2023 Life Logs, Day 92: An Afternoon ‘Down Under’
Date: Sunday, April 2, 2023
Weather: Sunny and Windy; High 50, Low 28 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Cape Symphony under the direction of visiting conductor Carolyn Watson, originally from Australia, and featuring performances by William Barton, an Australian Aboriginal didgeridoo virtuoso, presented an afternoon of music from the land “down under.” Heather invited me to go along to the performance with them since they had an extra ticket–Sam had soccer game. Lucky me. The orchestra and conductor were great, but William Barton was the highlight as he performs like a musical magician. He can make sounds through the didgeridoo like none I have ever heard. Plus, he can play the guitar and the didgeridoo at the same time, has a beautiful singing voice, singing in his tribal language, and was the composer of some of the pieces he and the orchestra performed. Barton, only 41 years old, was born in Queensland and learned to play from his uncle, an elder of the Wannyi, Lardil and Kalkadunga tribes of Western Queensland. If you are not familiar with a didgeridoo, it is a musical instrument made from a hollowed out piece of wood. I have tried to play one but found it incredibly difficult. Traditionally the wooden tube was hollowed out by termites, but these days humans help with the tunneling. I became fascinated with didgeridoo music when Mark and I visited with Heather when she was in college in Queensland. Barton is one of the most commanding performers I have ever seen and his talents filled our afternoon with fantastic music. There were also other Australian pieces played by the orchestra plus one from New Zealand, SYMPHONIC SUITE FROM THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, which was accompanied by photos showcasing NZ’s natural beauty.

Afterwards, we met up in Hyannis with Sam, Sebi, and Sebi’s mom who was their transport to the afternoon soccer game. Heather and Jed treated us all to dinner in Hyannis before returning home. It was a wonderful afternoon. Thank you, Heather and Jed.

2023 Life Logs, Day 91: April Fool’s Day
Date: Saturday, April 1, 2023
Weather: Partly Sunny, Rainy Evening; High 45, Low 41 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I have no April Fool’s jokes. I won’t even try. But April roared in like a lion with wind and rain all day. I spent a quiet morning at home starting a second hydroponic growing system for lettuce and cleaning part of the inflatable kayak in the bathtub. Heather and I had planned to go to the boat so she could show me exactly what she wants done in terms of varnish removal, but she was planting mushrooms in her front yard that that took twice as long as she thought. Then she had to drive to Hyannis to pick Jonah up from a Scout camping weekend so he could play an afternoon soccer game in Falmouth, on turf, rain or shine. We met at the high school where Heather dropped Jonah off for a pre-game warm-up and then she and I drove to the boat where I got my marching orders. Then we returned to the high school and watched the game in the pouring rain. At least it wasn’t freezing! Heather then drove Jonah back to Hyannis and I headed home. Tonight, I got sucked into the Ted Lasso world and watched more than half the episodes in the first season. For whatever reason, I have always thought about Ted Lasso seemed very silly. But I am loving Ted Lasso. That’s the news from my world on this first day of April.

2023 Life Logs, Day 90: Clearing Out ‘Stuff’
Date: Friday, March 31, 2023
Weather: Partly Sunny, Rainy Evening; High 45, Low 41 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

My back and my knee are not so happy tonight, but I did manage to clear out a lot of ‘stuff’ today. This morning when I learned that a dumpster would be arriving across the driveway early in the afternoon, I knew I should take advantage of that and get ‘stuff’ out of the basement and over to the dumpster staging area. I used my little red beach wagon to transport a plethora of things. Then I realized that my inflatable kayak that has been stored on the concrete pad outside Shirley’s two storage sheds needed to be moved out of the way. I got Steve, Shirley’s niece’s husband, to help me get it onto a tarp and drag it to my side yard. From there I was on my own to clean it up a bit and get it into my basement until I can get help to properly clean and roll it up to be stored. This is a two person inflatable that is about 15 feet long. Getting it down the steps and into the basement was a bit of a trick, but since it is not fully inflated, I was able to manage that by myself.

