remind me how truly blessed I am.

With Keene Friends 1 & 2 Today

Six movies fell in my A-Z watch (been a while), 5 keepers and 1 discard: Godzilla, (2014 version), big guy destroying San Francisco this time out; Godzilla, King of the Monsters, must have been made by a Yankee fan, Fenway Park gets smoked; Golden Compass, wanted this to be good but the combination of Nicole Kidman and incomprehensible story doomed it; Gone Girl, loved this pillorying of social media frenzy; Gone with the Wind, didn’t realize just how racist this movie is until this watching, I’m only keeping it because it was my mom’s favorite movie; and Good Boys, hilarious take on 6^th grade angst, way too funny.

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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