2023 Life Logs, Day 82: Memories
Date: Thursday, March 23, 2023
Weather: Overcast and Rain; High 52, Low 41 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I got a note on Facebook tonight letting me know that a high school classmate of mine who I was very close with had a stroke and died this week. Jerry Hill was voted ‘best looking’ in our class, but he was so much more. He was a person whose beauty was inside and out. He was the kind of friend who always had time to listen to your problems. I don’t know who wrote his obituary, but it was truly beautiful. I never thought I would say an obituary was beautiful but reading this one left me flooded with tears and memories. It outlined in detail the wonderful ways in which Jerry touched people’s lives. Jerry received his graduate degree in Theology from Northwestern, became a minister among other things, and believed fiercely in the interconnectivity between us all. “What happens to us after we die, he never claimed to know, but found endlessly fascinating. At funerals, or in conversations about death, he would likely say that the body left behind no longer holds the spirit of the deceased. He liked to think that we simply become a different piece of the fabric that connects us all.” So, we shall stay connected, my dear friend.

I had an epidural to inject steroids into my spine this morning. The hope is that it will help relieve the inflammation caused by my two herniated discs which might allow them reabsorb more quickly. The pain relief, if the procedure was successful, is often not felt for a week or two, so we shall see how that goes. I rested for a few hours when I got home and then went for an epic grocery store shopping trip. My refrigerator was empty as I have not placed my Misfits order for home delivery for two weeks. After shopping for an hour, I will not forget to place my Misfits order this Friday night!

2023 Life Logs, Day 81: Heavy Lifting Day
Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds; High 49, Low 43 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The high temperature today was a degree lower than yesterday, but there was no wind today and it felt warm and wonderful. It was forecast to be mostly cloudy, but the sun kept insisting on breaking through those clouds. It was a delightful spring day. My job today was supposed to be finding hardwood mulch and straw needed for ‘planting’ mushrooms at Heather’s. You don’t really plant them, but you need the hardwood mulch and straw for bedding and it is hard to find, at least locally. But when I remembered that I am having a pain management procedure done on my back tomorrow morning that requires I do no heavy lifting for a day or so, I had to change my plans. I can look for hardwood mulch and straw tomorrow. Today I needed to get the shelves out of the basement that I use for starting seedlings each spring. There are two full height wooden shelves that are connected in the center and collapse when not connected. So, I had to separate and collapse them in the basement, bring them upstairs, and then reassemble them. And that requires moving everything out of the living room so they can be assembled on the living room floor. I did not quite get the job done when it was time to go get Jonah and take him to evening soccer practice. But I completed the job when I got home and now I need to get to bed so I can get up early for the pain management procedure. And if anyone reading this knows where to find hardwood (not oak) mulch or straw this time of year, please let me know.

2023 Life Logs, Day 80: Happy 11th Birthday to Ollie
Date: Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Weather: Mostly Sunny, A Little More Like Spring; High 50, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Heather and I started our day together meeting with another contractor to look at renovations to transform the bonus room above their garage into an in-law apartment. I’ll be anxious to see how much this contractor projects the costs to be.

After leaving Heather and Jed’s, I drove to Mashpee to do some shopping errands and then spent my afternoon making birthday cupcakes for Ollie to take to his first Boy Scout meeting tonight. Then at 5 pm, I headed back to Heather and Jed’s for Ollie’s birthday dinner. Ollie scored big on presents this year, but one of his favorites were three Rag & Bone t-shirts. He has fallen in love with them because the cotton is so soft. Happy Birthday to Ollie!

2023 Life Logs, Day 79: Doesn’t Feel Like Spring to Me
Date: Monday, March 20, 2023
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Windy; High 43, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

There was sunshine today, but when I went outside with Shadow at exactly 5:24 pm to celebrate the first official astronomical minute of spring 2023, it didn’t feel like spring to me. The wind was roaring making 42 degrees F feel like 32 degrees–freezing. I had on my winter coat, my toboggan, wool socks, and gloves and was still cold. Regardless, I welcome spring and hope it soon feels just a tad warmer.

