The men, in a generic sense, have redeemed themselves in the person of our neighbor, Bruce Crosby. Sunday morning in the midst of the snowstorm, he offered to drive into town and bring me a New York Times, asking only that Edee, his wife, get the puzzle from the magazine section. So I got to curl up in front of the fire and digest the news of the world while the rest of the island shoveled. I wonder if the privileged few men who had special delivery service of the Times while the Island Store was closed received their papers that day. If not, guys, I still have my copy I will share.

To continue with the exciting adventures of Joyce and Donald Duncan, who were guests on November 18 for the launch of an Atlas V rocket carrying a set of instruments bound for Mars to investigate the atmosphere. Joyce’s relatives, Nick and Erica Schneider, are professors at the University of Colorado at Boulder, who helped design the instruments aboard the rocket to gather data they hope to study.

Donald explains, “When a football is passed, the quarterback throws it in a direct line to where he thinks the receiver will be when the ball gets there. Not so for rockets bound for Mars. That would take too much energy. Since we are all in solar orbit anyway, the plan is to put the spacecraft into its own solar orbit between the orbits of Earth and Mars.

“When it gets close to Mars in September, 2014, there is a four minute window during which it will be slowed up a bit and it will slip into an elliptical Martian orbit, rather like a relay racer passing the baton. Then it will orbit around Mars, diving to within 73 miles of the surface for a sniff of the atmosphere and then soaring to over 3,000 miles for a wider view.

“We were allowed to view the launch from a causeway five miles from the actual rocket, which stood some 500 feet high surrounded by four towers 600 feet high to protect the rocket from lightning. At exactly 1:26 p.m. the launch went off as scheduled, the time being determined to use the rotation of the earth to give the rocket its greatest initial velocity. We could clearly see the fuel, liquid oxygen and kerosene, ignite and about 25 seconds later hear the roar as the rocket went through a fairly low cloud cover. Ten or fifteen minutes later, as the rocket was over Australia, another ignition took it out of earth orbit and it was off to Mars on a solar orbit.

“One of the most exciting things was to see the enthusiasm and joy at the success of the launch from the cousins who had helped to plan the whole thing. There were so many hundreds of things that could have gone wrong (and still might), yet so far everything has gone perfectly.”

Thanks to Joyce and Donald for sharing this information and the immediate experience that few of us get to have.

Another event bringing enthusiasm and joy was the Southport School children’s Holiday Concert last Monday night at the town hall. As the program began, the hall was darkened so the light focused on the 22 children, who both played instruments and sang. The youngest played recorders. Two children played piano solos. A trio played wind instruments. A group played ukuleles, showing they could both play and sing as each student in turn sang a verse, and a guitar ensemble played a Bob Dylan song.

Considering the students have only been working with their instruments since the beginning of school, they are learning very well, not only about making music, but also the history of where and how the songs originated. Perhaps the most fun was the appearance of a waltzing bear during the singing of “Waltzing with Bears.” Mr. Bear was able to entice both the school principal and Ramona to dance.

A table at the back of the hall contained homemade goodies available for purchase to help the sixth grade students finance their planned trip to New York City in the spring. These students are also offering their services to shovel snow, so if you need that help, call the school (207-633-3132). In addition they are conducting a bottle drive on the first Sunday of each month and will pick up bottles if you call Ryan at 207-633-7288, or you can drop them off at G&J Redemption, telling them that money is to go to the Southport sixth grade account. A Winter Carnival is also being planned.

Home for Christmas are Betsy Thibault from Old Orchard Beach, Jessica Brewer from Montana, and Amy Durham, from Bermuda. Having adult children willing to travel home for the holidays is a great joy.

As Christmas approaches, we will have two opportunities on Southport to mark the birth of Jesus in congregational worship. The Southport Methodist Church will offer a service of worship at 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve. All Saints by-the-Sea, the summer chapel on the water off Route 238, will open for a service at 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve, weather permitting access via the road and path. This building is not heated so be sure to wear layers of warm clothing.

The Southport Memorial Library will be closed next Tuesday, Christmas Eve, but will be opened during the day on the next Tuesday, New Year’s Eve.

One sad note for those of you who know our family. Our little dachshund, Mitzi, died this morning with Kit, myself and neighbors, Bruce and Edee by her side. She had lived a good 14 years, but we are still very sad to lose her.