Martha says: At 75, I’m gradually acknowledging that I’m getting old. Three years ago I had a prism added to my reading glasses. The eye doctor said my brain has more trouble converging images from 2 eyes as I get older. In August I realized the buzzing in my ears wasn’t the sound of insects outdoors. The nurse practitioner diagnosed it as tinnitus and said my hearing is fine but my aging brain invents sounds to fill the void when it’s quiet in the house. In September while volunteering to rebuild the school playground that had deteriorated since 1988, I fell and hurt my back. It stopped hurting after just 2 weeks but I had to stop dancing for 12 weeks while the T 10 partial compression fracture healed. Virtual visits with a physical therapist helped me gradually build up my muscles safely. Now I'm back at Jazzercise in the studio after 2 years of Jazzercise in my dining room with remote software during Covid. Since I can't control the volume of their music, I’ve begun wearing ear protectors.

January was a difficult time at the New England Quilt Museum library. When I thought I had 2 weeks off, the director called to say that building maintenance work required us to immediately remove 2 bookcases and all their books from the library and replace much of the old furniture.  It took most of this year for us to remove that many books from the collection and catalog and for me to acknowledge that the removal of clutter makes the space more attractive. Gradually our volunteer team is returning after 2 years away during Covid and we're thrilled to have 3 new volunteers on board.  The MassQuilts documentation team is also continuing to study antique quilts and share their findings on the Quilt Index.

When my cat Pumpkin (14) was dying of kidney failure in March, I was her nurse, took her for euthanasia, dug her grave, and arranged her kitty funeral. That was a very hard few weeks. We’re down to just one cat now, Pixel, and he’ll be our last since Bob is allergic.

When I created this page of quilting projects done in 2022 I was surprised at how many there were. I continue to find recipients for my quilts so that there won’t be a growing pile to deal with some day when our sons have to distribute our collections. Seeing the response of the people who get new quilts is priceless.

Our 2 weeks at Timberlock in August were more relaxing this summer since Bob’s sister Lee is settled in Assisted Living and doing better. Vacationing in the same place for 41 years means we get right into the routine and already know many of the other guests.

After a 3 year delay because of Covid, I had planned to return to Rochester in early July when I could see many Presberg cousins who would be gathering for their vacation in the Finger Lakes. Unfortunately, I had to cancel all those reservations when Bob had to take 2 antibiotics that made him dizzy during a bout of diverticulitis. I needed to stay home to do all the driving. The rest of the summer and early fall were very busy so I rescheduled my trip to Rochester for late October. I had a wonderful time and loved reconnecting with nearly 20 people I had really missed.

Now it’s winter and I continue my quest to teach all 3 grandkids to ski well enough to keep up with their parents and see the tops of local mountains before I get too old to be there with them.

Bob says: Another year gone by. As Dave Goulder wrote in the song "The January Man,"

    The January man he comes around again in coat and boots of leather
    To take another turn and walk along the icy roads he knows so well
    The January man is here the start of each and every year
    Along the road forever

Except it's 55 degrees here, and every flake that has tried to fall has been washed away by rain. Climate change, huh...

Last year felt like the year that my body passed its "use by" date. Like so many people my age, my back has given out. A disc at the base of my spine is gone, and two vertebrae that were once separated are now rubbing together and pinching the nerves to both my legs, a condition called "spinal stenosis." I need quarterly cortisone shots to control the frequent pain, and I can no longer lift heavy objects, flex my spine, or bend over. I'm learning new body mechanics to minimize the stress - deep knee bends, or kneeling on one knee, instead of bending over. I continue to walk 2-3 miles as often as possible, usually with my friend Jim and his loving Golden Doodles, Button and Zipper. As a result, I've now met many of the dogs in Carlisle, and I know how to interpret their body language and play signs. Most of them are friendly, and now I'm friendly too. I quite like dogs, particularly when someone else takes them home.

My elder sister Lee has settled into life at the assisted living near us. She's made a friend, taken to exercising a bit, and keeps herself busy with reading, watching old movies, and fuming about politics. Like many congregate care settings, her facility experienced a Covid outbreak when the Omicron surge first happened. Fortunately, constant testing and rapid response contained it, and Lee did not catch the disease. She has not experienced any further strokes, just the annoyances and indignities that come with old age, which are many.

Lee's ex-husband Dave, and his wife Sandy, with whom we remain good friends, had to flee their house on Sanibel Island when Hurricane Ian hit. Although much of the island was badly damaged, their house was modern and had been built to withstand a Category 5 storm. All the items in the basement were lost to storm surge, but the living quarters on the first floor were relatively unscathed, and they have been able to move back in. I'd like to visit them in 2023, if I can bring myself to get on an airplane. Maybe when the winter Covid surge subsides.

We lost our smaller cat, Pumpkin, after a long illness. Eventually, she became too weak to eat, drink, or even stand up, and we had to say goodbye. She's buried in a clearing off the front yard, with some rocks as a headstone. Pixel, our other cat, didn't seem to notice or care, but he became noticeably more affectionate. The Fancy Feast regimen we started to tempt Pumpkin to eat has stuck, and I'm now familiar with Chewy for ordering cat food in bulk. Pixel has returned to the food preferences of his youth - fish cat food and the dregs of my coffee ice cream.  He'll accept vanilla too, but fruit flavors are Right Out.

My computer work has continued unabated. By the time the wave of Afghan refugees abated in the spring, I had refurbished and delivered more than 80 donated computers to refugee organizations and families. Now a new wave of refugees - from Ukraine, Venezuela, and Central America - has started, and requests for computers are arriving again. In all, I've dealt with more than 530 computers since I started keeping records in 2013. I've also continued to help seniors in Carlisle and adjacent towns with their computer issues. Mostly, these haven't been serious, but several seniors were victimized by computer scams. This led me to create and deliver a lecture on avoiding computer scams to seniors in Concord and Carlisle.

My anime team had a good year too, although three team members in Asia contracted Covid in the fall and early winter. Fortunately, they all recovered. Some long running projects got finished or restarted, and I expect to clear the team's "to do" list early next year.

My simulator work saw a sharp uptick after a long pause. Curious users trying out different features or debugging new software on the simulators uncovered a number of bugs. I released a new version of the simulator in December. I am still the "go to" guy for understanding and fixing bugs in simulated hardware, although I leave maintenance and enhancement of the user interface and software infrastructure to others.

That's it. Pixel is at my feet, nudging me to feed him again, so I have to go. Wait, that's exactly how my blurb last year ended too...