The granddaughters did their level
best to elevate spirits last night on a cold windy autumn night. The BRS was
extremely busy with stickers which held a lot more importance to her than mere grandparents.
She thought getting as many stuck on one hand as possible was high
entertainment. The FBR came to our video call with a plan. She wanted to take
her abuela hostage using me as the implementing force. We’ve been playing a
game lately where I hug my Favorite Panamanian and the FBR immediately says, “abracadabra
– let abuela go!”. Last night she coaxed me into hugging position and as my
wife pleaded for relief the FRB smirked and said her magic was depleted. After
a few minutes she relented and freed her abuela while laughing at her power
over us. With great power comes great responsibility, tough to preach that to a
threenager.
Monday is our annual leaf peeping tour
on Columbus Day. We’ve been doing this for a few years now although my wife
blew me off last year to party with her fellow musqueteras in Virginia. This is
some great alone time for the two of us as we wend our way through the
backroads of Western Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire. The weather is promising
to break our way and it’s weird that I look forward to this so much. I grew up
in New England and never truly realized how blessed we are with fall foliage
until I lived so many years away from it slogging through the Army career.
Absence certainly did make for the fonder.
We watched the Patriots latest effort
last night as they vanquished a game Giants team on Thursday night football. There’s
something about the Giants that scares me (probably a couple super bowls that shall
go unnamed) but they always seem to find a way to make a game out of it. The Patriots
were down to their last few receivers and may have been holding tryouts for
less inebriated fans at halftime. The defense remained sublime and scored two
touchdowns of their own to finally grind the G-men into dust. This does nothing
in the way of solace for the two unnamed games but the Pats are undefeated even
though they’ve only played one quality team.
Finally I would be remiss without calling
attention to the fact that today marks the first Friday of this week, an event certainly
worth celebrating. Yeah, I know I celebrate it each week but I have yet to experience
anything that would even remotely cause me to question the process. Friday beer
just tastes a smidge better, especially when we share it with co-workers and friends
commiserating about the latest challenges at work. This is one of the traditions
I picked up in the military that I consider my absolute duty to bring to the civilian
world. Come to think about it, I’ve been celebrating the First Friday of the
Week continuously since my fellow infantry lieutenants and I dominated the
Howard Air Force Base Officers club each Friday in the early 1980s – that’s a
lot of Fridays. The zoomies thought us uncivilized but carefully avoided antagonizing
us. I felt like a Visigoth “visiting” Rome.
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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 3rd 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
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