2018 Life Logs, Day 360: Boothbay, ME to Nyack, NY
Date: Wednesday, December 26, 2018
Weather: High 38, Low 28 degrees F
Location: At Home with Lynne Kirwin, Nyack, NY

Today I drove from Boothbay, Maine to Nyack, New York to be with my good friend Lynne Kirwin. It felt so good to get her to give her a hug. I mentioned in Monday’s log that Ed passed away late Sunday night. Naturally Lynne is devastated, but she is doing her best to carry on as Ed would want her to do. We spent the evening talking about the two very special men we were so very lucky to have as our ‘captains’.

01 Mark and Ed

2018 Life Logs, Day 359: Christmas Day
Date: Tuesday, December 25, 2018
Weather: High 32, Low 20 degrees F
Location: At Home with Marti Goldstone, Boothbay, ME

What a fabulous Christmas Day. Santa brought the each of the Goldpebbles just what they wanted. Sam was in total disbelief that he really got an Ipod that he was literally leaping with joy. Ollie got the ride on tractor of his dreams and Jonah got a snowboard which is what he really wanted. We had happy boys all around. The day was filled with opening presents and then Christmas dinner with all of Jed’s family. We had a long Skype video call with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco in Puerto Rico, and they were all overjoyed with Santa’s choices for this year as well. Christmas Day 2018 was a joyous one for the Handley and Goldstone families which makes for a very happy Oma. I hope all of you had a joyous day as well. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

2018 Life Logs, Day 358: Christmas Eve
Date: Monday, December 24, 2018
Weather: High 33, Low 27 degrees
Location: At Home with Marti Goldstone, Boothbay, ME

Sadness doth prevail on this Christmas Eve. I found out early this morning that Ed Kirwin, a fellow sailor, a wonderful friend, a kind and gentle man, passed away late last night. I had planned to leave here on Tuesday morning, make a stop in New Hampshire, and be in Nyack, New York, to visit with Ed and Lynne on Wednesday of this week. I am so sorry that I didn’t make there in time to say farewell, but I will be driving directly there on Tuesday to spend some time with Lynne. Ed found out in the spring of 2015 that he had pancreatic cancer and was given only months to live. But by making drastic changes in this diet, he gave himself almost three years of good quality life. Mark and I sailed across the Indian Ocean at the same time as Ed and Lynne and spent time in India, the Maldives, Chagos, Madagascar, and South Africa with them. It was a very special time and I cherish the wonderful memories of our experiences together. I tried to spend the rest of the day thinking of happy times with Ed and enjoying Christmas Eve. I know Ed would not want any of us sitting around being sad.

We listened to the Kings Choir on public radio this morning while the boys played and the adults wrapped presents. There was a family game of Scrabble and then after lunch Heather, Jed, and I drove into downtown Boothbay in the afternoon for a little last-minute shopping. The boys stayed home with Grammy Marti and played outside. When we returned, Jed’s Aunt Sue and Uncle John were here and we had a nice visit. Then it was time to prepare Christmas Eve dinner while the Goldpebbles practiced playing Jingle Bells on drums, organ, and electric guitar in preparation for a ‘concert’ for family tomorrow evening. Off and on during the afternoon and evening, we were in contact with Justin and family in Puerto Rico via text and photos being sent back of forth. It is so hard to be separated during the holidays, but I am grateful that we can find ways to ‘see’ each other. They sent us a photo of their Christmas Eve dinner and we sent them one of ours. They sent a photo of their snack for Santa and we sent one of ours. Hopefully we will be able to do a Skype video call tomorrow, but I continue to have issues here with the internet. I am accessing the internet through a hot spot on my AT&T phone. Things are just not working like they should, so a video call might just be too much. We’ll see. After dinner this evening, Heather and Jed read Christmas stories to the boys and after the boys went to bed, it was time to help Santa gets those stockings filled. Jonah very carefully counted and left 9 carrots for Santa’s reindeer and a candy cane and a cookie for Santa. I know it will be an early morning, so it is time to go to bed so Santa can come work his magic.

2018 Life Logs, Day 357: Revels and Trip to Maine
Date: Sunday, December 23, 2018
Weather: High 33, Low 217 degrees F
Location: At Home with Marti Goldstone, Boothbay, ME

I am in Maine tonight. It is beautiful here, but OMG, the internet connection is so slow I feel like I am in third world country. Actually, maybe Maine is a third world country! Otherwise, life is good. I went to Revels in the Sanders Theater on the Harvard campus in Cambridge this afternoon with Heather, Jed, and boys. I love going to that theater. It looks more like a cathedral, inside and out, than it does a theater with its dark wood and stained-glass windows. Revels tells the solstice story through song and dance. Each year the story is told through the eyes of a different culture. This is the focus was on Scandinavia, with an emphasis on Finland. As always, it was a wonderful way to welcome the new solar year. Welcome, Yule. The Goldpebbles got all dressed up for the occasion. What handsome grandsons I have! After the performance and a little last minute shopping in Boston, we drove to Maine to spend Christmas with Jed’s family.

