After having dinner with my parents, the Admiral and I got a ride over to the home of a friend for some celebratory libations. Tim lives in the nearby town of Port Dickenson, a suburb north of Binghamton along the now-defunct Chenango Canal. He comes from a small Irish family of only seven siblings. His father had been in the Navy, and after World War II had spent some time in the Chinese port cities of Tianjin and Dalian (Port Arthur). I did my junior year of college in China, and whenever I would return to Binghamton I would go over to Tim's house, sneak in their backdoor (always unlocked), and leave messages in Chinese on their dry erase board. His father got the biggest kick out of that. "Who the hell keeps doing that?" he would roar with laughter.
打倒美国帝国主义！
Nowadays, whenever I come back to Binghamton, I make sure to put in a courtesy call at Tim's house. His wife, Tracey, (whom he refers to as "Mrs. Difficult") is warm and friendly, and Mr. Jameson is always sitting around looking for some attention. Last year, my 20-something daughter introduced us all to the phenomenon known as "Pickle-backs:" a shot of whiskey, followed by a chaser shot of dill pickle brine. It is rumored to be a sure-fire prophylactic against hangovers.
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| Amazing what an NYU education can teach your kid.... |
After imbibing liberally at Tim's annual New Year's Eve party, we made ready to return to my parent's home. "I'll call for an Uber," I announced. That elicited a chorus of raucous laughter from local party goers. "We don't have Uber in Binghamton," he explained. "That's what we have kids for."
We made it home in plenty of time to catch the Dick Clark New Year's Eve countdown. I must have had a bit too much to drink, because I really thought that Dick Clark was looking a lot like Ryan Seacrest. This year, my parents introduced the Admiral to the venerable German tradition of eating pickled herring at midnight, which is supposed to bring you good luck throughout the coming year. That didn't go over very well. "People shouldn't eat fish out of a jar," she complained.
We made it home in plenty of time to catch the Dick Clark New Year's Eve countdown. I must have had a bit too much to drink, because I really thought that Dick Clark was looking a lot like Ryan Seacrest. This year, my parents introduced the Admiral to the venerable German tradition of eating pickled herring at midnight, which is supposed to bring you good luck throughout the coming year. That didn't go over very well. "People shouldn't eat fish out of a jar," she complained.
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| Hey, its a lot tastier than some of the things I have eaten in China.... |
As the daughter of a retired New Bedford fisherman, the Admiral is more accustomed to fresh seafood. She didn't believe me when I told her that when you live hundreds of miles from the sea you buy scallops in a can at the supermarket. "Scallops don't come in cans," she said dismissively. Guess what she got for Christmas....
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| Wishing you a very merry Christmas.... |
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