2017 Life Logs, Day 19: Catching Up
2017 Life Logs, Day 19: Catching Up
Date: Thursday, January 19, 2017
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 47, Low 29 degrees
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, NH
I spent today catching up with myself. I spent much of last week preparing for the Thursday presentation to the Falmouth Newcomers Club, and then I went through a flurry of busy days. I headed to the gym first thing this morning and then spent a few hours trying to figure out a game plan for the next three months. I want to spend time in Puerto Rico with Justin and family in their new home. I want to return to Nashville to spend more time with my sister and brother-in-law. And Mark’s family in Florida would like us (me, Heather and family, and Justin and family) to come to Florida for a family get together. So, I spent most of my day checking flight possibilities and costs. I’m not sure I made much progress, but I do have a better idea of what all of these travel excursions might cost. Now I just need to figure out who can do what and when. That’s the real challenge. Tomorrow I have another day with minimal obligations, so hopefully I will make more progress in figuring out my schedule for the next three months.
Jed was in Boston all day for a conference, so I offered to pick Ollie up from school this afternoon. That allowed Heather to pick Sam and Jonah up after school and take them home to paint their pinewood derby cars for Saturday’s Scout derby race. It is a logistical nightmare for one parent to pick Sam and Jonah up at 3:30 in East Falmouth and then drive all the way back to Woods Hole to get Ollie sometime between 4:30 and 5:00. So, when either Heather or Jed are out of town, I offer to help out. Last week Ollie asked that the next time I picked him up from school that we make a stop at Peterson Farm, an 88-acre land trust held by the city of Falmouth. So we did this on our way home this evening. For years, the sheep and llama owned by a local veterinarian called Peterson Farm their home. But recently, the vet moved to western Massachusetts and took all of her animals with her. We won’t get to see the baby lambs this spring, and that made Ollie very sad. His way of dealing with that was to go to the farm to see if we could find some wool that might have been left behind to remember them by. The sun had gone down by the time we got there, but we walked through the barns using a flashlight and walked along the fencing looking for just a little wool that might have been caught in the fence. We found not one little bit of wool, so I’m going to make a collage of photos we have taken of the baby lambs over the past few years and share that with the boys.
The plumber didn’t show up today, so I still have only one working bathroom—better than none! Maybe he’ll come tomorrow. I have a bit of shopping to do tomorrow to get ready for Sam’s tenth birthday on Saturday. Where have those years gone? Hopefully the shopping won’t take all day and I can spend a little more time catching up before the busy weekend–Sam’s birthday dinner, Jonah and Ollie overnight at Oma’s, Women’s March on Washington “sister rally” on the Village Green in downtown Falmouth, and the Patriots versus Pittsburgh Steeler’s game on Sunday night. Busy weekend coming up.
Thank you, Leslie! Our next stop was at Leslie’s daughter home to feed the dog, Graham, and let him out to play. Jessica, Leslie’s daughter is a single mom for the next two weeks while her husband is out of town, so Leslie is pitching in to help by dealing with the dog mid-day during the week while Jessica is at work and Leslie’s grandson, Luke, is in daycare. Leslie loves Graham and really enjoys visiting him each day.
After a little play time with the dog, we were on our way home. The ride back to Leslie’s was slow as it was still snowing and the coast road slushy. Once we got back to Leslie’s, I said my farewells to Leslie and Rich and headed south.
Once I crossed the border into Massachusetts, the snow turned to rain making the rest of the ride home wet, but not dangerous.
The three objects were all made from whale bone or baleen,
and the Goldpebbles made very smart guesses.
After the presentation, we stayed for dinner. It was a great ending to a great day.
We were all teachers together in Concord, NH, at Beaver Meadow School in the 1990’s. Detta, Cheryl, and Leslie have been doing this monthly for years, but I joined them for the first time in November. Great fun. But we cut tonight a bit short as Cheryl had to drive back to Concord in the snow. All of us made it home safely and I’ll look forward to getting together again in March. When Leslie and I got back to her house, I was treated with a slide show of their trip to Italy in June. 
Another member brought petite salmon cakes and another brought a large salad, so we really had a complete dinner plus all the hor d’oeuvres
and dessert. It was all yummy, but the best part of any yacht club meeting is always just talking to friends. I got to catch up on Kirk and Judy Leoni’s thirty-something children (in their 30’s, not 30 of them!)
and learned about John and Pam Black’s upcoming trip to Cuba. Paul and Donna Urbanek
and I talked about the adventures of our mutual biking friends, Linda and Mike Stuart and I learned that Paul’s best buddy from high school is my optometrist. Small world. Peter Milne was here and I hadn’t seen him for ages. And I talked with Mike and Gretchen Coughlin
about great places to vacation in Puerto Rico. So it was just a great get together. Thanks to Alan and Helaine for hosting the event.
Most everyone left by 8:30, but Beth and Bob Lux
stuck around to chat and the six of us talked and talked. And once Bob and Beth left, Alan and Helaine and I did some more talking. And that is how it got to be midnight.
Faneuil Hall in Boston has been the site of many historic events and today was no exception. Massachusetts Senators Elizabeth Warren
and Ed Markey hosted today’s rally along with Boston mayor, Marty Walsh, and a host of other state politicians. Thousands of people attended and it was obvious that the attendees were all in agreement with the statement that universal health care is a human right and that the right is being threatened. And this means people need to be ready to stand up and fight for that right. Obviously, not everyone in our country ascribes to the same belief. But Elizabeth Warren, sometimes called the warrior for the middle class, believes that, as does our other senator, Ed Markey, and Marty Walsh, mayor of Boston. Walsh gave a forceful speech saying that when Republicans say ‘Repeal and Replace’, Democrats should counter with ‘Resist and Reclaim’.
That was the basic message of the rally to support the Affordable Care Act.
