2017 Life Logs, Day 101: A Day with Ollie
Date: Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 56, Low 45 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

Ollie and I seem to be having difficulties shaking the cough and congestion we have had for what seems like weeks. We have both gotten better, then worse, then better again. But this morning Heather called and said Ollie really needed to stay home for the day because of his cough, so I went over to spend the day with him. I took the chicken mineral broth I had made yesterday so I could use the canner which I keep in Heather’s basement to can the broth. But before I got to that job, Ollie and I watched the Cars video. I have seen it multiple times over the past few years with Sam and Jonah, but Ollie had never seen the whole video and we really enjoyed watching it together. After the movie, I canned the broth and made a call to my doctor. Yesterday I developed some strange symptoms that made me worry that I had shingles. Been there, done that, and don’t want that again, so I called the doctor just to check things out. They wanted me to come in to be checked today and I explained that I couldn’t because I was at home with a sick grandchild. They suggested that I just bring him with me, so Ollie and I went to the doctor this afternoon. He was such a good little guy and lucky for me, the prognosis is that I probably don’t have shingles. Whew! That was welcome news. I hated to have to drag Ollie to the doctor with me, but he was a real trooper. On the way home, we drove to my house to pick up my DVD of the movie Fiddler on the Roof. Last night after our Seder, we somehow started talking about Reb Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof and Heather got on YouTube to let the boys watch Reb Tevye sing the song “Tradition.” This got their interest, so I said I would bring the DVD over for them to watch. But by the time we got to my house, Ollie was sound asleep. I left him in the car and ran to the apartment to get the DVD and then I drove home with a sleeping Ollie. When I finally carried him into the house, he came back to life and wanted to watch some of the movie. And by the time I left at 6:30 pm, Jonah, Sam, and Heather had joined us. Fiddler on the Roof has always been one of my most favorites, and it is Heather’s favorite as well. She had a really hard time leaving us to watch while she fixed dinner for the boys. Dinner was a little late, but everyone walked to the kitchen singing, “If I Were a Rich Man.”

2017 Life Logs, Day 100: Passover Seder with the Goldstones
Date: Monday, April 10, 2017
Weather: Sunny; High 64, Low 46 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

Last night after I sent my log, I found out that Justin and Jo have had more sadness in their lives with their animals. First, Coco’s beloved little puppy, Annabelle, disappeared and a few days later her body was found by the road where she had been hit by a car. Then on Friday, while Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco were in San Juan to celebrate Ziggy’s birthday with two days of fun, they got a call from the house sitters that wild dogs were killing the goats, the momma Cloudy, and her two babies, Hanna and Cooper. The house sitters were totally freaked out and didn’t know what to do. Justin and family headed home, but it is a two-hour drive from San Juan to Rincon, and by the time they got home the babies were dead and the mother goat was dying. I am so very sad for them all, but they seem to be taking things in stride and moving forward. At least Ziggy’s dive experience went smoothly and I look forward to talking to him about that in the next day or so.

My day started at the gym for the Monday morning 20-20-20 class, a combination of 20 minutes of cardio exercise, 20 minutes of weight training, and 20 minutes of core balance with stretching. I returned home after that and started a batch of chicken mineral broth using the bones from Sunday dinner. Bone broth needs to burble most of the day, so I had planned to go through paperwork that has been piling up while waiting for it to do its thing. I leave for the Bahamas a week from today, so I want to make sure everything is in order—thus, the paperwork. But that plan got derailed when I got a call from Heather. She had picked Ollie up from school at 1 pm and was heading home to fix Passover dinner. On the way home, Ollie decided he wanted to spend the afternoon with Oma making animal masks and biking, so I said to bring him on over. I love spending time with Ollie and who wants to do paperwork anyway? Ollie brought a folder of art work from school from their recently completed study of the rain forest. One of the items was a black panther mask and that led to wanting to make the other animal masks. So, we made masks, we colored a rain forest picture together, we watched a little rain forest slide show on YouTube recommended by his teacher, and just generally enjoyed the afternoon.

