Tom Maclachlan's birthday and a Corn Boil

Going back a bit, on Saturday, John and Cynthia picked me up at our house at about 10:30a.m., and we drove down to Goshen, MA, which is about twenty minutes west of Northampton. There is a direc route there which was a bit over an hour from our house. Tom and Courtney have a cottage there, and it was Tom's 80th birthday, which happened to coincide with a community event - "a corn boil," i.e., a picnic meal featuring boiled corn-on-the-cob, hot dogs, hamburgers and salad. The "boil" was a short walk from their cottage, and Tom's two children, Kate and Alec, and their spouses and children were all there, plua quite a few of Tom's colleagues and friends. There was a little community hall near the "boil" where there was a birthday cake and after eating we gathered there to sing "Happy Birthday," eat cake, and take pictures. It feels like that was another life now, after all that has happened since. But a great deal has happened in the last two months or so. Change and trauma seem to have become the norm!

Top: Tom serving his birthdaay cake. Middle: Tom and Courtney with their children, Alec and Kate, plus their dog, Henry. Bottom: Me with the family, including spouses and grandchildren.