Feeling New at 52

Happy Birthday Peter! Today’s my birthday, I’m 52 and for reasons that I think I know, I feel good.
I am feeling a real peacefulness now and it’s because I’m doing what I want to be doing and I am right where I want to be. I am feeling content and thankful for my situation.
Some of my family is doing well and some are struggling. I hope those who are struggling are able to find a way that makes it better.
There’s a special feeling that I get each time we accomplish something here in Maine. Early last week we had our first good rain because prior to that it had been snow. Well that rain pointed us to a leak we had in the roof and that leak happened to be directly above our heads in our bedroom. It was a bit depressing to be honest because we thought the bedroom and my office were the two rooms in the house that were “good enough” to move into without much work (except major cleaning) so when this leak started it was a bummer. It wasn’t a major leak but not certainly one you could sleep through unless you like Chinese water torture. It had only managed to drip on one pillow by the time we noticed it. Fortunately the next day was sunny so I went to Western Maine Supply (my life-line) and purchased a gallon of roof patch tar. I climbed up on the roof, straddled the ridge, made it to the front chimney which is where the leak appeared to be coming from and noticed plenty of gaps for water between the chimney, flashing, and roof shingles. So for the next hour or so I used the whole gallon around the two chimneys we have. Today it was raining all day and I’m happy to announce No Leaks! That’s the special feeling I’m talking about.
Last Thursday Amber, Tommie and Maya came for a two night visit. They were our very first sleep over guests but the catch was they had to bring their own beds. It worked out well except I think it took Tommie some getting used to the lack of a bathroom door on the first floor and the lack of a complete floor on the second floor bathroom. At the moment if you’re sitting on the toilet you can look to your left under the tub and see down to the first floor which of course means if you’re on the first floor you can look up to the toilet. So yes, total bathroom privacy is still an issue here but we’ll fix that.
Amber and Tommie helped Lauren paint the kitchen while they were here and though it’s not quite done it is looking really good. Thanks for your help.
While they were painting I went out to the yard and started cutting down a few trees with my new Husqvarna Chain Saw that I bought at Lowell’s Saw Shop in Bethel. I don’t have many trees on the property but we wanted to clear out around the edge of the lot where the stone wall runs so we could get some more sunlight and have the stone wall stand out better. It felt good to cut down the trees and gather up the brush. I love trees but we happen to be surrounded by them. Last night Lauren and I went to Sud’s Pub and had a Baked Haddock dinner for our birthdays and then Lisa the bartender brought us out a nice piece of chocolate cake with a candle on it. 52 is good.