Lights and Then Some

My Favorite Panamanian has never met a Christmas light that she doesn’t want to use somewhere. We started this year’s decorating with a veritable mountain of extension cords that I thought would be more than needed to address her expression of holiday cheer. We finally finished up decorating outside yesterday and there wasn’t a single cord left. Since the temperatures were weirdly in the 60s on December 1^st she ventured outside which contributed to additional wattage being expended as she decreed any plant in her vast garden complex taller than four inches needed to be festooned.

FBR in Zoom School

She rallied an impressive set of lights, included some multi-colored solar garden lights. She actually had two different sets of solar powered lights that went into use. This was just a drop in the bucket though as I can see the credits we’ve built up with the electric company over the past year based on our rooftop solar array being seriously challenged. All this being said, as usual, her vision turned into something really special and I found myself wandering outside a couple times after dark to take it all in. As I said, I am an unrepentant lover of all things Christmas related.

Front of the House

Besides looking remarkably like her father at the same age BR3 confirmed her relationship to me yesterday as she roundly rejected creamed carrots in her continuing exposure to solid foods. She has embraced the concept and last night while we were talking, I could see her gnawing on the tray in front of her while her food was being prepared. The girl is a chow hound.

Side Yard

The FBR is back in the Wingman day care center for two weeks as they shut down her classroom for that time after one of the teachers had a close contact with a positive. She still conducts classes remotely and continues to love learning. Wingman recently received an early Christmas gift of a new video game system and this has allowed him to spend some time with the FBR on it. She was regaling me with a tale of a “friendly” rat who grew horns and wings. When I doubted the rat was truly friendly after she revealed it ate a small boy she scoffed, saying, “Grandpa, it’s just make believe!” Today she gets some lessons in Mario Cart from my daughter who claims to be an expert. I always wondered what they were doing with that Nintendo set, back in the day.

Other Side, Solar Light in Foreground

Speaking of rats, of the sinking ship variety, the Trumpster’s ardent supporter, the attorney general, William Barr, publicly stated there was no widespread election fraud. I’m sure this didn’t please the bunkered one but it was nothing everyone outside of he and Rudy Giuliani don’t realize. I think the expression is – “A blinding flash of the obvious.”

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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