25 Years Ago in San Francisco, and San Diego

As the San Francisco Giants prepared to host the Kansas City Royals last night in game three of the 2014 World Series, I'm reminded of what happened 25 years and one week ago, also in San Francisco.  

On that day, many of the Wescotts were at Mom and Dad's house for TGIF, our weekly family gathering.  We were watching Al Michaels and Tim McCarver getting ready to broadcast game three of the World Series, ironically matching the San Francisco Giants against the Oakland Athletics from just across the San Francisco Bay.  As we watched, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck the Bay Area.  

As written on Wikipedia, "Due to the sports coverage of the 1989 World Series, it became the first major earthquake in the United States that was broadcast live on national television. Rush-hour traffic on the Bay Area freeways was lighter than normal due to nearly 62,000 people present at the game at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, and this may have prevented a larger loss of life, as several of the Bay Area's major transportation structures suffered catastrophic failures."

Also, "Viewers saw the video signal begin to break up, heard McCarver repeat a sentence as the shaking distracted him, and heard McCarver's colleague Al Michaels exclaim, "I'll tell you what—we're having an earth—."^[53] At that moment, the feed from Candlestick Park was lost.^[80]

The network put up a green ABC Sports graphic as the audio was switched to a telephone link. Michaels cracked, "Well folks, that's the greatest open in the history of television, bar none!" accompanied by the excited screams of fans who had no idea of the devastation elsewhere.  ABC then switched to an episode of Roseanne which was on standby for a rain delay situation, while attempting to restore electricity to its remote equipment. With anchorman Ted Koppel in position in Washington, D.C., ABC News began continuous coverage of the quake about 5:40 p.m. (Al Michaels, in the process, became a de facto on-site reporter for ABC)... ABC was able to use the Goodyear blimp to capture some images of the damage to the Bay Bridge."

Kevin Fagan, a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer, covered the Cypress Freeway collapse at the time, and wrote this recently:

"n 15 seconds of 6.9-magnitude violence that day, the double-decked Cypress Freeway at the edge of West Oakland pancaked, killing 42, and the Marina’s fill-based ground liquefied, collapsing scores of buildings and leaving four people dead. Many feared that the two neighborhoods would never regenerate. And for years, parts of them didn’t."

It was an electrifying moment, experienced with most of the family together.  Al Michaels did an outstanding job reporting on the major disaster.  It's a happening frozen in time.

1989 was a year of many happenings in my life.  I took Brady and Kelli on a three week trip up the Rockies, with my sister Loli and her kids Jessica and Mary.  We met our cousin Kay and her daughter Stephanie and two other kids in Rocky Mountain National Park.  They had driven up from their home in Houstin.  We spent the next three weeks camping in national parks, ending in Glacier National Park, where Kathy and I worked in the summer of 1975.  I was ecstatic to take our kids there to experiences its beauty and grandeur.  

Just before we left, I had quit my job at Wavetek, where I'd worked for the previous nine and a half years.  Wow, that was tough.  I'd made many friends there.  It was a huge deal for me to leave.  

Also in October, Kathy started working for the Red Cross, San Diego-Imperial Counties Chapter, the beginning of a stellar 14 year experience.  She, too, made many friends, and progressed to the position of Vice President.  

We also moved from the Allied Gardens house we had lived in for six and a half years. After an aborted attempt to move back to Seattle, we lived with my parents for nearly a year.

Here we are today, getting ready to watch the San Francisco Giants start the World Series against the Kansas City Royals.  As far as I know, there have been no 'pre-shocks' in the Bay Area, so no reason to expect a repeat of a major disaster.  Go Giants!

Flying Solo, and a Blessed Life

Wednesday, I "flew solo" for the first time in, well, decades, taking care of both Henry and Sullivan for a few hours.  As I was reminded by the parents, I watched Henry for short to long periods when he was as young as one month, but to watch both him and baby Sullivan, I haven't done that since my kids were that age.  I was more than a little anxious.  Henry can be a handful by himself, even as independent as he is (he can talk, BOY can he talk!  Don't have to worry about changing his diaper!  He feeds himself, etc..):  how would I do juggling attention to him while also caring for his six month old brother?  

