2021 Life Logs, Day 40: Zoom, Zoom
Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2021
Weather: More Snow; High 33, Low 21 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The second Tuesday of each month I have a jam-packed day. I get up and take Shadow for our morning mile walk and then head to the chiropractor for a monthly check-in. This is the second month in a row that Michael, my chiropractor, has said that my spine alignment is better than it has been since I started seeing him in 2014. Maybe it’s the walking, maybe the exercise bike is helping but not sure how that would affect my spine alignment, but something is different. Since I managed to herniate two discs last spring, it has been a long uphill climb. Now I just need to make sure I don’t do something stupid to screw things up!
Then, today, as on every second Tuesday of each month, I rush home from the chiropractor for my monthly Book Club on Zoom. This month’s book was Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig. None of us had ever read anything by this author and we all enjoyed his writing. As a new Book Club member pointed out, this book uses a similar theme as the Harry Potter series. A young boy loses both parents, is sent to live in challenging circumstances, and has an older man that looks over him. This book takes place in the middle of the twentieth century in the western part of the United States. And the older man is not a wizard but an illegal alien from Germany. At one point, Donal, the eleven-year-old orphan says, “Life with Herman was a size larger than I was used to, like clothing I was supposed to grow into.” Like Harry, they do travel by bus, but it is not the Knight Bus. They travel by Greyhound. And Donal collects S&H Green Stamps. Remember those? It is a delightful book. Here’s one more of Donal’s quotes, “Life can tickle you in the ribs surprisingly when it’s not digging its thumb in.” Life according to an eleven-year-old American philosopher.
Zoom, zoom. After the Book Club Zoom, I spent a couple of hours reading the articles for a late afternoon Public Policy Zoom and checked in on the impeachment trial. Just before 3 pm, I took Shadow for another short walk and then we got into the car to go pick up Ollie. We took him home and then Shadow and I came home and watched a bit more of the impeachment trial while waiting for the Public Policy Zoom. That started at 4:45 pm and the focus was the Constitutional separation between religion and government. It was a good discussion led by friend Karen Baranowski. Great job, Karen. I really enjoy the Zoom meetings I attend, but by the time that my second Zoom for the day was over, I was Zoomed out. It is easy to see how kids and parents who are spending much of their days during this pandemic on Zoom are having Zoom fatigue.
We got more snow this afternoon and we are in for cold winter weather for the forecastable future. But the Goldpebbles are enjoy this first snowy period in a couple of years. Jed took them sledding again today after school and I know they are looking forward to winter vacation snowboarding in Maine next week. I am actually enjoying the snow as well. If I didn’t have Shadow, I know I wouldn’t be out there enjoying tramping through the woods in the snow. Thank you, Shadow. And I have discovered new trails that need to be rid of briars. So as soon as the weather warms up a bit, I hope Ollie will come help me clear more trails.
