2023 Life Logs, Day 02: Wonderful Dinner with the Goldstones
Date: Monday, January 2, 2023
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Cooler: High 47, Low 33 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:10 am & 4:25 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I’ve been watching the sunrise and sunset times carefully since winter solstice, and finally for the past three days, we have gained one minute of daylight each day with the sunset moving forward. I love each added minute of daylight.

This morning I went for another walk with friend Olga Mitchell. We tried a new trail this morning that is close to home. It was a trail through the woods, but it was nice and wide and no one else was walking. I let Shadow off his leash, and he enjoyed the freedom of romping in the woods. But he doesn’t stray far. Even when off leash, he basically stays right beside me. I took Olga home, came home to have lunch, and then in the early afternoon, I took Sam and Jed with me to Planet Fitness to establish Sam’s membership. Jed had to be along to sign the release since Sam is still a minor. This was Sam’s Christmas present from me, and I do hope he enjoys it.

Then tonight the Goldstones came over for a final holiday dinner. It was so wonderful to be with them and hear all about their second Christmas in Maine. We had roasted chicken and root veggies with salad and Jonah made individual molten chocolate lava cakes for desserts. The dessert was decadent and delicious, but now it is time for me to end the holiday dessert delights. I will get back to having only a couple of squares of dark chocolate for dessert while looking forward to the Christmas holiday season next year. But my holiday fun is not over yet. I still have my Christmas tree lights to enjoy for four more days until the Twelfth Day of Christmas.

2023 Life Logs, Day 01: Welcome 2023
Date: Sunday, January 1, 2023
Weather: Partly Sunny and Warm: High 55, Low 35 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:10 am & 4:24 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Happy New Year to each of you. I sent last night’s log before I went out for the evening, so I’ll start by writing about last night. Before I left home, I got a message from Jo with a photo of the Justin, Ziggy, and Coco playing Backgammon and having a chilled New Year’s Eve . . . a perfect way to bring in the New Year as a family. Heather and family were still in Boothbay, Maine, celebrating the new year with Jed’s mother and his brother Toby and Stephanie. I picked up my friend Olga Mitchell and took her with me as a guest to a very small gathering of Newcomers Singles hosted by Lynda Onthank. Some who had planned to come backed out at the last minute as they had cold symptoms. We missed them but appreciated them staying at home and not spreading cold or flu germs. Lynda is a wonderful hostess and had more food than we could eat. But it was delicious so none of us entered the New Year hungry. At 10:45 pm, Olga and I headed to her house to join her daughter Susan, who lives with her, to greet 2023. Susan opened the bubbly I brought, Syltbar procecco, and we toasted 2023 as we watched the celebrations on TV. I didn’t get home until 1:30 am, took Shadow out to greet the new year, and then headed to bed to read. Lights didn’t go out until 2:30 am. So, a 10:30 am walk with Shadow and Olga came early. We had a lovely New Years Day walk along the Quasnet River and then I spent the remainder of my day just living the good life. Here’s wishing each of you health and happiness in 2023.

2022 Life Logs, Day 365: Happy New Year’s Eve
Date: Saturday, December 31, 2022
Weather: Overcast and Rainy: High 56, Low 46 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:10 am & 4:23 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Each year on New Year’s Eve when I type Day 365 in my log, it always shocks me that already another year has gone by. They do seem to go more quickly the older I get. I am headed to a small gathering of friends from the Newcomers Singles group tonight and I am taking my 90 year-young friend, Ole will only stay a couple of hours and then head back to her house to bring in the New Year with her daughter. Olga lives very close, so that makes for a short ride home at mid-night. I hope you have or had a wonderful New Year’s Eve and are looking forward to a healthy and happy 2023!

2022 Life Logs, Day 364: Holiday Luncheon with Friends
Date: Friday, December 30, 2022
Weather: Sunny: High 53, Low 44 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:10 am & 4:22 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Today was divided between going to Heather and Jed’s to feed the cats and to continue my clean-up of Sam’s room (an early birthday present), having a wonderful holiday luncheon ‘out’ with my dining-in group good friends, and returning home to do a little more research for my upcoming presentation to my Newcomers pubic policy group. And, as with every day, I made time to walk and play ball with Shadow. Each day this week, Shadow and I have had a different water bird experience down by the dock. This afternoon, it was watching our resident Great Blue Heron land on the marshy spit of land across from the dock and stand watch over the ducks and geese in the water. And all of this was done without wearing a winter coat. It was sunny and in the 50’s today. While I was enjoying the warm weather here, I ‘borrowed’ a photo Justin posted this afternoon from warm and wonderful Puerto Rico. He was at the Plaza Publica in Mayaguez enjoying the plaza all lit up for the holidays.