View across the frozen, snow-covered cover of Great Pond, at sunset.

Before I continue, I have to say that Kathy and I have been so darned lucky to have the McCannells all living with us.  I get to play Legos/Duplos alot, which I really find fun, not only for me but for both of us.  Henry has develop a joy of 'wrestling,' adding to his believe that every bed and chair is really a trampoline.  So, he and I do a fair amount of wrestling, which I always hope is draining at least as much of his energy as it is mine!  That's what he needs, activities to drain some of the boundless energy.  This winter has been tough, forcing us to stay inside much of the time.  I'd be up for some snow hiking, but he wouldn't make it far enough to make the trip worthwhile.  We do go for walks in our neighborhood, which we both love, as long as it's above 25 degrees and the air is calm. 

Kathy and I both get the benefit of his wonderful self, a cuddling, happy, bright, beautiful grandchild.  He often wants to help around the house, too, which is great, and encouraged by all four of us.  His hugs, insights, and charm are also appreciated.  His mental growth is so fun to watch, too, and something we get to see much more often and in real time while they are living with us.  So, truly, the plusses outweigh the minuses, and I am not looking forward to the time when they move out.  

Of course one of the benefits of being grandparents is the grandkids usually go home at the end of the day.  This is really more important in the morning:  adults just don't have the instant-on energy that toddlers do, whether parents or grandparents, right?  In Henry's case, he is raring to go every morning, right out of bed.  Ugh, these grandparents, not so much.  On the other hand, this and a few other toddler issues are a very small price to pay for the enormous fun it is having them around all the time. 

Having them move in with half the floor of our small living room torn up and half the carpet removed to the concrete floor and some walls ripped up in the downstairs family room, for six weeks, was challenging, but made it so much nicer when finally all repairs were completed, about a week and a half ago.  It took a long time due to many other homes also having  suffered damage.  Although my Dad always tells me "They always say that!"Mainers tell usas this winter has been significantly colder and for longer periods of time than usual.  

Luckily the morning routines of the four adults and two toddlers don't overlap much, and it helps that I'm still not working.  I've picked up Henry from school since they moved in, and had him to myself each afternoon, except Thursdays when he goes to his Grampies, and that has worked out well.  It would be even more fun if the weather was warm and better so we could do more outside, but it's still been fun.  (they will be moved out when the warm weather comes, :-(  )  We play with his Duplos a lot, which we both really enjoy (we may never graduate to Legos - the Duplos are so much easier to use).  We watch his favorite shows, at which I am much, much more knowledgeable than I ever expected to be, and includes Sophia the First, Daniel Tiger, Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Sheriff Callie, Henry Hugglemonster, Mickey Mouse cartoons, Dinosaur Train, and a few others.  

Corner of our garage, and our house, and path to neighbors house.

Back to Wednesday, Jared went to work late, which helped my anxiety.  An hour later, Baby Sullivan got hungry, and tired.  I prepared a bottle for him, which is to say I opened a bag of mother's milk and poured it into the bottle.  He had no issues with me feeding him, a happy moment, standard for this happy boy.  Maybe I was being overly sensitive, or did his look really mean, "This is new, but as long as I'm getting fed, no complaints from me!"  After his bottle and burps, I put him down for his first nap.  This guy is amazing, takes care of falling asleep all by himself!  This is just too easy; what was i so worried about?  Then, though, 45 minutes later, the silence blasting from the baby monitor got to me:  was he still breathing?  Did he get wrapped up in his blanket too tightly?  Had I checked the crib enough for dangerous stuff?  I went up and found him perpendicular in the crib, with blankets around him that I hadn't placed, but he was fine, sleeping away.  I lasted another 45 minutes, and same thing.  This time, I found his face in a blanket, and I couldn't see his chest rising and falling!  Again, why was I so scared?!  He is certainly vocal enough that I would hear him over the baby monitor if there was any problem.  Still, my imagination was working overtime.  Again, he was fine, breathing the peaceful easy breath of a baby.  Next, at two and a half hours, more anxiety:  how long are his naps usually?  It seems to me they aren't this long.  With each successful visit, I've grown a little calmer, but at three hours, time for another check:  I find him just waking up, thank God:  my trial by silence is over!  Phew!  When he is awake, he is the easiest baby in the world to take care of, really.  I'm not sure I can handle another nap though.  