2018 Life Logs, Day 356: Ready, Set, Go. . . . . .
Date: Saturday, December 22, 2018
Weather: High 53, Low 28 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Wow! What a beautiful full moon. We didn’t get to see it last night due to rain and fog, but it was bright tonight. It has been a crazy, busy day doing the last Christmas bits and doing all the necessary things to be gone for the next two weeks. This week I will be in Maine, New Hampshire, and New York. I’ll come home for one or two nights and then fly to Tennessee next Sunday to see my sister and brother-in-law for the New Year. I’m almost ready, but not quite. So I’ll cut this short. Tomorrow morning I drive to Cambridge where I will meet up with Heather, Jed, and boys for Revels, the solstice celebration we go to each year in Cambridge. Then we all head on to Boothbay, Maine, to be with Jed’s family for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Tomorrow night’s log will come from Maine.

2018 Life Logs, Day 355: Wonderful Solstice Celebration
Date: Friday, December 21, 2018
Weather: Drizzle, Fog, and Rain; High 55, Low 46 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA,

Welcome, Yule! Today was a day of celebration . . . having friends Bruce and Jane Woodin over for a holiday lunch and then going to the Solstice Celebration at Heather and Jed’s. Bruce, Jane, and I enjoyed lunch together, celebrating our years of friendship. They gave me a Christmas ornament that Bruce placed on my Christmas tree and Jane enjoyed ornaments with photos of Heather and Justin when they were little kids. Then at 5 pm, friends of the Goldpebbles and their parents were invited to enjoy a solstice fire at Heather and Jed’s. It was the hope that the fire would be in the backyard, but the weather halted that idea. It was foggy and drizzly all day, turning into real rain in the late afternoon. So, Heather gathered the group in the living room and gave an explanation of the solstice fire. Then everyone rang in the new solar year while Jed lit the solstice fire in the fireplace. Everyone contributed food, savory and sweet. There were children of all ages–a group under six, the six to nine year-olds, the tween-agers, and the adults. During the evening the rain halted just enough that the kids were able to run and play outside for a bit. At one point, Jonah was using the hair dryer to dry wet heads. A little rain isn’t going to stop this group. It was a perfect evening, such a wonderful celebration. Thank you, Heather and Jed! Well done.

I had a bad knee day, but I refuse to let this knee stop me. Walking on crutches is really not so bad and a bad knee can be fixed. So no complaints. The only problem is not knowing when I can move normally and when I need to be on crutches. While getting dressed this morning, I moved my knee in some way that it didn’t like and I hobbled around all day. It was just when I left Heather and Jed’s that, just as quickly as the pain arrived this morning, it went away and I could straighten my leg and walk normally. Very weird. I will persist until the end of February when, hopefully, surgery will solve the problem. Tomorrow the Goldstones and myself have to ready ourselves for our trip to Maine for Christmas. We leave on Sunday morning for Cambridge to attend Revels and then travel on to Boothbay, Maine, to have Christmas with Jed’s family.

2018 Life Logs, Day 354: Lunch in Scituate
Date: Thursday, December 20, 2018
Weather: Beautiful, Warm, Sunny Day; High 49, Low 44 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Today Karen Baranowski and I traveled off-Cape to visit with her aunties, Shirley and Doris. Shirley is in her nineties and is my landlord. Her sister Doris turned 100 in October and for the most part they are homebound by how difficult it is to physically get out and about. I wanted to take a Christmas lunch to them and asked Karen to join me. We did a little shopping at Costco on the way and then had a nice luncheon together. Once home, I launched into making cookie dough for making Christmas cut-out cookies. Tomorrow night Heather and Jed are hosting a Solstice gathering for about 60 people, rain or no rain. About half of the 60 people are kids who will probably eat Christmas cookies as their main course! At 5:23 pm the Earth’s axis will tilt the Northern Hemisphere at the farthest point from the sun and weather permitting, we will have a Solstice fire in the backyard to mark the moment. We will then launch in to the year’s longest night. This year we will have a full moon on the longest night, so at least it won’t be the darkest night of the year.

