2022 Life Logs, Day 64: Three x Twenty-five
Date: Saturday, March 5, 2022
Weather: Sunny; High 39, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The first gift for my 75th birthday was waking to a bright, sunny morning. Then the Facebook, text message, snailmail and email birthday greetings started coming in. How wonderful it was to hear from so many friends and family members, both far and near–sailing friends from Australia, Kevin and Claire in Mexico, Linda and Mike in Colorado, Lynne in New Zealand, Leslie on vacation in Hawaii, Alan and Helaine in Dedham, Detta in New Hampshire, nieces and nephews on vacation in Florida, high school friends, dear friends from my days in the Concord, New Hampshire and the Seaford, Delaware school systems, friends from our years living in southern West Virginia, friends from Mark’s days at New Hampshire Public Radio, and my wonderful friends here in Falmouth. Friendship is the greatest gift of all. Thank you for thinking of me on this special day.
As I reflected on my 75 years, I decided it was easiest to think of those years in three sets of twenty-five, the three stages of my life to date. The first twenty-five were spent growing up and getting an education. The second twenty-five were spent with Mark building our family, building homes, and building our careers. The third twenty-five were focused on sailing and travel. Now what? Three quarters down and one quarter to go. I love to write, and I love to spend time with my grandchildren. Those are the things that fill my days in the beginning of this fourth quarter. It will be exciting to see where things go from here.
This morning I went to the Falmouth Science Fair. Sam, with good friends Robert and Sebastian, won third place in their category and were awarded $200.
They were elated and went to Hyannis to the Brazilian Grille for a celebratory lunch. Jonah and his friend Jean-Luc were awarded High Honors for their project for which Jonah was extremely proud.
Both teams completed their projects without help from parents. The boys are really growing up. So proud of them.
Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco sent presents that arrived today. I received a rack that holds three glass vases for growing plants hydroponically and a frame for air plants.
The air plants will arrive next week. During the holiday season I saw the rack with the glass vases at the nearby garden center and almost bought it on three different occasions. But I refrained, telling myself it was an extravagance that I couldn’t afford. Justin and Jo must have read my mind as I never mentioned it to anyone. So, I was delighted when it arrived today. Then they called via Skype video, and we had a wonderful visit.
I got to see Ziggy’s guinea pigs,
his hamster, and the dogs. Coco told me about her football (soccer) games and Ziggy showed me the clay figure he used in his latest animation. I can’t wait until April when I get to see them in person.
Tonight, I went to Heather and Jed’s for a sushi dinner and game night.
When I arrived, Sam was whipping the cream to top the chocolate decadence cake. After filling ourselves with sushi, we cut the cake.
Honestly, it was the best birthday cake I have ever had. Heather insisted I bring some home to have for breakfast and I’m looking forward to that. She finished the afghan she has been working on as a gift for me and it is gorgeous.
Plus, they gave me an ‘out of this world’ pottery serving plate. I say it is ‘out of this world’ not only because it is beautiful, but because it contains meteorite particles that came from the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter, literally out of this world.
When meteorites are cut up for research and display purposes, there are small waste pieces that result from the cutting. A potter from Celestial Ceramics in West Bethel, Maine, incorporates the waste pieces in the glaze of his pieces. After dinner and presents, we played Trivial Pursuit and had a ball. Ollie decided to be the card reader. There was a question about Malcom X. When Ollie misread it as Malcom the Tenth, I was not sure Heather and Jed were going to recover from the laughter. It was a lovely evening and the perfect way to celebrate a birthday.