After all that physical activity, my back and right knee were telling me to go inside and do something a little less physical. I attacked the stacks of paperwork on my desk in my bedroom and got much of that filed. But as always, one thing leads to another, and I started purging old files in the filing cabinet. There were two bulging folders of information on possessions that I attacked first, and then I cleaned out the tax files all the way back to 1973. I could have just thrown all but the last few years out, but I decided I might like to keep the 1040 Forms from all those years. So, I went through and recycled all but the 1040’s. It will take another day to get all my stacks of papers filed or thrown out, but I made great strides in that direction today.

Hopefully, tomorrow is boat day. Heather and I had planned to go start removing varnish. But it is supposed to rain all day and even though the boat is covered, I’m not sure we will want to brave the weather. I’ll check with Heather in the morning. If not a boat day, it sounds like the perfect day to complete that paperwork project.

2023 Life Logs, Day 89: Historic Day
Date: Thursday, March 30, 2023
Weather: Partly Sunny, Cold N Wind; High 42, Low 28 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

There have been too many historic days in the span of three years, all three days I never dreamed I would see in my lifetime … March 11, 2020 when the WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic … January 6, 2021 when insurrectionists attacked the US Capitol Building to try to keep Trump in power … and now March 30, 2023 when a former US President is indicted, a first in our history as a country. We have had lots of elected politicians indicted and then found guilty, but no sitting President or former President has ever been indicted in the history of our country. I am not shy about saying that I do not and have never cared for Donald Trump, but that is not why I am feeling so good about this indictment. It is because the rule of law has won out, as it must if we are to remain a democracy. We don’t even know the charges yet, and no one knows how a jury will decide, but at least Donald Trump is being held accountable for his actions. Finally, a positive historic day.

I filed my taxes today, had an appointment with my chiropractor and found that my back is not only feeling better after the epidural, it is better. Back at home, I started going through files to try and get rid of things I no longer need, and then I drove into town to pick Jonah and Ollie up after school as Heather and Jed were both in meetings. The boys normally walk home, but on Thursdays, they are both carrying very large musical instruments. Getting a ride is much appreciated. Shadow and I did our walks and playtime outside today despite that cold north wind, so life is good.

2023 Life Logs, Day 88: Making It Legal
Date: Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Cool; High 46, Low 29 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Today I signed the rental agreement for the home I will be moving into on July 1. The move is finally for sure and legal. My new home, for at least the next year, is in town very close to Heather and family. It is owned by my friend Lynda Onthank and she has been very busy getting it ready to rent. Today when I arrived to sign the rental agreement, I was greeted by a new array of equipment in the driveway. She has been doing landscaping in the entry area and now a new roof is going on. When she moves out in June, new flooring will be laid in most of the house and the wood floor in the living room will be refinished. And she is readying a garden area that we will share. Whew! Soon she is headed to the island of Corfu in Greece on a biking vacation, so she has been working hard to get work done or definitely scheduled before she departs. Now I need to get myself into gear and get rid of ‘stuff’ and ready everything else for the move. July 1 is three months away, but I have a feeling those three months are going to pass very quickly.

The last week of April, I will be going to North Carolina for five days to visit my sister and attend my niece Jennifer’s Celebration of Life. I have been having nightmares about what to do with Shadow while I am gone. Heather is going to North Carlina as well, and Jed and the boys will be gone all day each day of that weekend. I’m sure I’ll figure something out, but until I do I’m afraid those nightmares won’t go away. I am continuing to plant seeds inside that will be ready to plant on Memorial Day weekend, hopefully in that garden area Lynda is preparing. And today, I spent a lot of time pouring through paperwork. I haven’t done my 2022 taxes yet. Maybe I’ll tackle that job tomorrow. After I met with Lynda to sign the rental agreement, I took Ollie to his saxophone lesson. That gave me a break to make a couple of phone calls and read a little more of The Soul of an Octopus. I am loving that book. I just haven’t had much time to read. I have many things to do, so I just need to stop being overwhelmed and get to work.

2023 Life Logs, Day 87: Newcomers Field Trip to the Boston Public Library
Date: Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Weather: Overcast, Rainy, Cooler; High 42, Low 32 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The Boston Public Library (BPL) was founded in 1848 and opened in 1854. It is not the oldest public library in the US. That honor goes to the Darby Public Library in Philadelphia, “America’s oldest public library, in continuous service since 1743.” But the BPL holds the distinction of being the first publicly supported free municipal library in the world. Yes, the world, not just the United States. And even though when it was opened, you had to be 16 years old to enter, that was eventually changed, and it became the first library to establish space designated specifically for children.

