2019 Life Logs, Day 290: Successful VOW Presentation at Newbridge
Date: Thursday, October 17, 2019
Weather: Mostly Cloudy and Incredibly Windy; High 63, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home with Alan and Helaine Kanegsberg. Dedham MA
My day started at midnight with thudding sounds coming from outside. I was in bed reading and got up to open the front door to see what was happening. It was raining and the wind was blowing incredibly hard, blowing leaves and limbs off trees. Thus, the thudding sounds. Once I knew what was happening, I was able to go to sleep. But this morning the wind was still blowing, probably 25, maybe 35 miles an hour. It was a WINDY night and morning on Cape Cod. The morning walk I was going to take with a Newcomers walking group was cancelled, so I just stayed home and did further preparations for tonight’s presentation. Good thing I didn’t go for that walk because it took me all morning to make the final changes to my PowerPoint presentation. I lost my AT&T phone connection for a couple of hours this morning, but I did have power and lost only tree limbs, not trees. Others lost power and had trees blown down. And my good friends Bruce and Jane Wooden lost the genoa sail on their sailboat L’Escargot. In the picture I saw on Facebook, there was another sailboat that had broken it’s mooring and was blown up on the beach. At least Bruce and Jane still have a boat, but L’Escargot looked so sad with its shredded genoa. So sorry, Bruce and Jane.
Because of the weather, I checked with Alan and Helaine Kanegsberg to make sure my presentation was still on for tonight at Newbridge on the Charles, their retirement community in Dedham, not far from Boston. While it was still blowing hard on the Cape, the wind had calmed down in Dedham, so I headed north. I could feel a difference as soon as I crossed the bridge. The wind was blowing, but not nearly so hard as on the Cape side of the canal. I arrived at Alan and Helaine’s mid-afternoon so that we had time to visit. Then at 5 pm, Helaine and I took my computer to Great Meadow Hall to meet with the activities coordinator and get all the technical details set for the presentation. It was so easy because their set-up is so nice. I just had to get used to the idea of wearing a lavalier microphone and plug my computer into their system. All systems were a go and we returned home to get ready for dinner. We went back to the main building for dinner and then went to the hall for the presentation. There was another staff member there to assist with all things technical, so all I had to do was focus on my presentation. By 7:30, most of the chairs in the hall were filled and I began my 45-minute trip around the world in Windbird. I love giving this presentation because I get to relive the six wonderful years that Mark and I spent sailing around the world, and I get paid to do it. It’s a win-win for me, and the people in the audience seemed to truly enjoy the presentation. There were very thoughtful questions afterwards and many of the people attending came up to thank me before they left. The Newbridge audience was most gracious. I now understand why Alan and Helaine love living here so much . . . great place, great people at Newbridge on the Charles
