Hi All! Interesting week.. I drove down to Cape Cod on Wednesday night. I worked on Thursday, but took Friday off. Instead of driving back Saturday night as I often do, I stayed down here. I will drive back to New Hampshire Tuesday evening. So, I had a long weekend on Cape Cod!

Anyway, there were a few things to make me smile :)

I went for three long paddles in the kayak. They were all very different and all very good – it is nice to get out :) I enjoy being on the water. Unlike most paddles, I did not bring my camera on any – it is nice to not be literally weighed down.

I took a long walk in the woods were I often go. I stopped at one point for a while and saw five different osprey hit the water, two just a few feet (a couple of meters) in front of me. When the show seemed to be over, an eagle flew by. Later I saw it skim the water twice. I don’t think it ever picked up a fish, which is unusual. Anyway, it was cool seeing seven hits on the water by big birds.

Hi All! This was an odd week all around. Nothing bad happened, but it was what I call “one of those weeks…” Sure work isn’t necessarily bad, it is just unrelenting, so I feel I can’t pause for a breath. I know, I am complaining, though I don’t mean to – as I said, right now it isn’t anything bad, like it was in the not too distant past, it is just that I’ve been too tired to do a lot. But I did do a few smile worthy things :)

So, yes, this is another “Its’ the Small Things” post.

Over the last week I joined two gathering of friends, just because. You know, sitting around, chatting, etc. for a few hours. Always nice. The second included a couple I haven’t seen in almost a year.

Hi All! This has to be quick as I have been staring down over 300 email and hundreds of texts on Teams that are demanding my attention – yeah, one of those mornings. But there is a good reason for it :)

The reason I have a full inbox at work is that I took two days off of work! It was really nice and super relaxing, even though I did a lot of work around the house(s). For example, ripping out a ceiling:

Hi All. Hope you had a good week. I’m not sure about my week, but it was a good weekend :)

After a wet and cool week we had a very warm weekend. It felt more like early June than early May. I was able to get out quite a bit and had a couple of very long walks with Fiyero, though he is so sensitive to the heat – I emptied a water bottle, most of it going into the boxer and the rest onto the boxer, and yet he was still overheated.

Anyway, Saturday morning I took a friend for a drive in my new car. We went to a place called Andres Sculpture Park. There are a lot of hiking trails, most with sculpture. Near the top of the hill the density of sculpture greatly increases. It was made by people from all over the world. I had never been, so it was very cool.

Years ago we “fostered” some kids. It was semi-unofficial, not true fostering, but having troubled kids spend a day, a week or several months in our house. Saturday evening we met one of them for dinner. Back in the day she was a good kid, but there were issues, mostly with her parents. Anyway, she has grown into a very nice adult. It was great catching up.

Hi All! If you read my coffee post you know I had an ultra-busy week. Hmm, that was the second week in a row that was so straight out that I couldn’t think straight by the end of the day, and this week is starting off the same with meetings all day. As long as I don’t get 200,000 pings an hour like I have been… hmmm. Any smiles there?

Well a couple :)

First, still thinking work, we met a very important target date in a very important project. plenty of smiles there. Though the work has not paused at all…

Hi All! A lot of good smiles this week, but I am going to concentrate on two. If you read my coffee post you may be able to guess, but I am going to go into more detail :) Sorry if this is longer than the usual smile post 🙂

The end of last week was very warm in New England, and hot for April. I was down on Cape Cod and took a couple of hours off work on Friday. What did I do with that time? I did my first paddle on the kayak for the year!

Funny, I have moved up in my weight routine in all exercises, but, wow, I could tell it has been six month since I was on a kayak! No, I wasn’t sore afterwards, but paddling against the tidal current when I started was a chore! But it was nice, and I soon hit the calmer water of Grand Cove.

The osprey are back and very active. I saw several and got a few photos, though none are good. That being said, I watched one osprey swoop the shore a few times. When it finally flew away I could see something in its talons. Looking at the photo and I see that it is carrying a bunch of large sticks for its nest – if you’ve seen an osprey nest, they are huge! Later I saw one with a fish.

Hi All! Busy week with a lot going on! Anyway, there is one thing, though, that was a bit special. I saw a concert on Saturday. Specifically, I saw Rick Wakeman.

OK, if you do not know him, here is a little info. A lot of people recognize him as the keyboardist in the band Yes’ “classic” lineup. He played with the band off and one for a couple of decades. A few may even know one or more of his several dozen solo albums, like “Journey to the Center of the Earth” or “The Six Wives of Henry the VIII”. or you may have heard him on over a dozen David Bowie songs, including the piano on “Life on Mars” and the mellotron on “Space Oddity”. Still others may have only heard him on the Cat Stevens song “Morning has Broken” – yeah, all of that uncredited piano work that only he could play.

I once did a blog post where I compared him with the other Rick W (Rick Wright of Pink Floyd), but more than that, some have recognized that some of my synthesizer solos are highly influenced by Rick’s synth solos. Not all of my solos, but on occasion…

Hi All! I think I have been on repeat the last few weeks. Perhaps it is because I have been so busy that there are few things that jump out. Maybe. But here are a few things that made me smile this week.

On my Saturday Coffee Share I mentioned that the daffodils are not blooming yet but should be in a week. Well, some of our daffodils began blooming on Sunday! The crocuses are almost gone, but the daffodils have arrived!

Yesterday I put all of my heavier winter coats away. I also put most of my heaviest wool sweaters away and about half of my turtlenecks (I wear a turtleneck almost every day from late October until the start of April). And my super heavy “boot socks” and the lighter ski socks went into the cedar chest. About 3/4 of my spring and summer shirts came out, though the strictly summer-wear stayed packed.

I wrote and recorded a quick song on Saturday and posted on YouTube yesterday. In less than a day it has received about the number of views that my most popular videos get in a two weeks. I’ll do a blog post on it tomorrow.

Hi All! An odd week overall, and not necessarily in a bad way :) I think I will bring up three points.

I spent time on Cape Cod, as I often do. I did not make it out and about as much as I usually do and I didn’t get as much work around the house done as I wished, but it was nice.

Hi All! Happy Spring! Yes, despite all of the snow on the ground, today is the first day of spring! The snow is melting fast (well, there was a slowdown yesterday since it never got above freezing…) and I can see the shoots of the flowers coming up were there is no snow. And I do still see some snowdrops (they seemed to have popped through the deep snow right away, and now it is thawed around them). It is easy to tell that this is a mid to late March snow, not a January one!

I did a “signs of spring” post last week. I guess this week will be a “it’s the small things” post.

Despite the snow, I did get a good run in on Saturday (I ran Monday, before the storm as well). I had a few very long walks with Fiyero. He actually likes walking more when it is cooler because he overheats so easily. So some woods, a few big hills, some large fields, etc. And there was music (I wrote a new piece, I just have to find to to record), reading, writing, friends, family, etc. And that bit of spring popping out from under the snow.