2019 Life Logs, Day 219: Day Filled with Fun
Date: Wednesday, August 7, 2019
Weather: Perfect Summer Day; High 87, Low 71 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Today was a perfect summer day in every way. The weather was beautiful—sunny and hot with just enough wind to keep you cool—and it was filled with fun activities. Ollie and I started our day at Menauhant with swim lessons. After lessons, Ollie played and enjoyed the surf with Jude, grandson of my next door neighbors, and Joey who lives next door to the Goldstones. Ollie is 7, Joey is 9, and Jude is 10. But the difference in age makes no difference at the beach. Kids manage to have a great time despite age differences. We only stayed until noon today as Ollie and I were headed to Woods Hole for the afternoon. We were meeting Jed and Jonah at the WHOI tennis courts at 3:30 pm, but in the hours in between, Ollie and I had lunch at Marina Park on the Woods Hole waterfront and then we visited the WHOI Exhibit Center where we bought a book about “flying deep” in Alvin. Ollie played in the full-sized model of the inner sphere, living out the adventures outlined in the book. Alvin is a 3-person research submarine that takes scientists deep into the ocean on explorations that was first launched in 1964. As we left the center, Ollie spotted a strange looking insect and persisted until he got a great photo. Then we headed to the tennis courts to meet Jed and Jonah. Ollie had requested a tennis date and I left with the three of them playing their first match.

This perfect summer day is in such complete contrast to what is happening in our country this week. As I watched coverage tonight of our President’s trip to Dayton and El Paso today, my heart ached for the people of those two communities. I am totally with the people of Dayton who started the ‘Do Something’ chant earlier in the week. I don’t know about you, but I certainly do not believe that assault weapons belong in the hands of anyone other than the military. Gun violence in this country is simply out of control and we do need to do something, anything as a starting point, to remedy this situation. If nothing happens before Congress reconvenes in September, I think we should all go to Washington to demand that our legislators DO SOMETHING NOW.