Another Catch Up Post

The hosting plan for this blog was coming up for renewal, and since I haven’t blogged in 15 months and it’s expensive (IMHO), I was considering shutting down the blog.

I mentioned this to Nicole, and after asking “Like, we won’t have access to it?”, she proceeded to harangue me for a good half hour, maybe longer. In her opinion, the hosting plan is not expensive at all, and she provided me with a ChatGPT overview of the blog:

Not Easily Dispelled feels like a personal record of a life being actively lived, with politics, family, travel, food, friendships, aging, and everyday experiences all woven together. Rather than being about one particular subject, the blog seems to be about paying attention to life—the things that happen, the people who matter, the places she goes, and the thoughts or memories that stay with her. Even when she writes about politics or larger social issues, she tends to bring them back to personal experience and how they affect the way she sees the world. The travel and family posts especially show that she isn’t simply documenting where she went or what she did; she’s capturing the personalities, conversations, jokes, frustrations, and small moments that make those experiences meaningful.

Overall, I think the blog has a strong tension between the serious and the ordinary. She clearly cares about politics and what’s happening in the wider world, but she also refuses to believe that those things should consume all of life. Restaurants, vacations, family gatherings, golf, drinks, trips, and funny everyday mishaps may seem “frivolous,” but she treats them as important precisely because they’re the substance of a life. Taken together, the posts feel almost like an informal memoir or family archive—not because every post is profound, but because she keeps recording the people and moments that might otherwise disappear. The overarching impression is of someone who is curious, opinionated, humorous, relationship-oriented, and very aware that the seemingly small experiences are often the ones we end up remembering.

Okay, okay.

After reducing the amount of disk space I was using by deleting some photos, I negotiated a lower price on a downgraded hosting plan and renewed.

Now all I have to do is start blogging. And go back to fix some posts from 2015 that are now missing pictures.

What has happened the past 15 months? Same old, same old.

Family

We spend time together. And I’m not just talking about with our kids and grandkids. We also spend time with siblings, nieces and nephews, and our grandniece and grandnephews. We recently had a lovely lunch with my aunt and uncle, and Dave is currently in Ireland on a trip that includes two of my cousins and my cousin’s son.

The thing is we like each other. Yes, we have our moments. And we each have our idiosyncrasies. But we accept and/or deal with them and move on to the next get-together.

Christmas in Methuen

I haven’t talked much about Methuen. We downsized there to a condo in a 55+ community back in 2019. We consider it a pit stop on the way to the lake, but it’s a nice pit stop, and we play pickleball with the other 55+’s in the community.

This is where we meet up at Christmas time. Heather flies in from LA, Meagan and Chris drive up from New Jersey, and Nicole comes in from Boston. This year was a little different because Caleb and Lucy are at the age where Meagan and Chris wanted to spend Christmas morning at home, so they came up a couple days after Christmas.

Yes, things change. But they also stay the same.

Lucy, Caleb & Dave, Lauren’s Tom, Heather with Amber’s TJ, Brew & Rex

Winter in Jupiter

The kids came for two big visits this past year – one at Thanksgiving and one in February. When Dave and I are alone in Jupiter, our calendar is full of golf, pickleball, and doctor appointments. When the kids are there, our days are full of swimming in the pool (or baby pool as the hot tub is known), driving the golf cart, and playing on Grandma and Grampy’s iPads. Our evenings are spent playing Catan or Codenames. Or making TikTok videos while exploring the golf course with the golf cart at night. (Well, only the adult kids do that.)

Pools, golf cart, iPads, and Catan

Recently, our most frequent visitors have been Sue and Austin. With them, we golf and go out to eat. Often. They’ve been to Jupiter a bunch of times because they had been searching for a place to buy and finally bit the bullet. They’ll be living two streets over from us and three streets over from Dave.

And Heather came back in April to return the favor of me helping her with her knee a couple years ago out in LA.

Summers at the Lake

This post is supposed to cover just about two summers of family at the lake. Not really possible in any level of detail.