I continue to take baby steps toward preparing for my move in July. Today I focused on cleaning up a few rusty tools so I can try to find a new home for now. I also cleaned a lot of my things from Shirley’s shed that I have used while living here. I will continue this slow process, a little each day of spring 2023.

2023 Life Logs, Day 78: Lights in My Life
Date: Sunday, March 19, 2023
Weather: Mostly Sunny, N Wind; High 39, Low 28 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

For me, each of my grandchildren is a ‘light’ in my life. Today, I watched Ollie receive his Arrow of Light and cross over to Boy Scouts. He is the third and final Goldpebble that I will have had the privilege to watch go through this ceremony and it was a beautiful reminder of how bright Ollie’s light shines in this world. I am so lucky to live close by and to be able to be a part of these special events. Both of Ollie’s brothers were there to greet him as he crossed into Boy Scouts … a very special welcome. Jed performed his final official duty as Master of Falmouth Cub Scouts. He will still be involved in the final training of the incoming Master at some camping events, but soon that volunteer commitment will be over. Congratulations to Ollie, to Heather and Jed as parents, and to Jed for his years devoted to Falmouth Cub Scouts.

2023 Life Logs, Day 77: A Family Oriented Day
Date: Saturday, March 18, 2023
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High 49, Low 30 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

My day was spent with family. First thing this morning, I took Sam, Jonah, and Sam’s friend Sebi to Harwich for spring soccer practice. We got back to Heather and Jed’s around 12:30 pm and Heather asked if I had a minute to stick around. She wanted to show me some of her most recent gardening projects. Her front yard gets no direct sunlight once the trees get their leaves, so she has decided to grow mushrooms in part of the mulched area. She has also rearranged the planters on the deck and has some new additions. She was finally able to find planters that fit over the deck railing. The ones that she found in the past only it over a 4-inch wide cap railing, but Gardener’s Supply now has ones that fit over her 6-inch wide railing. Then she showed me an area in the backyard where she could transplant my raspberries. Since I am moving, I have been looking for a home for them and Heather had the perfect place. She asked the boys to clear some roots in the area where they would be planted while she and I went to my house so Heather could dig up the raspberries to take home and plant. While she was here, we loaded the van up my black felt growing bags filled with soil and a few bags of organic garden soil and mulch I had. We joked that I could open up a gardening supply store! She headed home to plant the raspberries and I drove around looking for straw and hard wood mulch that she needs to start the mushrooms. No luck on that, but she did get the raspberries planted. I then switched gears and made a meatloaf to take to Heather’s for dinner. She and Jed went to the Falmouth Education Foundation gala tonight and I went over to fix dinner for the boys and spend the evening with them.

2023 Life Logs, Day 76: Happy St. Patrick’s Day
Date: Friday, March 17, 2023
Weather: Cloudy; High 49, Low 42 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I spent my morning driving around getting friends to sign Heather’s Nomination paper to run for School Committee, walking with Shadow and my friend Olga, and then heading to Monument Beach to have lunch and spend the afternoon with a friend from my days in Concord, NH, Kate Daniels. Kate was a special education teacher at Concord High School when I was the Professional Development Coordinator for the school district. We had adventures in New Orleans and New York City when we attended conferences together and we met again late last summer when she attended a Voyage of Windbird presentation I was giving in North Falmouth. She is now Dean of Student Services at St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH, and has inherited her mother’s home here on the Cape and is spending some of her sabbatical semester here. Both Heather and Justin attended St. Paul’s School, so Kate and I have all sorts of connections. She is much younger than I, but regardless of the age difference, we have always enjoyed our times together. Today we spent a wonderful afternoon with another St. Paul’s friend of Kate’s who has bought a summer home not far from me in East Falmouth.

When I drove back to Falmouth from Monument Beach, I stopped by Heather and Jed’s to drop off the Nomination paper with the signatures I had gotten today. Ollie is celebrating his eleventh birthday with friends spending an overnight. They were in full swing when I stopped by, but I didn’t stay long as I needed to get home to Shadow. Ollie’s birthday is on Tuesday, so sometime between now and then we will have a family birthday dinner to celebrate.

