Our Town

Well, it's been a quiet time in Stillwater, our home town. The bridge to Wisconsin is closed for repairs and the Holiday Snowflake lights are lining Main Street.

I came home the end of October from Wilmington, NC, just before Sandy hit the area. I hosted the table full of Unitarians at the St Joan of Arc Cabaret. We had won a table at last year's event and sold seats at the White Bear UU Church auction. It was a grand night of music and we UUs fit right in with the liberal Catholics at St Joan's.

The next day, I went to church and the second reading was from the third act of "Our Town," by Thornton Wilder. I drove to Eau Claire afterwards to see David and was listening to "The Prairie Home Companion" on the radio. One bit was a take-off on "Our Town" with a Jimmy Stewart Narrator hitting on a Marilyn Monroe Emily. David is a Theater Tech major at UW-Eau Claire and one class this fall was in lighting. He worked on the lighting for the fall play, so I went to see the last performance of - "Our Town." Quite the Our Town Day.

In November, I flew to Vermont for my Dad's 90th birthday celebration. We vigiled in the morning and had a lovely afternoon open house with good visits from friends and neighbors. The next day, Joanna made yummy gingerbread for treats after Quaker Meeting and we had a good dinner at the Waybury Inn across the street from Riverbarn, where Dad shares the house with Winslow and family. It was wonderful to have Linda there from California and to have time with Dad, Win and his family. Wren, the Vermont Wonder Baby, has grown into an amazing, delightful 10 year old with a love of books (a genetic Colwell trait) and a great sense of humor.

After getting back to Minnesota, I have had time to clean the house - 5 months away, 3 of which the condo was occupied by two young men, left the place with a need for some thorough clean-up. But I also had time to see friends, take walks, knit, read, and enjoy washing up without worrying about using up the water supply. It is lovely to take a shower and not turn off the water while soaping up!

Holly, the cat, is back at home after spending time with our upstairs neighbor. Sadly, Tigger, David's cat who was in foster care in Eau Claire, developed liver failure and had to be put down. He was a great cat and we'll miss him.

Jeff arrived home safe and sound on November 19th. We were so lucky to have two good friends help him move Adirondack from Wilmington down to Jacksonville, Florida. It made his trip so much safer and more fun and allowed me to come home without leaving him in the lurch. Adirondack is now tucked in at a marina till we return to Florida on January 4th and continue the adventure.

The boys were both here for Thanksgiving. We made a turkey and all the fixings and had great left-overs. We saw many of the Janacek clan the next day up at Bruce and Joan's cabin on Lake Shamineau. David headed back to school, but Adam finished his fall trimester and is home till January. After a few very quiet weeks by myself, it is great to have the energy of the Captain and one of the Able Seamen here. Sally