February 1 Is a New Beginning and Life is Good!

Sofie, The Gym, and Pickle All Add Up to a Great Winter 2025

I’m pleased to report that I have successfully survived a third Dry January, and last night I was happy to see it end. I mean, it’s good not to drink but I am not as good at sobriety as some are. I struggled a bit in NYC when attending parties, but I stuck to the seltzer and made it through fine. My weight is lower than usual at around 204, which I attribute to the lack of wine calories for 30 days.

Another development in my life has made things very happy for me. My housemate Matt moved out, and my granddaughter moved in. Another housemate, Alice, will join us and this new household will be more to my liking–busier with more interaction. I have been craving some companionship here at my house, not a live-in, but I just wanted to have someone around who would talk to me and occasionally join me for dinner.

Now my life has changed for the better. Every weekday I bring her to school, I get a chance to have coffee and work at Tandem Bagel or Balagan Cafe, and then I go to my gym. That’s a third part of this axis, I’ve been hitting the gym thrice a week since November 2023. It’s all part of the plan–nothing feels better than finishing a workout with a steam bath and sauna, after I depart the gym I feel about as good as I ever do.

I am heading to the Deerfield Railyard Pickleball Club, a fun group that has taken to playing the game inside a large warehouse near the tracks. Pickleball is the fourth leg; it’s become my favorite game, and the people who play in Deerfield are marvelous and encouraging. Today, too, I am indulging in another of my hobbies when I join set builders in Easthampton who are constructing the set for “On Golden Pond, ” which the company is presenting at Williston Academy in a few months.

Life is good!