2023 Life Logs, Day 22: Slow Motion Sunday
Date: Sunday, January 22, 2023
Weather: Overcast; High 43, Low 41 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:03 am & 4:46 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

This Sunday felt like it was in slow motion. I had nothing on my calendar, so I stayed home, worked slowly on a new puzzle, took a nap, walked slowly with Shadow, and started watching the Three Pines series on Prime. Three Pines is based on the Inspector Gamache books by Louise Penny. I have read 17 of the 18 books in that series and have thoroughly enjoyed everyone of them. If you are not familiar, the setting is in Quebec, both in Montreal and in the small village of Three Pines. Late this afternoon, I finally had time to start watching Season One. I loved it and watched two episodes. I’m sure I’ll be through the whole season by the end of the week. The new jigsaw puzzle I’m working on I’m not so sure I love. It is challenging. A puzzle within a puzzle. My good friend Karen Baranowski dropped it off on Friday. I gave her the Ravensburger I had just completed—99 Beautiful Places in the World. I have only been to 20 of the 99. She gave me a Ravensburger Escape Puzzle. Today was her birthday—Happy Birthday, Karen! She and Peter are up in Cohasset visiting with their daughter. But when she gets home, I have plenty of questions for her on how to work this impossible puzzle.

The weather has been overcast and tonight it is supposed to start raining and continue until tomorrow afternoon when it looks like it will turn to snow. I am making a shopping trip off Cape in the morning but will plan to be home before the snow starts. If the forecast is correct, we’ll get sunshine on Tuesday. Woohoo! Can’t wait.

2023 Life Logs, Day 21: Happy 16th Birthday to Sam
Date: Saturday, January 21, 2023
Weather: Overcast and Chilly; High 35, Low 26 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:04 am & 4:45 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I got up this morning thinking I would be headed to Supercharged Entertainment in Wrentham to celebrate Sam’s 16th birthday this afternoon with Heather, Jed, Ollie, Jonah, and three of Sam’s friends. I still can’t believe my oldest grandchild is now 16. Just yesterday he was one.But the birthday party plans were abruptly changed when Sam found out that one of his best friends tested positive for Covid. In addition to family, Sam only wanted his three best friends—Sebastian, Ethan, and Robert—to go with him to the entertainment center. When he found out Robert couldn’t go, he asked if the party could be postponed until all could go. So now we will hope to do this in two weeks. But Sebastian and Ethan still joined us for dinner at Shipwrecked on Falmouth Heights Beach and were then spending the night with Sam. Sam chose Shipwrecked because he could have sushi for an appetizer and then have a big, juicy burger. His idea of food heaven. We went early, but it was already slammed and we were told we would have an hour plus wait. As Heather, Jed, and I stood outside in the dark and the cold discussing other possibilities, the boys went out on the soccer field and played soccer with a ball Jonah had brought. Then they went down on the beach. Finally we all got cold and decided to go inside and wait. Heather talked to the hostess and they said waiting for a table for all of us was really going to take a while. They offered two tables, so Sam, Sebastian, and Ethan had their own table and the rest of us sat separately. We missed being with Sam, but the three teenage boys were quite happy to have their own space. The wait staff was tipped off by Heather that it was Sam’s birthday and they asked if we wanted them to bring him cake with a candle. We were having cake when we got home, so Heather said no cake, but maybe a candle. They brought a candle in a cup of ice cream—just enough to embarrass him a little, but not too much.

Back at 43 Grasmere, we had the birthday cake. But that comes with a story. When Smitty’s ice cream shop closed for the season, Sam had special ordered a watermelon sherbet ice cream cake for his birthday. I picked it up and did notice that it had Goldstone written on the side, but another name on the top. But Smitty had assured me it was out order. When Heather opened the box last week to check it out, she was surprised to find that there was writing on the cake saying, “Happy Birthday, Laurie.” It would have been easy to scrape that off and replace it with “Happy Birthday, Sam.” But no. Sam thought it was a riot that the cake had someone else’s name on it. And since we did not know what Laurie had ordered, we had no idea what kind of ice cream cake it was. It became known as the mystery cake. When Sam cut into it tonight, we found that it was the usual vanilla and chocolate. And we all got a kick out of eating Laurie’s birthday cake. Sorry, Laurie. We hope you enjoyed Sam’s cake.

