Welcome Respite

I haven’t posted in a while (you are very welcome). I have been girding the proverbial loins for the physical challenge of chasing the three granddaughters around for the upcoming Grandpa and Abuela’s annual summer camp. The rest will be needed. Yesterday was an important day for a couple reasons. First, it marked the graduation day from the twice daily application of chemotherapy cream which has my left shoulder looking like a piece of raw hamburger. I will take pity and spare you a picture of that devastation. It would have to be some stalwart cancer to have survived this chemical onslaught (I know the skin in the area did not). The only person to have a view inflicted upon them of this was my Favorite Panamanian who seems to take a morbid curiosity as my shoulder dissolved. I’ll need to get this dried up as granddaughter hugs are looming.

Last Night at the Ballpark

The second, vastly more important, reason that yesterday was so important lay in our latest trip to see a WooSox game. My son, a free agent this week, drove down to Worcester after work and joined us. I’ve always enjoyed my trips to Polar Park (even the frozen one) but last night has to take the cake as the most enjoyable. My son sat between my wife and I on his first trip ever to see the WooSox. This meant he and I could talk almost uninterrupted for the entire game as his mother commandeering my iPhone and spent the entire game surfing the internet. Except for the times my son and I scared her into thinking a foul ball was headed her way. That only worked until the sixth inning.

BRS and BR3 Feeding Birds out West

Right From their Hands

The fact that the ballpark was also hosting a $2 a Coors Lite beer night also didn’t damage the process whatsoever. Anybody who has bought a ballpark beverage knows what an amazing bargain that was. I had a lot of fun showing Polar Park off to my son and the Sox didn’t disappoint either winning decisively. I had been talking up the top prospect, Franklin Arias, and he delivered as well, homering, doubling, and being a real sparkplug. We both agreed we should see him in Boston next year (if they play baseball at all). While my wife and I love having the whole family together, I treasure the rare opportunity to hang out with one of my “kids” solo. Last night was no exception as we covered a lot of ground catching up on his family news as well as work machinations. As both our children’s lives complicate as required with the inexorable march of years, an opportunity like last night was pure gold. We ended the night, after the ball game, in the Man Cave watching a season finale episode together. The whole evening was every bit as special as I’m inadequately trying to describe.

ABFA & the Girls with their Seattle Hosts

He had to drive off to work this morning after a huge breakfast lovingly prepared by his mom. Above I called him a free agent, that condition was rendered when the ABFA took the BRS and BR3 on a west coast trek. They spent most of this week near Seattle and yesterday flew down to San Diego before ending their trek next week in Sacramento. They’re visiting friends and families there. We received these pictures from the ABFA earlier this week that shows them feeding birds landing on their hands. On that same nature hike they encountered a large black bear feeding. BR3 has been to too many zoos because the ABFA had to grab her as she started to walk over and pet the beast. I can’t figure her out (better minds than I have tried) as she was terrified of chickens but wants to walk up to a six hundred pound bear. You have to admire her joie de vivre which I know challenges her parental units at times. It’s much easier for a grandparent to tolerate since the parents retain ultimate responsibility and attendant head aches.

BR3 and BRS

Saying Goodbye to Seattle

While the first part of last night was incredibly special, the second half, not so much. After my son went upstairs I continued my usual late night Man Cave routine. I went upstairs a little after midnight, my usual time. I knew as soon as my head hit the pillow that I was in trouble. One of the “benefits” of getting old is the occasional bouts of insomnia. That knowledge itself is probably part of the problem as, instead of resting with peaceful thoughts savoring the earlier evening, I immediately began worrying I wouldn’t fall asleep. That became a self-actualized prophecy and I eventually gave up and returned to the Man Cave. I found a new episode of Ted Lasso to pass the time along with the usual late night/early morning junk festering the air waves. I eventually got to sleep around 3:45am which made for a short sleep since I wanted to get up to send my son on his way. Totally worth it.

Earlier this week, on date night, I took one for the team and saw a rom-com with my Favorite Panamanian. Against all odds, I truly enjoyed One Night Only, which is decidedly different than my usual fare. The film is set in the near future NYC where unmarried sex is only allowed one night a year and enforced through the usual evil corporation and right-wing government. Luckily, they only spend a few moments launching at those easy targets and most of the film allows the characters to wallow in the attendant insanity as single New Yorkers seek each other out. The film was enjoyable because of the two main actors, Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner. Especially Barbaro who shows some range here as a struggling singer (after also standing out as one of the top gun pilots) to Turner’s Pizza shop owner. There are some truly hilarious moments as they struggle towards their usual rom-com conclusion. A really good movie featuring two very likable stars.

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