2017 Life Logs, Day 28: Bow to Concord to Portsmouth, NH
Date: Friday, October 13, 2017
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 68, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home with Leslie and Rich Kole, Rye, NH
In 20 minutes, Friday the 13th will be over, and so far it has been a wonderful day. So maybe, just maybe, I should drop my superstition that makes me see flashing caution signs on this day. I had breakfast with Helaine Kanegsberg and then Alan joined us for conversation as he had already had breakfast with the Rotary Club. I then drove into Concord to meet with Scott McPherson from New Hampshire Public Radio to congratulate him on a career move. Scott came to NHPR almost fresh out of college and in just a few years became Mark’s right hand man. He has served as assistant station manager since the late 1990’s and has been indispensable in the smooth running of the station. He is now moving on to become the CFO of a New Hampshire private school. I know public radio will miss him, but I wish Scott all the luck in the world in his new job.
Then I was off to Rye, New Hampshire, to spend the day and evening with good friend Leslie Kole and her husband Rich. On the drive from Concord to Rye, New Hampshire, my cell rang and I saw it was a call from Justin. I pulled over to answer the phone and Justin and I talked for quite some time about how things are going in his corner of Puerto Rico. Packages are starting to arrive at the post office and FEMA aid workers have now reached the west coast. Justin has been back to the hotel in Mayaguez where he and the family spend last Friday night, and upon return he saw that FEMA workers and people in US military uniforms are now using the hotel as a base. He said that food and water are starting to be distributed. So that is very good news. At the same time he said overheard the people in military uniforms saying it could be as much as a year before power is returned to the country. Not such good news. He called to ask me to do a little research into solar alternatives for power and to say that on Monday he plans to return to the hotel in Mayaguez to use their internet to launch a new website that will list the supplies most needed. He hopes he will be able to build the site to make it possible for people to see what has been sent which should help in their decision making about what to send. It was great to talk to Justin and get an update on how things are going. He said he had left Jo with a whole bunch of children at Finca Maravilla in their new temporary outdoor school. Way to go, Jo!
I arrived at Leslie and Rich’s a bit late due to the long phone call with Justin. When I did arrive, Leslie had lunch waiting for me—a great green salad. Then Leslie and I drove to Kittery, Maine, right across the bridge from Portsmouth, to walk at Fort Foster with her dog Roo. After that we drove to a Kittery Beach to take another walk along the ocean and then it was home to get ready for dinner. It was warm enough for us to sit outside to have happy hour with the help of their outdoor heater. Then Rich cooked another of his award-winning dinners and Detta and Tom Porat joined us. It was a lovely day and evening.