Next, a new challenge, changing his diaper.  Circumstances with Sullivan have been very different than with Henry, and I've been able to easily avoid this so far in his six months of life.  Now, it's unavoidable.  It's not something I hate, just something I avoid if I can.  He has pooped, and it's very thin but sticky.  It takes this unpracticed Grandpa four baby wipes to get the stuff off his bottom.  Ugh.  Now for a fresh diaper, but where are they?  What, none within reach?!  Ugh again, what's going on here?!  Why are there no diapers, anywhere in this room?!  I have a diaperless baby on a changing table, and I can't leave him to hunt for a diaper!  I pick him up and head downstairs, hoping the diaper bag is in plain sight and fully stocked, and I'm in luck, crisis averted.  

Nona came home from work early, so my shift was only about six hours.  It was much more trying than I had expected when I signed up for it, surprising me.  Hopefully it will make my second 'flying solo' much easier.

Kathy and I took a weekend vacation to Portland ME last weekend, for Valentine's Day.  She also had Presidents Day off, so it was a nice long weekend, for us and for the McCannell's.  We stayed at the Westin Portland Harborview, which is a nicer hotel than we are used to, and in a great location for walking downtown Portland.  It was freezing Friday when we got there, with a chilly wind just for good measure.  We braved it anyway, to get our bearings.  

Portland is a true big city, something rare, er, unique in Maine.  Museums, restaurants, busy people driving and walking, more what we are used to.  Saturday we visited Angela Adams Design, where we used our gift card, compliments of our excellent Realtor.  We choose a beautiful rug, from among the many beautiful, and expensive, rugs.  Next we took a drive south, and ended up at Old Orchard Beach, a very popular place during the summer.  There was actually snow covering most of the sand, a new sight for us!  There is an amusement park, and maybe even a boardwalk.  It looks like it gets very, very crowded in the summer.

Sunday we took it easy.  We had room service breakfast, always a fun splurge.  

Monday was Presidents Day, a holiday for Kathy, so allowed us to stay another night.  We got up leisurely, packed and we were off, with no real plans for the drive home.  That changed when we hit Freeport, and the Outlet Center that is next door to L. L. Bean.  Wow, Presidents Day sales galore, and not so crowded.  We too advantage and picked up a few things we needed, and some we didn't.  :-)  

The weekend was also the ending bracket to a week that someone we know was in Vieques Island, in Puerto Rico.  They don't like to have their names bandied about the Internet, so they shall remain anonymous, but you know who you are.  We're so glad you both got to get some nice warm sun, among other island amenities.  

Weather, Woodpecker, and No Work

Another week in the books.  This was a tough one, from a weather standpoint, with a high of 16 and a low of -1, and that's not counting the wind chill factor.  Even though the days were mostly sunny, that's too cold for me to be out.  I did take the dogs for a decent walk, but my face was numb by the time I got back, after only 25 minutes.  Ugh.  Did I mention the $555 dollar bill we got for heating oil, for about six weeks of use?!

I woke up late Saturday morning, and stayed in bed reading.  Hearing a noise, it took a while to sink it that it was a bird calling, loudly, and unfamiliar.  I got up and peaked through he blinds and saw a Pileated Woodpecker on our neighbors tree!  This was pretty exciting, as these are big, about the size of a crow, with a spectacular bright red crest and black and white facial markings, and usually very secretive.  I was lucky enough to catch site of one outside my office window at our previous house, which was closely surrounded by woods and much quieter than our current house.  i wondered if I could get downstairs to my office, with it's window much closer to the tree, and get pictures before he took flight. I got lucky:  he was still on the tree, but as I reached for my camera, off he flew.  Our next door neighbor had launched a snowmobile onto the pond, too close for Mr. Woodpecker's comfort.  Bummer.  

