Monday February 16.
The morning was as gray as Bill Belichek's hoodie at 6:15 as I stood at the kitchen sink muttering that waking up in this cottage was nothing short of a miracle. The gray was then broken up by spokes of coral colored light, lightning flashes of sun breaking through the bar of clouds. Leaning forward was all I could do; I was pulled in by the sparkle on the water, by the suddeness of the whole thing.
At the end of the day I needed to take down the flag in the Lighthouse Park lot. As I was unwinding the line and bringing the colors down, a young man in battle fatigues got out of his car and stood at attention, then saluted the flag. Noticing this over my shoulder I grew a coconut in my throat. I never anticipated that response in this new role. Finishing the job I thanked the young man who told me no thanks were neccessary. Day one was quite a day to start and quite a day to finish.