Coloring

After a drab and soggy first couple weeks of October, a truly New England autumn has sprung up about us over the past few days. I am once again reminded of one of the compelling factors embedded in my psyche which made sure I returned to New England after my time running around with well-armed friends for Uncle Sammy was finished. It was that time in the Army in so many sandy, sunny, and usually flat places that educated me how lucky I was to have grown up in a place of so much native beauty. I promised I would never take it for granted again. Just driving down the street is a genuine pleasure with the trees exploding in color. I was walking out of the Y this morning after my swim and just stopped in my tracks to take in the beauty of nearby Indian Lake with its colorful shores. Predictably my Favorite Panamanian’s Garden is in full flower, autumnal phase. It’s rare that I’m outside and someone walking by doesn’t compliment me on the garden (happened today). I am quick to point in the general direction of my Favorite Panamanian when this happens and confess I am just responsible for the brute force and ignorance aspects of the gardening effort.

End of the Street

I’ve watched baseball the last couple nights as both league championship series ended up in game 7. I was happy to see the underdogs win in both, since I didn’t have a dog in the fight after the appalling Red Sox season. It didn’t hurt that the cities of Houston and Philadelphia lost. I think of Philly as a kindred spirit to Boston in sports culture, giving their heart to their teams, sometimes to a fault. Speaking of faults, what the hell is up with the Facebook spell check?! I depend on spell check more than I will ever admit (although I guess I just did). If you could see what this blog post looks like now before undergoing spell check; let’s just say there’s a lot of red underlining showing. Something happened to Facebook a few weeks ago and now even my various misspelling of “the” can’t be automatically fixed. I seriously don’t know how I got through college without spell check, much less a computer. To be absolutely clear – I do not miss typewriters.

Wife's Gardens

The Republicans have finally elected a speaker of the house after three weeks of chaos. It’s an object lesson when they make the democrats looked like the unified ones. The specter of that benighted New York huckster still looms over the party I used to be proud to be a member of. These past couple weeks are an indication of what life would be like if that boneheaded egomaniac is ever allowed anywhere near Washington again (well except for sentencing maybe). There’s a couple of Republican presidential candidates I could get behind if he went away but at this point that seems to be a pipe dream.

We snuck out for a date night and saw Killers of the Flower Moon. This is an absolutely great two hour film shoehorned into a ponderous 3 and a half hour ordeal. It’s an important story that needs to be told and I wish they had invested more in the Native American characters instead of using them as a back drop for the scenery DeNiro and DiCaprio chew up. The plot involves the true story of evil white men marrying Osage women to gain control of their oil rights in the 1920s. I liked the actress, Lily Gladstone, portraying DiCaprio’s Osage wife as her eyes seemed to embody the pain of her entire people but at the same time there wasn’t any true connection with DiCaprio to make us understand why she would subject herself to him. I guess this was a passion project for Scorsese because he feels the need to pummel you with the same point over and over again. I mean, I get it, this was a truly evil episode of neglected American history, but getting on with the story would have helped make this more watchable and made the lesson more compelling.

Three movies fell in my A-Z watch, all 5 keepers and classics: Goodbye Columbus, that time I fell madly in love with Aly McGraw; The Goodbye Girl, Dreyfuss is so funny in this; and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, still holds up, a masterpiece

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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 him her single days in Brooklyn; 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; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Soggy Festing

It’s been a while since I wrote here on Frail Deeds and not much had happened until Friday. That’s when something definitely went haywire with the cosmos as I learned my daughter wouldn’t be joining the family First Friday Facetime call because she and the FBR were going to a high school football game. You have to know those two to realize what a stunner this was. There was a very reasonable explanation as the FBR’s best friend’s dad is a high school teacher and invited the neighborhood gang to the Friday Night Game. My daughter is a huge fan of the TV series, Friday Night Lights, so she was up for it and the FBR, offered a chance to stay up past bedtime, was all in. She wasn’t the only one to miss out on the call as my son and his family were attending a Halloween party thrown for the BRS’ kindergarten class. It’s a sad comment on the status of my social life when both my 7-year-old and 5-yrear-old granddaughters have busier Friday night social lives than I do.