2022 Life Logs, Day 363: Outside Workday
Date: Thursday, December 29, 2022
Weather: Sunny: High 50, Low 39 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:09 am & 4:21 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The fact that I am still doing fall yard work at this time of year is testament to just how busy fall 2022 was for me. But thankfully, the weather cooperated a with a sunny, 50 degree day, and I think I mostly have everything done just in time for the new year. I still need to cover the kayaks under Shirley’s deck with a tarp, but other than that, the inflatable kayak is covered, the glass topped outside table is covered, all of the outside chairs are finally in the basement for the winter, the fallen leaves have all been moved from my yard and Shirley’s yard to my little landfill site in my side yard, and I got the eel grass mess cleaned up that accumulated in Shirley’s yard after the high tide flood had last Friday. The wind blew the water and all of the sediment it carried into Shirley’s yard. It formed a high tide line and the mix of chopped-up eel grass, sticks, and leaves was deep enough that it needed to be removed or it was going to kill the grass. Now that is done, and I am ready for the new year. Doing the yard clean up, going to Heather and Jed’s to feed the cats, and walking and playing with Shadow filled my day. Tomorrow, I have a holiday luncheon with my good friends in my Dining-in group. We were supposed to meet last week, but due to illness (Terry) and exposure to sick grandkids (me), we rescheduled. It will be great to see everyone and wish them a Happy New Year in person.

2022 Life Logs, Day 362: Another Laid Back Day
Date: Wednesday, December 28, 2022
Weather: Partly Cloudy: High 43, Low 35 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:09 am & 4:20 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Another laid back day. And strangely, it was warmer today, but felt colder to me. I guess it was the wind, but it didn’t stop Shadow and I from having fun outside. I love the fact that I live close to the water and Shadow, and I have daily water bird sightings while we are walking in the neighborhood or playing ball down by the water. Today’s big sighting was something I have not seen before. There was enough ice on the river that the geese looked like they were walking on water. The ice is thin, but evidently thick enough to hold the weight of the geese. And at sunset, when Shadow and I went to the water to play fetch, we witnessed one lone swan in the water under a gorgeous pink sky.

I went to Heather and Jed’s to feed the cats, took some kitty photos to send to the boys (Ollie’s request), worked on the mess of clothes on Sam’s bedroom floor as an early birthday present to him (teenagers!), collapsed a garage full of cardboard boxes to be recycled, and then came home to read through the articles I have chosen for the January Public Policy meeting that I will be leading. It is about how the decisions that we make three times a day about what we will eat makes an impact on the climate. The current research shows that for our own health and for the environment, we need to eat more fruits and vegetables and less meat. But for many people, saying that we should be eating less meat causes them to get very defensive. The current research and guidelines keep me going back to Michael Pollan’s 2008 book entitled In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto where he says all you have to remember is seven words—”Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” He goes on to explain that by “food” he means real food, not processed. His advice goes along with most current recommendations. If you have not read that book, I highly recommend it. I have one more day of reading and then I will send out links to the reading material to other group members.

2022 Life Logs, Day 361: A Do Nothing Wonderful Day
Date: Tuesday, December 27, 2022
Weather: Sunny: High 34, Low 24 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:09 am & 4:19 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
When I just typed Day 361, I realized we have only four days left until the New Year. 2023, here we come!

Before I launch into today, I need to make one correction to yesterday’s log and one addition. The correction is that I wrote that Revels included a piece on the Spanish-American War. What I intended to say was the Mexican American War. The addition is that after the episode of Jonah being stuck in a dark elevator for an hour at the Hampton Inn, at 12:15 am things got even wilder as a fire alarm went off in the hotel. Jed said it was probably someone smoking in the hallway, but whatever, it was another experience they could have done without. I doubt that they will want to stay in a hotel again for quite some time.