I was supposed to drive today if needed, but at the last minute a few people backed out and I ended up as a passenger and navigator in Karen Baranowski’s van. There were two other women in our group, Bonnie Howard and Toby Richard, and two other car loads. We thought we would see everyone at the library, but it is big, and my group was almost finished touring before we made contact with others.

There are actually two libraries—the old McKim Building and the new Johnson Building. All modern day library activities take place in the newer building, but the art is in the old building which is “crammed with spectacular paintings, tapestries, architectural details, and sculpture. The buildings themselves are impressive and we really enjoyed touring the three floors. As you climb the steps from the impressive main entrance to the second floor, you pass two enormous lions carved from single blocks of marble commemorating Massachusetts Civil War infantry regiments. And as you climb you see a series of murals done in shades of blue, pale green, and ivory by 19th century French artist, Puvis de Chavannes. Then you come to what I would say is the crown jewel, Bates Reading Room. It runs the runs the full length of the front half of the building with high arched windows and a vaulted ceiling. The desks and the English oak bookcases are the originals, and the setting literally invites you to sit and read awhile. On the second floor there is also the ornate Abbey Room with 15 murals depicting Sir Galahad’s Quest of the Holy Grail. The third floor houses the John Singer Sargent murals titled The Triumph of Religion. My problem with his works is that the murals depict only the world religions of interest to Sargent—Paganism, Judaism, and Christianity—ignoring other world religions.

We then walked through the outside courtyard between the old and new buildings and into the “working” library of today. It is modern and vibrant. There is one fabulous little map room tucked to one side before you enter the open-concept modern reading tables, shelves and shelves and shelves of books, and the circulation desks which serve the library’s 28 branches as well as walk-ins. Then, finally we came to the Newsfeed Café and the live production of WGBH radio’s three-hour mid-day program, the very popular Jim and Margery show. We bought lunch and sat and watched Jim and Margery interview a couple of guests as we ate. Fantastic day. I truly enjoyed the self-guided tour of this most impressive public library.

2023 Life Logs, Day 86: Alan’s New Zealand Presentation
Date: Monday, March 27, 2023
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 53, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I am just now posting logs from the past couple of days. Sometimes living gets in the way of writing about it!

Today was another sunny day and I headed north to Newbridge on the Charles in Dedham where my good friends, Alan and Helaine Kanegsberg, live. At 2 pm this afternoon, Alan was giving a presentation about the five week land tour they took with Mark and I when we were in New Zealand. Alan did a masterful job of taking us from Whangarai in the north of the North Island, to Auckland, and then down the middle of the North Island to Wellington. We then got on a ferry and crossed to the South Island, where he led us down the west coast, rounding the southern tip of the South Island, back up the east coast, back on the ferry to the North Island, up the west coast of the North Island, and all the way up to Cape Reinga. He captured the amazing beauty of New Zealand just perfectly. Bravo, Alan! I really enjoyed the trip.

2023 Life Logs, Day 85: From Suckanesset to Falmouth History Lesson
Date: Sunday, March 26, 2023
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High 73, Low 43 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

This was a gloriously sunny and warm day. I slept in, took Shadow for a walk, prepared seed trays for planting, and then took my time driving to Woods Hole, staying along the water to soak in the beauty around me. I arrived just in time for a 3 pm program at the Woods Hole Church of the Messiah, Parish and Community Center. The presenter was Eric Turkington, and the title of the program was From Suckanesset to Falmouth: How our town’s land went from Wampanoag territory to English ownership in 25 years.

