2023 Life Logs, Day 32: In Memory of Helen Marie Landers Stricklen
Date: Wednesday, February 1, 2023
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Cold; High 32, Low 18 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 6:54 am – 4:59 pm (+2 minutes)
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, NH

This log is dedicated to my sister Patsy and her best friend from her teenage years and beyond. I am Facebook friends with the granddaughter of my sister’s best friend and tonight I saw a post announcing the death of that best friend, Helen Marie Landers Stricklen. In 1950, when I was two, my sister was 16, and Helen was 15, Patsy went with Bob Stricklen and Helen from West Virginia to Kentucky where they could be married legally. Patsy was their witness and she said tonight that everyone thought that marriage would not last because Helen was too young. Well, that marriage did last and when I was growing up, Helen and Bob were neighbors. I got to see firsthand what a truly happy marriage looks like. They had two daughters, Kathy and Becky who were the ages of my nieces and nephews. Since all of my brothers and sisters were close in age to Helen and Bob, I saw them as just another brother and sister and Kathy and Becky as nieces–an extension of my family. Helen gave me my first paying job when I was in third grade. I used to iron for her at 5 cents a piece. But what Helen and Bob gave me that has lasted through the years was a glimpse of what true happiness looks like. Bob died in 2021 after 71 years of marriage to Helen, and now Helen has joined him. When I called my sister tonight to tell her of Helen’s passing, she said, “Helen was the closest to being an angel that any human can be.” I only have two photos of Helen and Patsy, one as teenage girls and one taken on Helen and Bob’s wedding day. I was a very lucky person to have known both Helen and Bob. My thoughts are with the family left behind who knew them as Nanny and PaPa.

2023 Life Logs, Day 31: Home from New Hampshire
Date: Tuesday, January 31, 2023
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 40, Low 25 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 6:55 am & 4:58 pm (+2 minutes)
Location: Back Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, NH

It was definitely a whirlwind trip to New Hampshire, but I had a much overdue visit with Detta and Tom and a reunion with Peppe Christianson for the first time in 13 years. Mark and I first met Peppe and Bob in Salomon Atoll in Chagos in the Indian Ocean in 2010, and it was great to see her again.

Shadow and I woke up this morning to a beautiful view of Great Bay and then left the Porat’s and after breakfast, we went to the Great Bay Discovery Center for a walk. Then we headed to New Market on the other side of Great Bay to visit with Peppe and her sister. Peppe ad I spent time catching up and then I spent time talking to Peppe and her sister, Lynné about my experience in supporting Mark through his years of chemotherapy. Peppe is here to be with her sister as she goes through chemotherapy for lung cancer that was recently discovered. Peppe made lunch for us using recipes from The Cancer Fighting Kitchen, a great recipe book I used as a ‘bible’ during Mark’s chemo years. Peppe’s husband, Bob, stayed at home on Kitsap peninsula back in Washington state while Peppe is here for a few weeks to be with her sister. I hope I get to see her again.

2023 Life Logs, Day 30: Falmouth to Greenland, NH (near Portsmouth on the Coast)
Date: Monday, January 30, 2023
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 5, Low 34 degrees F (30 F in Greenland)
Sunrise and Sunset: 6:56 am & 4:57 pm (+3 minutes)
Location: At Home with Detta and Tom Porat, Greenland, NH

Shadow and I arrived in Greenland, New Hampshire at 6:30 pm. I didn’t leave home until 4 pm as my Nominating Committee meeting lasted longer than I expected. Then I had to drive home, pack up the car, and take Shadow for a walk before we could leave. We actually made great time with very little traffic. There is a little ‘old’ snow here along the road and the temperature is not that much colder than at home. Detta had a wonderful dinner waiting for me, salmon topped with pistachios, sweet potatoes, and green beans. As usual, Detta and I outlasted Tom, but we actually shut down earlier than normal. Detta has been having some crazy things happening to her body since mid-October that none of the exhaustive tests and doctors and identify. I won’t go into all the symptoms, but they are extensive. The doctors suspected multiple sclerosis, even ALS. But thankfully it is neither of those. It is appearing more and more as if it is a reaction to her bivalent Covid booster she had in mid-September followed by a flu shot two weeks later. It is not getting worse, but new symptoms keep appearing. Very strange. But she is facing all of this with a positive attitude—the only kind of attitude Detta has.

Tomorrow morning I will leaving here around 10 am to go visit with my sailing friend, Peppe. Then in the early afternoon, Shadow and I will head home. A quick visit, but so good to catch up with friends.