My day consisted of going to Heather and Jed’s to feed the cats and put a laundry in to wash, coming home to walk with Shadow and watch a Great Blue Heron and a wedge of swans flying over us, and then coming inside to work on a presentation for my Public Policy Group that meets in two weeks. I’m still trying work on the title or the big idea we will tackle. Generally, it will cover how food choices we make everyday can affect the climate. Then I went back outside to play ball with Shadow. We went down by the dock and observed the ice that forming close to shore. But I think that is short-lived. The weather forecast is for warmer weather for the remainder of the week.

I wish I had a photo to share, but I have only a video that is too long to post. Tonight my sister’s assistant living facility had a party for the residents and invited family. Patsy’s daughter Janet changed her Southwest flight back to Nashville (and lucky she did with their issues yesterday and today) to attend, her son-in-law Bill, and our nephew Tommy attended with her. There was live music and Tommy got Patsy on the dance floor for a solo performance. It was just wonderful to see her having such a wonderful time. Only Tommy could have done this. Watching the video made my heart sing with joy.

2022 Life Logs, Day 360: Never a Dull Moment
Date: Monday, December 26, 2022
Weather: Sunny and a Tad Warmer: High 31, Low 24 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:09 am & 4:19 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

After enjoying the 2022 rendition of Revels at the beautiful Sanders Theatre on the Harvard campus, Heather and family drove north to a Hampton Inn in Portsmouth and I drove home to the Cape. We both arrive at our destinations at the same time, texting each other to say we had arrived safe and sound. Then I got another text from Heather saying she had spoken too soon. The electricity went out in the hotel and Jonah is stuck in the elevator on the 2nd floor with no light. The 1st and 3rd floor doors will open, but not the second. The Fire Department has arrived, but so far, no one has come up with a way to get him out. This particular elevator system does not have a back-up way of getting the door opened. Jonah texted me to tell me he was stuck in the elevator, and I thought I sent back a calming text. But he must have read between the lines. He texted back that he is okay but that his phone was about to die which meant he couldn’t use his phone flashlight. I have continued to be in touch with Heather, but as of this moment (10:58 pm), he is still stuck in the elevator.

Well, strike that. At 10:59 pm, just as I finished that last paragraph, I got another text from Jonah telling me, “I’m out and my phone is plugged in!” I texted back asking how he got out, but before he could respond, Heather called. Evidently it was a planned power outage to work on the lines, but no one knew that the Hampton Inn has no back-up generator. The Fire Department contacted the power company, and they responded by saying it was a “poorly timed” planned outage and that they would turn the power back on. I would say that having the power go out in a three-floor hotel full of people and not having warned anyone of the outage was more than poorly timed. But all is well. Just a bit of an ‘adventure’ that all of us could have done without.

Now back to Revels. For five decades (plus one year), the annual Revels’ celebration was called, “The Christmas Revels.” But in planning the 52nd production, it became evident that having Christmas in the name of a solstice celebration excluded a lot of people. To make it more diverse and inclusive, they have renamed it “Midwinter Revels.” It was never solely about Christmas. It was more about solstice and welcoming the new year. I would have just renamed it “Revels.” But it was not my decision! Every year that I have attended, it has been the same story line from the cultural perspective of a different European country. This year’s title was “Tales from Ellis Island.” It took place in 1924 when processing delays caused by changes in the immigration laws found Irish and Jewish families from Ukraine spending the holiday time together. At first, I could follow the story line, but then they added an immigration official from Mexico and we somehow went from post-World War I memories back to the Mexican American War of the mid-1800’s. I lost any story line at that point, but I salute the organization for moving toward being more inclusive. It seemed disjointed to me, but maybe not to others. Regardless, as always I truly enjoyed the music, the dancing, and audience singing participation. At intermission, the entire audience holds hands and snakes its way down to the lobby singing “The Lord of the Dance.” Then in Part Two, the audience is always invited to sing a round for peace, “Dona Nobis Pacem.” It is worth the price of admission to go just to sing that song. And the traditional finale is singing “The Sussex Mummers Carol” with all the cast and the audience participating. “Our play is done, we must be gone, we stay no longer here. We wish you all both great and small a blessed bright new year, a blessed bright new year.” Peace in the new year is the essence of Revels to me. Thank you to Heather and Jed for including me in what has become annual family tradition. And every year, I leave the theatre filled with a renewed feeling of love and hope.