Sam discovered his birthday present a day early and was so excited that he slept with it. For Christmas he had asked Santa for a Milwaukee drill/driver set. He knew it was expensive and knew he might not get it. He didn’t get it for Christmas, but Heather and Jed, Grammy Marti, and I went together to buy it for him for his birthday to support his love of woodworking. Happy birthday, Sam!

2023 Life Logs, Day 20: Evening with Wine Group
Date: Friday, January 20, 2023
Weather: Overcast and Rainy; High 41, Low 30 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:04 am & 4:44 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

We gained another 3 minutes of daylight today. Hurray!!! I spent my day doing a little house cleaning, getting ready to host my wine group this evening. We had a great evening and all expanded our knowledge of the wine industry. The theme that I had set was to bring only wines produced in wineries owned by women. A week or so ago, we all discovered just how challenging this was. So, I broadened the WOW theme–Women of Wine–to include wines produced by women winemakers in a winery owned by men. Or if that didn’t work, we could just bring our favorite wine of winter—another WOW theme. The results were fascinating. Rich and Marion did their research and found that wines from the McBride Sisters winery were available at Target stores in Boston. The McBride Sisters brand is not only the largest Black-owned wine company in the US, it is also owned by Black women. The Black Girl Magic Sparkling Brute got rave reviews from our group. Then Don and Susan shared their choice. They had not been able to find a WOW (wine owned winery) wine, so they decided to bring Susan’s favorite wine of winter–an Argentinian Alamos Malbec. Then she and Don found out that this wine is produced by a woman. I went next with an all-time favorite of mine, an Apothic wine. I was actually introduced to this wine by my sister Patsy who used to buy it at Costco. She always bought the red blend, but in my research, I found that Apothic is the product of a woman winemaker, Debbie Juergensen, who works for the mother company, Gallo. Her favorite is the Cabernet Sauvignon, so that was my contribution tonight and it also got rave reviews. The last wine of the evening was a Sarah Jessica Parker Invivo Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand that Billy and Eileen brought. Sarah Jessica Parker is an American actress that co-founded the New Zealand Invivo winery. Most of our wine group are die hard red wine drinkers, but everyone really liked this Sauvignon Blanc. It was another great evening with the Best Wine Group Ever.

2023 Life Logs, Day 19: Puzzle Day
Date: Thursday, January 19, 2023
Weather: Overcast, Then Rain; High 40, Low 37 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:05 am & 4:42 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

A walk with Olga and Shadow and working on my current jigsaw puzzle were my activities today. Tonight, I am starting to gear up for having my wine group here tomorrow evening. I just realized that I have broken all but one of my red wine glasses, so I suppose a trip somewhere to buy wine glasses will be part of getting ready tomorrow. One other job that I have added to my life is being on the Newcomers Nominating Committee. My job is to communicate with those people who have expressed interest in one of the open positions. So, I have spent part of my evening ‘communicating’ via email. Next contact will be on the phone. What did I get myself into this time?!!

And I have spent the other part of my evening thinking about Justin. He was so sick Sunday night that Jo had to take him to the ER in the middle of the night. The emergency was that he had chest pains, but also a fever, headache, chills, and the list goes on. They sent him home saying the best guess is that he has a virus, but his symptoms have persisted. He says he feels a little better each day, but he has been down and out all week. And that is just not like Justin. So, ‘me worry’.

2023 Life Logs, Day 18: Confused Dandelions
Date: Wednesday, January 18, 2023
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 51, Low 34 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:05 am & 4:42 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

This is the third day in the last six that we have gained one minute of daylight in the morning and two minutes in the late afternoon. But that is not what is confusing the dandelions. It is simply that it is generally warmer than it should be in winter. It was 51 degrees F today, and with the sunshine, you didn’t even need a coat. When I went into town this morning to run a whole slew of errands, I wore my winter coat and was really hot by the time I got home. So off went the coat when I took Shadow outside to play. That is when I discovered the dandelions in Shirley’s yard and the daffodil and crocus shoots coming up. They are confused. They think it is spring. But I am sure that soon they will get a reminder that it is actually winter and will have to go away for a bit and come back in March or April.

I spent my afternoon at a Newcomers Nominating Committee meeting for officers for next year. Since I have never held an office and been on the board, I am not sure why I was asked to be on this committee. But I am happy to do it as a bit of payback for all that Newcomers has done for me. After the meeting, I rushed home to fix the veggies I was taking to my Dining-in group dinner at the Baranowski’s tonight. The whole gang was not there tonight, but the six of us who were there had a great time and certainly enjoyed the good food. Thank you, Peter and Karen, for hosting.