Around 4 pm, we decided it was time to head to his house so he could go biking. I then stayed for the Passover Seder. Jed’s father was Jewish and Heather and Jed want to make sure the boys know something of their Jewish heritage, so every year they observe the beginning of Passover with a Seder. If you are not familiar with Jewish rituals, a Seder is a feast to mark the beginning of Passover. The Jewish people celebrate Passover in memory of their liberation by God, through Moses, from slavery in Egypt. The boys and Jed wore their kippahs, a cap most commonly referred to as a yarmulke or yamaka. And Heather fixed quite a feast. We had brisket that she had cooked all afternoon and it was delicious. It was accompanied by other traditional foods of the Ashkenazi Jews including a salad topped with poached fish dumplings called gefilte fish, matzo ball soup, charoset or haroset which is a mixture of fruits and nuts, and potato kugel which is like a potato pie. We had roasted asparagus which I don’t think is traditional, but delicious, and all this was all topped by a flourless chocolate decadence cake made with coconut oil and coconut milk instead of butter. It truly was a feast and most delicious. As the boys were getting ready for bed, Ollie gave us a little harmonica concert. Last night at my house, he found one of Mark’s blues harmonicas and just started playing it. He’s not playing real songs, but what he plays is quite pleasant. Add to that the almost full moon and tonight was quite spectacular.

Last word—One week from tonight I will be on my way to the Bahamas!

2017 Life Logs, Day 99: Soccer, Lunch with Friends, Dinner with Family
Date: Sunday, April 9, 2017
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 57, Low 41 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

Today was spent with family and friends. First was Sam’s first soccer game of spring 2017. He is playing with the same boys he played with in the fall, but they have all matured over the two fathers are the coaches. Sebastian’s dad Tim is the head coach and he is assisted by Jed. They had done a great job with this team. And it is so much fun to see Sam still playing with Sebastian and Ethan, both friends since preschool.

I could only stay for half the game today as I had a 1 pm date with friends Olivia and Jane to have lunch downtown at La Cucina Sur Mare. We spent two hours talking, talking, talking about just about everything. Jane’s very close friend of 35 years died this morning after about two weeks in hospice care. I hope it was comforting for Jane to be with other good friends today. We enjoyed her company and certainly my thoughts are with her tonight.

After lunch with friends, I came home to fix dinner for Heather, Jed, and boys. I invited them over for dinner. It has literally been months since they have all been here together, so it was fun having them here for the evening. The boys are returning Thursday for an overnight. They don’t have school on Friday, so I invited them over to have some fun with Oma. Ollie has been asking to sleep over for days, so Thursday night will be the night.

2017 Life Logs, Day 98: Jonah’s First Soccer Game, Spring 2017
Date: Saturday, April 8, 2017
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds; High 51, Low 35 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

Falmouth Soccer Club’s spring season is underway and today was Jonah’s first game. This is the first year Jonah has been eligible to play in the travel club which is organized by grade level. There is only one second grade team, so Jonah’s good friend Luke is on the team as well. They don’t go to the same elementary school but their friendship has continued since preschool and they obviously enjoy getting together for these soccer games. Jonah chose to be number 50 this year and Luke is number 12. Their team has so many boys on it that no one gets to play more than half of the game, but they seem to have fun while on the sidelines waiting their turn to play. The temp was in the low 50’s this afternoon, but it felt cold as the sun managed to hide itself throughout most of the game. Ollie decided it was better to run around with a soccer ball rather than just sit and watch, so he played his own little game. Tomorrow is Sam’s game but I’ll only get to watch the start as I am meeting friends Olivia and Jane downtown for lunch.

