2017 Life Logs, Day 365—Happy New Year!
Date: Sunday, December 31, 2017
Weather: Sunny and Cold; High 22, Low 7 degrees F
Location: At Home with Patsy and Joe in Mt. Juliet, TN
Happy New Year! We are having a quiet New Year’s Eve here at Patsy and Joe’s. It is just too cold to go to any outside activities, so other than a trip to the grocery store, we all stayed inside for the day. It was sunny but the high temp for the day was 22 degrees F. Not as cold as it could be, but cold enough. I talked to Justin this morning and the temp in Rincon was in the 80’s. That certainly sounds delicious! Thankfully the solar power is still chugging along giving them no problems for now. They have been collecting piles of wood to burn and were hoping for a big bonfire for New Year’s Eve. Justin said that from a small 50 by 50-foot area, they collected enough wood for two huge bonfires. Maria took down so many trees. But thankfully, in their climate, new trees are emerging to take the place of the fallen. Justin is texting as I write letting me know they had a great New Year’s Eve with friends, watching fireworks from their rooftop.
I had a great conversation with friends Ed and Lynne tonight. It is just so fantastic that they were able to sail Constance from the Florida-Georgia line to Fort Lauderdale and now have her tied to the dock at Ed’s son’s home on the New River. Ed’s son and family are away for the holidays, so Ed and Lynne have had the house all to themselves. They have spent the past week getting everything off Constance and they are so thankful to be able to do in the warmth of Florida sunshine. Ed is feeling and looking great.
My last phone call of the evening was from Heather, Jed, and the Pebbles. They have returned home from Maine and despite the severe cold, they had a wonderful time. And they had a great visit in New Hampshire today, on the way home from Maine, with friends of Heather’s from her high school days at St. Paul’s School. They all gathered in Nashua, New Hampshire, where their children enjoyed sledding together.
2017 has been quite a year for me. I spent time visiting with my sister in Nashville, time with Justin and family in Puerto Rico, time sailing on Windbird in the Bahamas with Sam and Dawn, and time with the Goldpebbles. We had magical reunions with all of my family in West Virginia in June and with all of Mark’s family in Florida in November. All of those were wonderful times, but then we had the hurricane season. Irma hit Florida and Puerto Rico, and then Maria hit Puerto Rico with a vengeance. The past 100+ days have been a roller coaster ride for the people of Puerto Rico and for those of us so connected to them. The ride is not over, but the thankfulness to all of the wonderful friends and family who have supported the rise of the new Puerto Rico is deep. The generosity and kindness of so many people will never be forgotten. In 2017, you turned what could have been a time of despair into a time of hope. Happy, happy 2018!