2023 Life Logs, Day 17: The Edward M Kennedy Institute for the US Senate
Date: Tuesday, January 17, 2023
Weather: Sunshine; High 44, Low 38 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:06 am & 4:40 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Today I led a Newcomers field trip to the Edward M Kennedy Institute for the US Senate in Boston. This Institute is another Massachusetts treasure. The Senate Chamber is an exact replica of the Chamber in our nation’s Capitolploads/2023/01/02-The-Senate-Chamber-scaled.jpg”> and the replica of Ted Kennedy’s Senate office was fascinating. He proudly served as a Massachusetts Senator for 47 years, almost half a century. After having lunch with Ted Kennedy’s artwork in the background, our group sat in the Chamber tto participate in a mock session on the pending voting rights legislation. A true learning experience.

2023 Life Logs, Day 16: Observing MLK on a Snowy Day
Date: Monday, January 16, 2023
Weather: More Snow; High 33, Low 30 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:06 am & 4:39 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I hope you agree with me that grandmothers have the right to be proud. Ollie’s fifth grade class was invited to read excerpts from Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech at Falmouth’s National Holiday Breakfast this morning. He knew the family was going to be in Maine snowboarding, but he asked his parents if there was anyway he could come home a day early to participate. He was willing to give up a day on slopes to do this, so Heather drove separately so she could bring Ollie home last night. Unfortunately, it was a tough drive as it was snowing and the slush on I 495 in Massachusetts had not been plowed. But they made it home safely around 11 pm. The MLK Breakfast was at the Sea Crest on Buzzards Bay and was very well attended. I could not have been prouder of Ollie. Only ten children from the fifth grade showed up, but they did a great job. He wore a white dress shirt with a red sweater and his new dress shoes. He was stylin’. After the students recited parts of MLK’s famous speech from memory, Rabbi Elias Lieberman from the Falmouth Jewish Congregation played his guitar and led them in singing, “This Little Light of Mine.” After the student presentation, Ollie joined Heather and I at our table to listen to the main speaker. Most of the other students left, but Ollie had insisted that he wanted to stay for the whole program. Again, proud grandmother. The Diversity and Inclusion Director for the Falmouth Schools was the speaker, and the main theme of his talk was chaos or community . . . which do we choose? And if the choice is true community, are we willing to do the hard work to get there? At the end of the breakfast, we all stood and held hands to sing “We Shall Overcome” together. As we sang, tears were streaming from my eyes. The word ‘someday’ in that song did not make me cry in the 1960’s and 70’s. I was hopeful. Now, holding my grandson’s hand and knowing that 50 years have passed, and I feel like we are no closer to ‘overcoming’, it makes me so very sad. But sadness does nothing. We all need to find what we can do to reach a state of true community with our fellow Americans and people from around the globe. When we started singing the song, I did not readily see anyone on my left to hold hands with. Then Heather moved beside me and reached out to hold the hand of a Black man and his son, a classmate of Ollie’s, who were next to me but at the next table. I never thought to reach across. I think some of my tears were tears of joy watching my daughter reach out. Mothers have a right to be proud as well.

After the breakfast, I went home to play outside in the snow with Shadow. Yes, it was still snowing this morning. The temperature hovered right around the freezing point overnight and today, but it was not enough to keep the falling snow from melting. It was a very wet snow that did accumulate in some places, but it was splotchy. I invited Heather and Ollie to lunch at Shipwrecked, so after playing in the snow with Shadow, I drove back to town to take them to lunch. Ollie loves that he can order clam chowder and sushi in the same restaurant, Shipwrecked on Falmouth Heights Beach, so we (Ollie and I) did just that. Heather had a beautiful and delicious Poke bowl, and we ate watching the snow fall on the beach. Lovely.

2023 Life Logs, Day 15: Snow and Wind
Date: Sunday, January 15, 2023
Weather: Wind N 20-30, Snow; High 36, Low 32 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:07 am & 4:37 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

It finally looks like winter here. When I first went outside with Shadow this morning, the ground was bare. But around 10 am, tiny balls of ice started falling from the sky. Then an hour later, the little ice balls turned to snowflakes, and it snowed lightly off and on all day. It has stopped for now but is supposed to return in the middle of the night and continue during the day tomorrow before ending. The accumulation won’t be much, but at least it looks like winter for a bit. I love the snow, but the wind causes it to feel much colder. Right now, it is 33 degrees out, but it feels like 21 degrees F according to WeatherUnderground.

