Introducing my new website, where you can find my weekly Locke’s Mills column, written for the Bethel Citizen, as well as my blog, Reflections, and information about author talks for my family memoir, Just Like Glass.
Reminder: the next three Greenwood selectmen’s meetings will be held on the following Tuesdays at 5 PM: March 25, April 8, and April 22. All selectmen’s meetings are open to the public, except for during any scheduled executive sessions.
This evening, March 6, from 4:30 to 6 PM, Karen Swan, RN and Diabetes Education Coordinator, will lead a conversation on diabetes myths and facts, recommend practical steps toward lifestyle management, and share self-advocacy tips. “Getting Comfortable with Your Diabetes” is a free program presented by To Your Health, a collaboration among Western Mountains Senior College, the Bethel Family Health Center, and MSAD #44 Continuing Education. For more information, please contact MSAD #44 at 824-2136, Ext. 1340 or email WMSC@sad44.org.
I’m writing this on Sunday, March 2, my birthday, which we celebrated Saturday evening with Katie, Lila, Will, and Rosemary. Katie brought a delicious chocolate cake from Two Fat Cats Bakery in Portland, and I made a second cake (a lemon-filled, lemon-frosted lemon cake) because we had so many things to celebrate that I thought we needed two cakes. Besides my birthday, we were celebrating Will and Rosemary’s engagement and Katie’s very big new job, which she started this week, as senior vice president and general counsel at Bowdoin College. We are very happy and proud all the way around!
My niece Lindsey has a longstanding tradition of celebrating her birthday every year with chocolate cake for breakfast. Since there was half a chocolate cake just sitting there on the kitchen counter when I got up early this morning, I decided to try it this year, too, and I agree with her that it’s a great idea. A slice of chocolate cake and a cup of tea at 6 AM before anyone else was stirring was a great way to start the day.
I followed up the cake with our second breakfast of more carbs—bagels from Gemini, also procured by Katie. Then Tony and I spent an hour or so playing outside and sledding with Lila before they had to head back to Portland.
It’s yet another cold, windy day, as so many have been this winter, but the afternoon sun is strong, and I’m planning to go for at least a short hike, probably with Eli the Wonder Pup. Our streak of hiking together on my birthday, started in 2022, isn’t nearly as long as our streak of Christmas Day hikes, which we started in 2017, when Eli was still a pup, but I’d still hate to break it.
I belong to two writing groups, one in person and one via Zoom, which focus mostly on short personal essays. Last week’s topic for my Zoom group was “Chairs,” and we were all surprised at how readily such a seemingly mundane topic led us to reflect and write about the past. I chose to write about a chair that has been with me my whole life, one of a set of six wrought iron ice cream parlor chairs that came from Farwell & Wight’s store and restaurant in Bethel when my grandmother and great-grandmother sold it to Albert Cotton around 1945. You can read my essay online on my blog at amywchapman.com/s/reflections and see a couple of photos of the chairs there, too.
If you’re in the Norway area, I’ll be reading from my family memoir, Just Like Glass, on Tuesday, March 11, at 6:30 PM at the Norway Memorial Library. The library also has copies of the book for sale ahead of the event. I hope to see some friendly faces there!
If you have news or events you’d like included here, email me at amy.w.chapman@gmail.com or call 207-890-4812.
“Old empty chairs are not empty in reality; memories always sit there.” – Mehmet Murat ildan