2017 Life Logs, Day 97: Happy Birthday to Ziggy
Date: Friday, April 7, 2017
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Very Windy; High 52, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

My day started with a Skype video call with Ziggy and family to me an opportunity to say happy birthday to Ziggy and see the bicycle that was my present to him. Actually, I sent money and Jo and Coco went out and bought the bicycle for Ziggy. He was very happy with the present. And he was very excited about the present from his mom and dad. They were getting ready to take him to San Juan today for an afternoon snuba dive with an instructor. Ziggy loves the water, has been free diving since he was four, and dreams of becoming a scuba diver someday. The snuba allows shallow diving without prior training and air tanks. You are attached to an air compressor via a hose to your breathing regulator. So, today’s snuba dive was just the next level of diving for Ziggy. And since they were driving all the way to San Juan to do this, they were also incorporating an overnight stay, swimming under waterfalls tomorrow, and making a stop in Arecibo to see the huge telescope at the observatory there. Actually, it is the world’s largest telescope at this time. I do hope they send photos so I can share them with you once they get home. So happy birthday to Ziggy. And I must mention here that the mystery of the disappearance of Coco’s beloved little puppy, Annabelle, has been solved. Annabelle did make it to the road and was hit by a car. They found her little body this week and already Coco has a new puppy. This one is called Bluebelle. Coco still gets sad when she hears Annabelle’s name, but she loves the new puppy . . . who was going on the adventure to San Juan with them today.

Today no progress was made on any of the major projects I am working on right now. Actually, I’m not sure what I got done except for a trip to the grocery store. When I got home from that trip, I ate lunch and then I looked out the window and saw this little blonde head bobbing up the walkway. It was Ollie’s blonde head I saw heading toward the apartment—always a welcome sight. Heather was heading home to pick up Sam and Jonah after school and had picked Ollie up from school early and decided to stop here for a short visit. After Heather and Ollie left, I went to meet friend Jane Woodin at the Falmouth Art Center to attend a reception for the current show on display, Art and Textures in 3-D. Jane and I were both very impressed with the landscape quilting of Sue Colozzi. Basically, this artist takes landscape visions and turns them into fabric wall hangings by appliqueing fabrics onto a background and then uses sewing machine stitching to put it all together. Her combinations of fabric colors are beautiful and her stitchery is very impressive. To make marsh grass, she layers various colors of green fabric and then stitches vertically over and over and over to give the appearance of grass. The final result has a 3-D quality to it. I didn’t dare take photographs, but I did find photos online so I can share my favorite piece and Jane’s favorite. Photographs don’t do this art medium justice, but at least you can get the general idea. My favorite was of marsh grass in the Great Sippewissett Marsh. The boys and I love to visit this marsh in the summer. Jane really loved the same piece, but she also loved another one called Quissett Beach.

The day was ended with me going to my 20-20-20 exercise class at the gym and then having a nice long phone call with friend Lynne Kirwin. Ed and Lynne have just returned from an almost two week visit to their boat, Constance, in southern Georgia. The weather was warm and they really enjoyed their stay. We spent part of our conversation talking about our friends Chris and Geoff on Shambala who are currently crossing the Pacific from the Galapagos Islands to French Polynesia. They are headed home to Australia. Brings back so many beautiful memories.

2017 Life Logs, Day 96: The Last Word
Date: Thursday, April 6, 2017
Weather: Overcast, Rain, Evening Thunder and Lightning; High 53, Low 44 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

My friend Olivia White picked me up this morning and we headed to Dennis which is located on the northern part of Cape Cod that borders on the Cape Cod Bay. It is about an hour from here, but despite the distance, Olivia really wanted to introduce me to the Cape Cinema. This is a movie theatre that was founded in 1930. It was designed to look like a church and it features a painted ceiling featuring a representation of the heavens and constellations. The seats are mostly still the originals, although they are slowly being replaced by new replicas of the old. This movie theater is part of the Cape Cod Center for the Arts complex which also includes the Cape Playhouse and the Cape Cod Museum of Art. I had no idea any of this existed. The movie theatre specializes in independent American and international films, simulcasts of the Metropolitan Opera and National Theatre, and live music performances. Other than my introduction to the Cape Cinema, our main reason for going there today was to see The Last Word starring Shirley MacLaine. The movie gets mixed reviews, but both Olivia and and I are longtime fans of the 82 year-old Shirley MacLaine. We really enjoyed the movie and I enjoyed being introduced to this very special movie theatre.

