A pair of great horned owls are out in the woods tonight, female hooting first and male answering, nature’s way of calling in the new year.

Family sat around the table with back issues of Dwell, talking about what features we want in the new house we’ll soon be building. Then we walked out in the light rain to the corner of the land where we hope to build that house in 2021.

Do have a gentle day

Richard Gildenmeister died this month at age 88 (obituary here). He was a legendary bookseller in Cleveland for 55 years, and my friend for 20 years. There are plenty of mentions of him in my blog archives, including the story of our trip to New York City and the day we spent with architect Philip Johnson at The Glass House. I found an audio recording of a conversation he and I had in 2011 when I was up in Cleveland for Thanksgiving, and another audio clip of his answering machine message, and I’ve put them together into this Coconut Wireless microcast.

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Saddened by the news that my good friend, Richard “Book General” Gildenmeister, died earlier this month. He was 88, a legend in Cleveland bookselling. He and I once took a trip to NYC, and had lunch with architect Philip Johnson. I’ll blog more, but wanted to mark his passing.

Recipe hunting for the pork belly I bought yesterday from Cane Creek Farm at the Carrboro Farmers Market.

Cold, clear day in Chapel Hill. I stopped by the Carrboro Farmers Market, picked up vegetable broth and a beautiful cut of pork belly. Heading home for Boxing Day football and a new book.

Just talked to my father in Honolulu. He’s still sifting through the many photos & slides he took in the 1960s, like this one from his time as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic. He’s got many 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 slides. What scanner can I get to digitize those?

This red tailed hawk was stuck in the fencing around the chicken yard. While Malia rounded up all 10 hens, I freed and pardoned the raptor. Beautiful bird, sharp talons.

Breakfast and coffee at the dining table, looking south, noticing the sun slanting through the woods and the tops of the pine trees swaying in a light breeze.

Warm tamales just delivered from another neighbor.

So lucky to have a neighbor who is a hobby astronomer with good telescopes. He set up on the hill behind the high school and invited us and others to see the Jupiter-Saturn convergence. I saw Saturn’s rings and 4 of Jupiter’s moons lined up.

Turkey necks and wings have been roasted, and now are nestled in a pot of water for a 12-hour simmer in the oven at 200°F. Tomorrow’s stock will be Thursday’s gravy.

Internet restored after two days (since wire cut in construction mishap). Was very difficult to work by mobile hotspot. So gad to be back on the information superhighway.

In week two of a new job so not a lot of time to be online. Last night discovered the show Ted Lasso. Loving it. And we watched latest episode of This Is Us tonight. Feels good to laugh and cry.

Car Horns

Carrboro, North Carolina is celebrating the Biden/Harris win!

Carrboro, North Carolina is celebrating.

Stepped outside to blow the bubu shell (triton shell from South Pacific) to celebrate win by Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris.

Watched a crew building a new shed next to our house, found it astonishing how meticulous and efficient they were. Now making a cherry pie to celebrate democracy and satisfy my sweet tooth. Listening to Kurt Vile and John Prine (How Lucky). #mbnov

I have had an active summer with lots of running and I was feeling quite healthy. But I woke on this dreary, rainy fall morning with a throbbing left knee. Not sure what I did yesterday during yard work and walking the puppy, but darn it! #mbnov