2022 Life Logs, Day 37: Family April Vacation in Puerto Rico
Date: Sunday, February 6, 2022
Weather: Partly Sunny; High Temp 30, Low Temp 25 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

It took Heather’s entire weekend for her to search for the most affordable air fares and the best place to stay when we have our family week in Puerto Rico in April . . . but she did it. I invited Heather and gang to dinner tonight. After dinner, while the boys were watching the Olympics, Heather sat at her computer and made the final bookings. It will be great to have the whole family together again. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week together here and we’ll have a spring fling in Puerto Rico during the school vacation week for the Goldpebbles. Can’t wait.

I’m not sure what I did today other than walk with Shadow, work on my latest puzzle, watch the Olympics, and fix dinner. Not a tremendously productive day, but a lovely Sunday. Back to writing tomorrow.

2022 Life Logs, Day 36: Windows with a New View
Date: Saturday, February 5, 2022
Weather: Sunny, Cold, Windy; High Temp 29, Low Temp 11 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Every morning, I start my day by reading The Morning, an online New York Times weekday and Sunday newsletter. This morning I was surprised to see a new Saturday edition hosted by a woman from the Times department of Culture and Lifestyle. The Saturday focus will not be hard news, but travel, lifestyle, and culture. She wrote today about traveling for the first time in two years. “I was focused on my destination: waking up someplace else, a window with a new view, vacation and its promise of rest and renewal.” This hit the spot because I planned to spend my day focusing on traveling. In the past two years I have traveled to New Hampshire to visit with friends Detta and Leslie and have visited with Alan and Helaine Kanegsberg when I go off Cape to Costco. But that has been it. The big vacation is coming up in April when Heather and family and I will spend a week in Puerto Rico visiting with Justin and family. It will be fun to have “a window with a new view” for a week in Rincon and will be wonderful to visit with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco at their beautiful little homestead, Finca Maravilla. The last time I was there was in the spring of 2018. I had my knee replaced the following winter and didn’t travel and in 2020 Covid happened. Can’t believe it has been so long since I was there.

This morning I delivered a home baked Swedish tea ring to the Goldstones. The boys loved it and asked where I bought it. When I told them I made it, they decided we needed to start a Swedish tea ring business. I think not, but I will teach them how to make one for themselves. They gobbled down the tea ring and then headed out with Jed to go to Waltham, north of Boston. For Christmas, Santa’s gift to the boys was a private blacksmithing class. They are fascinated with blacksmithing, so it was a perfect gift. I stayed on after they left, and Heather and I looked at housing possibilities for our week in Rincon. There are just too many of us to stay with Justin and Jo, so they have been sending us some ideas of places to stay. Heather found a one this afternoon that she thinks will work for us. She will share with Jed tonight and hopefully we can make a decision tomorrow. We started looking at flights, but I left to go walking with Shadow while she continued working on that. I just got an email from her. I think she spent the entire afternoon and evening continuing to work on this. I have offered to look into booking a dive/snorkel trip to Desacheo Island. You can see it in the distance from Rincon, but I think it is an hour trip by boat. I have wanted to go there since Justin moved to Puerto Rico and I think all of the grandchildren are now old enough to enjoy it. The weather has to be settled in order to make the trip, however. Hopefully this will work out for us.

I am spending my evening watching the Olympics and will get back to trip planning tomorrow.

2022 Life Logs, Day 35: Great Day for a Tea Party
Date: Friday, February 4, 2022
Weather: Nasty, Cold Rain; High Temp 50, Low Temp 30 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Just after midnight last and into the very early hours of this day, the temperature hovered around 50 degrees F. By noon it started dropping into the 30’s and by noon tomorrow it will be in the 20’s but the chance of precipitation drops very low. Then it just stays cold until the rain returns on Monday. I wimped out today and didn’t walk very far with Shadow. I tried three different times, but that rain blowing in my face was no fun for me, and I doubt fun for Shadow. Since the weather was nasty outside, it was a great afternoon for a tea party with my neighbor Shirley. This was her last day here as she returns tomorrow to keep her 103-year-old sister company. We sat and drank tea and ate strawberry-rhubarb pie topped with whipped cream. It was decadent, but she loved it.

I spent my evening watching the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. I love watching the atheletes from the different countries enter. In these days of nothing but horrible news on all fronts, watching those hopeful young men and women from all corners of the earth gave me a glimmer of hope. Heather called late to check in and said they were watching the women’s snowboard competition. Where? I thought my only option was watching the Olympics on NBC. But all I had to do was say “USA” into my controller and I was in a whole new Olympic world. NBC gives you the Cliff Notes version while USA gives you the entire competition. Now I just need to find out the times of the various competitions.

