Cantankerous Celebration

The last couple days have been consumed with re-opening the homestead from its dormant status for the entirely of 2023. There was also the small matter of completing 2022 tax filing, so fun that. Yesterday also marked my return to the pool and an actual swimming workout instead of the abbreviated version I was forced to employ in Panama. It was harder than it should have been. Since the weather was unseasonably warm, thank God, my Favorite Panamanian spent most of yesterday in her vast garden complex readying it for emergence from its own dormancy. I was called upon to assist with the rose pruning which made me extremely nervous. If those damned things don’t grow back, I’ll be blamed. I decided the only way to insure my survival was to augment shopping opportunities.

With Keene Friend and the Birthday Boy

Fortunately, I had been conspiring with Keene Friend on something that offered just that possibility. Yesterday was day of birth of none other than the Cantankerous Friend. He and Keene Friend planned on getting together for a free birthday pizza last night in downtown Keene. We decided it would be a great opportunity to surprise him by crashing it. It would also allow my Favorite Panamanian her first chance at tax free shopping since our return. When the Cantankerous One showed to pick up Keene Friend I popped out to an appropriate level of surprise. We decamped immediately to the Lab ‘n Lager to commence celebration.

Late Arriving Wife

It was a fun night as another high school classmate was also present, appropriately, one who loves to pick on the birthday boy. We spent a great evening watching the local characters walk by including one who was escorted, handcuffed, out of the bar by two of Keene’s finest. My Favorite Panamanian was late in emerging from TJ Maxx, thanks in part at least, to not updating her watch to the right time. She was still an hour behind, at least that was her stated excuse. We ended the night back at Keene Friend’s house for cake and ice cream. It felt like a true homecoming, being able to hang with good friends.

Two movies fell in my A-Z watch, both keepers, with The Day the Earth Stood Still, both the 1951 and 2008 versions, funny to compare the portrayal of the governmental responses to the appearance of an alien spacecraft, once at the height of the cold war and then more recently.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                     

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; 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; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course