2023 Life Logs, Day 29: Futsal Afternoon, Dinner with the Goldstones
Date: Sunday, January 29, 2023
Weather: Partly Cloudy to Overcast; High 50, Low 38 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 6:57 am & 4:55 pm (+2 minutes)
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

What I thought was going to be free and easy Sunday ended up to a whirlwind of a day. My laziness caused the whirlwind to form. When Shadow and I up at 7 am for our trip outside, we both decided to go back to bed. I intended to read for a bit and then get up. But fell asleep and didn’t wake up until 9:30. I was to pick up friend Olga Mitchell to walk at 10 am and had offered to do the prep work for a beef stew dinner and have it at Heather and Jed’s by 1 pm. Then either I was going to stay with Ollie while Jed took Jonah to his futsal game an hour north of here OR I was going to take Jonah and Jed would finish the beef stew. To be determined. Olga, Shadow, and I went for a bog walk to check out the ducks, geese, and sea gulls that are enjoying the bogs while they are flooded. When I got home, I needed to answer a few text messages that had come in and then talk with Detta Porat about my visit tomorrow night. By this time, it was noon and that marinated stew meat had still not been dredged in the flour had to be dealt with. About that time, I got the text from Jed asking if I would take Jonah. I went into high gear and got the beef and potatoes browned and put everything else in a bag and headed to Heather and Jed’s. I dropped the bag with the beef stew ingredients and took off with Jonah. My good intentions of having a dinner ready for Heather so she wouldn’t have to cook when she got home from her Krupalu weekend ended up to be just that. Good intentions. She ended up having to fix dinner while I had a good time watching Jonah play indoor soccer.

When I talk about taking Jonah to futsal, people ask me what it is. I always say it is a version of indoor soccer. But I finally found a more definitive answer on the web. “Futsal is a pared-down version of outdoor soccer played indoors, on a smaller field and with fewer players (five-a-side). The term ‘futsal’ stems from the Spanish or Portuguese word for “soccer” and the French or Spanish word for “room”—fútbol de salón and futebol de salão emerged as the trademark name futsal.”

So my day was not as laid back as I had envisioned, but it was good day. Jonah’s team won their game 14-1 and secured their place in the play-offs next weekend. I drove Jonah home and dropped him off around 5 pm. I went home to play fetch with Shadow in the very last light of the day (almost dark) and then headed back to have dinner with the Goldstones. Heather made challah to go with the beef stew. I don’t normally eat gluten products, but the beautifully braided bread looked so good that I just had to have a piece. It was delicious.

Tomorrow afternoon, following a Newcomers nominating committee meeting, Shadow and I head to New Hampshire. I will have dinner and spend the night with Tom and Detta Porat in Greenland (near Portsmouth), and on Tuesday morning, I will visit with Peppe Christianson. Peppe and her husband Bob were cruisers aboard their boat, Far Niente, that we met while sailing around the world. Bob and Peppe now live on the West Coast, but Peppe is in New Hampshire to spend a few weeks with her sister who is going through chemotherapy. She just arrived in New Hampshire last week, and I want to go drive up to say hello. I haven’t seen her since we were together in South Africa in 2010. Where do those years go? I will visit with her on Tuesday morning and then head home.

2023 Life Logs, Day 28: Watching and Working
Date: Saturday, January 28, 2023
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 49, Low 35 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 6:58 am & 4:54 pm (+2 minutes)
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I binged on puzzling and watching TV today and enjoyed every minute of it. I finished watching the Season 1 episodes of Three Pines on Amazon Prime and then watched a movie, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Three Pines is also a mystery, but it is a series of mysteries instead of a movie. It features Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. Louise Penny wrote the books and, in my opinion, Amazon Prime has done a great job of changing the stories, but keeping the heart of the characters alive. The other binge activity was working, not on real work, but working on my current jigsaw puzzle. I made a lot of progress, but I have a way to go. It is a challenging one.

2023 Life Logs, Day 27: Just Me and My Shadow
Date: Friday, January 27, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 40, Low 31 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 6:59 am & 4:53 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

For Christmas, Jed’s mom gave Heather a weekend at Kripalu Yoga Center in western Massachusetts and this is the weekend. So, Heather is out of town and Jed and the boys were off this afternoon for a Saturday on the slopes. That leaves just me and my Shadow. We went for a lovely walk in the Coonasmessett River Restoration area this morning with Olga Mitchell. When I took Olga home, she showed me her camellia bush that is in full bloom. The plants are so confused with the warm weather we are having this winter.