Otherwise, my day was a mix of problem solving a computer issue, puzzle solving, and talking on the phone. I had a wonderful call with my friend Lynne in New Zealand in the early evening. No writing today. Maybe tomorrow.

2022 Life Logs, Day 34: Early Start Watching the Winter Olympics
Date: Thursday, February 3, 2022
Weather: Overcast All Day, A Tad Warmer; High Temp 47, Low Temp 41 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Those four-foot snow drifts have melted down to about two-foot drifts with the temperature in the 40’s. The rain is supposed to begin soon and go all night, all day tomorrow, and into the early hours of Saturday when it might turn to icy rain or a little snow. No accumulation is expected for the temperature will drop back down into the 20’s and all precipitation should end Saturday morning. I took an extra long walk with Shadow today knowing walking in the rain tomorrow will not be a great deal of fun. We’ll have to manage with a few short walks.

I spent my entire day working on my new jigsaw puzzle in between writing. Shirley called me mid-afternoon and was so excited. She said the Olympics were on and she was enjoying watching skiing, skating, and curling. She used to be a curler, so that is her favorite. I love watching the Olympics, but I thought they didn’t start until tomorrow night. I decided to stick with my plan to continue writing today, but I did turn on the television to check the schedule. NBC was airing some pre-game things today, but not the continuous coverage Shirley was watching. When I went over to visit with Shirley later in the afternoon, I discovered that she gets the Olympic Channel, but I do not. I will be able to watch what NBC puts on which will be plenty enough for me and that starts tonight with ice skating and free style skiing. I am writing this log earlier than usual so that I can watch.

In my writing, I finally sailed out of Tonga today, arrived in Minerva Reef, and headed on to New Zealand. With the Winter Olympics tempting me, I will not finish this final chapter of our first year of sailing tomorrow. Once again, I have to reset my goal. It will be done next week!

My daughter-in-law Jo and grandson Ziggy were in a car wreck yesterday. Thankfully, both of them are fine. Someone plowed right into the driver side door of Justin and Jo’s Toyota Tacoma truck. The side air bags deployed and Ziggy screamed, “Are you alive?” Poor guy. He must have been terrified. He lost has best guinea pig friend Rocko on Monday and was then in a car crash on Wednesday. I think he’ll definitely be ready for the week to end. Jo was very impressed with the Tacoma. It will need a new door, but she felt that if they had been in their old mini-van, things would have been a lot worse. Jo posted some pics on Facebook of my soccer playing granddaughter. She looks so intent and serious. Jo says she is very proud to be the only girl on the team.

2022 Life Logs, Day 33: Six More Weeks of Winter, Or Not
Date: Wednesday, February 2, 2022
Weather: Overcast, Warmer, Misty PM; High Temp 43, Low Temp 35 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Depending on which groundhog you believe in, we will have six more weeks of winter. Or maybe we will not. Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania saw his shadow this morning which means six more weeks of winter. But Ms. G, the Massachusetts state groundhog, does not agree with Phil. She did not see her shadow and predicts an early spring. I’ll go with Ms. G which means spring is almost here. Sounds good to me.
My car started today with no issue, so I was able to drive to Sullivan Tire using my spare ‘donut’ and get my repaired tire put on. I hate that I picked up a nail somewhere, especially in a fairly new tire, but I just have to hope the repair fixed the problem. They checked out my battery and it is fine. So, I don’t know why the care wouldn’t start. Just hope that doesn’t happen again.

Writing continued today and Windbird has still have not left Tonga. Maybe tomorrow. The reason we were still in Tonga is that we were waiting and waiting for a decent weather window. I loved the following quote we received in an email from a New Zealand weather service to make recommendations for our passage. We were paying good money for recommendation like this. “Weather is a mix of pattern and chaos. The following ideas (included in the email) come from the patterned world of weather maps, so please fine-tune to your place.” Really? So basically, weather people were predicting from patterned models, but the local weather was experiencing more of the chaos than the pattern. Exactly how were we supposed to ‘fine-tune’ that? We thought that was what we were paying the weather service to do. After that email, we changed weather services. We employed Commander Weather in New Hampshire. They analyzed the patterns and the chaos and got us safely to New Zealand!

