The Silence Is Deafening

It was one hell of a week, and I feel like I have been on vacation forever. Not that that's a bad thing, but it's slowly back to the drawing board today.

How was your week bloggers?

A few observations:

• Ray Allen signing with the Miami Heat for 3 million LESS than what the Celtics offered was like a knife going straight through my heart. I feel terrible and every time he hits that crucial outside shot wearing a Heat uniform I will feel the pain of that deal.

• Being back is great but being away is better. Food tastes better when you are away. Your clothes somehow look better and the time spent with family doesn't get any better when you are all away from your own surroundings. Believe it or not there was no drama! There were even a few miracles. How about that?

• A true sign of summer here in Boston; Adam Sandler and his crew have been out and about filming the movie, "Grown Ups 2", The always gracious Sandler poses with local kids for pictures and his crew and cast bring Hollywood  $$$ to the city. Last year they filmed this years, "That's My Boy" in our own sleepy little Cape Cod town. I have yet to see it. Anyone out there see it yet? 

• Frack comes home tomorrow night from Africa!! I can't wait to see his little face.Nuf said.

• The weather? I can't say enough. It has been glorious and summer in New England is truly a beautiful thing. Years ago, I met an old woman on the beach. She was sitting next to me and we struck up a conversation. She was fascinating. We talked about a lot of topics, kids, family, life, literature and world events. I really enjoyed talking to her. I told her I was divorced and I summarized my awful divorce for her, but told her that I was lucky to have found someone new to love.(this was before I got married) When we had packed up to leave, she left a note on the windshield of my car thanking me for the lovely conversation and she left me with something I never forgot. She wrote. "A life without love is like a year without summer." I often think of her when I am sitting at the beach. 

• Why is it that a hot dog tastes better at a hot summertime BBQ than any other place in the world? Well, it maybe better in Fenway Park, but that's in the summer too! A hot dog with mustard is quite possibly the summer's most perfect food. That, and some juicy watermelon. Then there's a S'more on a beach fire under the starry sky. Ahh, these glorious days of summer are truly a joy.

• Today, being the first day back to normal after a week, will be great. I still have that vacation glow and life's little problems won't seem so bad. I can't say the same for tomorrow, but for now I still have today. 

A Winter Classic For The Dental Maven

My son Frack and Boston Bruins great Cam Neely (Bruins Vice President) at Fenway Park's Winter Classic, January 1, 2010

Picture the scene:

Historic Fenway Park; one time home to The Babe and Ted, hosting two of the NHL's original teams on it's fields, The Big Bad Boston Bruins and The Philiadelphia Flyers. They dubbed it The Winter Classic. Fenway's storied field was transformed into a rare winter wonderland, complete with NHL regulation boards, jumbo-trons, black and gold everything invading the green monster of Fenway, and thanks to Mother Nature, just the right amount of snow from the day before, covering all the right things.

It was the kind of scene that made grown men teary and young children's eyes wide with hope and wonder. For those who were lucky enough to attend, scoring, by far, the most ridiculously expensive ticket in town, it was money well spent and memories made that you could never put a price on. It was a once in a lifetime.

And neither Fenway or The Boston Bruins disappointed. It was a classic alright, from the vintage Boston logo-which was chosen by Bruins VP Cam Neely, from the 1939 team, to Coach Claude Julien's old-time fedora, worn on the bench. Everything seemed perfect. Watching the team you love play outside in the elements brought you back to a time when outdoor pond hockey with the neighborhood kids was an every day occurrence. But this time Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron were your neighbors.

The glitterati were there too, never ones to miss an event as big as the Super Bowl, bundled up in their fur to watch the game. Boston die hards like Dennis Leary and Lenny Clarke to name a few. After the ceremonious pre-game, it was time for the main event.

The game dragged on for almost two periods, scoreless, while both teams over passed and over played each other into, dare I say, boredom. Philly scored early in the second and that's was about all that happened for a while. In fact, it looked like the B's were going home winless and the game itself would pale in comparison to it's setting. But, folks, this is Boston, a sports city first, and this game ended up being one to remember when Boston's Mark Recchi scored the tying goal with 2:14 left to play.

Suddenly the Fenway faithful, who had just belted out "Sweet Caroline" in fine seventh inning tradition, were awakened. It suddenly became a game and just when everyone thought it couldn't get any better, the B's went into extra-innings. In the crowning glory of every Bruins fans dreams, Marco Sturm scored the game winner in sudden death OT and everything was right in the universe or The Nation.

"It's great. It's what we dream of," Sturm said after the game.

Indeed, so many dreams came true that special day on the hallowed fields of 4 Yawkee Way.