Signature Pumpkinfest Shot

Son and his Family

With Keene Friend

Saturday promised to be a treat as it marked the return of that iconic autumnal festival in my hometown, the Pumpkinfest. It was a toned down version of the earlier one which was ultimately killed by unruly college kids and stick head in the mud locals. The added benefit was my son’s family journeying across the state to take in the festival and to celebrate the ABFA’s birthday with us and Keene Friend. The weather was problematic as the rain starting falling heavily just as we pulled into Keene Friend’s driveway. Luckily both granddaughters appear impervious to bad weather and were not in the least bit daunted by attending the fest under umbrellas, especially when they heard candy was involved. The more acid test was my Favorite Panamanian, who, despite coming from one of the rainiest countries on earth, refuses to leave the house when it is raining. Apparently, all it takes is a couple of granddaughters for her to conquer that phobia. She looked out the window as we prepared to leave and said, “No Way!”. By the time we were all in the street she had joined us. So, please understand, these photos of my wife out in the rain and cold are not only extremely rare, but virtually astounding.

A Couple of Friday Night Lights, Daughter & FBR

Never Passes Up a Face Painting Opportunity

With her Best Bud

Game Time

The fest was about half the size it used to be but that was fine as you could definitely tell it was more geared towards families and children than it used to be. There was a fairly good crowd, considering the weather, populating the closed off portion of Main Street and the granddaughters were a little intimidated starting out but soon discovered most of the Main Steet merchants were offering candy to trick or treaters. They were all in at this point. We made our way up past the racks of carved jack-o-lanterns and around Central Square which had the signature large tower of pumpkins topped by a humungous one that initially scared BR3 so much she refused to approach it. We got past that for the usual Pumpkinfest pictures in front of the tower seen above.

Keene Friend had gifted the ABFA (a well known and self-acknowledged chocaholic) with gift cards for Ye Goodie Shoppe, Keene’s most famous candy emporium. That card was burning a  hole in her pocket so they entered the shoppe to put it to good use. They emerged laden a few minutes later. In one of the funniest moments of the day the BRS proudly displayed a candy necklace she had procured and another one for BR3. This is a treat she had long sought after and when we congratulated her, she said, “At Last!!”. While the granddaughters were still game, the well soaked adults staring steering the mob back towards the dryness of Keene Friend’s house. The necklaces did not survive the walk back and not because of the rain. The BRS and BR3 would have put Buddy the Wonder Pooch to shame with their voracious consumption rate while walking back.

BR3 Gets her Initial Candy Fix from Abuela

Then the BRS

The Birthday Girl!!

With her Girls

We arranged for pizza during our sojourn downtown and after that was sent to a hasty demise, it was time for ABFA birthday cake. I brought the favored family cake cleaver, Bonecrusher, for the ABFA to wield. Keene Friend cautioned the ABFA that he really liked his living room table and to please exercise caution while smiting. Keene Friend had arranged a special cake for the ABFA and unbeknownst to all, it had a secret ingredient. It was equipped with a dark frosting around the edges that had all the characteristics of a sci fi level bio hazard, in a funny way (never thought you hear about a funny bio hazard, did you?). The first inkling we had of the persistent qualities of this substance was when BR3 tried to sneak a lick into the side of the cake and emerged with a large black smear on her nose. Soon, anyone who came within five yards of the cake, emerged with a gob of the icing somewhere on their person. It seemed impervious to cleaning efforts which, as you can imagine, frustrated my Favorite Panamanian immensely, especially when it appeared on her favorite rain coat. I look down at my hand right now and can see shadows of the icing and I’ve washed my hands at least a dozen times since I last came in contact with it. I can only imagine my son’s and the ABFA’s kitchen look like at this point as we judiciously sent the cake and its haunted frosting home with them last night.

Heading Downtown

Soaked Main Street

Wife and Keene Friend

ABFA Loose in Ye Goodie Shoppe

Meanwhile, back at the cake cutting, the two granddaughters were supremely fascinated with Bonecrusher. I had to carefully extract it from their intense inspection before they started wielding it. I promised to leave the blade with the ABFA in December so the BRS can use it for her February birthday. The rest of the evening was spent watching two over-sugared (they’d been downing candy non-stop for four hours at this point) granddaughters bounce off the walls of Keene Friend’s house. He was a little shocked at their capacity for chaos. It’s been a while since he’s been around a scene of such extreme bedlam. I think he now understands why I say I’m always very tired after time spent with granddaughters. It was too fun to watch as their parents and grandparents took the action in stride while Keene Friend looked on with wonder.

