I owe a debt to my son. That’s a bit of
an understatement because I owe so much to both of my “kids” as I’ll never be
able to recompense them for what they’ve brought into my life. This is a more
specific matter of gratitude though. I’ve been a long-standing critic of the
style of basketball played in the NBA. I used to love the game passionately until
seeing the likes of Lebron and the latest round of superstars ruin it, for me.
The no calls for traveling, the constant carrying of the ball, no passing,
flopping, and superstars getting different calls than others. I used to a
fanatic Celtics fan, even got to sit on the bench with Sam Jones and Bill Russel
during a preseason scrimmage, as well, but they fell into the same type of basketball
as the rest of the league and I left them behind years ago. My son encouraged
me to watch this current Celtics team over the past couple years, claiming they
actually passed the ball and played defense. As I am wont to do, I resisted,
not wanting to learn what a Euro-step was.
Shortly after returning from Panama this
year, I finally succumbed a watched one of the first Celtics playoff games with
him. I saw evidence of what he and several other friends had been trying to
convince me of. This was a fun team to watch. Basketball should be the ultimate
team sport and here I found a team that was willing to involve everyone and
play defense. This all is a way to lead in to what I’ve been doing over the
past few weeks. I’ve watched every Celtics playoff game since that first one
with my son. That was all rewarded Monday night when they squashed a team that
played the aforementioned style of “superstar” basketball. In doing so they won
their 18
th world championship and brought an old curmudgeon who
thought he’d watched his last NBA game ever, back into the fold. The Lakers can
suck it.
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| Project Area |
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| Day 1 - Grass Removed |
Since we’re undergoing the first heat
wave of the year it’s almost predictable that I had to start the latest back
yard construction project, the expansion yet again of my Favorite Panamanian’s
vast garden complex. There was a narrow strip of lawn behind the fireplace and
in front of a terrace wall. My wife finally understood I couldn’t dig out the
dirt underneath the terrace wall to level the space without having the terrace
collapse. I could raise the lower wall next to the fireplace and then fill that
in. I removed all the turf from the location on Monday which is nowhere near as
much fun as it sounds. The heat hit yesterday which also called for some
extensive digging and carrying of buckets of dirt up the hill for disposal,
again, not a lot of fun. In a major surprise I didn’t hit any huge rocks. A
first in my extensive experience excavating that hillside. Not to say there wasn’t
the usual thousand or so of the smaller rocks jarring the shoulders when the
shovel hit them.
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| Day 2 Progress |
 |
| The Personal Fan |
Once the digging was done, I started in with
the bricks. I only had a few going into the actual hillside so that part wasn’t
as tough as earlier walls. I ran into a conundrum where the wall on the left runs
into the right side of the fireplace. I’m going to have to use some cement and rocks
to mate that section, so that’ll be fun. I finished the left side yesterday and
started on the right side of the hill but eventually figured I’d donated sufficient
gallons of sweat to call it a day. I’ll be going out after the peak sun hours
today to finish the walls. Tomorrow will hopefully see the emplacement of the
garden dirt (spousal approval pending) and the cement work mentioned above. I
was surprised I got as much done yesterday as I did, considering the heat. I
was helped immensely by a Father’s Day gift from my Favorite Panamanian. When I
opened it, I laughed to myself, my inner voice saying I would never use something
like this. It was a rechargeable personal fan worn around your neck.
Considering the heat yesterday, I gave it a shot and it worked for the entire
three hours I was out there and helped immeasurably because I only took one
water break. Amazing what a difference having a constant breeze on your head
makes.
 |
| FBR and I in 2016 |
Finally, Facebook was after my heart
again today when this picture showed up in memories. It was taken in 2016 when
the FBR was visiting. It shows us on Deckzilla as it was being constructed. This
was when the FBR was still young enough to think I was supercool. Those days
have sadly passed as she is now much more firmly based in reality. My daughter and
the FBR just Facetimed me. She only had a half day of school today as her time
in second grade winds down and she would only talk with me when her mother
coaxed her to. She’s practicing to be a teenager I guess and while I miss being
“supercool” (not that I ever was). I still loved seeing her today in all her indifferent
superiority and remembering those earlier days of connection.
In my A-Z watch, two fell since I last
posted, both keepers: Jurassic Park 3, a much better sequel and I’ll love
anything with Tea in it; Jurassic World, Chris Pratt evolved into a true
leading man, still trying to figure out how Howard ran so far in those high heels,
having a T-Rex chasing you probably helps.
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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 3rd 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; Seis Amigos
- two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger
sister; Wingman
– my son in law; Wingmom –
Wingman’s mom, of course
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