2018 Life Logs, Day 188—In Memory of Mark
Date: Saturday, July 7, 2018
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High 73, Low 55 F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today would have been Mark’s 76th birthday, so the day was spent with family in his memory. When Heather and Jed set this weekend as a biking and camping weekend on the Outer Cape, they invited me to join them for a day of biking together. We biked about 7.5 miles from the Wellfleet Audubon Campground to an ice cream stand in Orleans where we all enjoyed an ice cream treat.
Next door there was a public area with a huge outdoor chess set,
a bike rack in the shape of a fish,
a copper umbrella fountain sculpture,
and tiny little cabins with arts and crafts for sale. Heather wondered over to check out the arts and crafts and came back all excited. She met a woman who takes men’s ties and turns them into quilts and quilted pillows. I’ve not been able to get rid of Mark’s collection of ties that were given to him by Heather and Justin over the years . . . a tie collection featuring all manner of wild animals.
She felt like it was fate to find this woman today who can take Mark’s ties and turn them into special gifts for the grandkids. We then biked the 7.5 miles back to the campground. This is the longest bike trip Ollie has attempted and he did great.
When we got back, we had lunch, and then I took Jonah to a Ninja Warrior birthday party that was at a gym on my way home. I dropped him there and then headed on home as Heather and Jed were going to come pick him up. After a full day of biking, I hope Jonah was able to muster the energy to enjoy the Ninja Warrior Challenge.
When I got home, I grabbed a beer and headed down to the dock to sit in the evening sun at the edge of water . . . so serene.
The bird life in the marsh was very active this evening. From a distance, I watched the osprey,
the egrets,
the red-winged blackbirds, and the gulls performing aerial acrobatics. It was a lovely ending to a lovely day. Thanks to all of you who sent messages remembering Mark’s birthday.
