2026 Life Logs, Day 80: Happy Birthday to Ollie
Date: Saturday, March 21, 2026
Weather: Sunny Day, Milder Weather; High Temp 51, Low 35 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
On this first day of spring 2026 it actually felt like New England spring day, and Ollie celebrated his 14th birthday. It was wonderful to welcome spring without it feeling like the dead of winter. And although I still cannot believe Ollie is 14, we had a fun day of family times together. The 48th annual Falmouth STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) Fair, what we used to call a Science Fair, was this morning and both Ollie and Jonah were recognized for their achievements. So that was a great start to the day.
I left the STEAM Fair to go to the weekly rally on the Green, and then afterwards, I meth Heather, Jed, and Ollie downtown for a birthday lunch at the Tap City Grille on Main Street. Then it was home for present opening. Ollie got a new zoom lens for the camera he got for Christmas. This lens has a 70-300 mm capability and should be good for taking bird and sports photos, both of which he is interested in. Parents and grandmothers went in on the gift, and I had made arrangements for Ollie to go on a teaching photo shoot with a photographer friend who specializes in bird photos. Heather and I were both very surprised at how excited Ollie seemed by that. Teenagers normally think they know everything and aren’t interested in ’lessons’, but this time it worked.
Then tonight, Heather and Jed went out to the Falmouth Education Foundation yearly affair and I did dinner and spent the evening with Jonah and Ollie. We had sushi take-out from a Chinese restaurant in town, and it came with fortune cookies. Ollie read his and then I read mine. It said, “A long-lost memory may resurface tonight.” That prompted Ollie to tell me that he had recently done a writing assignment connecting their sailboat, Ardenna, to Windbird. And to him, Windbird is a ‘long-lost memory’. So, he asked me to share some of those memories with him. A full two-hours later we were jolted back to reality when Heather and Jed got home. Who knew a fortune cookie could spark such a wonderful conversation? Ollie asked me to share some memories from Windbird and that led us to the map on their dining room wall where I did a geography-based tour around the world. Then I asked if he would like to see some photos of the places I had just told him about. He did, so we went into the living room, and I got out my computer. Away we went around the world looking at photos from my top 10 favorite places. Ollie had all sorts of interesting questions, and it was almost like the world stopped for 2 full hours while we traveled. None of my grandchildren have ever asked about the voyage of Windbird, so this is the first time I have ever shared the full story with any of them. Jonah was in the room watching a soccer game, but he must have been listening, as he chimed in a couple of times. It was a wonderful evening, and all because of a fortune cookie!
When Heather and Jed got home, we celebrated with birthday cake. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day. Congratulations to Ollie and Jonah for their award winning science (Jonah) and engineering (Ollie) projects. Happy birthday to Ollie. Welcome spring. And thanks to that fortune cookie for causing those memories to resurface tonight.
