Coming in Hot

I know, I took an entire day off from blog writing (you are certainly welcome). I made the mistake of remarking recently that the summer weather had been quintessential New England – clear, warm days and cool nights. It was the kind of summer I recalled and lionized from childhood memories. I should have kept my mouth shut. Some sticky weather that would do southern Georgia proud rolled in on Saturday night heralded by some momentous thunderstorms that had Buddy the Wonder Pooch seeking to burrow through solid concrete (again).

Wife and Mafioso at the Party - Bumblebee in the Background

We linked up with other members of the Worcester Chapter of the Panamanian Mafia for a Saturday afternoon barbecue in Eastern Massachusetts. It was an impressive house and strangely one that I had driven by hundreds of times when I used to work in that city. The heat drove everybody inside where we could marvel at the attire of the designated court jester of our organization. He was outfitted in a striped yellow shirt and loud yellow shorts. He proudly assumed the title of “bumblebee” we bequeathed upon him, although this did lead to several unfortunate stinger related jokes.

We met a very interesting Indian couple. They were both born in Uganda but were kicked out by Idi Amin during one of his nonsensical purges and eventually landed in the USA. The guy gave the bumblebee a run for his money in the joke department. My wife was fascinated by the wife because she let her hair go gray and still looked more than presentable. My wife thought this was an apt example because she is often mistaken for an Indian herself. She’s been involved in a years long argument with herself about whether to continue to color her hair or let it go gray (gramma prep has only intensified the argument). I’ve wisely avoided weighing in on the subject (for once) realizing there is no right answer; other than doing what makes her happy.

Bumblebee and his Long Suffering Wife - Ribald Spanish Speaker Behind

The group had planned on driving down to Providence, RI to see them set their river on fire but the aforementioned torrential rains put the kybosh on that. The host of the party is an electrical engineer and had set up his television with a sound system that I can only describe as otherworldly. We decided to watch a movie but before I could pick his brain how he set up his system the other members of the conclave decided it was time to return to Worcester. Since we were genuinely concerned about Buddy’s (Pendejo’s) capacity for destruction during thunderstorms we left. It’s probably just as well, if I had a sound system like that I might never leave couch potato position #1.

Buddy During Grill Assembly Operations

My wife finally availed herself of the tax free shopping weekend which Massachusetts does every year. She disappeared early on Sunday and regretfully returned only because we had to leave to pick up two of her high school friends flying in from Panama. I was charged with assembling the new grill we bought on Saturday. Due to the heat I moved the assembly line into the middle of the air conditioned kitchen. Since my wife was shopping, Buddy (my assistant) and I had the decisive votes needed. I put the Red Sox game on as they had won two straight scoring runs in double figures. It was therefore appropriate that they were behind 7-0 before I had reached step 4A. I blame them for putting the grill together backwards and having to re-do the whole damned thing.

Wife Greeting her Friends at the Airport

My wife attended a high school reunion last year in Panama and in the course of celebrating with her old buddies generally invited everyone to come visit her. To her surprise and enduring joy several groups took her up on the invitation. The first pair arrived last night to the very Panamanian weather. They were held up in US Customs for more than an hour which had us concerned for a while. We eventually got them home with my wife in serious “chat” mode the entire time. It was good to see her so obviously happy to be with a couple of her oldest friends.

High School Friends Together Again

I take it for granted that I can routinely see my high school friends while she’s denied this with her decision to hang around with me up here in the North. We sat down for a very late dinner due to their delay at the airport and the next door Mafioso invited us all over for a late night dessert. This gave the Mafioso’s husband a chance to demonstrate his fairly ribald facility with the Spanish language. A fun way to end the night and I went to bed hearing the still constant chatter of old friends reacquainting themselves late into the night. I’m so happy to see the light in my wife’s eyes their arrival has ignited.