February 1 – 28, 2026

 

SPORTS

            The month began with the UCONN women’s basketball team knocking off archrival, Tennessee, by 30 points. I could not watch the first half when the score was so close. The half started out with UCONN easily taking a 20-4 lead. Then the dreaded Lady Vols woke up and the score went back and forth. The first half finished at a 42-42 tie! I don’t know what the message in the locker-room was, but the Huskies came alive and won. One thing was very evident: UCONN has to value the ball more than they did in this game. Take care of the rock! Stop throwing it away in bad passes!

WEATHER

            Bitter cold on 2/1. Supposedly temps will moderate with threats of snow later in the week. This coming weekend (2/7-2/8) we are going to have snow, bitter cold temps and windchill on top of that. The highs are supposed to be in the single digits. I had to reschedule my haircut to next Saturday. By then I’ll look like Albert Einstein.

            The January Thaw has slipped to February! Temps in the upper 40’s mid-February! The New Moon is on the 17^th. The January Thaw used to occur around the Full or New Moon of January. Which means (and you have probably observed this already) Spring comes later and Fall lasts longer. The seasons have slid one month.

            Blizzard Calvin dumped 31” of snow in Stonington; 48” in Providence, RI; and Cape Cod is without power and passable roads! That was on 2/23. Now, 2/25, we had 3” more this morning.

LUNCH

            Had lunch with Sandy and Mike who worked in the CNG cafeteria when I worked there. Two of the best people on the planet! 

            Had to reschedule lunch with Cheryl. She and her husband, Chris, mentored me (took me by the hand!) and showed me the ropes at the CT State Library when I was doing my research for Remembrance. More good people!

            Had lunch with Ricki and Nancy at the Pickle Jar Deli. I called ahead and asked if they could put clam chowder on the menu for that day (it wasn’t). I know so many good people!

MEDICAL/HEALTH

            I finally had my hearing test. It was rescheduled because of the January snowstorm. I have my new hearing aids, 2/26. I should have gone to Hear Again to begin with the first time! Watching the morning news at volume 9 instead of 14+! Can I hear you now? Yes I can!

EXERCISE

            I have started using the gym at the Senior Center. It’s not a big room and the equipment is arranged close to each other. It’s OK if I’m the only one working out, or just a couple other people are in there. I have rejoined Planet Fitness so I have a back-up if the Senior Center is crowded and I want to work out. I’m still doing the Stretch & Flex class on Fridays at the Center. 

            I had a session with the PF personal trainer. This was determining the machines best for me right now and figuring out the settings. All that was written down so I won’t have to remember. So far so good! 

RESEARCH

            I’ve been working with my good friend, Jon Roe, on the Azel Roe genealogy. Jessica Vogelgesang from the Watershed Collective (formerly Friends of Wood Memorial Library and Museum) has joined in the search for information after she was contacted by Todd Cleary from PA whose 97-year-old mother is Fanny Bartlett Roe. So now we are sharing stories of the family as well as watercolor paintings of The Elms (the Roe house) that was on Route 5 in East Windsor. Now Jon has a lot more to add to his book on the family history! Did I mention Mark Twain was a frequent visitor?

 

And that’s a wrap. See you next month.

 January 1 – 31, 2026

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR

The new year begins with a dilemma for me. For some reason the hymn, “Let there be peace on Earth” started running through my head. It is a beautiful hymn, so I looked it up using Google. Here’s the dilemma: how do I reconcile “letting it begin with me”, when there is so much anger, frustration, and hopelessness in the world today. How do I reconcile my anger and frustration with the buffoon in the White House defiling National Monuments (the White House East Wing), being militarily aggressive against Venezuela, to say nothing of sending our own troops into various American cities for reasons known only to him, ending thousands of federal employees’ jobs, and cutting funding to vital services?  America has become the laughingstock of the planet! How do I let peace begin with me when I am so angry and frustrated with my own American leadership (that includes Congress)? 

Please, God. Let there be Peace on Earth and please show me how to let it begin with me! 

KITCHEN CHORES

Our Food Saver vacuum sealer (I think it was the one I brought with me when I moved to Kathy’s…I had it for years) had to be replaced in September of last year. That one now needs to be replaced. They just don’t make things as good as they used to! The replacement does what it is supposed to do…vacuum and seal! It’s a beast! We also had to retire/replace the old hand blender.

HEALTH CARE

I used my new Medicare Advantage Plan for prescriptions. It cost me nothing (as advertised!). Have not been charged a premium. Entitles me to Silver Sneakers at the Senior Center. So far, so good!

GOING TO LUNCH

1/7 - Had lunch at Pickle Jar Deli with Ricki (haven’t seen her in ages) and I’ll be back there tomorrow to have lunch with Jon. They said they would save me a bowl of clam chowder for tomorrow! Then on the 11^th I had lunch with Lisa at Figaro’s. 

On the 15th it was the monthly gathering of a few high school classmates (who are still in the area) for lunch at Joey Garlic’s (we go somewhere different every month). I highly recommend Joey Garlic’s!!!! I wouldn’t mind going there almost every month. One of the best! 

SAD NEWS

The Class of ’53 has lost another classmate. Elsie was part of our lunch group and joins Pat, Thelma, Dave, and Nancy in our memories. We don’t have many classmates left. 

WEATHER

So far it has been more days warmer than average. Today (1/17) we are having a wet, heavy snow. Messed up our plans to go to Maya’s violin recital. It looks like an unsettled, windy, colder than normal spell coming up. That’s what I love about New England. I had to reschedule my hearing test because of the snowstorm we are expecting…12” – 18”…this weekend (1/25-1/26). I tried posting pictures but technology is not my friend right now! Our weather to finish out the month has been way below zero nights and barely 20's during the days.

  POLITICS 

 The buffoon/a$$hole occupying the Oval Office in   Washington, D.C. has me reacting between disbelief, disgust, and hilarity. First comes the threat; then the rhetoric to back up the threat; then the back-down from the threat claiming middle ground has been achieved when in fact it was nothing but an idle threat to begin with! Don’t waste your energy being either disgusted or elated at what drivel comes out of his mouth initially because it will change to nothingness. This is his “reality show”!

 COX CABLE & INTERNET

 I just downloaded my Cox bill for next month. This is the end of my discounted Agreement and my bill will go up $41.69 starting in March unless I go into the store and plead for a lessor amount (while keeping my same line-up of programming). Don’t they understand that fewer people would opt out for streaming options if Cox wasn’t so expensive? I would go streaming myself but it would require my using technology new to me; uncertainty about if the channels I want would be on just one streaming “thingy”; and what would that cost as opposed to my Cox bill? I need to keep Cox internet. I don’t like going to them and begging for a lower rate…but …..

That's it for January! See you next month!