One last note. I had my annual Christmas call from friends Kevin and Claire this afternoon. They were driving from Los Angeles to Tuscon to meet up with Heather and Jon Turgeon, another couple that lived aboard their boat when Mark and I lived aboard there prior to sailing around the world. Kevin and Claire and Heather and Jon are all much younger, but despite the age difference, we all became such close friends. Kevin sent a Christmas greeting to Heather and Jon yesterday and discovered that they were in Tucson. Kevin and Claire were driving there today to pick up some boat parts for a fellow cruiser and then on to their boat in Guaymas, Mexico. They are in a hurry because Claire’s family is flying down tomorrow to visit with them. But they just had to stop and visit with Heather and Jon, and we worked out a time when we could all talk to each other on the phone. Kevin and Claire come to visit each year, but it has been a few years since I last saw Heather and Jon. We all hope that our next ‘gathering’ will be face to face.

2022 Life Logs, Day 359: A Very Merry Christmas
Date: Sunday, December 25, 2022
Weather: Cold and Snowy: High 27, Low 19 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:08 am & 4:19 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Today was one of the merriest Christmas days ever. We continued to get snowflakes falling periodically during the day making the world white and beautiful. Santa was most generous and brought everyone the ‘just right’ presents. He even brought the Goldpebbles an Xbox which they have had at the top of their Santa list for years. Ollie and Jonah were over the top joyful, as was Sam. But Sam just stood staring at it and saying, “I have wanted this for all my life.” Well, not quite. But almost. After a morning of opening presents, I drove home to spend time with Shadow and enjoy my gifts. I put the decorative pillow appliqued with tropical fish on the bed in my guest bedroom. Heather bought the pillow at the Old Market in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt and I decided that I will decorate the walls of that room with my favorite underwater photos from around the world. I also plugged in the nightlight in that room that was a handmade gift from Ollie using shells from my collection—half cockle shells from the Loyalty Islands in New Caledonia. I made myself a cup of tea in the Woodwell cup that came in my stocking, and I sat and started reading the book Jonah gave me—Horse by Geraldine Brooks. Then I sat in the living room watching a recording of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert while I ate lunch served on my artistically designed cutting board made by Sam. It is oak and maple and has two curved inlaid lines of dark walnut from the farm Mark and I owned in southern West Virginia. Shadow and I then look a long winter’s nap before I returned to Heather and Jed’s for dinner. But not before transferring the contents of my little pocket wallet that is falling apart to a new dark green leather one that was a gift from Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco.Earlier in the morning, we had a Skype video call with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco. They were also having a wonderful Christmas. Coco got a new Chrome Book and lots of new art supplies. Ziggy got a bass guitar. He has shown some interest and will see if he wants to add bass to his piano repertoire.

After our nap, Shadow and I went outside to play fetch in the snow. He loves nothing more than burying his nose in the snow before eating it. It was nearing dinner time when I returned to Heather and Jed’s. They had also had a wonderfully relaxing afternoon—Heather completing a complex puzzle Jed got her for Christmas and Jed reading and napping while the boys played soccer on the Xbox. Ollie also completed the assembly of the Lego app-controlled transformation vehicle I got him for Christmas. Heather and Jed took a walk though the neighborhood delivering Christmas bread wreaths, and everyone was cleaning up the Christmas ‘mess’ in the living room when I arrived. Before fixing dinner, Heather made chocolate covered strawberries and decorated Christmas cookies for dessert. Then she and Jed prepared a great meal of duck breast, smashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and salad. The table was set for Christmas dinner and the last night of Chanukah. While dinner prep was happening, I played soccer on the Xbox with the boys. I had no idea what I was doing, but I kept getting accolades from the Pebbles because I was doing such a good job. I think they were just being kind, but I did have a good time. And at least I had my player running toward the right goal most of the time!

Tomorrow afternoon we all hope to be heading to Cambridge to Revels on the Harvard campus. It was cancelled on Friday due to cast illness and there is no update at this time. Online it looks like it will be happening, but we will check the website around noon to make sure it is not cancelled again. If it is a go, we will drive separately. After the show, Heather and family will head to Boothbay, Maine to spend a couple of days with Jed’s family. Then on Friday and Saturday they will snowboard in Bethel, Maine, before returning home on New Year’s Day.