Eric Turkington is a local lawyer and politician and the former Democratic member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives representing this area. Before that he was on the Falmouth Town Select Board, and it was then that he started delving into the history of the area. When Bartholomew Gosnold arrived in this part of the world in 1602, it was inhabited by the people of the Wampanoag Tribe, also known as the People of the First Light. They had inhabited present day Massachusetts and eastern Rhode Island for more than 12,000 years. But once the Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth and others from Europe arrived, it took only 25 years for the area known as Suckanesset to the Wampanoag people to become settled and known as Falmouth. The Wampanoag people did maintain part of the Mashpee area and the Aquinnah area of Martha’s Vineyard, but here in Falmouth only the names endured . . . Menauhant, Megansett, Chapaquoit, Coonemessett, Sippewissett, Quissett, Teaticket, to name a few. It was an excellent presentation by someone who obviously cares about making sure we get history right.

2023 Life Logs, Day 84: Baby Shower in New Hampshire
Date: Saturday, March 25, 2023
Weather: Overcast, Mix of Rain and Snow in NH, Rain at Home; High 45, Low 39 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I was off early this morning for Greenland, New Hampshire, near Portsmouth on the coast, to attend a baby shower for my good friend Detta Porat’s daughter Sarah. I loaded the car yesterday with the rocking dragon I gave Sam for his first Christmas that is going on loan to its new home and my gifts for the baby, so take off was easy, as was the drive north with absolutely no traffic.

Detta and Tom have two children, Sarah and Matthew, and this will be their first grandchild. It had already been announced that it will be a girl, joining us sometime in mid-April. I have known Sarah since she was born, but I hadn’t seen her since she graduated from college and moved to Ashville, North Carolina. She married Christian Jefferson while in Ashville and eventually they moved back to New Hampshire. It was an exciting day for me to get to see Sarah after so many years and to meet Christian. It was also exciting to get to see the renovated portion of Tom and Detta’s home ‘almost’ finished. I visited the end of January and the inside walls were finished, but the flooring wasn’t down. There are still a few small things inside to be done, but Tom and Detta have now moved their bedroom to the new addition, and it is breathtakingly beautiful. The master bedroom is on the second floor with views all around of Great Bay. And the main floor is a family room with a game room, soon to be a grandchild playroom, again with huge windows all around giving wonderful views of the bay. For the shower Detta had decorated the whole house with baby clothing. This baby is not going to want for clothing! And those of us attending the shower did not want for food. There was food in every room, so you could eat your way through the house. And then we had a sit-down luncheon, an afternoon of game playing, and then a fabulous array of desserts.

My drive home was nothing like the easy drive up in the morning. There was a wintry mix of icy rain and snow when I left. I then mistakenly headed north on I 95 toward Maine and had to drive 8 miles before I could turn around. Then as I approached the Tobin Bridge coming into Boston there was a wreck and traffic was at a standstill for over an hour. At least the snow had turned to rain by this time. Instead of getting home at 5:30 to take Shadow for a walk, I arrived at 7 pm, totally exhausted. I did manage to play fetch with Shadow for a few minutes and then I collapsed. Thankfully, I had hired Upper Cape Pet Services to walk Shadow mid-day and I got a glowing report from the young woman who visited with Shadow. Evidently he is the perfect dog for strangers. She even managed to get him to pose for photos that she sent me.

2023 Life Logs, Day 83: This and That
Date: Friday, March 24, 2023
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High 52, Low 35 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

This was a slow day with not much to report. I took it easy as the doctor prescribed after yesterday’s epidural. The pain I have as a result of the herniated discs is felt in my hips, not in my back. And that was better today. Not completely gone, but much better. So far, so good.

I watched a program today called ‘From Food to Freedom’ about the positive effects of a plant-based diet. It was done by Nelson Campbell and his wife Kim. He is the son of T. Colin Campbell of China Study fame. Colin Campbell went from being the son of a pig farmer in Iowa to becoming one of the world’s most fierce champions of a vegetarian diet based on research findings. His son Nelson is continuing his work. I have been trying to become plant-based with the addition of fish, but I still slip back into my old ways from time to time. This gave me the incentive to work at it a little harder.

Early tomorrow morning I am off to Portsmouth, NH, for the day. My good friend Detta is hosting a baby shower for her daughter Sarah. I have known Sarah since she was born and feel like a member of their family. The Porats are such welcoming people that I think many feel that way. It should be a fun day. I have Upper Cape Pet Sitting coming to take Shadow out for a walk and bathroom break. I’m anxious to see how that goes.