Keene Friend Presenting Cake with Haunted Frosting

ABFA with Bonecrusher

Girls Want to Help

BRS Supervising the Cleave

BR3 with her Frosting Smeared Nose

Rare Quiet Moment as they Decorate Pumpkins

We reluctantly but understandably wished them a safe ride back across the state as they disappeared into the rainy night. We needed some rest at this point. Despite the fatigue I had a hard time falling asleep last night. I’m guessing I didn’t want the day to end (typical). I finally snatched a couple hours sleep before we went out to breakfast at The Pub. This brought with it the attendant memories as this was one of my mother’s favorite places. My Favorite Panamanian came up with a great idea. She would go shopping this afternoon and leave me to watch the Patriots’ game with Keene Friend. Who am I to argue with such solid logic? Besides we didn’t have anything awaiting us back home. I’d forgotten how much fun it was watching football with Keene Friend although I did take a short nap, on an installment basis, throughout the first half. The Patriots, uncharacteristic for this year, led for most of the game against their much better foe from Buffalo. Keene Friend 2 joined us in the second half to further embellish the enjoyment level when New England first gave away the lead and then won the game with a stunning last minute touchdown. Another one of those weekends where my family, friends, and my hometown combine to remind me how truly blessed I am.

With Keene Friends 1 & 2 Today

Six movies fell in my A-Z watch (been a while), 5 keepers and 1 discard: Godzilla, (2014 version), big guy destroying San Francisco this time out; Godzilla, King of the Monsters, must have been made by a Yankee fan, Fenway Park gets smoked; Golden Compass, wanted this to be good but the combination of Nicole Kidman and incomprehensible story doomed it; Gone Girl, loved this pillorying of social media frenzy; Gone with the Wind, didn’t realize just how racist this movie is until this watching, I’m only keeping it because it was my mom’s favorite movie; and Good Boys, hilarious take on 6^th grade angst, way too funny.

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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 him her single days in Brooklyn; 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; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Canceled Culture

No, I’m not talking about the current trend where I’m certain I would be summarily canceled for politically incorrect thoughts. Our long sought after vacation to the Holy Land and Italy has been postponed for a whole year. You might have heard, there’s a war going on over there so any complaints I may have about the inconvenience would and should be instantaneously ignored. The Favorite Panamanian was nervous about going over there and I didn’t think it was appropriate to go any place and pay to get shot at. All the times that’s happened in my life I was reimbursed for it, albeit at the pauperly military rate. The good news is the travel agency has rebooked the entire trip with the itinerary intact for 2024. That should give the Israelis the time they need to wipe out that nest of vipers.

The war took a dramatic turn yesterday with the bombing of a Gaza Hospital. It turns out the Palestinians did it to themselves. The Israelis have provided unassailable proof the missile came from the Palestinian side, including an intercepted phone conversation between two senior Hamas figures admitting it was done by Islamic Jihad. One of the missiles aimed at Israel “malfunctioned” and landed on the densely packed hospital which is tragic. I put that in quotes because the jury is still out on whether this was intentional of just rank incompetence. Hamas has ignited the Islamic world claiming it was an Israeli air strike so it serves them and they already have proved definitely that they could care less about the loss of their citizens with their ill-advised attack. I’m sure their Iranian masters are happy.

It’s been a quiet week on the home front, lots of Man Cave time, hence the puzzle completion and the number of movies sent down range. We’re in that transition period as the nights are getting colder (better sleep) and longer. Speaking of sleep, I discovered a new technique to fight insomnia which had inflicted itself on me over the last month. After brushing teeth prior to bed, I adjourn to the other master bedroom so as to not interrupt certain Panamanian’s beauty sleep. I watch late night television there for about fifteen minutes until I start dozing off and then return to the marital bed and fall asleep almost immediately. “Experts” say the last thing you should do is watch tv while trying to fall asleep but apparently, it’s the magic bullet for me.

Latest Puzzle Finished

I’m getting excited for the weekend (I know – huge surprise). We’re heading back up to Keene for the resurrected Pumpkin Festival. This cherished event was canceled after the Keene State College kids turned it into a campus riot (A-holes). It’s coming back as a smaller, family friendly event. The ABFA (a weekend birthday girl), my son, and their progeny are journeying across the state to participate. We’ll all link up at that venerable headquarters for Pumpkin Fest celebrations, Keene Friend’s house. I can only hope the college administration has put their idiots on notice.

