Thursday, June 19, 2025

Home Field Advantage

It’s been a fun week so far and that means it has flown by. The highlight was the Tuesday night WooSox baseball game. I’ve been anxious to get to a game but since my Favorite Panamanian wanted to attend, I had to be sure the weather was acceptable (above 70 and no rain). That wasn’t possible so far this spring with our Jekyll/Hyde weather. As we ventured into June, I figured it was safe to make the attempt. During various thunder runs both Keene Friend and the Cantankerous Friend indicated they would join me whenever I arrived at a date. Great Aunt, firmly converted to baseball fandom due to her long association with Soxfather, also wanted to come.

Fun Group
I waited until the extended forecast indicated Tuesday would be the best bet this week. The crucial error I made was believing an extended forecast about New England weather. It rained almost all day Tuesday and although it promised to break by game time, I wasn’t convinced. My Keene buddies showed up right on time, but Great Aunt had to beg off. She claims a house cleaning service showed up later than scheduled and she couldn’t make it. I believed her. The Cantankerous Friend opined that she saw the impending rain and decided she didn’t want to chance it. The remaining four arrived at Polar Park and found our seats. I’d brought a towel to dry off the seats from the day long rain. I’d hoped our seats would be under the overhang, protected from rain. I’d kind of promised my Favorite Panamanian that would be the case. I was wrong. The seats were good but three rows into the open sky. I kept my fingers crossed but, again, this is New England. At the start of the second inning, the rain started falling. My wife, who reacts to any rain, despite being from one of the rainiest countries on earth, the way any self-respecting cat would. She charged back onto the concourse, those eyes shooting daggers and recriminations my way.   

View from the Seats
In a major surprise, the Cantankerous Friend came to the rescue. There were a lot of open seats, and he led us to some four rows behind our original seats, safely under the overhang. We were then able to enjoy the rest of the game, despite the omnipresent mist. My Favorite Panamanian spent most of the game watching videos on her phone but emerged from that to catch the final couple innings. It was a very fun night, despite the weather, as I got to hang with my good friends, enjoying our shared Sox fandom.

The New Accent Wall 
Earlier in the day on Tuesday, my Favorite Panamanian’s first floor bathroom remake was completed when the wallpaper guy showed up to, well, wallpaper. I know here are people reading this who question hiring someone to perform this fairly simple task. This job required precision and patience. I am blessed with neither of these traits. I consider it money well spent and it came out looking great; as usual, my wife’s style sense is redeemed.

Finally, I had a very funny moment in my closet yesterday. Wow, that statement probably generated a lot of speculation. I was changing clothes in our closet when I looked to the side and nearly jumped out of my skin. My Favorite Panamanian has been changing out the winter clothes for the summer counterparts which left a couple shelves empty. Somehow, one of the granddaughter’s dolls was reclining on the empty shelf looking at me with very dead eyes. I may watch too many horror movies.

Scary Doll Checking me Out

Four movies fell in the A-Z watch, all keepers: Poltergeist – still scary, with great cast and Spielberg touch; Poseidon – nice remake of the original using CGI to make it scarier; Powder – one of my favorite movies of all time, great story about human possibility, superb acting and awesome musical score; Power Rangers – thought I was going to kick this but the young cast recaptured me and I enjoyed the watch.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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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