Unexpected delights. It’s foggy this morning and as I looked out the kitchen window, I saw mama robin’s nest, now abandoned. What an unexpected pleasure it was to watch this single parent build the nest, lay her eggs, and feed her babies – all of which must have been exhausting without her partner. Another unexpected pleasure – watching the Carolina wrens build their nest and feed their babies.

Discovering I could paint in oils. (Who knew?)

After nearly two years of no work, starting work again with the 2nd national tour of Anastasia.

Coaching a movie.

Discovering Blythe dolls in August.

I’m sure there’s more.

Grateful.

Here’s to new delights and discoveries in 2022. To nature and all its beauty. To health and happiness and peace and solace and love and joy for all of you.

I am so grateful for your presence in my life. Thank you.

Happy New Year, my friends. (Taking the day off tomorrow, but I’ll be back on Sunday.)

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

How is everyone doing?

Since our Christmas is fairly low-key, we’re fine.

We are laying low today. I have some things to do, as does Don, but mostly, we’re going to listen to holiday music, read, eat, and watch It’s a Wonderful Life  tonight.

I spent some time trying to get all the girls lined up on the music cabinet in order to take a picture. I was worried one of them would fall off. But I figured it out and here they are:

Sophie, Maeve, Imogen, Olivia, Pippa, and Zoe.

They now live in the den – and they’re still in this position. If I put them upstairs in the office, I’d barely see them. Better here, where I can look at them while I’m writing this blog post.

I’m finishing up a Maigret mystery – Maigret and the Reluctant Witnesses. I find Simenon’s rather short mysteries are perfect when I’m not ready to commit to a long novel. They’re a little apértif.

We watched The Kennedy Center Honors last night and I cried several times. Joni Mitchell, Bette Midler, Berry Gordy – music that I have loved most of my life. Hearing that music, seeing them honored, hearing their stories, was a perfect way to spend an evening. For several years recently, the Honors were not what they used to be. The choices made by the producers resulted in a rather shallow production, instead of a grand salute to talented and brilliant artists who have performed and created and innovated over a lifetime. Some of the honorees were far too young, in my opinion, to have earned an Honor. This time, they got it right. Fingers crossed for the future.

Okay. Time for our second cup of coffee.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

Suddenly, I’m leaving for NYC in two days. I have a lot to do in that time and I lost a few days earlier in the week because I was sick. So, it’s crunch time here at the cottage.

But today, I’d like to take a moment to mourn our friend, Peter Scolari, who passed away from cancer at the age of 66 – much too young. I met him and immediately liked him, but Don was the one who really knew him. In 2002, they were in a production of The Foreigner  at the Berkshire Theater Festival. I saw it. It was wildly funny and the lead role of Charlie Baker was absolutely brilliantly done by Peter. Also in the cast was the late, great Betsy Palmer. I met Peter on the green in front of the theater where he was playing with his kids. He was a lovely, funny, and kind man. He was also a gloriously talented actor. Don ran into him in NYC over the years and they always had a great time catching up with each other.

But let me share Don’s Facebook post about Peter:

I was honored to work with Peter Scolari in 2002. We were doing The Foreigner  at Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge. I got to play Froggy to his Charlie Baker. Peter was a Buster Keaton fan. As am I. He named a child of his Keaton to honor him. That kind of a fan. Well, we both knew that Buster had played the same old theatre years ago, and there were these very old wooden steps leading up to the stage which we had to use to enter. Peter and I opened the show and in the dark each night, we took a silent pause at the bottom of those old wooden steps, for we knew they were the very same ones HE had walked up. Sounds corny, but we were dead serious. Call it an actor’s prayer. Every show. Peter was the funniest, kindest, most gifted actor I ever worked with. I ran into him in Manhattan years later, and he told me he thought I was like Abraham Lincoln. I’m very sad today, and humbled, and grateful.

Oh, how he’ll be missed. Don and I talked about him often. In fact, we saw him in a very funny episode of King of Queens  a couple of weeks ago. As always, Don spoke of what a wonderful actor and human being he was. And that Peter was an amazing juggler, and he always juggled on his rehearsal breaks.

He and Tom Hanks were great friends from the day they started work on Bosom Buddies  until his death.

I’m thinking of Peter today.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.