Ten  minutes later, he was back!  I watched him work the tree, looking for insects.  Suddenly he flew down into our yard, and I got out of my chair to see what he was doing, finding him clinging precariously to one of the suet-filled cages!  Wow, now he really looks big!  There are two other local woodpeckers that come to the suet feeder often, one about the size of a sparrow, the other the size of a robin.  This guy was so big I wondered how he could even hold on.  There he was, pecking away at the suet as if he was alone in the deep woods, not a care in the world.  I heard exclamations from the living room, as Jared and Kathy and Henry caught site of him.  With his size and that blazing red crest, he is pretty spectacular.  And here he was, spending five minutes eating suet, not 20 feet away from us.  

We get a lot of enjoyment out of the feeders.  We get many Blue Jay visitors, chickadees, the occasional juncos, tufted titmice, and nuthatch, oh, and crows.  Also started seeing Mourning Doves, but they are more a nuisance.  

It's been three and a half weeks since our pipe break mini-disaster, and we are still working around a third of the living room torn up, and half the family room the same.  It's bad enough when it happens to your own house; add in that you are living in a rental, and you have that much less control of the situtation.  Kathy would be happy if we could break our year lease and move into another rental we looked at, which was huge, had a one-acre fenced yard for dogs, and was in a little better location.  

More Maine facts, as I know my followers can't get enough about our new state.  According to the website estately, Maine is far and away the best state for cat lovers.  We half the second highest percentage of cat owners, at 46.4%.  Combine this with the other factors such as animal protection law strength, no-kill animal shelters, and Facebook likes, plus being only one of three states with an official state cat (the Maine Coon!), and we are number one!  :-)

A Post for Friday, January 17th

Another tie cut with California, closing out our California Coast Credit Union accounts.  I waited awhile to do cut this chord, having enjoyed the excellent service of this credit union, but alas, we really didn't need it, weren't using it.  

We started years ago, with the Kearny Mesa Federal Credit Union.  It was just around the corner from Wavetek, where I worked.  After a few years, they changed their name to First Future Credit Union.  At some point, they merged with Santel Credit Union, then California Coast.  All through the years, we had great service, and enjoyed belonging to a banking institution that was non-profit, run by us, its members.  I wish millions more realized the benefits of using a credit union, and joined.  It's really a no-brainer, with no downside at all.

I had physical therapy today for the third time, for my shoulder, which I was told two years ago has a severely-torn rotator cuff.  I didn't have the surgery then because I couldn't take six weeks off from my job to recuperate.  It really hasn't bothered me since, but partly because I shied away from doing any real work with it.  My therapist put me through a battery of exercises, and is sure he can take care of it with therapy, which is great news.

I'm back on the elliptical, too.  Today was the fifth day in a row, after almost two weeks without using it.  The water leak we had, and the discovery of so much rodent poop in the ceiling of the room where I exercise kept me off it.  Plus, with the McCannell's moving in, there just didn't seem to be time.  I don't need much to put it off, really have to focus to keep at it.  I'm a morning person when it comes to exercise.  The chances of me getting on the machine at 7:00 AM are 90%, slip to 80% at 8:00 AM, 60% at 9:00 AM, and 50% after that.  So the fact that I've kept with it five days in a row, and after a significant lull, is big/good news!

We will finish our first week of the combined household tonight.  I would say it's gone very well, and hope Kelli and Jared feel the same.  Of course, it helps that I am not working, so not part of the morning shower routine, and have a flexible, or no, schedule. I'm picking up Henry four days a week now, with his Grampie picking him up on Thursdays. 

Henry is definitely having the toughest time adjusting, as you might imagine.  He's at Bumpie and Nona's house, but now it's Momma and Daddy's rules.  We are still working that out, so no wonder he is having some trouble.

