2017 Life Logs, Day 2: The Present
Date: Monday, January 2, 2017
Weather: Sunny; High 41, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Last night was a Goldpebble overnight and we had a great time. The boys enjoyed the little Star Wars Lego sets I got them to add to their collection that we keep here. They quickly built the kits and got to play for a short time before bed. And they continued this morning.
Today was a holiday for Heather, Jed, and the boys, but both Heather and Jed had to go to work for while this morning. On her way home, Heather stopped by here to pick up the boys, but she left with only Sam and Jonah. She was going food shopping and Ollie had no interest in doing that, so he stayed here with me. Being the youngest of three, I think he enjoys just having time alone once in a while. We ate lunch and he played quietly with the Legos while I dismantled the Christmas tree. I finally heard him call from the bedroom, “Oma, I’m ready to go now.” So we left for home. When we arrived, Heather and Jed were in the backyard trying to figure out where to put a chicken coop and run. Heather really wants to add chickens to the Goldstone ‘farm’ and I suggested we use the conduit tubing Mark and I used to support the winter plastic shrink-wrap cover. We would use this to support a chicken wire cover for the chicken run. If you don’t cover the top of the run in these parts, hawks get the chickens in short order. And you even have to have a ‘floor’ of chicken wire to keep other varmints like rats out of the chicken house. Heather had the conduit framing out and was measuring when Ollie and I arrived. We didn’t get very far into the discussion before Heather had to leave for a PTO special projects meeting and Ollie, Jonah, and I took off for a biking adventure. We biked to the elementary school where Heather was having her meeting. We went there because I thought the boys would be able to ride around the track with no worries about traffic, but the ground was too damp and Ollie wasn’t strong enough to push his peddles in those conditions. But the parking lot made a great biking place since there was almost no traffic today.
And the boys got the added surprise of getting to walk home with momma.
After the biking adventure, I returned home and finished taking the trimmings off the Christmas tree. Once completed, I carried out on the deck. I then spent a little time texting with Sam, Windbird’s new owner, and set this Thursday as the date when he will fly into Boston. I’ll pick him up and we’ll got out to lunch and make the transfer of things that I want to send back to Windbird. After lunch, I’ll take him and the ‘goodies’ back to the airport and then drive to meet up with my nieces who live just outside of Boston. On the other days of this week, I’ll spend time finishing up the presentation about the Voyage of Windbird that I will make next week.
I want to end this log with a reference to ‘the present.’ I have been in a back and forth email exchange with a person Mark and I met over 35 years ago when we lived in southern West Virginia. Bill moved into the southern West Virginia area about the same time that we did and he started selling Max-Flex electric fencing. It was an instant success and he is still selling the fencing today. I had contacted him about fencing for Justin’s goats. What I got back was information on the fencing and a little pep talk about staying positive as I mourn the loss of Mark. Bill lost his life partner to cancer a few years ago, so he has experience in this area. Last night he shared a quote from a late nineteenth century poet that I’d like to pass on:
“The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it is called the present.”
Alice Morse Earle 1851-1911
I love the vision of the ‘here and now’ being a present to each of us. I’ll keep this in mind each day of this new year and try my best to live each day to the fullest. Thanks, Bill.
