Sunday, January 10, 2010

Once when I was leaving Pam’s house late at night I was startled by a large buck standing in the driveway. He bolted down the driveway with a clatter when I surprised him in the dark.


Today there were tracks of a large buck in the snow in the backyard. About 4 o’clock I followed the tracks out into the woods. I found a bedding area near the stone wall that borders the yard. It was an area of ground roughly the size of a deer completely devoid of snow and surrounded by deer tracks; there is eight inches of snow on the ground everywhere else. I followed the tracks through the woods to the open meadow behind the soccer field. There were multiple deer trails in the area, skirting the houses on one side and the soccer field on the other.
January 10, 2010


It is Sunday morning and 9 degrees above outside. I have an interview with the Norwell schools sub coordinator following my application to be a substitute teacher. I do not know how I will be able to coordinate teaching and continuing construction work. Some work is beginning to line up for the next month, unlike December when there was nothing at all in the works. This month, following Christmas, I am in financial trouble. I worked for pay a total of six hours last week. For the first time since I sold the Watertown house I have not paid my credit card charges in full or paid my lumber bill on time. I am also not sure how much I am going to owe in taxes this year. I made almost no estimated payments. I am extremely worried.

Saturday, January 09, 2010

January 9, 2010

Today is Sophie’s birthday. Last night we took eleven girls roller skating at the Carousel Family Fun Center in Whitman. Following that, the girls camped out in P’s living room watching movies and playing games and talking late into the night. P got very little sleep. Today Larry and Sue and Scott and Erin came to dinner. P was mad and resentful of me most of the night without saying why.

The walkway on the Powder Point bridge is covered with snow and ice making walking difficult. There was a flock of eiders in the water and the usual pigeons seagulls and crows hanging out on the railing. It was not too cold only about 28 degrees but the strong wind made my ears and face cold. Another new sign at the beach end of the bridge warning that there are now infrared cameras watching the beach at night.  Heaven forbid a young couple might sneak onto the beach at midnight or a group of boys hang out behind a dune, or an insomniac or poet be driven to walk the beach in the dark. More cops, more equipment every year to protect Duxbury Beach from terrorists and evildoers.