2020 Life Logs, Day 167: Boston, Beach, Dead Battery, and Dining-in Outside
Date: Tuesday, June 16, 2020
Weather: Sunny; High 72, Low 52 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
What a day! I know I say that often, but this really was quite a day. I got up early to check my emails to see if I had heard back about my order for a wetsuit for Ollie. Last night I got a confirmation, but then I got another email that said, “Don’t leave yet. We are processing your order.” At 8:30 am, I still had not heard from them, so Shadow and I started driving north to Dedham to Dick’s Sporting Good. I couldn’t wait any later to leave or I wouldn’t be able to get back in time for my 1 pm beach date with the Goldpebbles. When I reached Dick’s Sporting Goods in Dedham, I checked my phone and the email had arrived. “This item is no longer in stock.” Ugh. I was there, so I went in to inquire and was told that even though their website shows a couple of different full wet suits for kids plus a number of shortie wet suits, they no longer carry them in the store. I then called United Divers in Sommerville, just north of Boston. It was the only other place I could think of that might have a wet suit. Unfortunately, the person that answered the phone was not very helpful. He could only tell me that they a couple of full wet suits for kids and that I would have to come in to check the size.
It was another 30-minute drive to get there, but I was determined to find a suit for Ollie. United Divers is tiny little shop. I parked in front and went in to find that they did, in fact, have exactly two wet suits for kids, and both were a size 8. That was lucky. They looked a little too big, but I bought one anyway and headed home. I got home with just enough time to take Shadow for a short walk, feed him lunch, and pack the car with the beach gear. Last night I thought we would be spending the afternoon with Meghan Hannawalt’s goats at the Goldstones, but Heather had sent a text this morning saying the goats were not arriving until 5 pm. So, that gave us the beach time. I was a bit late picking up the boys, but they were ready to go. We had to wait for Ollie to put on his wet suit and he was so happy that finally something fit him. It is a tad too big, but not enough to be a problem. And I don’t know who was happier, Ollie or me. Now we have three Goldpebble Surfer Dudes.
The boys and I spent a couple of hours at the beach. They knew we needed to leave by 3:30 so I could get them home and get to the Frieswyk’s for our first Dining-in Group dinner since the beginning of March.
Ollie and I were the last ones to get to the car and when I put the key in the ignition and tried to start the car . . . nothing but a click, click, click. I have noticed a clicking noise for a couple of weeks now when I go to start the car, but it has always kicked over. Not this afternoon. Since I had been hearing this clicking noise, I had convinced myself that it was a starter issue, not the battery. But I called Jed and he came with battery cables. And that did the trick. I had been delayed by about 30 minutes, but at least I had a car that was running. Jed took the boys and I headed home to again walk and feed Shadow, get the food ready that I was taking to the dinner, and off I went. I was a few minutes late, but I felt lucky to be there at all. We met on the Frieswyk’s deck which is large enough to accommodate the nine of us with plenty of room for physical distancing. We each brought food to share that we had packaged in individual servings. And when we were distributing the food, we all wore masks which we removed once we were seated and eating. It was great to be together with this group of good friends and we’ll try this again in July. Thanks to Bruce Woodin for taking photos of some of us tonight.
The Goldpebbles suggested that tomorrow we go to the beach at Quissett where we can take Shadow with us. So that is the plan for the afternoon, but I plan to spend the morning doing absolutely nothing. After today, I need a little down time.
