Falling In

The house has undergone its annual transformation. I heard my Favorite Panamanian rooting around the storage area of the basement outside the Man Cave earlier today. I’m always concerned when her activities approach the Cave since our deal is, this place remains outside her sphere of control. It was a hard-fought concession, but she’s mostly kept away from trying to redesign my lair. This was not easy for her, especially given her very realistic assessment of my taste. It turned out she was just searching for her autumnal house decorations, consisting of a bevy of glass pumpkins, small gourds, and a bunch of other seasonally derived artifacts. I was immediately drafted to carry the items up the stairs while she continued to delve. I came back from the pool later to find the house transformed as only she can do it. She even had an apple spice candle lending further atmosphere.

Scenes from the House

I should mention at this point that I am writing this blog post on the new computer. As I alluded to in my last post, I was nervous about transferring all the programs and information from the old, damaged computer to this new one. I consider it no small point of pride that I was able to accomplish this without any assistance from my IT Section (my children and their spouses). It took about three hours, the length of the Red Sox game playing in the background. I was sorely tempted at certain points to reach out to the IT gurus, but I stumbled through the exercise, relying on their past lessons and from paying attention from days of employment when the IT guy would come to fix issues with my work computer. So, I am writing this with a fully intact computer screen for the first time in over two years, kind of weird, but I’ll take it. Thanks again to my Favorite Son for advising on the purchase.

We had an interesting road trip last night instead of our usual Date Night. We’re taking a trip to Italy in late October and last night there was a meeting of the tour group, held in our old church in Charlton. Since the traffic in Worcester was uncharacteristically cooperative, we reached Charlton with a lot of time to spare. We used that time to cruise by our old house which still has a special place in both our hearts. The trees I planted are now huge, a true indication of the nine years it's been since we left. On a whim (actually, the fervent guidance of my Favorite Panamanian) we pulled in to visit our former next-door neighbors. She was out in her back yard with her twin sons. They were newborns when we left and had grown even more than the trees. It was a great few minutes catching up with her although her husband and two older girls (who might even remember us) were not there.

Entering the church was equally nostalgic since it is the repository of so many memories as well, including my daughter’s wedding. The pastor, Father Bob, who officiated at that wedding, will be going on the tour with us and organized the meeting. We were supposed to take this trip last year when it included a trip to the Holy Land as well as Italy. The trip was postponed when the war with Hamas burst after the cowardly October 7 attacks. That war is still rumbling so the tour was modified to include a trip to the former Yugoslavia instead of Israel. We learned the specific itinerary yesterday and my wife is on Cloud 9. She is a very serious Catholic and we’re doing some extensive religious based tourism. We spend a couple days in the Vatican as well as a trip to Assisi. My wife was excited about the St Francis site but more so about the tomb of Carlo Acutis. She had regaled me, at length, a couple months ago about a young Italian who died young but is on the road to sainthood based on his deep faith and miracles associated with him. He died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15, offering his suffering for the pope and for the Church. His body has not decomposed at all and is located in Assisi.

My Favorite Panamanian is also a big devotee of the Virgin Mary (I know, most of you are asking how she ended up with me). In 1981, six children and teenagers reported seeing visions of the Madonna on a hill in the village of Medjugorje, located in the wine-making region of southern Bosnia. That village has become a huge pilgrimage site and that’s where we’re headed after Italy. So, I’m finally getting to Bosnia. I was scheduled to do so in the late 1990s with a battalion of well-armed friends. I can’t say anything more about that other than it was canceled at the last minute. So, there’s that. It should be an interesting trip as we get to Bosnia by traveling through Switzerland and Croatia. Our return trip to the States will include a stop off in Amsterdam. I’m not as excited about the religious nature of this trip but I’m very happy my wife gets to experience this. She rangered her way through the weather of my dream trip of Ireland and Scotland earlier this year, so it’s only fair.

Four movies fell in the A-Z watch, all keepers: Lucky Number Slevin, fantastic cast with fascinating black comedy plot; Lucy, awesome Luc Besson sci fi with Scarlett at her peak; Machete, very funny Robert Rodriguez action/comedy, how the hell did he get DeNiro to do this?; Mackenna’s Gold, old time, favorite western from the 60s, Peck was such a movie star and Julie Newmar, a childhood crush.

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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; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother-in-law (whom I miss more than I can ever explain); Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course