2017 Life Logs, Day 71: A Day with the Goldpebbles
Date: Sunday, March 12, 2017
Weather: Sunny and Cold; High 24, Low 14 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

I spent most of my day just hanging out with the Goldpebbles and talking with Heather about what has been going on here in my absence. In the early afternoon, Heather took all three boys to a birthday party for one of Ollie’s preschool friends and I went food shopping. When we reconvened, we got ready for a little belated birthday party for me. We had artichokes and baby back ribs for dinner and flourless chocolate cake and whipped cream for dessert. Yummy.

I will spend most of tomorrow catching up on emails and dealing with a bank issue. For some reason, my online banking is not working. This includes my bill pay services so I need to take care of this right away. I didn’t discover this problem until late last week when I discovered that my online access has been blocked, possibly because I went to Puerto Rico and didn’t notify the bank. I have been to Puerto Rico other times and have never notified the bank, so maybe there is another problem. But in any case, in order to remedy the problem, I have to go into the bank and have someone there that recognizes me verify I am for real! Then they can call the online banking folks and get things reinstated. At 3:30 I’ll pick Jonah up from school while Heather picks up Ollie and then Sam who has after-school band practice. Then all of us will have a very early dinner and head out for Scout activities. Sam’s pack is visiting WCAI in Woods Hole tomorrow night and Heather is hoping she can go with him since that is where she works. Jonah’s pack is going to the high school for a special event and Ollie and I will go with him. At least that is the current plan.

2017 Life Logs, Day 69: Ryman Theater Tour
Date: Friday, March 10, 2017
Weather: Rain Overnight, Sunny Day; High 57, Low 31 degrees F
Location: At Home with Patsy and Joe in Mt. Juliet, TN

We spent my last day here by driving to Nashville to tour the Ryman Theater, and what a fantastic tour it was. The history of that building is fascinating as it evolved from a religious tabernacle to being the home of the Grand Ole Opry to sitting empty for years before being renovated to become the Ryman as it is known today. Because this is my last evening with my sister, I’m not going to write everything I learned about the Ryman today, but I will recommend that if you are ever in Nashville, you take the tour. It is a truly interesting bit of American history.

Patsy and I are scurrying about this evening trying to wrap up a few projects we started while I was here. There is never enough time, so we will just continue when I come to visit again.

2017 Life Logs, Day 68: Stormy Night
Date: Thursday, March 9, 2017
Weather: Sunny Day, Stormy Night; High 75, Low 45 degrees F
Location: At Home with Patsy and Joe in Mt. Juliet, TN

What a stormy night it is here. It was 75 degrees this afternoon, but soon after the sun went down, the thunder and lightning started. Then the rain came. And then we got a short blast of hail. At first the hail was as big as malted milk balls, but then it got smaller and smaller until it was the size of pearls. So much came so fast that there was a flood of the little pearls shooting out of the gutter downspouts. Then the hail ended just as abruptly as it started. Tomorrow will be 20 degrees cooler than today, but I won’t complain. In checking the weather back home I see that school has already been cancelled tomorrow due to snow. Arriving home on Saturday is going to be a bit of a weather shock, but then it is supposed to snow here on Saturday evening. I guess spring has been put on hold for a bit.

I was so excited to make a smoothie for Patsy this morning in her new Vitamix blender. I got all the ingredients in it and tried to turn it on. Nothing. I could get it to pulse, so I knew the motor was working. But there was no way the start button for blending was going to work. So Patsy and I spent our afternoon driving back to Costco to get another Vitamix. Hopefully tomorrow morning I will be able to successfully make a smoothie for my sister and hopefully she’ll love it.

This evening we met Janet and Monica at a new restaurant called Burger Republic. We all agreed that this place was a winner. Janet and Monica fly to Florida on Saturday morning at 5 am, so we said our goodbyes tonight. The stormy weather is supposed to end during the night, so tomorrow Patsy, Joe, and I will head into Nashville to tour the Ryman Theater, formerly the Grand Ole Opry House, and before that the Union Gospel Tabernacle. The Ryman was the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974. We are looking forward to the tour.

2017 Life Logs, Day 67: Fences
Date: Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Weather: Sunny and Clear; High 68, Low 39 degrees F
Location: At Home with Patsy and Joe in Mt. Juliet, TN

It was a gorgeous day, but somehow we managed to spend most of it inside. Joe and I went to the gym this morning. We had planned to drive south to the Jack Daniels Distillery, but when we looked at the time we have left before I leave, we had to drop the Jack Daniels trip. Joe really wanted to go see Fences with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis and since tomorrow might be the last day it is showing here, it moved to the top of our list. We found the movie to be one of those deeply sad stories that is hard to watch, but the acting was fantastic. Since we had to drive all the way to the theater south of Nashville, we returned to Costco afterwards so that Joe could visit the optical department to pick out new frames for his glasses. And today we were successful in buying a Vitamix blender for Patsy. They were there yesterday. I just didn’t see them and didn’t ask for help. I called this morning to see if maybe I had overlooked them and found that I had. Tomorrow morning will be a smoothie morning with the new Vitamix and then we will just hang out for the rest of the day. I think we will be going out to dinner with Janet and Monica tomorrow night and we will visit the Ryman in Nashville on Friday. Snow is forecast for here on Saturday and I’m really hoping the forecast is correct and that the snow won’t come until after I leave.

2017 Life Logs, Day 66: Lion
Date: Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Weather: Overcast with Wind and Rain; High 64, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home with Patsy and Joe in Mt. Juliet, TN

The rain and wind started during the night and continued through the morning. We had thought we might drive about an hour and half south to tour the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee, but the pouring rain discouraged that idea. So, we decided to go to another movie. We all wanted to see Lion, so that was our choice. And it was a good one. We all thought it was a much better movie than Moonlight. Now Joe wants to go see Fences. I’m not sure we can work that in before I leave on Saturday, but we will try. We still want to go to the Jack Daniel’s Distillery and we also want to visit The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, home of the original Grand Ole Opry. So lots to do this week.

After the movie, we went to Costco to buy a Vitamix blender for Patsy. She wants to start making smoothies, but Costco had only Oster blenders today. Too bad. But we bought lots of food, went to a Macaroni Grill for an early dinner, and then headed home. The rain had stopped by this time and just as we arrived home we saw red sails on the sunset. All indications are that tomorrow will be a nice day.

In between activities, I am working on finding accommodations for a Martin family reunion in southern West Virginia the end of June and a Handley family reunion in Florida during Thanksgiving week. Both are challenging, but I was really struggling with the southern West Virginia venue. Monroe County in West Virginia has been our goal, but it is really country with very few places to stage a multi-day reunion with more than 30 people. And certainly I knew, or thought I knew, there was nothing close to where we used to live. But yesterday while researching on the internet, I stumbled on a resort about six miles from where we had lived and Heather and Justin started their school careers. And I was familiar with this place. When we lived there, a family from New Jersey had moved in and were building a health spa. I had no idea that was still there, but it is and it has grown into an international destination for people seeking rejuvenation, and a destination for weddings and reunions. I called this morning and Natalie Sandel, the same women I knew over 25 years ago, answered the phone. So the same family still owns Creekside Resort and tomorrow I will get an estimate from her on the costs for hosting our gathering. And we are also moving forward in finding a location on Fort Myers Beach for Heather, Jed, and boys and Justin, Jo, and kids to stay for our Thanksgiving gathering of the Handley family.

I fly home on Saturday. I just checked Cape Cod weather and it looks like it is going to be very ccccccccccold when I arrive. Earlier it looked like the temp would be in the 40’s, but no more. I will have to brace myself for the cold.

2017 Life Logs, Day 65: Hot Rocks Massage
Date: Monday, March 6, 2017
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High 70, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home with Patsy and Joe in Mt. Juliet, TN

Thanks to Patsy, Joe, and Janet, I was treated to a hot rocks massage today. I had no idea what that was going to entail, and was therefore just a tad leery. But it was fantastic . . . and that comes from a person who has previously not been a big fan of massages. This type of massage requires a specially trained therapist and the young man that did my massage was very good at what he does. Thanks again JJ&P for such a special treat. It was a perfect 70th birthday present.

2017 Life Logs, Day 64: The BIG 7-0
Date: Sunday, March 5, 2017
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High 70, Low 52 degrees F
Location: At Home with Patsy and Joe in Mt. Juliet, TN

Today was the BIG 7-0 birthday for me. It was a quiet one since we did the celebrations yesterday, but that left lots of time for the wonderful phone calls and Facebook messages I received. I’ve never posted anything on my Facebook page until tonight, but evidently, I have lots of friends! I got calls from friends Geoff and Chris aboard Shambala who are in Panama awaiting passage through the Canal before heading home to Australia, Alan and Helaine in New Hampshire, and Ed and Lynne in New York, as well as niece Lynn and nephews Rex, Tommy, and Todd (last night). And near the end of today, I had a Skype call with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco where they sang Happy Birthday to me, and that was followed by a call from Heather, Jed, and boys. Thanks to all for the birthday wishes. Your happy messages made my day.

I spent the early morning talking with Jennifer until she and Bill left for home at 10:30 am. Then around noon I ventured out to go visit Janet and Monica. Not that I don’t love visiting with them, but I really went to see their dogs, Jancy and Avery. I had met Janet’s Jancy before, but I had never met Monica’s Avery. So today I was properly introduced. In the afternoon and early evening, Patsy and I spent some time working on family photos and genealogy, and then this evening, Patsy and Joe took me out to dinner at an Asian restaurant. It was a good day.

2017 Life Logs, Day 63: Happy Birthday to Joe
Date: Saturday, March 4, 2017
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High 68, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home with Patsy and Joe in Mt. Juliet, TN

Today we celebrated Joe’s 83rd birthday. I got a kick out of the fact that Joe wore his Converse tennis shoes out to dinner tonight. It was a good day from start to finish and I know Joe loved having his family with him today. When he was opening presents he commented that he thought this was his biggest birthday ever. I know that had to make Jennifer and Janet feel really good. His grandchildren weren’t here, but he did talk to them on the phone. Happy birthday, Joe!

This morning at 9 am, Janet, Monica, Jennifer, Bill, and I headed into Nashville. Janet and Nashville’s honky-tonk strip on Broadway. Live music blares from the various bars starting at 10 am, but it was only 9:30 when arrived so we walked down to the river. There was almost no one on the street when we walked down to the river, but on the way back up the street, the crowds started gathering. When out-of-town friends come to visit Monica and Janet, they always want to go visit the strip, so Monica now has a great deal of Saturday morning honky-tonk experience. We visited the Tequila Cowboy first, because one of her favorite musicians plays there every Saturday morning. We sat down at the bar and Monica ordered a beer. As far as I can remember, I have never had a beer in the morning, but Bill and I followed suit. I’m sure Monica doesn’t drink beer in the morning except when visiting the bars on the strip. But when in Nashville, do as the locals do. We drank our beers, enjoyed the music, and then walked across the street to another bar. The musician Monica wanted to hear was not there, so we walked up the street to one of the most famous bars on the strip, Tootsie’s. It has three floors, so walked to the top to see the view from the roof-top outside venue. It was way too crowded to find seating, so we walked back down to the second floor and spent the rest of the morning there. There are different musicians playing on every floor of every bar. Lots of fun.

We all returned from Nashville, had a little down time, and then got back together for a little birthday celebration. We took lots of family photos, opened gifts, and then headed back to Nashville for a fantastic dinner at the Rodizio Brazilian Steakhouse. This was a birthday treat for Joe and for me. Thanks so much to Jennifer and Bill and Janet and Monica. Dinner was spectacular.

2017 Life Logs, Day 62: Family Dinner
Date: Friday, March 3, 2017
Weather: Sunny and Cool; High 49, Low 27 degrees F
Location: At Home with Patsy and Joe in Mt. Juliet, TN

Earlier in the day, Patsy, Joe, and I drove to south Nashville to go see another movie. We went to this particular theater as it has 27 theater venues and is now showing almost all recent movies. Since Moonlight won the Best Picture award this year, we decided to go see it. None of us really knew what it was about and this was a lesson in not doing your homework. This film is heavy-duty and not easy to watch. If we had known, we would have gone to see something a little more light-hearted. Maybe another afternoon.

Tomorrow is a Nashville day. Janet drives to downtown Nashville every Saturday morning to do her weekly volunteer work with the homeless. Jennifer will go with her while Monika takes Bill and me down to Broadway to do some live-music bar-hopping. We’ll come home for lunch and then in the late afternoon all of us will return to Nashville to go to a Brazilian steakhouse for dinner. Sounds like fun.

The weather here today was still on the cool side and tonight the temp will dip below freezing. But it warms up a bit tomorrow and stays that way until I return home next Saturday. I checked the temp back home and it is cold there, but it will also warm up a few degrees next week. I got a couple of photos from Heather tonight. Thanks, Heather. I love getting photos of the grandkids when I am far away. The district-wide science fair is tomorrow and both Jonah and Sam have been working on their projects this week. Jonah tested whether borax crystals grow better at room temperature or fridge temp. Evidently the results surprised everyone. Jed helped Sam test his crazy, complicated idea to test the efficiency of various boat hull designs. It was a bit complicated for a ten year-old, but this was an idea he really wanted to test in a flume he and Jed built in the garage. Sounds like it has been a busy week at the Goldstone’s. I’ll look forward to seeing the full reports when I get home.