Hello readers of Carole Knits. Dale here to write a special birthday post for Carole. It’s been a while since I’ve had this opportunity to write for you all and when Carole asked me to do this for today I readily agreed. Of course, that was the easy part. Coming up with a clever idea for a post, that’s the tricky part.

I’m a big fan of Carole Knits and I am amazed that she has done this consistently for so long and so well and she continues to come up with new ideas, thoughts, and angles 5 days a week! Then it hit me, why even come up with my own idea? It’s Monday and it’s Carole’s birthday so I humbly present . . . Weekending, The Birthday Edition.

This weekend began on Thursday afternoon. We were babysitting a cat (I’ll explain why later) and when we returned home from work the cat was missing. I mean really missing. Carole was in full panic mode and muttering, I can’t lose someone else’s cat, this can’t be happening, but I was confident that the cat could not have gotten out. Sure enough, after about 30 minutes and 4 times through the house Carole found him behind a chair, under a quilt, in her studio. Thank goodness, right?

I had a Board of Directors meeting with our Kiwanis Club and left for that shortly after we found Tiger The Cat. I have no idea what Carole did while I was gone but I came back with Jo-Ann and we had pizza and wine and an all-around very pleasant evening.

We both had Friday off (I’m recently returned to work, did you know?) but there’s always plenty to do at home. Carole walked down to our sister-in-law Mary’s house to help her with a technical problem, when she came back she hooked up a surround system for our new TV and we spent the rest of the day each doing our own hobbies and tasks. At 5pm, though, we were in front of the TV watching the daughter of our friends Tom and Anne get married. We would have attended this wedding but due to COVID restrictions they had to cut the guest list from 150 to 100 then down to 50. This is where the cat comes in . . . we were asked to have Tiger, the bride and groom’s cat, here with us for a few days while everyone was at an inn for the wedding. Happily, Tiger wasn’t hiding on Friday and he watched the wedding live with us, I’m even pretty sure he recognized the voices of his people! Our evening was going along nicely until we got the news about RBG. Carole was devastated and cried hot tears for quite a while. I’m sure she’ll have more to say about that soon.

Saturday morning Carole ran out to pick up her flower share (dahlias, right? I don’t know but they are very pretty) and in the afternoon we went to our Town Hall for a ceremony dedicating a POW/MIA chair in memory and honor of a WWII veteran from our town who, as it happens to be, was one of Carole’s favorite library patrons when she was the Director of our town library. Delivering a speech to honor him was very special for her and I can tell you that her speech was awesome.

After the ceremony we went to a nursery to get plants and pumpkins and gourds to decorate our front door and then to the local lobster pound to get provisions for our Saturday evening dinner. When we returned home, Carole decorated the outside for fall (she had done the inside earlier) and then it was time for a drink on the deck. Normally we go out for a special dinner to celebrate but again, with the COVID stuff, we felt more comfortable staying home. We had lobsters (she makes me put them in the pot, FYI) and baked potato, conversation and music. It was even better than going out, at least to me . . . even if Carole did weigh the lobsters to make sure she got the biggest one!

Sunday mornings are quiet around here but in the afternoon we headed to Sean and Michael’s for a very small outdoor gathering to celebrate the birthday. We had a really great time hanging out with friends, eating good food, and celebrating. Life felt normal for a while and it was so nice, especially the macaroni and cheese and chocolate cake!

And now here it is, Monday morning. It’s Carole’s 55^th birthday and we’re both back to work, feeling content and happy about the weekend we had.

My hope in writing this post is to let Carole know how much I admire and appreciate everything she does and, man, she does so much! During this strange year she has maintained a sense of normalcy for me. She’s doing her librarian job, as well as her work as an elected official, she volunteers in our community, and she works hard to keep our family close. On top of that, she continues to explore new hobbies (there’s a lot of yoga going on here recently) and skills (I heard her yesterday discussing a wedding sweater for Hannah) and she continues to teach me new things. Just this weekend she taught me how to fold a queen sized sheet so that it doesn’t get wrinkled! Also, I just finished reading Hamnet and she just finished the latest Louise Penny and we discussed them together in place of our old book club gathering. Again, keeping things normal and keeping me sharp – which could honestly be a full time job!

What’s even more amazing is that she’s been doing all of this without a lot of help from me for the past four months. She’s been my rock since the accident and I count my blessings every day. We talked about how altered this birthday would have been for her if the outcome of my accident had been . . . well . . . different . . . and we’re both grateful for this life we have together. Yes, it’s different these days and it makes me think of that great line from a Kathy Mattea song, while the world outside my window goes insane, you’re here to remind me, a few good things remain.

Happy Birthday, Carole. Thanks for being the glue that holds this life we have together.