Ride On Down Into This Tunnel of Love

So yesterday was easy...like Sunday morning.  I enjoyed hanging around, and begged off the weekly Sunday trip to the Palace to see ancient suegra.  Wifey went, and had a pleasant non visit -- she took her Mother to the old movie playing, got her some popcorn, and left a satisfied 93 year old.

I took a serious dog assisted nap, with the Special Needs Spaniel and Weird Rescue dog.  They're world class nappers, and kept me company as I drifted off to a Smithsonian Channel documentary about WW II.  I'll be at the beaches of Normandy in just over three months.

Wifey returned, and we left to fetch our friend Diane in the Grove.  We were meeting Paul and his lady and her sister at the Palm.  I love that place, and like to keep it special -- I go a few times a year so I can really appreciate it.  Plus, you need to take a second mortgage to pay the bill, so it's a good idea to keep the visits to a small number.

It was buzzing, as always.  Wifey loves to go since it's one of the few restaurants left in Miami where we are among the youngest diners.  The place is old school, and expensive, and tends to attract that sort of clientele -- former Northeasterners who miss an authentic NYC steakhouse.

We all enjoyed each other's company -- it was nice to catch up.  Before I knew it, I realized we had been there over three hours.  Before we left, we chatted with our old, dear friend Allison's father Sy -- a Palm regular.  He was there with his lady friend and 2/3 of his kids and a few grandkids.  Sy is a retired doctor, and always a perfect gentleman.  I enjoyed seeing him.

On the way home, Wifey drove, since I had 2.5 martinis, and no longer take any risks in that department.  Between Wifey and Uber, there is really no reason to risk a DUI -- I'm too old to spend a night in jail.  Plus, a friend's son up North just started a prison sentence of 7 years last week, following a guilty plea to DUI Manslaughter where he hit a van and killed two people. His Mom was devastated about his going to prison.  Had it happened here in Florida, he'd be going away for a lot longer.

Anyway, Wifey noted that she and I were the only two of six at the table who had never been divorced.  I'm not sure why that is.  Yeah -- I sort of do.

We both come from parents who were married forever -- literally until death did part them.  My parents nearly made 40 years before my Dad checked out of this mortal coil. and my in laws nearly reached 70 years of marriage before my father in law died.  I guess that background has a lot to do with it.

I guess another factor is that both Wifey and I  are generally chill and amiable.  We let things roll off our backs.  We also greatly fear the idea of dating at this stage of life.

Diane told us horror stories of trying to find a suitable man.  Most fellows of her age group want much younger women.  It's tough out there.

Though it's much easier for an older dude who isn't broke ass to find ladies, for me the thought of taking on someone's "luggage," as my mother in law calls baggage -- no way.  Raising my Ds was the best thing in the world -- but I don't want to do THAT again.

Yesterday I heard screaming from next door.  My neighbor Alfredo was outside with his baby kids.  Dude is my age, and running around after toddlers, and hanging with babies.  I greeted the very tired looking fellow, and shuddered to myself.

Meanwhile, I'll be leaving early tomorrow to travel to NYC for the ACC Tourney I won't see.  Damn Canes got too high of a seed -- Barry and I were convinced they't play Wednesday or early Thursday, and planned our travel accordingly.  After a cascade of unlikely events -- not to be.  We're trying to sell our Tourney passes, and will make this just a NYC regular trip.

I told D2 I'd travel to Broadway Wednesday and see if I could score tickets for a show.  Years ago I learned that if you go to the actual box office the day of a show, producers often turn in prime seats that very day -- and you buy them for face value.  I remember getting front row for "Frost/Nixon" -- Frank Langella spit on me the entire performance.  The person next to me had bought her tickets 5 months earlier -- for triple face value.  When I told her my situation, she was none too happy.

So I'll see if that works Wednesday.  If not -- I get two dinners in a row with my beloved D2 -- and meals with my nephews of a different DNA brother.  Who cares about the 34 degrees and freezing rain?