First Snow

Tiny snow flakes have been falling on and off this morning. It is the first snow of the season. No matter how cold it makes things and how tired we get of it in February or March, the first snow is always exciting.

I'm settling back into my routine here on the island. I've been rather lazy the last two mornings, however, and haven't been up before 10am. Yesterday I did some shopping at Midnight Farm (co-owned by Carly Simon who lives on the Vineyard). It has mostly natural products - beauty, some little food items, clothing. On Main Street I heard the jingle of bells and the clomping of hooves which will all my life remind me of Dad. The merchants in Vineyard Haven apparently sponsor free rides up and down Main St. during the Christmas season. Here's a photo of the horses and the girl who was leading the wagonful of passengers.

I spent 20 minutes on the phone this morning with Verizon. Even with the wireless internet booster I bought in Phoenix, I've had so much trouble with stable connectivity to my landlord's wi-fi that I decided to buy a USB modem and monthly access plan. By mid-week, I should see if it does the trick. I did my research and every rating sight I've read recommends Verizon as the most reliable wi-fi service. Thankfully I already have my cell phone plan through Verizon, so adding a line was easy and not terribly expesive.

I'm writing each day and am relatively happy with my progress on the book. A small excerpt from the draft of Chapter 15 (the first chapter about my dad vs. earlier relatives) is below. I've finished my first draft of Chapter 1, and have skipped forward past Chapters 2-14 to work on Dad's life for a bit. I'll go back and pick up the earlier chapters later. I'm doing my best not to think too hard about the fact that two of my 11 months off have already passed.

It was early in April 1924, and by now brother John was almost seven and brother Larry was five. Both were in school and it fell to Jim to help his mom with many of the chores at a younger age than either of his brothers had. Mrs. Hogan took Jim with her to the hay barrack in the barn. He climbed the ladder from the dirt floor up to the loft some 12 feet above the ground. Jim threw down some hay for the black cow to eat while she was being milked. He wondered why his mom didn’t throw the hay down herself, but he didn’t mind. Being that far up in the barn was exciting. Jim loved the smell of the hay and the way things looked from above. The black cow was wide in the middle and narrow at the head and tail. The straw scattered around the floor of the barn made a pretty pattern, and Jim noticed that when his mom straightened up from milking the cow, she looked like she had swallowed a big, round ball. Not long afterwards, Jim’s little brother Charles was born.

Random photos: caterpillar that crawled out from under my couch yesterday morning...note the dust all over his back!