Iso Zoned

Today marks our first full day in the isolation zone which is a very small price to pay to get to spend time with the young lady pictured below enjoying her first snow of the year down in New Jersey yesterday. This quarantine meant an excruciating visit to the grocery store to lay in supplies for the next two weeks. The excruciating part was the amount of groceries we had to get as well as my shopping partner. I’ve gotten into the habit of doing all the grocery shopping myself during our time in Pandemia but the extensive nature of yesterday’s purchases indicated to certain spousal elements that I needed supervision. This meant I was a little miffed at having my decision-challenged Favorite Panamanian along but it actually turned out to be a little bit of fun, exhausting, but fun.

FBR Yesterday

It was fun because we were also buying stocking stuffers and my wife knows I can deny granddaughters nothing so she descended on the candy section with truly evil intent. As I said, I was powerless and greeted each new addition to the already overburdened cart with a smile. I did mention how much I love Christmas, didn’t I? One of the things we’ll have to coordinate over the next couple weeks is trips to both Great Aunt’s and my Favorite Son’s house to drop off gifts for them and pick up the same for the New Jersey bunch. I envision something akin to a hostage exchange at the North Korean border with no contact but a certifiable level of love and Christmas spirit.

We’ll also have to figure out something for Keene Friend as he is usually a fixture at our home on Christmas. I received a call from my Pittsburgh College Roommate the other day. He took time out of his busy celebrity schedule to discuss the upcoming holiday and our mutual interest in Keene Friend. We also talked about the Christmases of the distant past when we would have a Christmas get together at the local rec hall to play basketball and then reconvene at my mother’s house to discuss our shortcomings. Okay that was mostly Cantankerous Friend who we agreed has mellowed a bit over the years. I’m going to miss seeing that guy at Christmas as well as we usually get together at Keene Friend’s house on the 26^th which cannot happen this year. It’s nice to have actual phone conversations with old friends as the communication shorthand developed over decades of friendship immediately kicks in. The most disturbing (and sad) thing about this isolation is that we’re really not going to have to modify our pandemic behavior that much. It will sting not having a house full on Christmas day but the FBR does an amazing job of filling space; something she inherited from her abuela.

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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; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; 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