Saturday Part 2

 

The staff had set things up beautifully at the point—as usual we had cocktails, outstanding wine and delicious hors d’oeuvres.  Among other things, they served awesome little cheeseburger sliders.  There was a cozy blaze in the fire pit and there were Hudson Bay blankets for people to wrap up in. 

 Note English Dandy Pants

Betsy, who as always looked like a million bucks, pointed out that Paul was wearing skinny red pants that made him look like an English dandy.  She also pointed out that his red socks did not match.  This caused Mac to revert to 8^th grade classmate abuse which Paul took with apparent good humor.  I was careful not to get on Paul’s bad side at least until after the good wine was gone.

 The Lean-To

After cocktails, the ladies scrambled to get into their outfits and we repaired to the main lodge for dinner.  We were seated with our spouses which made Ann happy.  I made a toast as people sat down.  I had done some deep research on the Shiverick family and disclosed some little-known facts on the Shivericks’ background to the assembled guests.  I debunked the family myth that their ancestors were well appointed British-descended clipper ship owners and disclosed that their most prominent ancestor was in fact one of the most notorious pirates in the early part of our nation’s history, Blackbeard Shiveriq, a disreputable Huguenot.  I finished with a summary of the twins’ notable careers and the financial results thereof.  Young Hope Shiverick, David’s daughter, was in tears at the end of the toast—undoubtedly touched by the heartfelt comments.

 

The dinner was exceptional.  Langustine bisque, soft shelled crab, frisee salad with foie gras, roast suckling pig—each course paired with a different vintage wine.  After dinner we had more toasts.  The kids (Jane, Hope and Sam) did a fun guessing game “Which Twin?”  We learned, among other things, that David detests caviar and that both twins have used wheelchairs to expedite passage through airport security.  Duke did a beautiful recitation of Yeats’ “When You are Old”. 

 

When You are Old   

By W. B. Yeats 

 

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,

And nodding by the fire, take down this book,

And slowly read, and dream of the soft look

Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

 

How many loved your moments of glad grace,

And loved your beauty with love false or true,

But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,

And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

 

And bending down beside the glowing bars,

Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled

And paced upon the mountains overhead

And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

 

Of course Ann started crying.  David said something like “who is he calling old?” 

 

Reg and Lynn did “Shiverick Charades”, inducing a variety of inebriated guests to act out things that only the Shivericks would know:

 

1)    Kapitachuane – Paul’s canoe camp

2)    Twin oaks – NH house

3)    Allegheny – David’s college

4)    Charlie Poutasse – Hawken teacher

5)    Tom Lackner – gardener at Shelter Hill

6)    Bombay High – where Paul worked on an offshore oil rig

7)    Sherry Lehman – David’s 2^nd job in NYC – wine retailer

8)    Desperado – family song

9)    Anthony Armstrong Jones – family dog

 

Interestingly, neither Paul nor David seemed to be able to remember key parts of their lives—Paul didn’t get the name of the offshore oil rig where he had spent a summer and David seemed flummoxed by Sherry Lehman, where he had started his career.  By contrast, Mac was a charades Idiot Savant.  At one point, based perhaps on the besotted condition of the actor, he blurted out Twin Oaks, a disreputable bar at his alma mater, Hobart.  That was actually the answer, but the question had nothing to do with Mac’s bar—it was the name of the Shiverick’s summer house in New Hampshire.  Similarly, based on someone holding up three fingers, Mac inexplicably blurted out John Paul Jones.  The actual answer was Anthony Armstrong Jones, the Shiverick family dog, but close enough.

 

After dinner they served us birthday cake which we ate with gusto. 

 

I am often the first to leave a party.  I like to think of this demonstrates my good sense.  Others think it demonstrates the fact that I am a wuss-ass.  After dinner (and a dozen glasses of wine) every instinct in me said sneak back to Trapper and go to bed.  However, Ann told me that I was damned well going to suck it up and take part in the pub festivities after dinner.  Two reasons for this: (1) the need to be good sports and take advantage of the short time we had with our good friends and (2) since Trapper was right next door to the pub, we were going to be part of the party whether or not we wanted to be.

 

The pub had a juke box filled mostly with music that would appeal to 50 plus partiers—Motown, Rolling Stones, Creedence, Kool  the Gang, Bee Gees, Van Morrison, etc.  We played pool, danced and some hardy souls opened more wine bottles.  We brought Daisy into the pub but she made it clear that she did not approve of the loud music so we took her home.  Robin and I partnered in an 8-ball pool game against Reg and Lynn.  Robin, who showed very little aptitude for the game (very little) waited until only the 8 ball was left and made a clutch shot to put the ball into the corner pocket to win the game.  She started doing the moon walk, trash talking and did a little “in your face” touchdown dance for Reg and Lynn.

 

Julia, who is the buttoned-down, highly perfumed president of Premiere Networks by day, is a ton of fun at night.  In her cute southern drawl, she demanded Dixie Chicks on the jukebox and danced the night away. 

 

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Paul and Betsy making a quiet move for the door.  It was 2:00 am.  We had a 9:00 am tee time at the local golf club in the morning.  I made my move, grabbed Ann and slipped out the side door.  I felt pretty good about our escape until I finished brushing my teeth and getting in my jammies.  I realized at that point that the music had not stopped.  If anything, the volume was turned up a notch and the gang had gone into full-on dance mode—Donna Summers, Commodores, Bee Gees.  The kids finally ran out of gas at about 2:45 am and I passed into blissful unconsciousness.