Griswolding

Wife on City Hall Plaza Last Night

My wife and I, together, would have made an excellent Clark Griswold yesterday. She had the vast visions of outdoor Christmas decorations while I was entrusted/directed to make them happen. It was surprisingly cold yesterday with a wind blowing across our hilltop to make the event even more special. We also had a few snowflakes fall to augment the mood. Once my wife realized how cold it was she retreated into the house and spent the next three hours making “needed” adjustments to the interior decorations. This was, of course, a good thing since it reduced supervision to what she could see from the window.

Buddy Guarding the Front Yard

Buddy always whines when I’m outside without him so I brought him out with me. I don’t think I’ll have to worry about him overreacting to me being outside without him again. He was good company as I tied him off to the mailbox while I worked out front. This gave him a chance to berate the other dogs who had the temerity to be walked along our street. He usually has to do this from inside so a lot less canine saliva on the windows this time.

The Lights Staked Out

My wife resurrected the lights on small poles that we used each year in Charlton. I thought I’d hidden them well enough to be spared that exercise but she’s relentless. I stole her small garden cart to sit down on while I emplaced each light and stake and almost ended up three houses down on my first attempt, I did mention the hill didn’t I? I’m glad there were no neighbors out to view my ungainly method of stopping the headlong downhill plunge.

Mafiosos With the Wife

Buddy liked the back yard even more when we moved there because he had greater range of motion. He was frustrated that he couldn’t reach the spot I was working and trip me with his wire, which is one of his go to moves. I spent a long time wrestling with the pine trees on the hill behind the house but as the sun was setting the wife, safely inside, pronounced my effort a success.

My Hands Full of Beautiful Women

Being outside in the cold for extended periods of time has a tendency to tire you out more than usual, not something my wife is acquainted with. I couldn’t rest on my laurels though as we had arranged for a dinner out with the neighborhood mafiosos. In an event sure to shatter some long held beliefs my wife was actually ready on time. We went to Peppercorns which has a very underrated chef not to mention their very own micro-brewery. We used to go there for First Friday until Brew City fixed their service issues so it was little nostalgic.

City Hall Plaza

The mafiosos, after dinner, drove us down to the center of Worcester to see the Christmas lights on city hall plaza. They’re both lifelong Worcesterites and had great stories of what central Worcester was like growing up. A determined group of city leaders are trying to reinvent that center and return to a more vibrant locale but have a heavy burden ahead of them. The plaza looked great, with festive lights, an ice skating rink, and no people. It’ll be interesting to see over the next five years if they can fix the people problem. It was a great evening though, as it tends to be when we’re hanging with the mafiosos.

California Christmas Party - Our Guys on the Left

Apparently there was also a very busy day for the California contingent as well, albeit with decidedly warmer temperatures. We couldn’t squeeze in a FaceTime call because of music classes, birthday parties and Christmas get togethers. The social life of one year olds in today’s society is to be marveled at. We did at least get some great pictures of her adventures.

She Likes Christmas Trees