Between a Rock and

More correctly it should be called a boulder. I spent yesterday morning finishing up the latest retaining wall for my wife’s vast garden complex. As usual I ran across a large percentage of small rocks that made determined shovel pushes fraught with wrist pain, this is New England after all. I reached the point where I was turning the wall into the hill and ran across another rock, at least until I tried moving it. I kept digging around the edges and down until I uncovered the true size of the damnable thing. My Favorite Panamanian, attracted by my liberal use of some of the more profane words in both the English and German languages, came out to find what all the fuss was about.

BRS Took Charge of the Cooking Yesterday

She immediately began instructing me on how I should get it out and although I am loath to admit it she had some very good ideas. I had to excavate around the entire thing because it was locked into the ground with clay and roots. I eventually got it out and she then decided she would find a place for it somewhere in her exterior design plans. I was just glad to get it out of the way because it was in the single most critical part of the wall path.

While her Sister, BR3, Continued to Get her Beauty Sleep
Not that it is Truly Needed

Work on the wall had taken a  Friday hiatus because it was the First Friday of the Week which required yet another group FaceTime call with the family. This is truly the one good thing to come out of the pandemic. I stayed on the call with Great Aunt and Soxfather after the young’uns signed off to administer to the FBR, BRS, and BR3. It’s amazing how therapeutic it remains to connect with the people you love, even if from a distance.

Finding my Nemesis

It Finally Moved

Got it Out, This is the Position it was in the Ground

The Finished Wall

My wife and I spent the afternoon out on Deckzilla enjoying the spectacular (finally) weather. The neighbors across the street are selling and had an open house yesterday afternoon. We assessed each of the potential buyers for neighbor potential as they came by. It turned out to be a very fun afternoon hanging with my Favorite Panamanian.

FBR, Self-Appointed Inspector of Puddles

I eventually retired to the Man Cave to finish yet another jigsaw puzzle and watch movies. Over the past two nights I knocked out the first two extended versions of the Hobbit movies. We also had our nightly calls with granddaughter contingent. The FBR practiced her latent magical abilities in which she said “abracadabra” and I was required to do whatever she order “Grandpa” to do. It involved a lot of freezing in position. Wingman also commiserated with me about my rock issue as he faced a number of the same situations while removing the root network under his back yard recently. While we were talking my Favorite Son called in and my daughter was able to figure out how to add his screen to our conversation. The BRS was delighted to see her cousin.

Latest Puzzle to Fall
I Do Love Christmas

It’s a three day weekend so I may be back out on Deckzilla again this afternoon as a new batch of potential neighbors will be attending another open house across the street. Coors Lite, as it turns out, is a contributing factor in the lucidity of my assessment process. The sellers are then hosting a socially distanced farewell barbecue. Like I said, I get the day off tomorrow.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BR3 – granddaughter #3, 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; 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; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn