Hometown Headcount

Yesterday was everything I needed and more. I completed the laundry list of normally Sunday tasks which included preparing some extra meatballs for a game day snack. After the past month of Christmas cookie excess I'm back on the Keto regimen since the pants were getting a little tight. Gone are the days when such evidence can be ignored. I was halfway to Keene when I realized I'd left the game day snacks back in the refrigerator; so it goes.

Keene Friend at Elm City

I got everything loaded in the car, including a very excited Wonder Pooch and headed north just as the snow started to fly. The snow stopped just a few miles north of Worcester and despite the devastation I'm seeing on the news we didn't get any snow at all in Keene. I did receive a message that all the buses were on snow routes back in Worcester so I probably will be shoveling when I get home. There goes another fifteen minutes (hee hee).
Ten minutes after arriving at Keene Friend's house we were seated at the bar at Elm City Brewery ably attended to by the best bartendress in Keene, our personal favorite. A very enjoyable afternoon passed by as the place was uncharacteristically quiet for a Saturday afternoon. We received another jolt of advanced age recognition when the bartendress revealed that her step mother was a gal (much younger than me) I knew way back in my YMCA days.

Scores!

The bartendress had our beers waiting for us  before we had out coats fully off. She also had refills in place without being asked - like I said best bartendress ever. The only problem with this procedure was the lack of our usual extraction vehicle - namely my wife. Since she was not shopping within 3000 miles yesterday we were responsible for getting ourselves home. As usual Keene Friend volunteered to take one for the team. After dinner he drove us home, parked the car, and walked into a frigid Keene to set up shop in Scores, the magical location for a high percentage of the all the television sets in Keene - all tuned to sports. An eclectic mix of patrons came and went throughout the evening. This culminated with the late arrival of the Cantankerous Friend, his first sighting in 2016. After the obligatory listing of our failures he caught us up on his adventures since the last sighting. He thankfully had a car so we were spared the cold walk home. We ended the evening swapping lies around Keene Friend's living room. There really is a medicinal effect when you get to spend time with lifelong friends. As stated above, Exactly what I needed. Now GO PATS!
California Dreaming: