2017 Life Logs, Day 61: Hidden Figures
Date: Thursday, March 2, 2017
Weather: Sunny and Cooler; High 55, Low 30 degrees F
Location: At Home with Patsy and Joe in Mt. Juliet, TN

I did it again. I had another ‘do almost nothing’ day and enjoyed it tremendously. Joe and I went to the gym, Patsy and I went grocery shopping, and I treated myself to a late afternoon movie, Hidden Figures. Patsy and Joe had already seen the movie, so they didn’t go with me. Today’s 4:50 pm showing was the last of this run, so I decided to go. And am I ever glad that I did. If you haven’t seen it, it is based on the true story of three black women who worked for NASA’s predecessor starting in the late 1940’s or early 1950’s. All three were brilliant and worked at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory near Hampton, Virginia. Katherine Johnson was known as ‘the computer’ before the time of computers and movie is centered around her. At age 98, she is still living and was recently wheeled onto the stage at the Oscar’s. Katherine’s story, as well as Dorothy Vaughan’s and Mary Jackson’s, is absolutely amazing.

2017 Life Logs, Day 60: Welcome March
Date: Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Weather: Rain with Thunder AM, Sunshine PM; High 70, Low 35 degrees F
Location: At Home with Patsy and Joe in Mt. Juliet, TN

I can hardly believe it is already March. Spring is on the way but somehow, I don’t feel like we have had winter. Of course, a New England spring can go on until the end of June, but at least we are probably past the really severe winter weather. March came in like a lion here with lots of thunder and rain from pre-dawn until almost noon. Then the lion was taken over by the lamb. Clouds cleared away and the sun shone brightly in a deep blue sky during the afternoon. It was warmish today but tomorrow will be much cooler. So we are having very typical spring weather.

For those of you say I never relax, I promise you I am taking it easy this week. Joe and I went to the gym this morning, but the pool was closed due to the thunder and we returned home. Joe had a mid-day doctor appointment. Patsy went with him, but I stayed home, sent some emails, and called friends Ed and Lynne to check in with them. When they returned, Patsy and I did some more online shopping and ordered new placemats for the dining table and new blankets for the twin beds in the guest bedroom. Before we knew it, it was time to go out to dinner. On Wednesday night, you get a free piece of pie for dessert at O’Charley’s, so we had dinner there and brought home our pieces of pie.

Tomorrow might be yet another lazy day. I promise to enjoy it.

2017 Life Logs, Day 59: On This Day . . .
Date: Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Weather: Overcast with Periods of Rain; High 66, Low 64 degrees F
Location: At Home with Patsy and Joe in Mt. Juliet, TN

On this day in 2015, Windbird was anchored just outside the Dinner Key Marina anchorage in Coconut Grove, Florida, waiting for the right weather window to head to the Bahamas. Today Windbird is anchored in the Warderick Wells north mooring field in the the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park in the Bahamas.

That brings me to today’s main themes—rain, shopping, politics, and Windbird. Since two of the themes, rain and Windbird, have something in common with the themes of this day in 2015, I’ll start there. Rain–rain here today and rain in Coconut Grove two years ago today. The rain we had today was nothing like the torrents we had in Coconut Grove in 2015, but it was a rainy day. Windbird—preparing to head to the Bahamas two years ago today and today at anchor in the Bahamas. I bring this up because tonight I got an email from Sam and Dawn, Windbird’s new owners. They spent their day making their contribution to the driftwood mementos that are left by sailors on Boo Boo Hill in Warderwick Wells. Sam carved Windbird’s name in a piece of driftwood, but it was what he engraved on the back of the piece that was so touching . . . Sam, Dawn, and Piper, In Memory of Mark Handley. Windbird sure found wonderful new owners. Thank you, Sam, Dawn, and Piper (their dog). Your thoughtfulness is much appreciated.

Shopping and politics were the other two themes of the day. Patsy and I went shopping for ‘easy wipe-off’ placemats for her dining table. We went to Belk’s, Home Goods, JC Penny, and Tuesday Morning and found nothing that fit our needs. So we drove further to a Bed, Bath, and Beyond and found a couple of possibilities that fit Patsy’s needs. We purchased six of the one that she liked the best, but unfortunately when we got home we found they were too big to fit nicely on the table. The second choice would have worked, but we looked on Amazon and found some even better choices. We’ll make a decision on placemats tomorrow because it was time to move on politics. Then this evening we watched the President’s address to Congress. I’ll make no comment on that other than, “Wait and see.” I’ll hope for the best.

2017 Life Logs, Day 58: Quiet Day
Date: Monday, February 27, 2017
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 60’s, Low 50’s F
Location: At Home with Patsy and Joe in Mt. Juliet, TN

It was a very quiet day here. Joe and I went to the gym in the recreation center this morning. Joe swims there every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning, and while I am here, I will go with him and use the exercise equipment. For an hour, I split my time between a recumbent bike and a similar machine that has your arms and legs moving at the same time. Joe had a doctor appointment in the afternoon, so he and Patsy were out and about for a couple of hours while I stayed home and caught up on a little correspondence. This evening Patsy and I looked at some old family photos and ordered a new floor standing photo frame for the living room. That’s about it for our day.

2017 Life Logs, Day 57: To the Ones Who Dream
Date: Sunday, February 26, 2017
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 50’s, Low 40’s F
Location: At Home with Patsy and Joe in Mt. Juliet, TN

In honor of tonight’s Oscar awards, my sister and I decided to dedicate our afternoon and evening to Hollywood. Late in the afternoon we went to see “La La Land” and we both loved it. The lyrics to one of the songs was written around the words “to the ones who dream”. Great story, fantastic music, and good acting. It is well worth a watch. And when we got home from the movie, we spent the rest of the evening watching the Oscar Awards. “La La Land” didn’t win as Best Picture, but it got more than its fair share of awards. And after watching the Oscars, I have a new list of movies I’d love to go see.

2017 Life Logs, Day 56: Cape Cod to Nashville
Date: Saturday, February 25, 2017
Weather: Mostly Sunny; 60’s on Cape Cod, 50’s in Mt. Juliet
Location: At Home with Patsy and Joe in Mt. Juliet, TN

I made it with no travel hitches from Cape Cod to Nashville, Tennessee this afternoon. I drove my car to the Park ‘n Ride and took the bus to the airport in Boston. It was so warm that I had to take my winter jacket off before boarding the bus, but when I got to Nashville, I put the jacket back on. It is supposed to dip into the 20’s here tonight, but by mid-week it will be back up in the 70’s. As Jonah says, “It is ‘wring’.” That’s his word for this in-between time of winter into spring.

My niece Janet picket me up at the airport in Nashville that is about 20 minutes from here. It was great to see Patsy and Joe again and I’m looking forward to spending the next couple of weeks with them. Patsy has decided that I need to rest to rebound from the cold that I brought a massage for me for tomorrow at noon in the hope that it will magically erase the pain in my left knee like the massage did in December. And she scheduled another massage for me on Friday. Actually, I was presented with an early birthday present of a year’s membership. I can use it when I am here and Janet, also a member, can use it when I am not here. She said it is actually cheaper to buy a membership than it is to book individual sessions. Patsy, Joe, and Janet are going to make sure I leave here in better shape than I arrived. Thanks, guys, for the wonderful gift!

Dinner tonight was a special treat. Joe bought humongous steaks and grilled them for us using his fancy new meat thermometer. It connects via Bluetooth to his phone so that he can constantly check in the inner temperature of the meat while wondering about. It is called an iGrill mini and using the thermometer produced perfectly cooked steaks.

2017 Life Logs, Day 55: Another Spring-like Day
Date: Friday, February 24, 2017
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 63, Low 46 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

Today was even warmer than predicted and absolutely felt like spring. Even the crocus thought so, so they graced us with their first blossoms. Sam, Jonah, and Ollie continued their outdoor play in the digging area, expanding their ‘city’ with a community center and a zoo. We had lunch on the back deck and complained about the heat. I reminded that boys that complaining about hot weather in February is definitely a good thing! Later in the afternoon we drove into town to the bus station to pick up Grammie Goldstone. She will be visiting for the next ten days. In the morning, I leave for Nashville for two weeks. I’m sure the boys think we are like the revolving Grammie/Oma door—one comes in, the other goes out. But we did enjoy dinner and an after-dinner Clue game together.

For some reason, I thought I had to get up early to catch an 8 am bus to Boston, but when I talked to my sister tonight, she said something about my 3:30 arrival. That made me question my memory of departure time, and when I checked in for the flight, I found that in fact, I don’t fly out of Boston until 1:30 pm. That is going to make for a much more relaxed morning.

2017 Life Logs, Day 54: Felt Like Spring
Date: Thursday, February 23, 2017
Weather: Fog, Sun, and Clouds; High 57, Low 44 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

I left a foggy harbor this morning and arrived to sunshine at the Goldstones. And it felt like spring. But, of course, this was just a teaser. We are a long way from spring, but today, tomorrow, and Saturday will give us a sneak preview. I spent the day with Sam, Jonah, and Ollie. They were in shorts and t-shirts while I still had on my winter jacket, but even I shed the jacket at one point while we were working in the garden. Because it felt warm, Ollie decided he wanted to plant some seeds in the garden. Sam followed along dug of clumps of land cress growing wild in the garden and replanted them in his own little garden. Later in the day all three boys took their shovels and rakes to their dirt digging area and created a little city with streets, a hotel, and fairy houses. Tomorrow we’ll do a repeat of today.

When I got home this evening I got a phone call from Linda and Mike Stuart. These are my good friends that are currently biking through South America. Well, actually right now they are taking a weather imposed break in Cuenca, Equador, and they are really enjoying it. It was great to talk to them.

I’m still not feeling great, but I have been scurrying around this evening trying to make sure I am ready for take-off early on Saturday morning. Nashville, here I come!

2017 Life Logs, Day 53: Still Moving Slowly
Date: Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 50, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

I’m still moving slowly. The ‘bug’ that I got in Puerto Rico is not easy to shake, but I feel good enough to be out and about—just not at my normal pace. Coco and I got hit at the same time, but she has had a fever and a cough. I have had neither. I just heard from Justin that Coco still had a bit of a fever last night, but she was able to go back to school today. Hopefully both of us are moving on to the healthy side of life and have not infected anyone else.

Jonah and Ollie came over this afternoon to play for a couple of hours. And tomorrow and Friday I will be on Oma duty with all three boys before flying to Nashville on Saturday. Before I leave, Grammie Goldstone will arrive for a week-long visit. Hopefully we will all have dinner together on Friday evening.

2017 Life Logs, Day 52: Like a Turtle
Date: Monday, February 20, 2017
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 49, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

I felt a little like a turtle today, moving forward very, very slowly. I slept in and woke up feeling better than I did when I went to bed. So that is a good thing. Just after noon, I drove over to the Goldstones to see what was happening there. Heather and Jed were both home today, but unfortunately Heather was really not feeling good—some sort of stomach bug—and she was napping. Jed was folding clothes and getting ready to work on the upstairs bathroom forced renovation due to a leaky shower. Jonah was at the first of three Animation Camp classes he signed up for this week, Sam was getting ready to go to a friend’s house for an afternoon play date, and Ollie was still in his pajamas. I invited Ollie to go home with me to play if he would get dressed, so he did. We took his bicycle and tractor and he rode them in the parking lot of The Studio. Then we picked up Jonah after his class and the two of them used some cardboard packing pieces I had saved for kid projects and they made new marble games.

I have a container of marbles that used to belong to Heather and Justin and the boys have had a ball making up new marble games and mazes.

I am still moving like a turtle tonight, but I done the laundry and started packing for my next trip. I fly to Nashville on Saturday for a two-week visit with my sister and brother-in-law. I was going to drive so I could visit with friends Ed and Lynne in New York and Kevin and Claire in Virginia on the way, but last night I decided to fly. I talked to Ed and Lynne to tell them of my decision. I explained that I certainly wouldn’t stop to visit with them with this cold, and even if I have totally recovered by Saturday, I am just not up for a long driving trip. I also talked to my sister last night to tell her of my decision. By flying, I’ll get to spend more time there and our plan is to just simply relax. I’m all for that!