2022 Life Logs, Day 78: Ollie’s Ninja Warrior Birthday Party
Date: Saturday, March 19, 2022
Weather: Overcast with Rain; High 55, Low 45 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Monday is Ollie’s official birthday, but today was his birthday party with friends. Actually, it was Ollie and Simon’s ‘Ninja Warrior Birthday Party’. The two boys were born on the same day just eight hours apart in adjacent hospital rooms at the Falmouth Hospital. They both attended the Woods Hole Daycare Cooperative for preschool and always celebrated their birthdays together there. Then they went to different elementary schools and only saw each other at soccer games until Heather and Jed moved into the same neighborhood where Simon lives. Now the two boys go to the same elementary school, have the same set of friends, and celebrated their 10th birthdays together today.

The venue for the party was the Forte Fitness Center in Hyannis. The center has a Ninja warrior set up and the ten boys had a real Ninja workout trying to run up the warped wall, swinging from one apparatus to another, scaling a climbing wall, and attempting to walk on a large cable drum as it rolled forward. When it was time for pizza and birthday cupcakes, there were 10 boys with very red faces. Simon and Ollie had great fun recreating a photo from their 5th birthday celebration at preschool, stuffing themselves with pizza, and blowing out their birthday candles.

The birthday fun continues tomorrow as it is Marti, Jed’s mother’s birthday. Shhhh. Don’t tell anyone but she is not going to be 10! And since Ollie has music lessons and Scouts on his real birthday on Monday, we will celebrate the two birthdays together tomorrow.

2022 Life Logs, Day 77: Skylark in Concert
Date: Friday, March 18, 2022
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 57, Low 42 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Tonight, I was invited to attend a Skylark concert as the guest of a friend whose husband could not attend. What a wonderful gift that was for me. Skylark is a professional vocal ensemble who performs in Falmouth two or three times a year. Tonight’s program was named Emerald Isles, a program of Irish and Irish-inspired music. Some of the performers are from families long connected to the folk music of the Celtic nations and added their instrumental expertise to their incredible vocal talents. It was fabulous.

Great day for being outdoors. I did a little winter clean-up of branches and a lot of looking and planning for gardening. Jed’s mother is visiting at Heather and Jed’s this weekend, so I stopped by on my way to the concert to say hello. Tomorrow is Ollie’s Ninja warrior birthday party in Hyannis and Sunday is Marti’s birthday. So it will be a celebratory weekend.

2022 Life Logs, Day 76: Happy Irish Day
Date: Thursday, March 17, 2022
Weather: Overcast with Some Rain; High 53, Low 43 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I thought a lot about gardening today, so that was my contribution to green for St. Patrick’s Day. I went outside in the afternoon to do some garden clean-up, but just as I went out it started sprinkling and then raining harder. I persisted until my coat was soaked and then went inside and planted a flat of seeds to start.

I spent most of my day dealing with trip details—field trip to Boston on Tuesday of next week, trip to Charlotte, North Carolina on Thursday of next week, and trip to Puerto Rico in April. I am leading a field trip to the State House and the Museum of African American History on Tuesday, but I had not been able to register our group. I made a few last minute phone calls and sent emails, and finally got the Museum to update their website to let us register. I also have had cancellations and had to update the State House tour and lunch reservations to reflect the correct number of participants. Then I got an email from Taino Divers in Puerto Rico letting me know that the date of our chartered trip to Desecheo Island either has to be changed or cancelled, and the change will mean no one can dive, only snorkel. Bummer. I wasn’t feeling so lucky on this St. Patrick’s Day until I got a call from my niece in Charlotte letting me know she has room for me to stay at her home during my visit next week as her husband is going to be out of town. I can now cancel hotel reservations and save a lot of money. That was a turn of good Irish luck.

2022 Life Logs, Day 75: Tribute to Falmouth
Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2022
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 52, Low 38 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

My day, from beginning to end, was spent having a love affair with the town of Falmouth. I’ll start in reverse order. Tonight, I went to All Bands Night with Heather and family, the first one since March of 2019 due to Covid. Sam was a drummer in the 6th grade jazz band the last time we went. Now he is in high school. It was wonderful to be with people celebrating young musicians once again. All Bands night is when all of the public school bands come together in the high school auditorium to perform—the 5th grade band, the 6th grade band, the middle school band, the high school band, the middle school jazz band, and the high school jazz band. Sam chose soccer over band this year (you can only participate in one or the other), and Ollie is too young to participate, so this was Jonah’s night to, shine and he did it with style. He plays the trombone in the middle school band and plays bass in the middle school jazz band. So proud of him! Falmouth is a beautiful small town and seeing the entire floor of the high school gymnasium filled with young musicians makes your heart sing. The high school band played a medley of songs from West Side Story which was so good and ended with ‘Somewhere’. “There’s a place for us. A time and place for us. Hold my hand and we’re halfway there. Hold my hand and I’ll take you there. Someday, somehow, somewhere.” When you open my high school annual, the words to that song fill the entire first page. It was our class song in 1965. This definitely brought a tear to my eye. The the evening ended with all of the bands together playing ‘America the Beautiful’ written by Falmouth’s own Katherine Lee Bates. Another tearjerker, plus an amazing feat getting all of the those band students playing that together after only an hour of practice just prior to the presentation.