My Dad's 84th birthday was last Sunday.  He sounded happy when I called to wish him happy birthday.  Now that I think of it, mid-January would be a great time to visit San Diego, for his birthday and for some warmth and relieve from our Maine winter!  Hmm, and next year will be his 85th.....   My sisters and brothers were there to go through more of my Mom's things, for disposition.  Dad will be moving into a smaller apartment at some point, so the need to do minor purging.  

Three Generation Household

Day One is in the books, and Day Two is nearly over.  What was once very common is now not so.  

Kelli and Jared bought a new car Saturday.  Jared took Sullivan to his daycare, and on the last four blocks to MCI, and Kelli took Henry to his Montessori School, and on to work. Kathy drove to her job on Water St.  So far, so good, everybody out the door in good time.

I had a little time to myself, took care of some bills, then got ready for my first physical therapy appointment.  With time off, I decided to get on track to have rotator cuff surgery.  I passed all the tests, so my therapist says there is no surgery in my future, yea!  

Back home, and on to the elliptical for the first time in close to two weeks.  I'd moved it into a little different location just after the last time I used it, so this was a bit of a trial run.  It worked like a charm, and so will stay put.  

I picked up Henry, managed to get the Camry out of the garage and up what is left of the slippery slope.  It was up to 37 degrees and the sun was shining, sure felt great after low 10's and sub-ten temperatures.  He was in full dress, snow boots and snow suit, so cute, covered with a winter jacket and eagle knit cap.  Next stop was Hillman's Bakery, just a short drive away, supplier of very good baked goods at very low prices.  Henry got his hippo cookie and I my oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip cookies and vanilla and chocolate cupcakes, yum.  Next, on to a mission to find some Mega Blok tracks, as we are a few short pieces for my happiness.  At least, no luck, and it was back to home.

Day Two went smoothly, so we are off to a good start.  I tried to get to the Sebasticook Regional Land Trust office today to do some overdue volunteer work, but aborted due to timing and lack of time, and ended up picking up Henry after all.  I did work out on the elliptical for the second day in a row, a very good thing, after missing it for the previous ten days.  

My Dad's birthday was Sunday, his 84th.  He sounded healthy and happy when I called to wish him happy birthday.  He's the last of our parents, and the last male of his siblings.  

I had an interesting trip just before Christmas.  I had previously discovered that a 4th cousin who has lived in Poland for the last decade would be visiting family in New England the month of December.  I organized a get together with his cousin and aunt, and I drove down to Bow, New Hampshire.  We had a good time, meeting each other face to face after a few years of only knowing each other through Facebook.  I found out new information on other cousins, too, and so am fast at work incorporating that into my family tree pages.  More on this in future posts.  

Living In Maine

The last fan was picked up this morning.  Even though we were down to one since Friday, this was the loudest one.  It got very old having fans and dehumidifiers running 24 hours a day, to dry out walls and subfloor.  Of course we wanted them here, rather than mold problems later, but ugh, living with the noise was a challenge.  We did get the home owner to pay for Friday night in a hotel, just needed a break.  

We aren't the only ones in Maine and New Hampshire who have suffered damage from this last ice storm, so we won't see contractors until mid-week, for estimates, and then repairs can't start for another week.  Great timing, as Kelli and Jared and boys are moving in with us this weekend.  I still don't understand how an interior heating pipe freezes, then splits. Estimated repair costs are $10k to $15k, glad it's not on us.  It will be over at some point, and be part of the our memorable start to the New Year.

Yesterday and today the temp got up above freezing, so we went out and chipped ice off our driveway, which unfortunately is sloped.  That, combined with the rain we had before the freeze last week, resulted in a two-inch thick layer of ice in our garage.  Ugh, lots of work clearing that out.  

My physical two weeks ago uncovered hypothyroidism, severe deficit for vitamin D, and 'low T.'  Geez, no wonder I've been feeling in a funk the last several months!  It's nice to find out there are reasons, and that the fixes are easy.  I'm hoping the meds will not only chase the funk away, they will also kick up my motivation to jump on the elliptical each morning.  

