South Run

I Did Not Want this Weekend to End (Do I ever?)

I will admit to awaking a little bleary eyed yesterday morning after a Saturday filled with good times with my longest serving friends. The amount of fun experienced Saturday more than made up for the price paid on Sunday morning. Alka Seltzter performed admirably and a full breakfast with Keene Friend at the neighborhood Friendly’s more than restored fighting form. Despite the extended shopping time on the previous day my wife decreed there were still some objectives eluding her. She set out for another two hours of shopping while Keene Friend and I conducted inner eyelid inspections while officially watching some old action movie.

My Wife's Baby Shower 

I was reluctant to leave Keene, once again, because of all the memory lanes walked on Saturday but reality and the impending work week imposed itself. Melancholy was defeated upon arrival in Worcester with a message from my sister who invited us down for a Sunday evening barbecue with her peerless in-laws. Buddy was of course invited but I was taking no chances with his gastro-intestinal system, especially given my sister’s inability to resist his state of the art begging capacity and the ensuing digestive crisis.

The Gathering

My brother in law roundly concurred with my decision not to deploy the Wonder Pooch. I believe his exact words were, “that would have been a monumentally bad idea!” given all the low hanging food available. He and I share the experience of recent cleanups. His younger brother and sister continued their life long argument as to who was the favorite child when the cosmos entered the fray and may have answered the question definitively. The younger brother picked up a bottle of diet coke to pour himself a beverage when he turn around the bottle to show his sister the word – “Favorite” clearly printed on the bottle. While we all considered this the final answer on the debate the younger sister was having none of it.

Definitive Proof From a Higher Power

It was a perfect summer evening out on my sister’s back deck and the company was every bit as stimulating as anticipated. These Sunday get togethers were a staple of my brother in law’s clan when his mother, the late, but infinitely great Miss Louise, was available to host them. Following her death the practice went out custom and this marked an attempt to resurrect. My wife and I are lucky enough to flit around the edges of this close knit group and enjoy the deep sense of family that pervades any of their gatherings.

The Most Excellent Chef - My Sister

The trip back was fraught with Rhode Island drivers but even they, in the infinite capacity to frustrate, were incapable of denting the calm sense of contentment of a weekend spent in the company of family and friends. Buddy gave it another shot when we got home, I’m guessing in protest of his exclusion, to no avail.