T's FIFTY-NINTH!

We did a ton of grocery shopping in Freeport and Portland, ran into an old friend I hadn't seen since the eighties, picked up Pete at the airport, met Steve and Patti at Street + Co. for a birthday bash for dear T. Pete, T and I shared the lobster diavlo and still had leftovers for lunch today. Now T is in the same decade I am, at least for a few years.

Queen Bees Take Third Place!

Our spelling bee team, Queen Bees, went down on "sacrilegious." Don't you love a guy who will go in drag for the sake of the team?? That's our TOMasina!

Newly Installed Clothesline

I did it myself (well, almost)! Following Martha Stewart's step-by-step instructions, I bought the hardware and installed this clothesline with pulleys and line separator and line tightener. My motivation was to launder and air out four European damask duvet covers and pillow shams that had been sitting in an old building for at least a decade and smelled rather moldy, actually VERY moldy and mildewy. Dryers work no miracles on these babies.

The part I did not do myself was the biggest of all, sawing down the obstructing, no-account tree between the two chosen ones. T obligingly did that this morning at 7 a.m. I hope the neighbors didn't mind.

First Time Boutonniere-Maker

The requests of the bride for more and more floral accessories for her local wedding grew and grew. Finally the self-employed part-time florist/friend/neighbor asked me for help. I showed up at her house on Friday morning with no experience but not exactly clumsy fingers. She demonstrated how to make a garden flavored boutonniere from a marigold, eucalyptus leaf and a sprig of either rosemary (for health) or sage (for wisdom). I took to it like a ....well, you know. It was a fine morning indeed, working in her outdoor space, while she worked on table arrangements; one of the loveliest days of the summer; gabbing, clucking, tittering, guffawing and configuring eleven of these little gems for the lapels of the gentlemen in the wedding.

Friendship!

Two of these people were adopted from orphanages between the ages of three and four. The other person lost a brother before the age of forty and a best friend this year. All of us feel that the best way we can spend our time here on this planet is with people we love, day after day. Getting together when living many miles apart is an effort that pays off exponentially.

LRRH

Mag loved all the classic fairy tales. With her first grade classes, year after year, she used The Gingerbread Man in her curriculum with a great deal of creativity. Her class explored and discussed many versions of the story and always had a spectacular Gingerbread Tea in the fall when all the parents came to participate.

Her own personal favorite fairy tale was Little Red Riding Hood. There was something provocative and risque about the relationship between the wolf and LRRH. Mag believed that both characters lived in each of us as archetypes. Her goal was to love both roles and to nurture each appropriately, and she did a fine job all her life.


12/16/96

Emily,
I don't know if we're headed toward Grandma's but the trip sure is filled with adventures. May we wander off the path together many more times in the years ahead.

Right now I'm just waiting for that wolf to show up. If he doesn't come soon I'll have to go looking for him.

Merry Christmas

Love,
Maggie

Big Bass

We're having some trees cut on our property and the crew that showed up yesterday included a youngster who has a penchant for fishing. When it was break time, he took his pole and headed down the path to the lake, cast his line and within three minutes had a 18", 2 lb. bass from the reeds close to shore. Wow! In our experience, that is a first.