Wake with the Sun: Happy New Year, Inauguration Day, and Let's Hope for the Best

Finally 2021 is upon us and many of us have a had much strife and grief throughout this year, and we feel very fortunate to have come through relatively unscathed thus far. We are using zoom and video chats to stay in touch with friends and family from afar, as well as doing some in-person meetings with friends here and there, mostly outside. We have been doing a lot of home cooking, and home projects, and going on lovely winter walks and bike rides. We did have a chance to go cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing during our brief period of snow.

We have had an awful and strange start to this new year in this country. I am hoping for better with a new government transition and hopefully better health outcomes for all when we can get a handle on this pandemic.

What an uplifting inauguration ceremony after the awful lies and exaggerated boasting told by the outgoing president even during his last speech.

I have had one poem published so far this year (I will include an image below) and I have performed my song "I'm and Alien to a Policeman" in a new video I made for the Princeton University Alumni Arts association. That aired on their channel Thursday Jan 21 at 8 PM EST, and I have uploaded the video to my YouTube channel (https://youtu.be/orbRVc1BLRc) so you can watch it there. Here is a link to view the full Princeton Arts show on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6_fP1yBwqI&feature=youtu.be. Some of the other performances were stupendous and I actually received a tip on Venmo by posting my handle in the chat. That was very cool.!

On New Year's Day we road our bikes out to the Blackstone River State Park in RI. We had been there once before and it was a very nice ride and location for New Year's day.

Before New Year's we had a short visit to Cape Cod, where we ate some yummy oysters and rode our bikes on the rail trail.

We skied in the Blue Hills Reservation on the way home, and the snow lasted for just about a week until we had rain on Christmas eve and the snow has been gone since.

I walked with friends in the conservation lands of Wayland as well as in Prospect Hill park in Waltham and in the conservation lands of Lincoln.

Then this past weekend we walked in Westford, on the Tom Paul trail to the Stone Arch Bridge. This was a very cool walk, taking part, in part, on an old railway that has been defunct since 1926. We also walked in Westford in the Stony Brook conservation lands.

So, here are some photos for you. Enjoy. And as always, I would love to hear from you.

This is a red-tail I caught in a tree outside our house looking for breakfast.

Prospect Hill Park

Some Photos from Walks

Wayland, Heard Farm, Weston conservation land near the Mass Central Rail Trail

Our New Auto Shrine

I moved my Framingham auto shrine to Carlisle and Claude added to it too. Still some 1967 Chevelle parts. And an original acrylic painting by Carla when she was a young girl.

First Snow of this winter

These are pictures off my phone. We skied in the Blue Hills.

Biking and Hikng this Winter

We biked the Blackstone River Heritage Corridor on new year's day. We also rode the Cape Cod rail trail this winter and other paths. And we hiked in Westford, MA.

A Trip to Lake Winnipesaukee

We went back to the lake on January 9. It appeared to be ice-free until we arrived at our cove, and the ice was too thick to go all the way to our house. Here are a few photos I took while waiting for Claude to arrive at the end of Bear Island, as well as before we headed out.

Projects

Claude installed a new J1772 charging station in our garage. We worked on a new battery for our solar backup generator together. Claude also made all new drawers to organize our tools. I installed a new Nest thermostat.