2017 Life Logs, Day 221: Soccer Superstars and Harbor Seal Pup Release
Date: Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Weather: Sunny Day; High 80, Low 63 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
“Jonah, Jonah, Jonah, Jonah.” This is the chant that Ollie and I heard when we arrived to pick Sam and Jonah up from soccer camp. The chant was coming from all the kids attending soccer camp and we saw Jonah running drills against one of the coaches. Jonah would run with the ball, turn, and kick it toward the goal and then the coach would do this. What we found out was that Jonah had beat everyone’s score today which won him the opportunity to compete with the coach. Sam called it Coaches Choice. You could see how very proud Jonah was, but he was so very careful to not make Sam feel bad. Sam is two years older but in the same camp with Jonah. Sam always plays mid-field is not an aggressive forward like Jonah. But Sam actually handled today’s situation like a superstar and that made me just as proud of him as I was of Jonah. And this morning Ollie announced to me that he is also going to be a soccer superstar. Today he said he wants to be a goalie and I loved the way Jonah worked with him after camp setting up drills to increase his skills.
Ollie was in full soccer dress this morning when he went to TD Bank with me. I managed to get my online banking account locked and needed to go in to show ID and get the online account unlocked. This took a while and one of the managers came out of her office with a small rubber ball that looked like a soccer ball and gave it to Ollie. The bright green color matched his shirt and socks exactly. He was thrilled!
After soccer camp, we headed to my place for a little relax time and lunch. We changed into swim wear and then we took off for Scusset Beach which is on the mainland side of the Cape Cod Canal. Our end goal was to be there for a 6:30 pm harbor seal pup release, but I wanted to give the boys a couple of hours to play on the beach beforehand. When we got there, Jonah and Ollie saw a playground and they begged to be able to play there before heading to the beach.
That worked out great as Sam was reading a book on a Kindle and was very happy to stay in the car and read while the other two played. Then we headed to the beach where we discovered that no boogie boards or flotation devices of any type were allowed. Not sure why, but it wasn’t really an issue as the water was very cold and boys got in and out very quickly. Jonah found a warm place in the sand to just lay back and relax while Sam and Ollie built a sand castle.
And before we knew it, it was time to go get dinner and get back to the beach in time for the seal release by the National Marine Life Center. Heather was driving home from Boston and had sent a text that she was on her way to join us. We left the beach just after 5 o’clock and returned at 5:45, and in that time the tide had gone out so far that the beach was totally transformed. I had left my beach chair with the kids towels and shovels on the beach not realizing that it was the perfect thing to do. When we got back, the yellow tape had been set up to define where we would be allowed to sit and watch the seal release. My chair was in just the right place. So, I unknowingly had saved us a place. Heather arrived and we watched the release together.
The three pups being released were rescued this spring after being separated from their mothers and subsequently stranded in three different locations. The Marine Life Center worked to rehabilitate them and had to teach them how to eat fish. They had to start by tube feeding them a milk-based formula and then switched to a fish-based formula. From there they found ways to introduce fish into their diets and it was determined that they are now ready to go back into the wild. Jane Goodseal, Sealiva Earle, and Johnny Appleseal were all very reluctant and by the time we left, they were still being coaxed into the water.
We hope they all three finally took the plunge, but it was time for our Goldpebble pups to head down the beach to the jetty on the north side of the canal.
Heather went with the boys and I took the gear and headed to the car. I drove to the jetty to offer transportation back to Heather’s car for the ride home. The boys loved their sunset walk on the jetty and were reluctant to leave, but both Heather and myself were exhausted. In addition to her own program this week, Heather has hosted another morning show and made the trip to WGBH in Boston. And she has been doing the interviews for her program for the next three Mondays when she will be out of town. Add to that the wonderful, but at the same time, stressful news that her weekly program will start airing in Boston as soon as she returns from Sweden and you have one stressed momma. But ready or not, the shows will go one and the bags will get packed for Sweden and we will all be on our way in the wee hours of Saturday morning. I will drop the Goldstones at the airport in Providence, RI. They will fly to Sweden and I will head on to Nyack, New York, to spend a couple of days with friends Ed and Lynne. I hope they are ready for an exhausted guest!
