2022 Life Logs, Day 360: Never a Dull Moment
Date: Monday, December 26, 2022
Weather: Sunny and a Tad Warmer: High 31, Low 24 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:09 am & 4:19 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

After enjoying the 2022 rendition of Revels at the beautiful Sanders Theatre on the Harvard campus, Heather and family drove north to a Hampton Inn in Portsmouth and I drove home to the Cape. We both arrive at our destinations at the same time, texting each other to say we had arrived safe and sound. Then I got another text from Heather saying she had spoken too soon. The electricity went out in the hotel and Jonah is stuck in the elevator on the 2nd floor with no light. The 1st and 3rd floor doors will open, but not the second. The Fire Department has arrived, but so far, no one has come up with a way to get him out. This particular elevator system does not have a back-up way of getting the door opened. Jonah texted me to tell me he was stuck in the elevator, and I thought I sent back a calming text. But he must have read between the lines. He texted back that he is okay but that his phone was about to die which meant he couldn’t use his phone flashlight. I have continued to be in touch with Heather, but as of this moment (10:58 pm), he is still stuck in the elevator.

Well, strike that. At 10:59 pm, just as I finished that last paragraph, I got another text from Jonah telling me, “I’m out and my phone is plugged in!” I texted back asking how he got out, but before he could respond, Heather called. Evidently it was a planned power outage to work on the lines, but no one knew that the Hampton Inn has no back-up generator. The Fire Department contacted the power company, and they responded by saying it was a “poorly timed” planned outage and that they would turn the power back on. I would say that having the power go out in a three-floor hotel full of people and not having warned anyone of the outage was more than poorly timed. But all is well. Just a bit of an ‘adventure’ that all of us could have done without.

Now back to Revels. For five decades (plus one year), the annual Revels’ celebration was called, “The Christmas Revels.” But in planning the 52nd production, it became evident that having Christmas in the name of a solstice celebration excluded a lot of people. To make it more diverse and inclusive, they have renamed it “Midwinter Revels.” It was never solely about Christmas. It was more about solstice and welcoming the new year. I would have just renamed it “Revels.” But it was not my decision! Every year that I have attended, it has been the same story line from the cultural perspective of a different European country. This year’s title was “Tales from Ellis Island.” It took place in 1924 when processing delays caused by changes in the immigration laws found Irish and Jewish families from Ukraine spending the holiday time together. At first, I could follow the story line, but then they added an immigration official from Mexico and we somehow went from post-World War I memories back to the Mexican American War of the mid-1800’s. I lost any story line at that point, but I salute the organization for moving toward being more inclusive. It seemed disjointed to me, but maybe not to others. Regardless, as always I truly enjoyed the music, the dancing, and audience singing participation. At intermission, the entire audience holds hands and snakes its way down to the lobby singing “The Lord of the Dance.” Then in Part Two, the audience is always invited to sing a round for peace, “Dona Nobis Pacem.” It is worth the price of admission to go just to sing that song. And the traditional finale is singing “The Sussex Mummers Carol” with all the cast and the audience participating. “Our play is done, we must be gone, we stay no longer here. We wish you all both great and small a blessed bright new year, a blessed bright new year.” Peace in the new year is the essence of Revels to me. Thank you to Heather and Jed for including me in what has become annual family tradition. And every year, I leave the theatre filled with a renewed feeling of love and hope.

One last note. I had my annual Christmas call from friends Kevin and Claire this afternoon. They were driving from Los Angeles to Tuscon to meet up with Heather and Jon Turgeon, another couple that lived aboard their boat when Mark and I lived aboard there prior to sailing around the world. Kevin and Claire and Heather and Jon are all much younger, but despite the age difference, we all became such close friends. Kevin sent a Christmas greeting to Heather and Jon yesterday and discovered that they were in Tucson. Kevin and Claire were driving there today to pick up some boat parts for a fellow cruiser and then on to their boat in Guaymas, Mexico. They are in a hurry because Claire’s family is flying down tomorrow to visit with them. But they just had to stop and visit with Heather and Jon, and we worked out a time when we could all talk to each other on the phone. Kevin and Claire come to visit each year, but it has been a few years since I last saw Heather and Jon. We all hope that our next ‘gathering’ will be face to face.