2018 Life Logs, Day 353: A Christmas Celtic Sojourn
Date: Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 38, Low 21 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Shopping and cooking filled most of my day, and then this evening I traveled with Heather and family to New Bedford to see A Christmas Celtic Sojourn at the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center. For 16 years, the very Irish Brian O’Donovan has presented this Christmas Irish music and dance program which is sponsored by his employer, WGBH in Boston. Heather works for WGBH and this fall when she mentioned to Brian that she had never been to the Christmas Celtic Sojourn, he invited all of us to attend as his guests. I went last year with Bruce and Jane Woodin and absolutely loved it and even though it was a nighttime performance, the boys all managed to stay awake way past their bedtimes to enjoy the show. And they all dressed for the occasion and looked so handsome. The featured guest singer this year, Hannah Rarity, is from Scotland and has a beautiful voice that was a delight. A string ensemble from Canada, The Fretless, and Windborne, a folk singing group who returned for the second year, were both really fantastic. But the young dancers from the Harney Academy of Irish Dance in Massachusetts always steal the show, and they did that again tonight.

2018 Life Logs, Day 352: Pain, No Pain
Date: Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Weather: Snow Overnight, Sunny and Windy Today; High 38, Low 21 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The of what causes my left knee to be fine one minute and totally disabled the next continues. But last night was the most dramatic happening. As I wrote in my log last night, the pain in the back of my knee returned yesterday afternoon causing me to have to use crutches to walk. At bedtime, I gathered my things and headed back to the bedroom on crutches. After three trips from living room to bedroom, I had everything I needed, but then I realized I hadn’t called my sister. My brother-in-law is in the hospital with his own strange medical mysteries, so I wanted to talk to my sister to see how her day went. I sat on the edge of the rocking chair in my bedroom while I talked and when the conversation ended, I got up to go to bed. No pain. Absolutely no pain in my knee. I had only been sitting there for 15 minutes and had done nothing else that would made the pain go away. This made no sense, but I enjoyed a good night’s sleep and woke up this morning, still with no pain. I had a 10:20 am appointment with my orthopedic surgeon’s assistant and when I told him the story he was also puzzled. He ordered x-rays so he could compare today’s knee to that on November 1 just after my Halloween Night fall. When we looked at the x-rays together, he pointed out that one of the bone spurs on my knee on November 1 is no longer there. And then he pointed out a small foreign object floating about in my knee cavity and suggested it was probably that bone spur. His best guess is that it gets lodged in just the wrong place, presses on a nerve and causes pain, and then dislodges and moves on leaving me pain free. I’m not sure I buy this theory because the pain I had yesterday was identical to the pain on the night of the fall and that bone spur was still attached to my knee at that point. The medical assistant asked if I wanted pain pills. No. He said it would be best if I could knee surgery right now, but that is probably not going to happen as scheduling is set months in advance. So, my only option is to keep those crutches close at hand so I can use them when the pain returns that doesn’t allow me to straighten my leg. The only good news was that he doesn’t feel that anything that has happened will impact recovery after the knee surgery. So I hobble on.

Otherwise, it was not a very eventful day. I drove to Woods Hole to pick Ollie up after a mid-day dentist appointment and took him back to school. When I got home, Peter and Karen Baranowski dropped by to visit for a bit and then it was time to go pick Jonah and Ollie up after school. Tonight, I baked some cranberry bread to give as gifts and will spend tomorrow making a list and checking it twice to make sure I have all Christmas gifts under control. I know of two things I need to out to buy tomorrow, but after checking the list, there may be more. Then tomorrow night I travel with the Goldstones to New Bedford to go to a Celtic Sojourn. I am really looking forward to that.

2018 Life Logs, Day 351: Noon Tunes
Date: Monday, December 17, 2018
Weather: Overcast and Windy; High 42, Low 25 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The highlight of my day was going to listen to Noon Tunes, at noon, of course. This is a group of Woods Hole Oceanographic employees that have formed a music group. Good friend, Bruce Woodin, plays guitar. There is a ukulele player, three violinists, a banjo and a mandolin player, one person playing percussion, and another playing concertina and an assortment of recorders from soprano to bass. The combined sound as they played holiday folk music from around the world was just delightful. They were playing in the Fenno House on the WHOI campus and people working in the building stopped by to enjoy the tunes, along with Jane Woodin and myself. It was a wonderful way to start the week leading up to Christmas Day.

Before going to hear Noon Tunes, I went to the gym to a pilates class. Not smart. Tonight I am back to wearing a knee brace and walking with crutches. I cannot figure out what is happening in the back of my knee that causes it to literally cease up and not allow me to put weight on my right leg or straighten it. It will probably be okay after resting it all night, but I am very glad that I have an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon’s assistant tomorrow morning. Hopefully he can help figure out what is going on. Today after the noon concert, I tried to do a little shopping, but I found that my knee was not cooperating, so I came home. I sat at my computer for part of the afternoon and it was when I tried to get up that I discovered that I needed the brace and crutches. Ugh! How can one little fall cause so much trouble? I was hoping to do some holiday baking this evening, but that didn’t happen since I can’t stand on just one leg for long! Hopefully tomorrow will be a better knee day.