Polish Friend At German Fest In Polish Town

Huh???? What is that blog title about?? Well, this evening David Madeline & I went to a small German Festival in Cheektowaga, NY. Cheektowaga is a small suburb of Buffalo that is not only high in the Polish population but is lovingly teased about the perception of "cheesy, pink flamingo on the front lawn Polish" that live there....and thus the town's nickname, "Cheekta-Vegas". In general, Cheektowaga is a Polka-lover's dream - a town with an annual Pulaski (Polish general) Day parade. (That's all cool as Mama-Dirtyfoot is 100% Polish) But, once a year Cheektowaga has an annual German Fest. Why?? Maybe because the German music is similar to the polka. Or maybe the area Polish just need an excuse for a beer. Regardless, the Cheektowaga German Fest was our family's destination this evening. In fact, if you have been following my blog long enough, it has been a year since a visit from my brother Paul & his family. While they were in town last year all of us trekked south to scope out the mini-fest (click here for *that* blog post).

When we left our house this evening, BOTH David and I forgot our cellphones. I was secretly pleased that David forgot his phone because, by default, he was forced to be out of touch with emails & thoughts of work . However, I was sooooo disappointed that we were not able to take any pictures of our evening. Madeline danced a few polkas, and I was teaching her how to dance the Rhinelander. Also, I would have loved to snap a photo of David & Madeline waltzing. But the photo opp that I was the most bummed about missing was a picture of me & Mr. Kij.

Mr. Kij was my dad's best friend. The two of them, such intellectuals, with an insane yet simultaneously cerebral sense of humor were hysterical together. Their punch-line timings were impeccable and they fed off each other with some sort of mental telepathy that only the best comedic pairs share. If I am not mistaken, Mr. Kij & my dad met in law school. They maintained friendship throughout the years. In fact, Mr. Kij is my sister Marysia's godfather. And my dad & Mr. Kij once again became regular sidekicks from the time my dad neared retirement until my dad's death in 1993. Those two got into so much trouble (clean, old-fashioned "trouble") together and they loved a good practical joke. In fact, in their honor, Mama-Dirtyfoot used Mr. Kij's name for my own April Fools's practical joke (click here for *that* story) when I was traveling (& blogging) in Germany last year. And finally, thru the wonders of Facebook, my siblings and I have reconnected with Mr. Kij's daughter Valerie who has the same zany & wonderful sense of humor as her father. So, you can only imagine how thrilled I was to run into Mr. Kij at the German Fest.

Thrilled? Yes! Disappointed....extremely!!!! Why? If you recall, I said that neither David nor I had our cell phones. No photo opp :-( I tried though! I asked a stranger to take a photo of the two of us on her cell phone and text it to me. The stranger was completely happy to help out (Buffalo - aka the city of good neighbors). Although the stranger claimed that her phone might not be capable of the photo/texting because it was an "old lady phone", the two of us fumbled through the options on her phone. We managed to take a picture (which I saw & I know that it worked) and we attempted to text the photo. After the two of us checking the stranger's "sent" messages, my cell number was listed there so she and I assumed the photo message went through to my cell phone. The first thing I did when I got home was find my cell phone and look for that photo.......which didn't go through :-( Whah!!!!!! No picture :-( But, it was great to see you again Mr. Kij and even though my blog post tonight included a photo of Mr. Kij circa 1960's(??), I must say that at 80 years old he looks just as dapper as always!