My mother and Phil never wanted us to feel like it was a duty to visit them. So they made sure they were set up in a place where we would want to visit. This is that place.

This summer, my brother Dave said to one of the kids – I forget which daughter or which niece – “This place stands the test of time.”

Yes, things change. But they also stay the same.

Small selection from summer 2025 and 2026

Travel

My goodness, I’ve been on five trips in the past year! And they were all special. Why didn’t I blog about them?

Vail, Davis, Key West, Cabo, New Jersey

And we have more trips planned. As I mentioned Dave is currently golfing in Ireland, and I will be heading out there shortly. In 2027, there will be Belize in March and Alaska in the late summer. Oh, and how could I forget – New Jersey in October!

Hobbies

Pickleball

Ouch.

So my personal growth goal going forward is to be a better teammate! We’ll see how it goes.

Golf

I am working hard at golf. I join a weekly clinic with the teaching pro Scott, and I play 9 holes with Dave three or four times a week. I’m also in a 9-hole league. I only got irritated with members of my foursome a couple times.

But I am so bad! I don’t know how I can be so bad after working on the game for this long. It’s embarrassing. But I foolishly keep thinking I will get better. (Says every golfer out there.)

Everyday Experiences

At our age, everyday experiences consist of maintenance – both of our belongings and of ourselves.

Personal maintenance

Dave and I are extremely happy with his new hearing aides. Although I can’t tell you how many times I have heard “Oh I forgot to put in my hearing aides!” Or, he forgets they are connected to his phone and he is the only person who can hear the audio of the video he is insisting we watch.

Dave also went on Medicaid this past spring and has all the recommended parts. We spent quite a bit of time researching those parts. It will be my turn this coming spring.

Speaking of insurance, we decided to get rid of our dental insurance. Since then, I’ve had two cavities (embarrassing) and a broken crown, and I am looking forward to a root canal upon my return from Ireland. Dave also needed a new crown. (Small political rant: Why isn’t dental care considered part of health care and covered, more than beyond preventative measures, under health insurance?)

In bigger news, I got a total knee replacement back in April. Mainly so I could play better pickleball. Since then, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time doing physical therapy, and one of the primary goals in my life is to bend my knee. Another is to straighten it.

Vehicle Maintenance

The golf cart has a new lithium battery, the boat has a new fuel pump, the 2007 Lexus has new spark plugs, and the trailer for the WaveRunner that we dropped off in the spring will have new tires. Fingers crossed we get the trailer back in time to bring the WaveRunner in for winter service and storage.

Property Maintenance

Jupiter

Down in Jupiter, we took on a major home improvement: a new lanai with motorized screens, an outdoor kitchen, and a hot tub.

Of course, any addition leads to more maintenance.

Dave is a bit OCD about that hot tub. He spends quite a bit of time testing, cleaning, and adding chemicals. He would prefer if people showered before entering the hot tub.

Like that’s going to happen.

Lake

My relationship with the ejector pump is much more stable this year. I keep checking on it to make sure all is well, and we learned how to clear the clogged toilet paper from the main exit from the house. I have added one new house rule: Upon using the facilities downstairs, run the shower for a few minutes to make sure the contents of the holding tank are actually ejected in a timely manner. Though house rules are often unknown, forgotten, or ignored.

While the ejector pump is behaving, this house always presents us with new maintenance issues.

A couple years ago, I noticed one of the steps leading up to the loft in the garage was rotted. This year, I discovered the source of the rot was rain coming through the roof. Our hope was that we could patch one section of the roof. Of course not. And the roofer told us we needed some chimney work done before it fell apart.

Other Maintenance

I’ve also been asked to maintain Grizzly while my brother Dave is in Ireland. I received instructions to provide an enhancement with each morning and evening ration of dry food, to ensure his water bowl is filled with oxygenated water on an hourly basis, to limit his activity because “you do not want to be the one responsible for killing him”, and to let him sleep with me. I ignored one of those instructions.

Thanks to Nicole for helping me with this maintenance. Though she also made me do this blog!

I think that covers the gist of the past 15 months. I apologize if I have forgotten something.

More to come. Maybe.