2019 Life Logs, Day 186: Museums on the Green and Sonnay Fiddlers
Date: Friday, July 5, 2019
Weather: Sunny and Hot; High 86, Low 68 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA



The 4th of July celebrations are still in full swing here in Falmouth. The traffic is unbelievable so you just have to plan an extra 15-20 minutes to any trip into town. Today Sam had his last day of Photography camp and Jonah had a 10 am annual physical, so Jed took Jonah to the doctor and I had Ollie. Ollie and I headed into town to go to the Free Friday at the Museums on the Green. We went last year, and photos of Sam and Jonah playing colonial games have been used by the Museums in their advertisements for this year. Sam’s photo is in the official Chamber of Commerce tourist booklet and a photo of Sam and Jonah has been in all of the emails sent out by the Museums on the Green. There was no official photographer today, but Ollie had a great time playing colonial games–learning to roll the hoop–and then trying to break the huge bubbles that the Bubble Man made for the children. Once Jed and Jonah arrived, the boys had free Smitty’s ice cream (red strawberry, blueberry, and white vanilla) and Jed and Jonah played the games. Then we all toured one of the colonial homes. At that point, Jed had to leave and the boys went back outside to break more bubbles. When I thought we were ready to leave, Jonah said, “Oh, Oma. We can’t leave yet. They are going to read the Declaration of Independence at noon.” How do children know these things? And how can you deny a 10 year-old who wants to hear a reading of the Declaration? So, we stayed and listened for a bit before the boys got a bit antsy and wandered back into the forest area to explore the model of a colonial building. It is big enough for an adult my size to stand up in, just barely. I continued listening to the reading and then I heard this beautiful voice singing America the Beautiful. I knew instantly it was Jonah. It was enough to bring tears to my eyes. It turns out that the words to that song were written in chalk on the inside walls of the model building and Jonah couldn’t resist singing the song. When I went back to investigate, he and Ollie sang the song together for me. Very special.

Heather had the afternoon off and she and Jed met after Sam’s class to take the boys to the beach. I took the opportunity to do a massive grocery shop and then at 6 pm, I met up with the Goldstones at Peg Noonan Park on Main Street for a Stanley & Grimm and Sonnay Fiddlers concert. Stanley & Grimm is Ollie’s violin teacher, Nikki, and a guitar player who play Irish tunes and a little bluegrass. The Sonnay Fiddlers are Nikki’s violin students of all ages who come and go from the stage depending on the songs being played. Nikki wanted Ollie to play with the group tonight, but he decided to sit this one out and just watch. Since he has only been playing for six months and has already done a couple of pubic concerts, sitting this one out was just fine. And I think he really enjoyed watching his teacher play. He took my camera and got some great photos.

Coming up . . . tomorrow is Jonah’s belated birthday party with friends and Sunday morning at 11 am EDT is the final game of the Women’s World Cup–USA versus the Netherlands. Later in the day we will have dinner at my house in honor of Granddad’s birthday as Heather and the boys still like to observe that day in his honor.