Four movies fell in my A-Z watch, all keepers: Godfather II, only sequel to outdo the original; Godfather III, sad conclusion to the trilogy, Sophia is an absolute disaster but as part of a trilogy am keeping it; Gods Of Egypt, was certain this was going to be eliminated but it’s got some sneaky charm; and Godzilla, (1998 version), better than I remembered, rained the whole movie.

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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 him her single days in Brooklyn; 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; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Reconnaissance in Force

It’s a very tough job but someone has to do it, as a high school friend opined yesterday. I’m speaking of pre-attack reconnaissance of important objectives. Yesterday, aided by two stalwart friends, I entered the fray by journeying back to my hometown to recon the route and march objectives of next month’s birthday pub crawl. This was time well spent and thoroughly enjoyed which was the predicted side benefit. My Favorite Panamanian followed her pub crawl routine to disappear into the tax free shopping vortex leaving me to my own devices, always a situation fraught with possibilities. Keene Friend and I walked over to Penuche’s to start the recon where the crawl will start. We gleaned some important information almost immediately as Penuche’s now opens a full hour earlier. This will allow additional gathering time, pre-crawl. We were joined in short order by the Kindergarten Friend who could only drink Shirley Temples since he was getting some vaccinations later in the afternoon.

At Our Final Stop, "Fairly Intact"

He drove us to our next stop, the venerable Lab ‘n Lager, while he continued on to get his shots. We paid close attention to the path we would have to walk on November 18^th and found it free of major obstacles (no stone unturned on a recon). Kene Friend and I conducted the Lab recon and found the place livelier than usual. There was what looked like a pub crawl involving Weight Watchers (just starting out on their crawl and WW journey from all appearances). They were having a fine time and occupied the front window booths we usually dominate on our crawl. We were exchanging texts with my son and he sent a very funny GIF, mocking his supposed surprise at our ongoing hijinks. We walked down the street to our next crawl objective, Modestman Brewery, but, since we’re not metrosexuals, only stopped to confirm times and that we would be coming on the 18^th. We dove out the back door to find the next stop, one of my favorites, the Kilkenny Pub.

At the Lab with Keene Friend

My Son's Sent GIF, Too Funny, In Context

Kilkenny remains a perfect dive bar with plenty of space and a great atmosphere. The Kindergarten Friend re-joined us here and was definitely off the Shirley Temples from then on.  Our next march objective was around the corner and marked a return to a revered old crawl location. Hennessey’s now occupies the space formerly housing Scores, of the fabled beer towers of the earliest crawls. The place was almost deserted and very excited to hear about potential November customers. I was wearing an Army hat and a guy sitting at the bar sent a free beer over to me. He regretted it when he learned I had been an officer but I assuaged his grief by mentioning that I had come up through the ranks and OCS. The bartender had lived in a house just across the street from where I grew up, well after I had moved out, but it was kind of cool.

Reunited at Killkenny's

Hennessey's

We reached the final objective, The Pour House in fairly intact shape although there may have been a few frayed edges (the autumnal air don’thca know). We learned the most devastating news of the recon here. They no longer serve “BFB”s. the first b stands for big and the last one for beer, you can fill in the blanks. The BFBs had filled the yawning chasm created by the loss of the aforementioned fabled beer towers so this was a minor blow to our morale, but, being the stalwart lads we were we rangered on. We placed our customary well lubricated call to the PCR and roundly excoriated him for saying he wasn’t coming to the crawl. We demanded to speak with his better half so she could convince him to come. A work in progress. We declared victory at this point and while the Kindergarten Friend was summoned home we extricated my Favorite Panamanian from shopping long enough that she could eat dinner with us at Margarita’s and then drive me home. The anticipation lamp is officially lit for the crawl!