I drove to Heather’s this morning to feed the cats and do my laundry. Actually, I washed the clothes yesterday and left them in the washer overnight until I returned this morning. I put the clothes in the dryer and then read the article in today’s New York Times by a man who tried to live 24 hours without plastic. Certainly not easy to do, but I felt good that I do some of the things to limit the amount of plastic I ‘donate’ to the earth. I use shampoo and conditioner bars (like bars of soap) that come wrapped in paper. I take a stainless-steel water bottle with me wherever I go, trying to never buy water in a plastic bottle. I carry reusable grocery bags in my car. I have eliminated plastic storage containers in my kitchen, although my glass containers all have plastic lids. I buy most of my fruits and vegetables with no packaging, but the arugula and berries I buy both come in plastic. As was stated in the article, living totally without plastic is almost impossible, but the important thing is to start to do your part to limit when you can and celebrate your successes.

A little more puzzling today, researching possibilities of purchasing wine produced in a woman owned and operated winery for Friday night’s wine group gathering, finalized communications for Tuesday’s field trip to the Kennedy Institute, and fought the wind to walk with Shadow and play fetch. That was it for me today. And tonight, I AM NOT going to watch a movie. I’m still reeling from watching Bardo last night. This morning I looked up the meaning of the world ‘bardo.” According to Wikipedia: “Used without qualification, ‘bardo’ is the state of existence intermediate between two lives on earth.” According to Tibetan tradition, after death and before one’s next birth, when one’s consciousness is not connected with a physical body, one experiences a variety of phenomena.” Following these Tibetan traditions there are three death bardos: one of dying, dharmata, which means the intrinsic nature of everything, whatever that means, and the bardo of becoming. No wonder I didn’t understand the movie. But even without understanding, I think it is worth watching. Like I said in last night’s log, our minds need a little stretch once in a while.

2023 Life Logs, Day 14: Gale Warning Tonight
Date: Saturday, January 14, 2023
Weather: Overcast with Strong North Wind; High 43, Low 33 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:07 am & 4:37 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The north wind was blowing strong today and tonight we have gale warning going into effect until Monday. I just came in from taking Shadow out for his last outing of the evening, and it was obvious that the temperature is dropping, The precipitation predicted for tomorrow might come down as snow. And speaking of snow, I saw photos on Facebook of the Goldstone gang on the slopes in Maine with friends. Looks like they are having fun.

I slept in this morning and by the time I did my morning ablutions, traveled around town doing plant watering chores for out of town friends fed the cats at 43 Grasmere, and stopped at the PO to send a package to Ziggy and Coco, it was after noon when I got home. Lunch, walk with Shadow, puzzling, playing fetch with Shadow, taking photos of the huge gaggle of geese down by the dock (75 and counting), more puzzling . . . and suddenly it was dinnertime. I fixed dinner and decided to kick back and watch a movie. Today there was a suggested list in the NYTs This Morning online, so I started with the first one. It was a mind trip. Not the frivolous entertainment I was looking for, but very thought provoking once I worked through the weirdness. I watched “Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths.” A summary I found online described the plot this way: “An acclaimed journalist-turned-documentarian goes on an oneiric introspective journal to reconcile with the past, the present, and his Mexican identity.” Much of the film is in Spanish, but it is captioned, and you really don’t even notice. As one example of weirdness, at one point, the journalist was sitting atop a pyramid of dead people having a conversation with Cortez. In another scene, Silverio, the journalist, is talking with his dead father in a huge public bathroom. Strange scene, but the father does impart words of wisdom: “Age comes without warning. Then it turns into a full-time job. Walking, eating, using the bathroom . . . everything’s a problem. No one ever told me. Nobody ever warns you about it.” Then Pa goes on to talk to his son about success: “Take a swig of success. Swish it around and spit it out. Otherwise, it will poison you.” There were many of these thought-provoking statements throughout the film, but despite that, I almost stopped watching at least three different times. I put the movie on pause each time, but then decided to persist. I’m glad I did. In my opinion, it was ‘very out there’, but one needs a mind stretch once in a while.