Politics -- No Thanks

So Wifey and I are headed off to NYC this am, to see D2 and Jonathan, and maybe drink in, literally, a bit of the St. Patrick's Day spirit.  As I was napping on the couch yesterday, post annual meeting with Mark, my CPA, the dogs started barking.  Chris, my dear friend Mike's boy, had arrived to house and dog sit -- a day early.  It was just as well -- we got a chance to catch up, as he ponders his next move in life -- where to attend law school.  Wifey asked to share my take -- I told him my take was that decisions like this, where ALL alternatives are positive and about moving ahead, are the best decisions to have to make...

Speaking of law -- the other night we finished dinner at Wagon's West, our local diner.  On the way out, we saw the former Mayor of Pinecrest, Cindy, and her husband, a taciturn veterinarian.  He's the son of Holocaust Survivors, and knows Wifey's parents from the 70s, when they moved to Miami.  I asked Her Honor if she missed being mayor, and her husband chimed in that they were just discussing that -- the answer was YES.  But she shared that she was still working on wonky and liberal issues for the Village...

I told her she has far more patience than I.  I was the Welcoming Chair for our 'hood for many years.  I sort of decided to step down when a neighbor  complained that my protocol of giving each new neighbor a bottle of wine might not be appropriate -- what if the newcomer was a Baptist or Mormon, or maybe recovering alcoholic?  The FORMER Chair gave newcomers an orchid...Rather than debate -- what if the newcomers were allergic to orchids, or maybe a pygmy rattlesnake was hiding in the orchid (I actually had that case once, against Wal Mart), I just decided to step down, rather than have to suffer this kind of thing.

I imagine being mayor of a rich community might be the worst gig ever -- probably up there with having an active role in a wealthy church or synagogue, where your constituents are spoiled and entitled...

Oh well...MIA beckons, and then a flight from our awesomely beautiful weather to cold and wet and dreary NYC.  Only the love for a daughter could cause a rocking Daddy in the USA to make such a voluntary trip.

D2 made reservations for two nice restaurants -- a seafood place called Bond for tonight, and a new steakhouse called Village Steakhouse in, that's right, Greenwich Village, or "The Village" as we oldtimers call it.  Apparently current NY people always say "East Village" or "West Village."  All I know is, growing up, my Dad used to tell me it was his favorite part of the city -- all the Bohemians and folk singers and artists and writers.  So I always get a warm feeling when I walk around there...

Adios, 305...