It’s been a busy week leading up to Mother’s
Day, but that is to be expected when I’m living with a certifiable bundle of
energy (when she’s going about reordering our life). The reordering is an
annual event coincidental to our return from tropical climes. One of her
highest priorities is the re-establishment of her vast garden complex, where I
play a small but important role as financier as well as supplying a brute force
and ignorance source of labor. She hoped to have Deckzilla ready, re-stained
along with her usual wide assortment of flowers for Mother’s Day. New England
weather conspired to thwart her intentions with almost constant rain for most of
the week.
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| Wednesday Dinner |
Not to be completely flummoxed by Mother
Nature, we added a couple more events to the week. The most welcome was yet another
thunder run back to hometown. I think my high school friends in Keene may be
getting sick of me after their four-month vacation from my presence. The trip
was needed as my Favorite Panamanian had failed to buy a few things on our last
thunder run because she couldn’t find her list (it was cleverly hidden in her purse
which I can understand because I can never find anything in that morass either,
but I digress). She re-acquired the list and we were off to Keene once again.
Keene Friend and the Cantankerous One joined me at the Lab ‘n Lager where we once
again solved all the Celtics and Red Sox problems.
 |
| Earlier at the Lab |
My Favorite Panamanian eventually finished
her list and complimented us on our better behavior compared to the week prior.
I’ll have to admit my initial thunder run may have involved a little too much exuberance
(for lack of a better word). We had our customary post shopping(her)/pub
crawling(me) dinner at Margarita’s. My wife drove us all to our respective
homes after dinner, although a couple of us had recently obtained plants
resting in our laps. The week’s constant rain not only impacted my Favorite Panamanian’s
planting plans but had thoroughly soaked her purchased plants.
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| My Evicted Car |
 |
| The Coddled Plants |
This presented a problem as she claimed
they were drowning. In response, she summarily evicted my car from the garage
so the plants could get out of the rain. You’ll notice, my car. I suffered this
indignity with ease since it’s a fourteen-year-old car versus the newer
Highlander, but still. I thought plants liked water. We finally had a break in the
weather on Thursday and she waded out into her accumulated plant haul and began
her plantings. I was entrusted with digging a few holes and cleaning up the
debris. It was a race against time because the rain was returning in fairly
spectacular fashion as the horizon darkened. Of course, this meant all the
newly potted plants had to be returned to the garage. My car remained in the driveway
to receive the storm which is still blowing outside, 21 hours later. Maybe she
was right, the plants are probably worth more than the car at this point.  |
| The Horizon as we Finished the Planting |
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| Lunch Yesterday |
We took a break from the planting
yesterday to finally get together with the Neighborhood Mafiosos. We took them
out to lunch to thank them for their efforts at house sitting while we were enjoying
Las Lajas. This winter threw some really cold weather and some other challenges,
including a busted storm door and some really wet snow. It’s a huge relief to
have such good people to trust with our home. We ended up in nearby Holden
where we ate at Quinn’s. I hadn’t realized they had expanded from their
Worcester base. If anything, the food and atmosphere was better in Holden. That
was, of course, augmented with the great company we were in. It was a genuine
pleasure to catch up with our best friends in Worcester, especially since the alternative
was a return to potting plants. It was great interlude.
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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 her single days in
Brooklyn; Czech Connection – Czech couple who’ve become good friends
along with their daughter (the Czech Shadow); 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
(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
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