I started my day by attending a Newcomers/Encore general meeting focusing on the ‘green’ beauty of Falmouth—the green open spaces preserved in our town, a bit of Irish music from the Land of Green, and a presentation by a local artist who uses the preserved green spaces in our town as the settings for her paintings. I was fascinated with the Irish harp music and the history of the harp interspersed with the music. The paintings were all of places in town I know well and enjoy every summer with the Goldpebbles or on walks with Shadow. And the success of The 300 Committee Land Trust, “a non-profit organization of people dedicated to preserving and protecting natural places in Falmouth for all of us, now and forever” is impressive. As a result of their work, more than 2,400 acres of land in Falmouth is now permanently protected. It made me feel immensely proud to sit and listen to that presentation. The organization has worked hard to protect the many places in Falmouth that I just take for granted. I now have a much greater appreciation. And while I am feeling so proud of things, I must share a post I read on Justin’s Facebook page tonight. There was a photo of Coco “ruling the ball” on the soccer field. Go, Coco.

Last night I wrote about wrestling with making reservations for my trip to visit my sister and wrestling with my computer. Then just before I went to bed, I won one round with my computer. I finally figured out why I wasn’t receiving my emails. One step at a time, I’ll get these issues worked out.

2022 Life Logs, Day 74: Wrestling
Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2022
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 53, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I promised myself to take the day off today, but I still had to wrestle with reservation issues for my trip next week to see my sister and with my computer issues. I made progress on the trip reservations, but not with my computer. The highlight of my day was a hike with friend Olga and Shadow. We did the 2.8 mile Breivogel Ponds to Shallow Ponds Woodlands trail. Tomorrow I will continue my wrestling and hope to win a couple of matches!

2022 Life Logs, Day 73: The Wonders of Having Adult Children
Date: Monday, March 14, 2022
Weather: Partly Sunny, Still Windy, Warmer; High 53, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I am constantly amazed and in a state of ‘wonderment’ as I watch my adult children parenting while contributing to this world we all live in. Each makes different contributions, but one is just as amazing to me as the other. Monday evenings are a busy, busy for the Goldstones. Jonah and Ollie have music lessons at 5:10 pm, 20 minutes from home. Then Ollie is driven home quickly so he can go to Cub Scouts where Jed is the Cub Master. Then Sam has music lessons at 5:40 pm, again 20 minutes from home, and then has to be driven another 20 minutes to soccer practice. Once a month, and it was tonight, Heather has a 7 pm PTO middle school PTO meeting where she plays an active role. And Heather and Jed, along with my help on Monday nights, do all of this after demanding days at work. Tonight, I was on ‘Sam duty’ while Heather took Justin and Ollie to music lessons. When we all got back to Heather and Jed’s at 8 pm, Heather spent an hour helping me work on a computer issue I have been struggling with for over a week while also making a chocolate pudding pie to celebrate Pi Day.

Then when I got home, I saw on Facebook that Silvermouse, Justin and Jo’s electronic music ‘group’ (it is just the two of them), was featured on Ditto’s Hot List on Spotify. I don’t know if that is a big or little deal, but I know how happy it makes Justin to be able to continue his love of music with Jo, in addition to his new fulltime position with the Monroe Institute while keeping his own business alive; and how happy it makes Jo to be Justin’s Silvermouse partner, in addition to her part-time teaching duties, and while pursuing the development of her part-time business of making natural beauty products.

I know my life must have been a little like this when Heather and Justin were the ages of my grandchildren, but I find all of this head-spinning. Watching Heather, Jed, Justin, and Jo being full-time parents, while building careers, and being so involved in other activities at the same time constantly amazes me. I am so proud of them.

Much of my day was spent continuing to plan and make reservations for my trip to North Carolina next week and finalizing plans for a Newcomers field trip to Boston that I am leading next Tuesday. My last Beta reader picked up her copy of The Voyage of Windbird today, so now I just have to wait for feedback on book one while I begin writing book two. But tomorrow . . . I am going to do nothing. I am exhausted from just writing about how busy my kids are. I am going to rest for them tomorrow!

2022 Life Logs, Day 72: Taking Care of Business
Date: Sunday, March 13, 2022
Weather: Snow Overnight, Partly Sunny & Windy Today; High 36, Low 30 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Last night after sending out my log, I took Shadow outside for his last bathroom break of the day. We walked out the door and were surprised by blowing snow. The wind was blowing from the west and the entire driver’s side of my car was plastered. There wasn’t much on the ground, just a white dusting, but the snowflakes were large and so sparkly. I would never have gotten to enjoy if I didn’t have Shadow. Going out with him at all times of the day and night can sometimes be a burden, but sometimes it is just so beautiful. Last night I felt very lucky to bear that burden.