Maine is an interesting place.  Alaska was too.  In Alaska, Alaskans make much of the fact that it is not 'part of the Lower 48.' They are very proud of this fact.  People are also very surprised when I tell them it's much colder and snowier here in Maine.  People, including me, pre-Prince of Wales, picture Anchorage and north when they think Alaska.  According to Wikipedia, 

Anchorage:  Average January low and high temperatures are 11 to 23 °F with an average winter snowfall of 75.5 inches.

Klawock:  Average temperature in January is 37°F, and 58°F in July; yearly precipitation is 120 in.

So while our adopted village was colder, it's no where near Anchorage cold.  We had moved from the desert of San Diego, which averages 10 inches of rain a year, to the Tongass Rain Forest, with it's ten FEET of rain, and the accompanying cloud cover.  Ugh.  

So while our adopted village was much colder than San Diego, it was no where near Anchorage cold.  The biggest adjustment was the rain, and clouds:  from 10" a year to TEN FEET of rain each year!  Ugh, the lack of sun was too much.  Maine, however, IS in the lower 48, and part of New England, otherwise known as Red Sox Nation.  So, my expectations were different.

One ready, non-weather example comes to mind.  We needed to buy a car, and decided to drive down to Portland to see what was available. By the way, nearly 40% of Mainers live in or close to Portland, similar to Anchorage, where about 40% of Alaskans live.  Keep in mind that, even though we lived in Alaska for 18 months or so, I still make comparisons to where I spent five decades, namely San Diego.

                          City of San Diego         State of Maine
Population:          1,322,000                   1,329,000      
Area:                            327 sq. miles         35,385 sq. miles
Density:               4,000/sq mile                43/sq mile

Maine is also the whitest and oldest state in the Union, and, one of the poorest, and growing older.  94% of Maine is privately owned, as opposed to California, where federal and state-owned land amount to over 42%, or Alaska, where state and federal lands make up 89%.  (A new thought:  the 1.329 million Mainers are represented by two US Senators, while the ~34 million Californians have only two US Senators.  Something very wrong here.  One solution which makes sense from a variety of angles, create six states out of present day California.)  

Okay, back to the story.  We decided to call on our way down to the dealer, to see if we could grease the skids.  The problem was, we couldn't get the dealership to answer.  I looked it up on my phone, and found it was closed on Sundays!  What, a car dealership that is closed on Sundays?!  Well, I would never have expected that, anywhere, even in Alaska!  Crazy.

I listen to a "Today's Hits" radio station, 92.5 The Moose (no, I'm not making this up), and every day at 12 noon they play a different person or group singing the Star Spangled Banner. Nothing wrong with this, could even be seen as a refreshing side of country pride, but it is very different than what I'm used to, despite living in a military town for decades.  If you think I'm making this up, click here. I'm not kidding!

I'm not a flag-waver, but still, it's kind of nice to see people show their US pride.  Another thing very common is to fly American flags on city light poles throughout towns, hung up for Memorial Day weekend, and stay up until after Labor Day.  It really is nice to drive through each and every small town and see the many flags waving.

The Chargers just lost their playoff game, ugh.  The Patriots, however, won their game last week, so we will be treated to a Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady contest next week, which could be epic, er, (guess I need to get my regional vocabulary going) wicked!  

So, we are off to an interesting start to the New Year.  At this time last year, Kathy and I were living in a village of 800, on an island, far, far from Henry and parents.  Tomorrow, Henry and Sullivan and parents will be living in the same house with us, quite a change! We can hardly wait! 

Freezing on the Outside, Warm on the Inside

You might be thinking to yourself, wow, Doug has posted to his blog, must be some big news, since it's been months since he posted.  Well, your thought would be understandable, but not true.  I've had plenty to write about, just been lazy.  Now, with a brand new year upon us, the weather outside very, very cold, and a foot of snow on the ground, and run out of things to do inside, well, I decided it's time to write.  Did I say cold?  How about -6 degrees as I write this, at 8:15 AM!