At 9pm every week night, I stop whatever I am doing, get on my exercise bike and peddle away while watching The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. Some people can’t deal with Rachel’s style of going over and over a point to make sure it is impossible to not understand. Maybe I’m dense, but I appreciate the thoroughness. More than that, I appreciate that she sticks with a story until whatever issue is resolved. An example of that was her coverage of the Flint, Michigan, water disaster. This week I have really appreciated her reporting of the bomb threats on the campuses of historically black colleges and universities. Yesterday, on the first day of Black History Month, 16 of those campuses received bomb threats. And it was not the first time in recent days. Many received threats the day before and earlier in January. The threats are being made by people who say they are neo-Nazi’s. She has also reported this week on the neo-Nazi protests at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, in Orlando this past weekend, as well as other places around the country. It is depressing to watch these reports, but we all need to be watching them. Hiding from what is happening in this country is a dangerous thing. I wish we could wave a magic wand and make it go away. But we know that is not going to happen. We need to be informed and dedicated to doing whatever it takes to rid our country of this hatred. Love should always trump hate. Unfortunately, Trump loves to spread hate and he continues to create a very dangerous situation. I can’t believe intelligent people still stand by him. But they do. I can list a number of reasons why, but I cannot understand. Watching the Rachel Maddow Show has helped me to understand, but Rachel is taking a hiatus until April to do other things. I am going to miss her thorough and thoughtful new coverage. What am I going to watch at 9pm every night while I ride my bike? Suggestions anyone?

2022 Life Logs, Day 32: Dreary First Day of February
Date: Tuesday, February 1, 2022
Weather: Overcast and Warmer; High Temp 35, Low Temp 30 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

This first day of February was overcast and dreary, but at least it was a tad warmer. Tomorrow through Friday will be even warmer, in the low 40’s, and it looks like we will get slammed with heavy rain on Friday. Then it gets cold again and the sun will return. That’s February on Cape Cod.

I had another interesting day with my car. Heather took my tire in to be repaired this morning. I had picked up a nail somewhere. But I couldn’t call Sullivan Tire to check on the repair. They had to call me. When their parking lot got plowed, the plow knocked down their power pole. Their power was restored yesterday, but their internet was not back on until late today. They had no phone system and no computer access. But they could repair the tire and they called and told me to come in at 2 pm. Around noon, I took a walk with Shadow. When we got back, I decided to see if I could really move my car. I put the key in the ignition, turned it, and nothing. Just click, click, click. I couldn’t believe it. Karen and Peter came over to give me a jump start. Nothing but click, click, click. But still, a huge thank you to them for trying. I called AAA and they said they were slammed and would have someone here to tow the car to Sullivan Tire by 5 pm. I found a way to get word to Sullivan’s that I would not be coming for the 2 pm appointment but that my car would be towed there later in the day.

The huge, long bed tow truck came at 4:30. The guy took one look at my driveway and said no way. There was too much snow in the driveway, the turn was too tight, and low hanging tree limbs would have to be cut. But they guy insisted on getting his little charger out of the truck and try to jump start the car. He knew I had tried and failed, but he wanted to make sure. He attached the charger clamps, turned the key, and the car started on the first try. I am not sure why it wouldn’t start earlier, and I don’t know if it will start tomorrow. But at least it did start this afternoon. I immediately drove to Sullivan’s to see if they could put on the tire, but I had to make an appointment for tomorrow. They will also check the battery and other things that might be causing the problem. The tow guy checked a few things and he thinks it is just the cold. It will be warmer tonight, so here’s hoping the car will start so I can get there.

When Karen and Peter came to try to help me start the car, Karen and I exchanged puzzles. Now I am working on the Statue of Liberty. I spent my time waiting for AAA writing. Of course, it is taking longer than I thought to finish this last chapter. But I shall persist.

2022 Life Logs, Day 31: Storm Recovery
Date: Monday, January 31, 2022
Weather: Slowly Warming; High Temp 28, Low Temp 15 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The temperature outside is slowly coming up and most people are recovering from the storm. Still, there are others who are without power. School was cancelled today because the roads were not deemed safe for busses. And all businesses are not open yet. Sullivan Tire, where I bought my new tires in September, were not open today and evidently their phone system is not working. So, no repaired tire today. Maybe tomorrow. I’ve said before that it is going to take a while to dig our way of this storm. The plow truck did get moved out of the driveway today, but no further plowing was done. We’ll just have a lumpy driveway until the rains and warmer temps come on Thursday and Friday.

Mid-day I got a text from Jed telling me their furnace had been successfully repaired and was once again pumping out heat. But they still had electrical problems. An electrician came later in the afternoon and disagreed with an earlier assessment, by whom I don’t remember, that full power was coming into the house. This electrician said that was not so. He called Eversource and they came out in the early evening and found, that indeed, there was a problem. A tree had grown around the line coming to the house from the street. They dug out the wire, repaired and wrapped it to keep it from rubbing, and voilà . . . they now have full electrical service and are on Eversource’s long list for a new electrical pole. I know both Heather and Jed are exhausted from the weekend of being cold, having spotty electrical service, having no oven and no washer or dryer, and constantly problem solving and worrying about what was causing their issues. Heather had to work today, but in between stints of work, Jed was able to take the boys sledding. At least the Goldpebbles got to have a little fun in the snow amongst all the problems.

