Father's Day and Julius Caesar

Those of you with fathers might be aware that last Sunday was Father's Day, and my first as an official Dad. Vivian and I kicked off the weekend with a trip to Jitterbugs Night Out, dancing with the usual batch of Lindy Hoppers and passing around Hannah to our usual set of friends. As she gets older and more mobile, we can't be sure how often we'll be able to make it down to 24th and Douglas for a Shim Sham, so we wanted to take the opportunity to drop by while we could (and join in Lee's birthday jam).

On Sunday, Vivian surprised me with breakfast from Abelardo's for Father's Day! That was sweet — nothing starts the day like a football-sized burrito made of potatoes, eggs and sausage inside a fried tortilla. On the side were some fried french toast sticks and some blackberries courtesy of my mom-in-law.

At church, Pastor Drew brought everyone bottles of Dad's Root Beer (among other bevery) to celebrate the day. That evening, Vivian prepared one of my favorite foods — ribeye steak — for a Father's Day Dinner. Since Jack was technically a father, too, he got to have Johnny Marzetti, which is apparently popular in the Canal Zone, where he grew up. We also got presents from Donna and Vivian, which included a double-boiler and barbecue sauce for me, and a new grill and nose-hair trimmer for Jack. Hannah participated in the festivities by squealing at us and chilling on the couch.

 

On Thursday, Vivian and I went to the opening night of Shakespeare on the Green down at Elmwood Park with a bunch of our mutual friends. I took of early from and snagged a spot down near the front before other people started to arrive and crowd their way in. Several people brought wine, cheese, chips, fruit and other things to nibble as the sun set and the show got underway. This year's show was Julius Caesar, a play I'd actually studied in my sophomore year of high school, so it actually brought back memories to see it again. Vivian was actually ill (with what we learned later was a kidney stone) but insisted on coming at least for Act 2 of the show. I handled Hannah in the meantime along with the help of our dozens of great friends. We actually left the car's lights on, so Mark had to come back and give us a jump while Eric and Maggie helped haul a bunch of our stuff back to the car. Times like these would never be as good if it weren't for our wonderful assortment of friends!

Forsooth.