Dinner Time

Two movies fell in my A-Z watch, both keepers: Glory, inspiring Civil War story and The Godfather, forgot just how good this was, towers over other gangster movies

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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 him her single days in Brooklyn; 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; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Sublime Leafy Bust

Yesterday was supposed to be our annual day trip to view the spectacular fall colors of northern New England. It had been delayed since the traditional Columbus Day departure due to the nasty cold I was fighting earlier this week. It was a fantastically clear, bright autumnal day as we set out as the leaves had only begun to turn here and we anticipated the usual explosion of color as we went into the Berkshire Mountains and southern Vermont. It was not to be. The colors were drab and most of the trees had already lost their foliage once we passed I-91 and started up into the mountains. While that was a definite disappointment, the day turned out to be one of the best I’ve had in a long time. That was all due to my co-pilot, my Favorite Panamanian.

Wife and I on the Bridge

Since we weren’t trying to one up each other in finding the next beautiful vista to photo, we spent the time talking as we drove. I know it sounds weird, especially since we spend virtually every waking (as well as non-waking) hour with each other. I marveled at the talk we had because despite all that time together we‘re usually doing something else together other than talking. Yesterday we were each other’s captive audience and I re-discovered that I kind of like my wife. She can be fun. I revealed what her surprise Christmas present was which will remain a secret for the foreseeable future. By the time we reached Shelburne Falls and the Bridge of Flowers we’d talked more in those two hours than we had in the last month, kind of cool.

The Bridge

The bridge, recently featured in the last season of Dexter, was beautiful and since this wasn’t a holiday there wasn’t a big crowd. We explored a couple of shops in the small town adjacent to the far side of the bridge which was liberally laced with hold hippies. I discovered they make really good fudge but they don’t believe in stocking sodas in their grocery stores. There were about seventy different varieties of healthy watery substances but no carbonation. We continued up into the mountains to our usual lunch spot for these expeditions, the Golden Eagle Restaurant at the hairpin turn above North Adams on Route 20. Even the views there of the Hoosic Valley were blah but the meal was superb. My Favorite Panamanian instructed me during the meal on how to recognize the difference between Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. I had to leap across the table to stop her from demonstrating the difference since the Asian family behind us in the dining room (which started her on the subject) might have noticed. It was a very fun meal.

The Rt 20 Hairpin Turn

Colorless Views from the Golden Eagle

Since the leaves were not up to their usual standard I agreed to stop by Williamstown for some shopping. I didn’t expect to run into a traffic jam in that small town but that’s what you get when you turn Route 20 into a one lane road because they had to touch up the paint. So frustrating and my wife disappearing to shop , a true recipe for head explosions. Fortunately, I’d brought a book to read and munched on a hippie produced Whoopie Pie while my Favorite Panamanian commenced Christmas shopping for the granddaughters. We snuck into Southern Vermont from there and turned west in Bennington at the road intersection my father and I had a car accident when I was very young and dad was driving my grandfather’s car. Some things just stick in your mind, it hasn’t changed very much.

Atop Hogback Overlook

Luckily the rest of Route 9 has over the past sixty years but, again, the colors were disappointing. We stopped at the Hogback Mountain Overlook to say a quick prayer for my mom as that is where we spread her ashes (she loved her native Vermont mountains). There was also more shopping to be done since the gift shop there sports a treasure trove of Maple Syrup related items and maple syrup is a huge delicacy in Panama. We’ll be pushing the weight limit in our luggage again when we go south. We continued on to Brattleboro and then across the mighty Connecticut River into New Hampshire. Leaves were once again drab but we had the added benefit of dinner with Keene Friend and the Cantankerous One.

Latest Puzzle Finished
Had So Much Fun Finding the Different Characters

I forgot to snap a photo of the dinner but it was the usual lively affair at Margarita’s with the Cantankerous One talking in high decibels. It was a rewarding end of what had already been, despite the lack of color, a fantastic day of conversation and memory troves. The Cantankerous Friend leaves this morning on his annual forage south to Myrtle Beach and will not return until the week of the annual birthday pub crawl. Speaking of that auspicious event, I’ll be returning to Keene this Saturday to conduct a final reconnaissance of the intended axis of advance for the crawl. Yesterday was a very fun day spent with three of my best friends. Why should it surprise me that I’m married to one of the three.

Two movies fell in my A-Z watch, both keepers: Gladiator, so good, forgot how compelling Decimus Maximus Beridius was; and The Glass Bottom Boat, nearly got rid of this, a bad movie but still love Doris Day and Rod Taylor together, silly 1960s vision of the future

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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 him her single days in Brooklyn; 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; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course