The movie was at 11 am, so afterwards it was time for lunch. We drove out of the arts complex to a restaurant just across the street, the Scargo Café. And it was also delightful. We were seated and then another couple came in and were seated next to us. At some point, they introduced themselves to us and Olivia noted that we had seen them in the theatre. The woman shared that one of the main actors in The Last Word is her grandson, Thomas Sadoski, and that just a few weeks ago he married the Amanda Seyfried, who was a main actress, along with Shirley MacLaine, in the movie we had just seen. Wow! I remembered Thomas Sadoski from the television sitcom, the Newsroom. Mark discovered this series last year and we watched every single episode. So it really interesting to meet the grandmother. And then Olivia and I started talking about the last movie in which we had seen Shirley MacLaine. We both came up with Steel Magnolias and Olivia shared that the story that movie was based on was inspired by a real life issue that was faced by one of her close friends in seminary school in Texas years ago. AND the movie was shot in a parish in Louisiana where another of her best friends from the same seminary school lives. His home was used as a setting for parts of the movie and he was actually in the movie as a singer in the church choir. What a small world!

2017 Life Logs, Day 95: Organizing Life
Date: Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High 41, Low 38 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

I spent my time today organizing my life. I didn’t get very far, but I did get started. I have a number of projects underway and I never seem to find the time to work on them. So today was the day. I have hundreds of photos from the past year that need to be edited, labeled and filed away. And I have photo files on my computer that need to be organized. I made a little progress in that area. I need to make a decision as to whether I am going to stay put and live in this apartment for another year or rent a different place that is cheaper or whether I might want to buy a house. So, I moved forward on that today by going to the bank to set up an appointment with a home mortgage person. I had no idea whether I could even qualify for a loan. I was successful on that project as I had a phone interview late this afternoon and found out exactly what I qualify to buy at exactly what interest rate. So at least I know I can buy a small home if I want to. I have an ongoing family history project going and the new contact I made earlier this week kept me busy today answering more questions and asking more questions. I am also working on organizing a family gathering in West Virginia in June. I made no progress on that today, but will dedicate Friday to that project. I know there are other projects that should be on my plate, but this is as far as I got today. Tomorrow I am taking a break and having a day out with my friend Olivia. I think of Olivia White, Jane Wooden, and myself as the Three Amigos, but unfortunately Jane can’t join us tomorrow because she now has this awful cold/flu. I continue to recover. I’m not there yet—just so much better. Tomorrow Olivia and I will return from our adventure in time for me to pick Jonah up after school. Heather has an all-day meeting and then has to be on public radio fund raising duty from 4 to 7 pm. So, Jed and I will share the after school duties. Sam’s class is headed to Boston tomorrow to see a Red Sox game and he won’t be home until 6 or 6:30 pm, just in time for dinner. I’ll pick up Jonah, Jed will pick up Ollie, and then Ollie and I will fix dinner while Jed takes Jonah to soccer practice. Whew! I’m tired just trying to keep track of all these things!

2017 Life Logs, Day 94: Happy 10th Anniversary to Justin and Jo
Date: Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Weather: Rainy; High 45, Low 39 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

Happy 10th Anniversary to my son Justin and his soulmate, Jo. Justin and Jo are both deeply spiritual beings who live life with abandon. They were married on top of Eagle Rock in the San Rafael Hills near Los Angeles on April 4, 2007. Mark and I were in New Zealand couldn’t be there, but I remember loving the description Justin sent of the beautiful ceremony where they did a Celtic hand fasting. In their ten years together, they have loved, laughed, lived to the fullest and brought forth two beautiful children, Ziggy and Coco. I know their day today was not as happy as it should have been as they are all still mourning the loss of Coco’s puppy and best friend, Annabelle. She wandered off last Friday and they have found no clue as to her disappearance. Coco is heartbroken, as are all of them, but hopefully they found a way to add joy to their special day.

