Augusting

August seems to have arrived, and it did so in hectic fashion for my Favorite Panamanian and I. We first had to help check out of the rental beach house we stayed in for the past week with my son’s family as well as the ABFA’s parents. We returned to Worcester for Saturday and sandwiched in a thunder run down to Rhode Island for a deck party with Great Aunt before bringing the FBR back to New Jersey on Sunday and then returning through some epic rain to Massachusetts yesterday. It was at this point I realized it was August already. I was gently reminded when the monthly bills notifications arrived and I realized another month had passed.

Last Day on the Beach

July was sent out in memorable fashion (see above). The last full day on the beach included a shopping run into Portsmouth for my Favorite Panamanian. She saw something in a store there on our last trip a month ago and declared that since we were less than ten miles away, etc. etc. She promised me it would just be a dash in and out of the store which I received with the accumulated reservations that more than forty years with her engender when it comes to shopping. Since my beach time was limited as my skin recovers from its latest encounter with the dermatologist, I acquiesced to the foray. In yet another major breaking news situation, she was good to her word. I dropped her off and circled central Portsmouth only three times before she re-emerged, less than fifteen minutes! We made a more leisurely drive back to Hampton via Route 1A which always provides beautiful beach vistas. The granddaughters were aching to get their abuela back into the cold Atlantic waters one more time but that was a generational type event which wasn’t about to be repeated.

FBR and BRS Trying to Convince their Abuela into the Waves Again

Saturday was every bit as chaotic as you’d expect. The BRS and BR3 had been in residence for two full weeks with the addition of the FBR for the final week. If nothing else, my granddaughters are experts at spreading out their belongings. They had three floors to distribute their accouterment and were less than pleased when called upon to pack it up. We had an interesting Saturday morning as we packed and loaded the four cars available all while cleaning the house as well. Despite telling them to check the house repeatedly, the FBR left one for her favorite hats behind, discovered by the home owners when they arrived. In a true hero move my son drove back to collect the hat for his niece.

Friday Night's Orange Moon Rise

I expected to be too tired to accomplish much more on Saturday afternoon but Great Aunt had put out the siren call of a deck party to celebrate the return of one of Soxfather’s nieces for the weekend. I made the mistake of telling the FBR this. She, realizing a pool was involved, immediately campaigned to attend. I was helpless to resist. Plus, Great Aunt always throws great parties. This was no exception. The star of the show was definitely Namesake Nephew’s daughter. She immediately latched onto the FBR as a kindred spirit and demanded her attention. This was difficult since the FBR spent almost our entire time there in the pool, but she rose to the occasion.

FBR in Great Aunt's Pool

Deck Gathering

Obligatory Soxfather Sister Photo

Great Aunt with Granddaughter

FBR Turtle Surfing

As usual, any time spent with Soxfather’s extended family involved a lot of laughing. I was able to secure my requisite guerrilla photo of Soxfather’s Sister who continues to libelously comment on my photographic abilities. Her husband was torturing his daughter (that returning niece) with videos from the Scottish fans at the world cup. Seeing the reactions and never one to pass up such an opportunity, I joined in with several bagpipe videos of my own which had Great Aunt’s eyes rolling as well. The only downer was the news that the huge pine tree in the front yard was going to be coming down. My son, leaving first grade, planted it as a twig, in frozen ground, in Great Aunt’s front yard since we were leaving on another assignment. We never expected it to survive but over the years it reached mammoth status and became home to a thriving colony of various wildlife. Since it has taken over the entire front yard as well as the driveway, its time has come.

FBR Finally out of Pool to Play

Good Buddies

Namesake with his Gal

Remy Also got Some Love

Inseparable

The Doomed Tree

The Sunday drive to New Jersey wasn’t as bad as usual, my nemesis, the state of Connecticut highway system, was surprisingly flowing. The FBR was demanding lunch an hour into the trip and an hour after her breakfast. She has become accustomed to a McDonald’s stop when travelling with her mother. We weren’t operating on that schedule but I eventually agreed to a stop at the James Gandolfini rest area in New Jersey where the FBR instructed me in the use of the Burger King electronic menu board. We arrived at our destination where the FBR received a hero’s welcome from Walnut and Pistachio. The cats, especially Walnut, had really missed her constant attention. Walnut has wakeup duty each morning and dutifully reported to the FBR”s empty bedroom door each morning during her absence.

New Jersey Dinner

In way of thanking us, our daughter took us out to eat in a nearby place. I’ve come to appreciate the wide variety of cool opportunities New Jersey offers that I never would have expected after all those years driving through it. We were subjected to a non-stop playing of the 2015 New York Mets highlights on the many TVs but the company at the table more than made up for that intrusion. Besides, the Sox didn’t play until later and we all got to watch them complete a series sweep of the defending champs in L.A. I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t see this coming, but this is a fun Sox team to watch.

FBR with Walnut

Walnut Volunteering for Dishwashing Duty

Yesterday’s drive home through torrential rains was every bit as much fun as that sounds. Connecticut must have been lulled into thinking the rain would be enough to ruin the trip but we made really good time before it could notice our ease of passage. Halfway across the Merritt Parkway my Favorite Panamanian discovered she had once again forgotten her beloved iPad back in New Jersey. Readers of Frail Deeds will remember the epic journey that device took returning to its owner after she left it in Panama in April. We are at the point where I think the machine is actively seeking to escape form my wife’s clutches (I think it might be the repeated viewing of Russian soap operas dubbed into Spanish). Finally, while my face is mostly healed, I’m into my second week of chemotherapy cream on the shoulder which has turned that location into a suppurating wound with a “spicy” application experience every time I put it on (twice a day). Only two more weeks to go!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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 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; Upstairs Neighbors – American couple and great friends who live in condo above us in Panama; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course