Dunno if the birds knew, but I didn't expect to see the bird bath frozen over this morning. It was warm yesterday and raining last night. This is why we don't turn on the water at the camp until mid-May or later.
Last night we went to see our financial advisor at her home. In addition to the usual "spend less, save more" message, she provided us with a couple of good ideas to help us be comfortable during our retirement. She also didn't blanch when we talked about specific years for retirement. We won't be living off of tins of cat food, but if we fly overseas, it might be like this.
Our FA and her partner bought their house late last year. It's a well-designed and extremely spacious town-house with a stunning amount of storage space. The house is one of the first in a newly-constructed over-55 development. (A sign at the driveway entrance says that hard hats must be worn at all times.) These are people not much older than we are, still working, but with very flexible schedules. As we arrives, our FA's partner was taking their yellow Lab to a program at the library. Kids learn how to read aloud by reading to the dogs. (More here.)
The area where they live is evolving, as are most towns around here. There are new homes, some small and some large, under construction all along the road. There are new shops and offices for professionals such as lawyers and real estate agents and accountants. And, across the street, there's a bait shop.
The closest that I've come to putting a rusty drill bit into my eardrum was last night as I heard Pat Boone sing Smoke on the Water.
We were out late, past eight o'clock. I'm back in an old pattern of waking very early. Today it was 2:30; in the previous several days, it was 1:30. I met with my doctor yesterday and we have something new to try. New is good, because old is getting old.
We're marking the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl explosion. To the tragic stories of death and displacement, heroic stories of those covered the maniacal reactor in concrete, I can add just one tiny anecdote. The radiation cloud drifted north-northwest and reached Finland in a couple of days. The reindeer, a source of meat for the Finns and the Sami, were so badly contaminated that the meat couldn't be eaten. So, they fed it to the minks.
What would you do for an iPod? You can leave your dignity by the curb on your way out.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Sunday, April 23, 2006
This is what rain looks like
After a few delightfully warm and sunny days, we've settled into a stretch of cool rain. It was freezing yesterday morning and just a few degrees above today. Goodness knows, we need the rain. The reservoirs are a foot or two down from their normal spring levels.
The floor in our family living is littered with Marley's toys. For the last six months, he's been leaving the toys in the MacGregors' apartment. Now that the MacGs' have gone back to PEI, Marley's squeaky, plushable, and chewable playthings have come back home.
Woody and Marian left for the island on Friday morning, staying overnight in New Brunswick, and arriving at the house in early afternoon. The house and property appear to have wintered well. They could not, however, get to the shore. Some logs had washed up on shore, blocking the path to the water. Earlier this winter, a ship carrying pulp wood lost its load in the waters off PEI and Nova Scotia. These are probably some of the same logs.
We went to visit Adam, Jennie, and Lily for a birthday breakfast yesterday morning. Good fun. They've been in their new house for three months and each visit shows how they are settling in. Sandra made curtains for their front window, a bright Swedish pattern that went nicely with the log cabin interior.
On the way back, we stopped at Whole Foods. I wanted some fruits, but, as one would expect, other things found their way into the shopping cart. One thing that we didn't buy was a package of Seaweed Rice Crackers. I get too hungry too often, but I don't think that I'd get hungry enough for Seaweed Rice Crackers.
The newspapers are late today, perhaps because there isn't much news.
Friday's New York Times carried a review of a new production of Brecht's Threepenny Opera, a wild, contemporary treatment with, notably, Cindy Lauper as Jenny. Overall, the review was not favorable, but the reviewer liked Ms. Lauper.
I did a season of summer stock theater in Vermont. Well, I wasn't really in the troupe; I was the janitor for the building. I did perform in one show - as a cop in Threepenny Opera. It was an intense show, made all the more so by the music. There was a small community band, mostly brass and woodwinds, perhaps a percussionist. They typically performed Sousa marches and show tunes for concerts on the common. Kurt Weil's music, with its complex rhythms and scales was quite a problem for them, but they soldiered on and gave a good series of shows.