After dropping Olga off, I took Shadow home to drop him off and then and went to the car wash to use their free vacuums to clean out my car. I drove a bit further to have my almost overdue annual State Inspection done on the car. I knew it was due in January but somehow January is almost over and I had not made it there. So, check, check. Two jobs I have been intending to do for the past 26 days are finally done. Before returning home, I went to the grocery store for a few items and then spent my afternoon working on my new jigsaw puzzle and starting to read a new book, Horse by Geraldine Brooks. I think my weekend will be more of the same. And we gained another three minutes of daylight today. Hurray!

2023 Life Logs, Day 26: Lunch with Friends
Date: Thursday, January 26, 2023
Weather: Sunny, Gale Force Winds; High 52, Low 30 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:00 am & 4:51 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I stayed up very late last night trying to finish Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver—a must read book. I didn’t finish the book, but Shadow and I slept in this morning and didn’t get up until almost 9 am. I managed to then spend an hour ‘studying’ the jigsaw puzzle I am working on. It is a very different kind of puzzle that I have pieced together parts of, but can’t seem to find the way to connect the parts. Then I was off to lunch with friends Karen Baranowski and Christina Brodie. Christina just got home from a fabulous trip to Hawaii, so we had lots to catch up on. I had planned to come home and finish that book, but I ended up doing Newcomers Nominating Committee work and playing outside with Shadow. Maybe I’ll finish the book tonight.

We have not had a lot of sunshine lately, but today was sunny. It was also super windy and warm. Not sure when we are going to get winter this year. In addition to the sunshine we had today, we have gained ten minutes of daylight this week. Sunrise is now 7 am and sunset is moving quickly towards 5 pm. I love it!

2023 Life Logs, Day 25: Meeting, Ollie’s Saxophone Lesson, Dinner with the Goldstones
Date: Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Weather: Overcast, Rain Tonight; High 45, Low 40 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:01 am & 4:50 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Remember my friend Lynne’s favorite saying? “You make plans, then life happens.” It happened again this evening. I was supposed to fix dinner for Ollie and Sam while Heather took Jonah to winter soccer practice and Jed attended meetings all evening. Well, Jonah decided to not go to practice, so he and Heather were at home for dinner. And Jed’s meetings were online, so he was home as well. Ollie and I got home from his saxophone lesson at 5:30 pm and suddenly found the dinner plans changed. It took a while, but all worked out in the end. And working backwards through the day, I spent almost three hours at a Newcomers Nominating Committee meeting in the late morning and early afternoon. I did walk and play fetch with Shadow, but he was at home alone most of the day. I promised him tonight that I will spend more time at home with him tomorrow.

2023 Life Logs, Day 24: Watering, Walking, Eating, and Contacting
Date: Tuesday, January 24, 2023
Weather: Sunshine Early, then Overcast; High 40, Low 29 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:02 am & 4:48 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

My day started by watering plants for friends who are out of town and then going for a 1.7 mile walk on the Quashnet River Trail with Shadow and my friend Olga Mitchell. I drove to West Falmouth to water the plants, drove back to East Falmouth to pick Olga up, drove to my house to get my hiking boots that I had forgotten to bring with me, drove to Waquoit to walk, took Olga home, took Shadow home, and headed into Falmouth for 1 pm birthday luncheon for friend Karen Baranowski. Then I raced home to make some contact calls with prospective officers for Newcomers. The Nominating Committee meets tomorrow, and I still had a couple of people to contact before that meeting. Somehow it was suddenly 6:30 pm and I was still sitting at my computer. I got up, fixed dinner, hopped on my exercise bike, watched some news, and now it is time to go to bed. Tomorrow is another busy one. Thursday I have lunch with a friend. And Friday. Yes, Friday I have nothing on my calendar except a walk with Shadow and Olga. Can’t wait for do-nothing day.

2023 Life Logs, Day 23: Shopping Day
Date: Monday, January 23, 2023
Weather: Overcast with Rain, Turning to Snowy Mix; High 46, Low 30 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:02 am & 4:48 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Last Tuesday we had a beautiful, sunny day and Wednesday was partly sunny. But we have not seen the sun since. Tomorrow looks promising for at least a tiny bit of sunshine. On the brighter side, we might not be getting a lot of sunshine, but we continue to gain hours of daylight. Yesterday we gained two minutes and today three. But whose keeping track? Certainly, not me!

I drove to Plymouth this morning to pick up Sam’s indoor soccer shoes and then traveled on to Costco. I went to buy a few more items of winter clothing for Justin and family for their February trip from Puerto Rico to Vermont,, and of course, I had to buy a few food items. Costco still had beautiful pomegranates, so that was my prized purchase of the day. On the way home, an icy mix started to fall and continued when I got home. A few snowflakes are still falling. However, the temperature is above freezing, so any white stuff falling melts as soon as it hits the ground.