I continue to feel just a tad better each day, but still with symptoms. I’m waiting for that magic day when I feel totally healthy. But while waiting for that day, this morning I decided to get back on the family history trail. Digging into family history is one of my passions and but I don’t find a lot of time to continue the very meticulous research work in entails. But last night I read a comment on the Handleysail website that spurred a renewed interest. I post my logs on the website every night, but now that we are no longer sailing, I don’t check for comments very often. Last night I did and there was a request from someone in reference to the name of my father’s grandmother that I posted in a log on December 30, 2011. I had been searching on Ancestry.com on that day in 2011 and had just discovered my great-grandmother’s name for the very first time. My father’s family history has always been a mystery, so I was very excited on that day to find Indiana A. J. Epling Goodwin’s name. About a month ago, one of her decedents, Aaron, Googled her name and my reference to her in that log on December 30, 2011 came up. Aaron went to the Handleysail website, read my entry, and then sent a comment to me. Unbelievable. He actually thought that he (Aaron) was Indiana’s great-great grandson, but I called him today and at the end of a long and wonderfully informative conversation, I was able to fill in some of his missing information. The person that was his great grandfather was my father’s half-brother and my uncle. My father and his half-brother, Aaron’s great grandfather, were both the children of one of Indiana’s daughters, Fannie Elizabeth Catherine Goodwin. Aaron thought differently because his great grandfather was raised by Indiana, not by his mother, so census records put him in Indiana’s household. Long story short, Indiana ends up to be Aaron’s great-great-great grandmother and my great grandmother. Aaron and I will stay in contact and share information. Genealogy is nothing but complicated, but it is really exciting to find members of your family that you never knew existed.

2017 Life Logs, Day 93: Rocky Road to Recovery
Date: Monday, April 3, 2017
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 55, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

I am on the rocky road to recovery. I am not there yet as I still have lots of symptoms, but I do feel better. And that is a very, very good thing. What a stubborn bug this one has been! But I was able to return to the gym for an exercise class this morning and this afternoon I picked Ollie up from school and helped out at Heather and Jed’s this evening. Monday’s are tough for the Goldstones. Sam and Jonah have after school soccer practice and then they have Scouts. And Jed has his all evening Health Board Meeting. That leaves almost no time to cook or eat dinner, so this evening we cheated and had Subway subs for dinner. Of course, the kids loved it, but we’ll not make this a weekly affair–although we did discuss the merits of a “make your own sub” night once in a while. Tomorrow morning I need to be back at Heather and Jed’s to help out. Jed leaves early for an all-day meeting in Boston and Heather is on the air at 9 am. So, I will go over and deliver kids to school and then help with pick-up since Jed will don’t be home until late evening. The Goldstone schedule is so complicated this week, with the addition of on-air public radio spring fund raising. I’m glad I am here to help out.

2017 Life Logs, Day 92: King Oliver’s Birthday Party
Date: Sunday, April 2, 2017
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 50, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

Ollie’s birthday party set for last weekend had to be postponed because he had a fever. So the party was today and it was delightful. Ollie wanted to have a party where he would be king and his friends would be knights. So today we had King Oliver and his Knights of the Rectangle Table. Jonah served as knight-in-charge and Sam volunteered to be the dragon. Mollie from next door was the only girl, so she was Queen Guinevere. We dug into the costume bin and came out with shields and breastplates and capes for everyone. And Jed made cardboard swords which were brilliant. Five year-olds ran around for more than hour fighting each other and slaying the dragon multiple times and because the swords couldn’t really hurt anyone, there was not one complaint. I don’t think any of us had ever seen that many little boys play so long and hard with not even one dispute. It was delightful. And, of course, King Oliver had his birthday cake, opened presents, decorated his castle, and ended his afternoon with his knights looking for backyard bugs using a new bug catcher kit he got from his friend Richard. One of the most touching moments of the afternoon came when he opened his presents from Simon. One of the presents was a photo of the two of them and Ollie looked at Simon with such love and Simon reached out to touch his face. So sweet. The two boys were born on the same day in Falmouth Hospital in rooms next to each other. And now they have been in preschool together for four years. They will not be going to the same school for kindergarten in the fall, but hopefully they can keep connected.

The sunshine this afternoon was wonderful. It wasn’t really warm, but the sunshine made it feel that way. I am feeling somewhat better but have not gotten rid of the sinus drainage and the ugly cough. But better is good and I’m going to return to the gym tomorrow morning. It is time to start acting like I am alive once again!