Shadow and I took our walk today and only got splatted with icy slush once. Since the sides of the street are lined with banks of snow, there is no place to go when a car passes. And if a car doesn’t slow down, like the car we met today, you get splatted with that slushy mess. Thankfully we only encountered one car. And the driveway is clear enough that we can once again play ball. But when I overthrow, which I did twice, I lose the tennis balls to the deep snow. Shadow tries to dig to find them, but it was as if the snow just gobbled them up.

I went through a stack of paperwork today looking for the receipt for the tire purchase and protection plan that I couldn’t find yesterday. I knew I didn’t really need it as the purchase would be in the computer system, but it was really bothering me that it wasn’t filed with the other car receipts. While I was doing that, Karen Baranowski stopped by. I cleared away the paperwork and offered her a cup of tea. We had a great visit and after she left, I resumed my paper sorting exercise and found the receipt. Hurray! I also spent time writing today and finished my jigsaw puzzle of featuring Florence, Italy—Florence Cathedral, Palazzo Vecchio, Piazza Michelangelo, Basillica of St. Lawrence, Bell Tower of Badio Fiorentina, Florence vineyards, and more. As soon as Karen finishes her current puzzle, we can swap. But I’ll use the time without a puzzle to do a little more writing. I did write today, but only for an hour or so. Still hoping to finish book one by Friday.

2022 Life Logs, Day 30: Power is Back On
Date: Sunday, January 30, 2022
Weather: Cold, Sunny Day; High Temp 20, Low Temp 9 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Hallelujah! My power is back on. I am so grateful to all of the power company (Eversource) workers that work so hard to get the power back on. I am also grateful that Eversource constantly sent me texts, letting me the status of work in my area. This being my first official blizzard experience in many years caught me a bit underprepared. Winter Storm Kenan taught me a few lessons.
1. One little battery-powered lantern is not enough light at night when there is a power outage.
2. Have a reliable back-up heating system and make sure you have plenty of fuel for days of an outage.
3. Don’t wait until the last minute to buy supplies and expect your local hardware store to have everything you need.
4. Be mentally prepared for multiple days of an outage.
5. Think ahead about the safety of pets that are temperature sensitive.
6. Come up with a way to charge my computer.

You also need to have plenty of food, but I know that. I thought my little lantern and headlamp would be enough light and it was for enough to get by. But I could see that more than a night or two like that would be depressing. I have a small Mr. Heater propane heater which works great for my small place, but I only got enough fuel for one day. That was enough this time, but it could have been much longer. I won’t be so cheap next time. I was convinced that if we did have a power outage, it would be for a short period of time. Best to prepare for multiple days and be delighted when it is only one. I totally forgot to think about my tropical fish. One night at 50 degrees was too much for them. I lost both of my glass fish that I have had since I first got my aquarium. They were super hardy, but obviously cold sensitive. I also lost one of my four neon tetras. I feel so sad that I didn’t think ahead. I don’t know if there is a battery-powered heater for aquariums, but there must be something like that out there. I used my computer all day yesterday because I was writing. It ran out of battery power by bedtime last night. I know I used to charge my computer in my car, but that was long ago, and I couldn’t find the right connectors. I will be better prepared in the future.

Heather and Jed are still dealing with their furnace and circuit breaker issues, but they were able to get professional help and are hopeful parts and repairs can be made soon. In the meantime, they are heating their house with space heaters just enough to keep things and themselves from freezing. They came over this afternoon to help clear the entrance to my driveway for which I am very grateful. While they were digging things out, like my car, they discovered that I had a completely flat front tire on the passenger side. How that happened I have no idea, but Jed put on the spare and will take the tire to be (hopefully) repaired tomorrow. After shoveling, Sam and Jonah went inside but Ollie stayed out to play in the now—climbing snow mountains, making a snow lounge chair, and finally burying himself in the snow. All this while wearing his very cute ski mask.

Finally, just as the sun went down, they were making great progress when the truck evidently overheated. Another truck came and did one swath but couldn’t really do more with the other truck in the driveway. But they got enough done that my neighbor Shirley could come home from Peter and Karen (Shirley’s niece) Baranowski’s. With the storm coming, she went to stay with them on Friday evening and yesterday through the storm. Like all of us, she was anxious to get home to her own bed.
I heard late in the day that the Woodins got their power restored. I know I’ll sleep better tonight knowing we are all safe and warm tonight. Like Heather and Jed, they have issues that need to be dealt with, but having power gets them one step closer.