Tonight, I watched the film, Elvis. Elvis was the same age as my brother that was the closet in age in to me. My brother graduated from high school in 1953, the same year that I entered first grade. I have wonderful memories of driving around in my brother’s 1955 red and white Chevy Belair and having him teach me how to jitterbug. Then, in September of 1956, when I was in fourth grade, my brother was drafted into the Army and sent to Germany, and I first saw Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show performing “Hound Dog.” I begged my dad for a 45 rpm record player so that I could play that song over and over. For my birthday in March of 1957, I got the record player, and I bought the record. Watching the movie tonight brought back all of those memories, which were such fond memories of mine. I really enjoyed the movie, but it is such an incredibly tragic story. I love Tom Hanks as an actor, but in this movie, he was Colonel Parker and I hated him by the end.

2023 Life Logs, Day 75: Delightful Belated Birthday Luncheon
Date: Thursday, March 16, 2023
Weather: Mix of Clouds and Some Sun,, N Wind; High 50, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The temperature actually got up to 50 degrees F today with a little sunshine here and there. But that north wind continued to blow and it did not feel like 50 degrees to me. Tomorrow the high temp is forecast to be the same but the wind will be coming from a southerly direction. Hopefully that means it will actually feel warmer. Monday is the first day of spring, so even though we had a mild winter, I am ready for sunshine and warmth.

Bruce and Jane Woodin returned from a winter in warmer climates yesterday. The Baranowskis returned from a couple of weeks in the Caribbean on Sunday. And Midge Frieswyk returned from her travels. So the three women in our Dining In group that had birthdays during the past three weeks finally got together to celebrate our birthdays. We are the seventy somethings with one eighty something and it was great to be together again. We had lunch at the Dunbar Tea Room in Sandwich, and it was a great choice. I am not a tea lover, but I do like Rooibos tea (red leaf) from South Africa. The Tea Room had Cape Cod Rooibos advertised as Cranberry red leaf tea with a few other leaves added to the mix. It was fantastic as was the lobster quiche. It was a great belated birthday celebration for Midge, Christina Brodie, and me.

I talked with friend Lynne Kirwin in New Zealand this evening. We always enjoy our ‘catch up’ phone calls, but she will be returning to the US to visit this summer and I can’t wait to visit in person.

2023 Life Logs, Day 74: Falmouth All Bands Night
Date: Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Weather: Cloudy, A Little Windy; High 43, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Kudos to the music program in the Falmouth Public Schools. Each year on All Bands Night, the talent they have nurtured is showcased … from the fifth and sixth grade bands to the Lawrence Middle School band to the Falmouth High School band. After the full bands at each level play, the jazz bands from each group performs. Ollie plays saxophone in the fifth grade jazz band and surprised us by getting to stand up and show off his talent. Jonah plays bass guitar and trombone in the middle school jazz band and got to show off his talents on both instruments.

Congratulations to my grandsons, to all participating students, and to the band directors who do an amazing job.

2023 Life Logs, Day 73: Everything Everywhere All at Once
Date: Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Weather: Rainy, Some Wind; High 43, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The storm that much of New England got today didn’t really hit Cape Cod as expected. It rained overnight and much of today, with a break with blue skies and sunshine for a short period late afternoon. But with that came the wind and now it is back to light rain. We might get as much as a half inch of snow later tonight, but then just wind tomorrow.

After taking Shadow out to walk and play late afternoon, I decided to come in and watch the Oscar winning Picture of the Year–Everything Everywhere All at Once. Wow. I wouldn’t begin to know how to explain it, and at first I was a little doubtful that I would like it. But in the end, I loved it. You have to let go of the idea that movies should make sense and just go with it. Michele Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan certainly deserved their Oscars and I am not certain I would have given the Supporting Actress Oscar to Jamie Lee Curtis. Stephanie Hsu was also a nominee, and she was great as well. They were both great. In the end there is a main theme that becomes evident. So, if you haven’t seen it, do. And let me know what you think. Heather and Jed watched it over the weekend and they encouraged me to watch it, again saying they couldn’t describe it. Just watch it!