For the past couple of months, I have been focused on finishing my book, and as a result I have ignored taking care of business. So, today, I started on the ‘must do’ list. First, I ordered some things I will need for gardening. I then took a walk with Shadow and friend Olga. After lunch, I made a call to Priceline. In January of 2020, I made a reservation for a flight to Lexington, Kentucky, to go to a Willie Nelson concert in April. Then Covid happened and the concert and flight were cancelled. I had until March 31, 2022, to rebook (so I thought), and today was the day I chose to do that. I wanted to change the destination to Charlotte, North Carolina, to go visit my sister. When I called, an automated voice told me the wait time was too long and that someone would call me back. About thirty minutes later, I got a call. It took an enormously long time for the young woman to check everything to make sure the flight was still valid, and that the destination could be changed. It was okay and just as she started booking the new flight, the call dropped. Ugh. I had to start all over, wait for a call back, wait for another young woman to check everything, and finally at 4:55 pm she made the new reservation. I was wrong about one thing. I had to make the flight before March 31, not just make the reservation. And it had to be on United Airline which does not have direct flights from Boston to Charlotte. So, I am going to Charlotte via Newark on the 24th of March for five days. I hung up, tired of spending so many hours on one task, but glad that it was done . . . until I got the follow-up email. It had the reservation set for April 24 to April 27, not March 24 to March 29, to Charlotte from Boston but with a return flight from Lexington, Kentucky. Wrong dates, wrong airport. I had to call once again, wait for another call back, and finally I think it is all set. And it only took four hours!!! That was my day.

2022 Life Logs, Day 71: Switching Gears
Date: Saturday, March 12, 2022
Weather: Overcast, Rainy, Windy; High 50, Low 21 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I have completed writing book one of The Voyage of Windbird, I have completed my most recent jigsaw puzzle, I have read next month’s book club book plus the two books written by my seasonal neighbor from New York. It is a perfect time to switch gears. But just as in a car, you don’t want to change gears when you are going at high speed, so I slowed down a bit today.

Tonight, we spring forward to Daylight Savings Time, so I am taking this as a sign that it is time to put my energy into spring activities. Tonight, I planted a few more seeds. Tomorrow morning, I will get out Johnny’s Seed Catalog and order those seeds and things I will need for spring gardening. The weather is not really cooperating with my plan, but by Monday it looks like things might warm up for a few days. Heather always tries to plant peas on St. Patrick’s Day, and I have decided to do the same. I’ll take advantage of the warmer weather arriving on Monday to get ready for that.

2022 Life Logs, Day 70: Expensive Proposition
Date: Friday, March 11, 2022
Weather: Sunny; High 48, Low 38 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Seventeen ago, when I was still working, I took things to Staples to be copied all the time. It cost 5 cents for one black and white copy. When I went to Staples today to get copies of my book printed for Beta readers, each page was going to cost thirty some cents. Printing 654 pages double-sided was going to cost $100 for each ‘book’. An expensive proposition. I bought copy paper and came home to do the copying. There are 654 pages because for ease of editing purposes, I am using a size 14 font, double spacing, and wide margins. When I got home, I played with using a smaller font size and smaller margins, but it did not make enough difference to make the change. With the reduced price of ink cartridges I buy on Amazon, the total price ended up to be one fourth of the Staples price. I was shocked at how much the price of making copies has gone up. But then it has been seventeen years since I last checked the price. I am obviously a few years behind the times.

I have also been behind the times in my logs this week. Yesterday I wrote that it was Wednesday, and Wednesday I wrote that it was Tuesday. Sorry about that. But now I know it is Friday. I am going to take the rest of the evening off and watch the first episode of The Gilded Age. I keep hearing people talk about it, so I want to take a peek to see what I think.

2022 Life Logs, Day 69: Writing Milestones
Date: Thursday, March 10, 2022
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 46, Low 31 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

In February I finished writing book one of my proposed trilogy of The Voyage of Windbird. That was a huge milestone for me. Then I launched into tackling a rough edit and finished that on Monday of this week. Milestone number two. Next, I started a second edit as I incorporated the separate chapters into one document. I completed that this afternoon. Milestone number three. I am now writing a list of the conventions I used in the book and will send it out to three friends who have volunteered to be Beta readers. It will take them a bit as the first book consists of 17 chapters, a preface, and a prologue—166,605 words in total. Hopefully these readers will be able to help me cut extraneous passages getting the book down to a size people will read. There are many milestones to go as there are two more books to be written. And I have to find a way to get it published. But I am still energized and loving the process, so on goes the writing process.

My book club met via Zoom this morning to discuss The Personal Librarian, a historical fiction book about the life of Belle da Costa Green (Belle Marion Greener). In real life, she was the personal librarian for J. P. Morgan in 1906 and became the director of the library after his death in 1913. I have mentioned this book before when I finished reading it a few weeks ago. Belle was an amazing person. Accomplishing what she did in the first half of the twentieth century is amazing considering she was a woman and a woman of color. She passed as white for her entire life in order to follow her passion for rare books and transcripts. It is a book worth reading.

Weather. Ugh. Today was okay—no snow, no heavy winds, some sunshine, not warm, but not too cold. But it is going to get colder. Saturday, we get rain, and then overnight the temperature drops giving us a cold Sunday. Please. Can that be the end of really cold weather for this winter? I sure hope so.