Friends and Murals

Wife and BRS Last Week

I’ve written before about the almost mystical hold my home town has on me. I think it’s a function of the military career with the rootless existence that engenders. The hold has frayed a bit over recent years as more and more of the landmarks I grew up with have disappeared. The most recent was the old YMCA building, a place I basically grew up in. It’s been replaced by a dance theater (!) and a bunch of apartments.

Wife and I Continued First Friday on Deckzilla

It’s still the people that draw me back though. Both Keene Friend and the Cantankerous One made themselves available this past Saturday. My Favorite Panamanian noticed some Facebook posts about a bunch of huge murals painted around downtown Keene. She thought it would be a great day trip to check them out. I think she knew the murals were all in close proximity to the pubs as well.

Site of the old YMCA in Keene

This of course would free her up for some tax free shopping, so win win (depending on your perspective). It was a hot, muggy day as Keene Friend and I wandered around downtown checking out the murals. My wife eventually felt herself drawn off by downtown shopping opportunities and saw about half the paintings. I really enjoyed the walk around town reliving some of those persistent memories my hometown is laden with. I was impressed with the quality of the art and the subjects chosen.

The Murals

I eventually ran into my wife who, against all odds, ended up in a jewelry store. Certainly body parts reacted as expected when I discovered this. She had befriended the clerk and worked out a deal to have her wedding ring cleaned for free. During that process they discovered that several of the diamonds from her engagement ring as well as the main diamond were in need of repair. My wife told me that diamonds and gold do not co-exist well together, news to me and contrary to the evidence I was now to going to pay to get repaired. Neatly done by the clerk, turning a free cleaning into a couple hundred dollars of business.

Keene Freind and Cantankerous at the Pour House

We were on our way to the Pour House to drown financial sorrows when my wife was accosted by the Cantankerous Friend who had tracked us down. The Favorite Panamanian lit out for her old friend TJ Maxx while the “gentlemen” took up position on Central Square from the elevated viewing positions offered by the Pour House pub. Several hours later my wife reappeared and we walked down the street for dinner at Margarita’s.

Dinner at Margarita's

The Pour House established itself as a clear favorite to replace Scores as the end of pub crawl destination based on both its geographic location and seating. It was a fun afternoon watching the city meander by outside while listening to Cantankerous Friend and Keene Friend argue. So much of my youth was spent traversing that square as I grew up on the east side of the city and most of everything I needed to get to was on the west side. The city has done a good job of maintaining a walkable downtown. It was something I heard a lot about growing up but didn’t truly understand until these days when I can take advantage of the vision of those city planners back in the 70’s.

BRS Dunking

FBR Watering Her Plants & Making Abuela Happy

The granddaughters were busy over the weekend. The BRS has taken up basketball in the driveway when she wasn’t trying to help out the ABFA and her parents with gardening. The FBR now refuses to talk with us when we call. How the mighty have fallen! I really miss laughing with her every day but, as with Jackie Paper, kids move on. I’m sure at some point it the future she’ll decide we are worthy of her again. She was dominating a trampoline at a birthday party over the weekend, something she used to want to regale us with an acount. So it goes.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt = my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog, surrogate grandchild while awaiting arrival of the BRS; 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; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Deckzilla Dude – senior citizen carpenter/contractor; Voices of Inappropriate Worth - members of public who come to every Worcester public meeting to complain, all are on public assistance along with demeanor issues