Looking back, I did post at least twice this year, the last time in June.  I missed a few important events, though, so will back track a bit.

My Uncle Clark passed away in May, and I drove down to Connecticut for his services.  It only took six hours, a little longer than usual because I got lost and my cell phone ran out of juice and took my GPS with it, so I ended up Rhode Island.  My uncle had been fighting cancer for a few years, so as hard as it is to lose someone, it was a blessing.  It was also a great opportunity to re-connect with my East Coast cousins, whom I rarely get to see.  And, I didn't post.

After Kathy arrived, she found a fantastic, furnished house on a pond, which is what they call small lakes here.  I've written about this, so you can look back for that post.  What I failed to write about was the fantastic job Kathy got, which she started in July.  She is the Director for Disaster Behavior Health for the State of Maine!  It's a perfect match for her skills and past experience.  It's her responsibillity to recruit, train, and manage behavioral health professionals to step in during a disaster and offer assistance to those affected.  And still, I didn't post.

The job is awesome, the commute from St. Albans not:  an hour and 20 minutes each way.  Ugh, another move in our future.  Kathy found another place on a bigger pond, the Great Pond, in Belgrade, 25 minutes from work.  This one was not furnished, so off we went to go furniture shopping, which was very fun.  We brought only two Ikea bureaus and a dining room table with us from San Diego, and Kelli and Jared had moved an Adirondack chair and a few lamps for us.  New pond, new house, new location, no new post.

My Mom passed away in September.  How odd it feels typing this:  she is gone, and I'll never see her again on this Earth.  I know I wrote about her passing in my journal and so this isn't the first time, and yet it still feels very strange, making the fingers type those words.  Thinking of her reminds me of how appropriate it is that I have her Kindle Fire:  she felt very strongly that reading was a very important factor in a happy and successful life, something she passed on to her children and grandchildren.  She, too, had been ill for several years, though not with one serious ailment.  Her passing, too, was a blessing, as her quality of life was very, very low.  And I didn't add a new post.  I flew back the next day, and stayed with my Dad.  He and Mom had moved to a wonderful retirement village six or so years ago.  Mom had moved from their apartment over to the Assisted Living section about two years ago.  We celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary at their village in 2011, with family and friends.  Now I was flying back for her services, also at the village, with more family and friends, some I hadn't seen in many years.  I even spoke at her service, along with my nieces and nephew, and still, no blog post.  I had another great time with my Dad, too, who seemed to genuinely feel a sense of relief, as we kids all did, that Mom's suffering was finally over, at 81, and she was now at peace, with her mother and father and little sister.

Kelli presented us with our second grandchild in August, a boy named Sullivan Brady McCannell, and yet, no new post.  He was a few weeks premature by the looks of him, but responded very, very well to mother's milk, and last week at his five month checkup, fell into the 95 percentile for weight, 90th for height, and 100th for head size!  He is another real cutey, smiling now, grabbing for things, 'a perfect baby,' Kelli says.  He has flown twice, and slept nearly the entire flight, for example.

Henry celebrated his third birthday a month later, and Kathy and I FINALLY got to celebrate with him, and still, no new post!  We had missed his first and second parties, and, oh, did that sting!  The party was at Jared's parents house, with lots of Henry's cousins, and was very fun.

In November, Faith and Brady flew in for Thanksgiving.  It was really great to see them. Seeing them brought back wonderful memories of last years Thanksgiving, which they hosted in San Francisco.  We had fun showing off our house on the lake, and around Maine.  Just the week before, Faith had seen a show on TV which talked about the world's largest Christmas tree made out of lobster traps, and we ended up going to Rockland to see the lighting of this tree, very fun.  

They flew home from Boston, so we went down with them to stay a night in our favorite hotel, the Liberty, which is a converted jail.  We walked around Boston Commons and up and down Charles and Newbury streets, window shopping and enjoying the Christmas decorations.  

So here it is, a catchup post.  We had an amazing 2013!  Here's to a fulfilling New Year to you all.