Returning to Form

I’m currently paying the price for letting myself fall out of shape over the past couple weeks. While I take personal responsibility for my failure, I had help. My dermatologist is the chief culprit as I was restricted from the pool for at least two weeks and from working out at all for a week. Just as the two weeks fell, I was summoned to the beach to hang out with my son’s family and the three granddaughters. While they certainly provide a workout, it’s more of an emotional than physical one. While I could have gone swimming in the ocean, who are we trying to kid?! I wasn’t even setting a toe in the frigid waters of the Atlantic at Hampton. It would have felt like a betrayal to the warm Pacific waters of Las Lajas. I’m also a confirmed wimp now, thanks to those warm waters.

At the Game Last Night

So, the problem is certainly mine and I own it. As I’m certifiably old now, so qualified to complain about how fast one falls out of shape at my advanced age. It’s in an inverse relationship with age. The older I get the faster it happens. Now, if I miss just a couple days I can tell the difference. I harken back to the halcyon days of my twenties when my fellow lieutenants and I would go out, chase girls, and drink beer well into the early morning hours and then rise up to fall in for the morning PT at 530am. I could spend weeks without seriously working out and still be in shape.  Those days, like so many of that era, are gone forever. I’m asked what I do with myself now that I’m retired and I confess a large part of my day now involves staying in shape, because if I don’t work out, I won’t.

The Newest Next Sox Hero - Arias

All bitching aside, I’ve had a good week, despite all the self-inflicted but necessary pain in the pool and the bike. Last night, Keene Friend and his lady joined my Favorite Panamanian and I for another WooSox game. They’ve been every bit as hot as the major league team and we were intrigued to see the latest “can’t miss” prospect, Franklin Arias. He didn’t disappoint, going 3 for 4, driving in three runs, and homering in his second at bat. He’s also really smooth in the field and looked like the hype was justified. It was a great night hanging out with friends, despite the $11 beers.

On Tuesday my wife and I participated in the latest cinematic “event”, taking in Spider Man Brand New Day. It truly was an event as the theater was packed and the audience clearly excited about the film. This almost seemed like a return to form for Marvel hero movies. There was so much heart in this, ably transmitted by Holland. It picks up in the aftermath of the last movie where Peter Parker is magically erased from everybody’s memory including his friends and lady love. We find him lonely and fighting street crime in NYC, occasionally running into another NYC loner, the Punisher. Some of the best moments in the flick are the scenes between Holland and Bernthal as they explore their shared grief and drive. They run into a couple other Marvel heroes while taking part in the customary destruction of Big Apple streets and buildings. There are plots within plots and everything is masterfully intertwined towards the concluding scenes where Spidey comes to grips with his past and future. Best movie of 2026 so far, by far.

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