Two buildings up from the theater was a small factory that made wood bowls and a small store that sold them. The owner, Sam Lloyd, was a regular participant in the theater's productions and he was quite good. Sam was the brother of Christopher Lloyd. Christopher appeared in a few shores years after I left.
We tried watching The Royal Tennenbaums last night, but turned it off halfway through. The storyline was good and the cast superb, but the writing was weak and plodding. This was my choice, so Sandra gets to put the next movie into our Netflix queue. BTW, here's a interesting write-up of the history of Netflix envelopes.
In the Almost A Good Idea Dept., we learn that a Canadian has developed a cigarette that will deliver your daily supply of Vitamin C.
Would you pay $800 or so for a device that will keep teenagers from congregating in places where you don't want them to be? The gadget emits a high-frequency sound that doesn't bother us because our ears are old. Purportedly, the sound doesn't bother dogs. The current model mounts on a wall or a pole. When they have a hat-sized product, their sales will likely really take off.
The floor in our family living is littered with Marley's toys. For the last six months, he's been leaving the toys in the MacGregors' apartment. Now that the MacGs' have gone back to PEI, Marley's squeaky, plushable, and chewable playthings have come back home.
Woody and Marian left for the island on Friday morning, staying overnight in New Brunswick, and arriving at the house in early afternoon. The house and property appear to have wintered well. They could not, however, get to the shore. Some logs had washed up on shore, blocking the path to the water. Earlier this winter, a ship carrying pulp wood lost its load in the waters off PEI and Nova Scotia. These are probably some of the same logs.
We went to visit Adam, Jennie, and Lily for a birthday breakfast yesterday morning. Good fun. They've been in their new house for three months and each visit shows how they are settling in. Sandra made curtains for their front window, a bright Swedish pattern that went nicely with the log cabin interior.
On the way back, we stopped at Whole Foods. I wanted some fruits, but, as one would expect, other things found their way into the shopping cart. One thing that we didn't buy was a package of Seaweed Rice Crackers. I get too hungry too often, but I don't think that I'd get hungry enough for Seaweed Rice Crackers.
The newspapers are late today, perhaps because there isn't much news.
Friday's New York Times carried a review of a new production of Brecht's Threepenny Opera, a wild, contemporary treatment with, notably, Cindy Lauper as Jenny. Overall, the review was not favorable, but the reviewer liked Ms. Lauper.
I did a season of summer stock theater in Vermont. Well, I wasn't really in the troupe; I was the janitor for the building. I did perform in one show - as a cop in Threepenny Opera. It was an intense show, made all the more so by the music. There was a small community band, mostly brass and woodwinds, perhaps a percussionist. They typically performed Sousa marches and show tunes for concerts on the common. Kurt Weil's music, with its complex rhythms and scales was quite a problem for them, but they soldiered on and gave a good series of shows.
Two buildings up from the theater was a small factory that made wood bowls and a small store that sold them. The owner, Sam Lloyd, was a regular participant in the theater's productions and he was quite good. Sam was the brother of Christopher Lloyd. Christopher appeared in a few shores years after I left.
We tried watching The Royal Tennenbaums last night, but turned it off halfway through. The storyline was good and the cast superb, but the writing was weak and plodding. This was my choice, so Sandra gets to put the next movie into our Netflix queue. BTW, here's a interesting write-up of the history of Netflix envelopes.
In the Almost A Good Idea Dept., we learn that a Canadian has developed a cigarette that will deliver your daily supply of Vitamin C.
Would you pay $800 or so for a device that will keep teenagers from congregating in places where you don't want them to be? The gadget emits a high-frequency sound that doesn't bother us because our ears are old. Purportedly, the sound doesn't bother dogs. The current model mounts on a wall or a pole. When they have a hat-sized product, their sales will likely really take off.
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