2021 Life Logs, Day 51: Winter Wonderland
Date: Saturday, February 20, 2021
Weather: Snow Overnight, Mostly Cloudy Day; High 33, Low, 20 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
When I took Shadow out late last night, we were welcomed by snow. And by this morning, our world looked like a winter wonderland with snow laden branches bending under the weight of the heavy snow. I think we got another inch or two of the white stuff. It is so beautiful, but those bird songs I hear on my walks with Shadow are beckoning spring. It is a long way off, but I’m hoping that at least this is the last of the snow. Shadow, on the other hand, would probably like snow all year round. He loves to dig tunnels in the snow with his nose. I don’t know what he is looking for under there, but he sure was funny looking this morning when he emerged with a white, snowy face.
I spent a bit of time this morning trying to figure out how to make an appointment for a Covid vaccine. Unfortunately, I didn’t know until Thursday evening that the 65+ group can now make appointments in Massachusetts. The announcement was made Thursday morning and almost immediately the state website crashed for a couple of hours with so many Baby Boomers trying to make an appointment. I did try yesterday with no luck, but I had gotten some advice from a member of a Newcomers group I am in and thought I’d give it another go. The advice didn’t help. All available appointments in Massachusetts are currently booked, but the websites do say to keep checking as things could change from day to day. Some people who unsuccessfully tried all day on Thursday got up at 4 am on Friday and found success. I’ll be patient and keep trying, but I must admit that this is a frustrating process.
After striking out in my attempt to get a Covid vaccine appointment, I headed out to do some chores in town. I did a little shoveling to make a path from the road down the driveway to Heather and Jed’s front door, delivered the two pans of lasagna to their refrigerator, changed the guinea pigs’ bedding and fed them, did a couple of errands in town, and drove to water plants for friends who are out of town. I didn’t get a lot of writing done today, but I certainly enjoyed rereading the logs I wrote on our three-day passage from the eastern Caribbean to Bonaire. The first night’s log was entitled, “Somebody Left the Porch Light On.” On the first night of that passage, I’ll never forget coming up to the cockpit for my first watch and searching to find what light Mark had left on. The full moon was that bright. Sailing on the ocean offers so many wonderful experiences. And today while I was watching my gardening docu-series, I was reminded of the expanse of the world’s oceans. They contain 97 percent of the water on earth. The episode today was about the importance of water to plants. Not sea water, of course. But the focus was on giving plants the water they need without wasting a drop. There was this quote by scientist Sylvia Earle, “No water, no life. No blue, no green.”
I got a text from Heather around 5:30 pm saying they were a few minutes from being home. She sent a couple of photos of the happy winter vacation crew. They shared the rental in Bethel, Maine, with the other family in their pandemic pod, the Simpkins. The five boys looked very happy, but in one photo four of the boys were pointing at Sam’s feet. He was outside and barefooted. That’s our Sam. I’ll be anxious to talk with them tomorrow to find out all about their week skiing and snowboarding and to hear the result of the lasagna cook-off.
