2026 Life Logs, Day 59: Reciprocity
Date: Saturday, February 28, 2026
Weather: Sunny, Warmer; High Temp 51, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
No gloves, no hats were needed today. It was sunny and warm enough to be comfortable, not even needing to zip up your coat. When I first walked out the door with Shadow this morning, the birds were serenading as if maybe spring is coming. But … tomorrow will be 16 degrees cooler than today and we are supposed to get a bit of snow, less than half an inch. After the official 21-22 inches they say we got on Monday, four-tenths of inch seems like nothing.
The standout on the Green was great today. Some of us brought snow shovels, which really are not helpful at this point because the snow is so icy. There was one flat edged shovel that worked great, but for the most part, people were happy just walking through the snow. Next week there is the second National Day of Science. Last year this protest was held in Woods Hole, but this year we will be on the Green on Saturday as usual.After the standout, I went to the library to meet with Aminta who will be our presenter on Monday evening for our first Indivisible training leading up to NO KINGS Falmouth on March 28. We needed to scope out the room and decide on how we will set up the chairs. Then it was home for lunch before returning to the library for a 3:30 presentation by Wampanoag elder Leslie Jonas. Just before I was ready to leave, my friend and landlord Lynda stopped by to check on things after the snowstorm. She was in Pennsylvania this week and just returned today. I let Shadow out to play in the driveway while we talked and when we walked out, there was no Shadow to be found. I called and called, but no Shadow. I called Andy across the street to see if he was there. No Shadow. Lynda drove around the block while I went out on the front deck to call for him. Still no response. I saw no paw prints in the backyard so I assumed he must have escaped out onto the street by way of the driveway. Heather was going to the presentation at the library with me, so I quickly called to tell her I wouldn’t be picking her up as I was on a hunt for Shadow. Shortly after we got off the phone, she arrived with Jed and Jonah to help search. Lynda and Jed were driving all over the immediate area when Jonah walked back by the entrance to the studio apartment and saw paw prints going down the hill from there. Heather put on her snowshoes to follow Jonah down to the backyard to see if he might be trapped in some deep snow in the empty lot behind my house. And sure enough, he was there. Not trapped in deep snow, but frolicking in it. Jonah thinks he was chasing a squirrel. But whatever, everyone was very relieved. And I was doubly relieved to find him and to know he had not run off. He was just playing in what he considers his backyard.
Everyone disbursed and I headed to the library. The talk, ‘Relationality, Reciprocity, and Gratitude’, explored the ideas in Robin Wall Kimmerer’s ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’. Falmouth has a community read each year and this is the book for 2026. I have been a follower of Kimmerer and I especially love the way she writes about the importance of reciprocity in the Native American culture—the Earth gives to us and in return we give back. Unfortunately, the rest of us got off track and just became takers with no giving back. The talk today made me even more excited about Encore’s April program which is a presentation by Leslie Jonas on the major elements in the Wampanoag culture—Earth, Fire, Water, and Air.
I loved a photo Heather shared tonight of Ollie at Chapaquoit Beach using his new camera to capture the sunset and the planetary alignment in the evening sky. I have been so busy that I didn’t even know about this. I Googled it and found that in the early evening there was a rare six-planet alignment of Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune where they appeared to be lined up. Only four were to be visible to the naked eye. I can’t wait to see what Ollie captured.
