Let the Onslaught Begin

The 2026 Grandpa and Abuela Summer Camp kicked off yesterday with the arrival of the FBR for the first week, where she will be solo until the arrival next week of the BRS and BR3. My daughter fought through the usual frustrations of Connecticut traffic to deliver her. Just before they arrived the Neighborhood Mafioso called to remind us the Worcester Italian Festival was also going on, and we had planned to attend with them Saturday night. We thought this would make an excellent kick off event. That turned out to be an accurate assessment.

At the Italian Festival 

We first had a couple hours to rest which were needed for the driver who braved the benighted Connecticut highway system. The FBR ordered me to the Man Cave (easy that) where she wanted to watch a movie with me. Her selection was Mean Girls (see – not so easy). The FBR, in character, thought it would be too mundane to simply just watch a movie where she could simultaneously mess with her grandpa. Her chosen method, this time out, was to cover me with every blanket she could find (there were a lot) and then place a neck pillow as some sort of crown on my head. I asked why I had to be cocooned in blankets (remember, it’s August) and wear a silly crown, she blithely responded that I didn’t have a need to know. I don’t know where she picks these expressions up from.

Daughter and FBR Setting Out Yesterday

The Italian festival was a going full bore when we arrived. We had to park on a side street a short distance from the location. There was a huge main tent with what seemed like dozens of food vendors – remember – Italian. The Neighborhood Mafiosos were already in residence and had secured a rare table in the cavernous tent. There was loud music playing throughout, including the band we had seen a couple times with the Mafiosos at attempted dance venues. I say attempted because, as I wrote about at the time, this band has a legion of devoted fans who refuse to dance but simply crowd the dance floor, standing, and staring at the band. When I recognized the band, I asked the Mafioso where their attendant horde of zombies were. Fifteen minutes later, they were out in full force; full on weird.

Our Table at the Festival

Well Attended

Abuela and her FBR

Face Painted

The FBR had not been complacent. While I was looking for food, she had dragged her mother into the rear forty which featured a series of bounce houses. They eventually returned to join us at the table. My Favorite Panamanian and the Neighborhood Mafiosos were dancing at the table (the band is really good). They tried to coax the FBR into joining them, but she thought cat videos on her abuela’s phone were more entertaining. She then noticed the nearby face painting station and was soon decorated with a face of blue flowers. As we made our way home, my daughter guided us to pass by a dive bar in Worcester where they had shot scenes for Widow’s Bay, a TV min-series that we both enjoyed (it’s what movie buffs do when the opportunity arises).

The Cursed Trumpet

Saturday night, we all watched an episode of the old series House which is one of the FBR’s latest obsessions together while we fought over the proper distribution of the popcorn bowl. After FBR’s bedtime, I enjoyed watching a couple things with my daughter while also catching up on her life, much like I did earlier in the week with my son. There’s a fundamental joy in these times, all too rare with the arrival of grandchildren. A serious faux pas had occurred earlier at the Italian Festival where a very nice lady sitting at an adjacent table gifted the FBR with a plastic trumpet which possesses its only redeeming value in a very annoying braying tune. The FBR loved it of course as was soon serenading us at the most inopportune times (including at 7am this morning at our bedside). I’ve hidden it twice already, but she keeps finding it. My Favorite Panamanian says she’s going to find the address of the “nice lady” and send her repeated videos of the result of her kindness (at full volume).

Heading to Church This Morning

My daughter headed home this morning, while, after church, the FBR and I hit the grocery store to lay in needed supplies (like Oreo Cakesters). She and I are climbing Mount Monadnock in the morning so a lot of the purchases were aimed that way (my back pack is going to be heavy). As soon as we got home from that adventure, we hit the road with my Favorite Panamanian for Keene, since the two ladies had conspired to schedule a tax free shopping trip. I phoned the Keene Friend who agreed to host and save me from being subjected to the shopping experience. My wife is in seventh heaven because she finally has someone who shares her shopping obsession (it must skip a generation). All I know is that they are very dangerous together. Keene Friend and I watched the Red Sox while their depredations were ongoing. Once sated (for the day) they returned and we all went downtown for dinner al fresco at Margarita’s. I was surprised to see how dead central Keene was on a summer Sunday evening (no college kids yet). It was still good to be home though (that feeling apparently will never die no matter how long I live away from there). So, it has begun. Tomorrow I’m scaling Mount Monadnock for the first time in two years. I hope the new knee braces work out.

Quick Lunch on the Road

Dinner in Sleepy Keene

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