2020 Life Logs, Day 183:  Halfway Through 2020
Date:  Thursday, July 2, 2020
Weather:  Sunny, Warm, and Windy; High 79, Low 67 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

This year is turning out to be more than any of us bargained for, so being halfway through it is a good thing.  On New Year’s Day when I was loving the magic of the lights on my Christmas tree I wrote, “I think we all know that 2020 is going to be tumultuous year with all the political chaos.  I will look forward to December when I can once again have the peace and calm those Christmas lights bring to me.  If things get too chaotic, I might just have to put up my Christmas tree in July.  But for now, I’ll just hope for a happy, peaceful, and prosperous 2020 for all.”

Political Chaos we have.  But on New Year’s Day, I had no idea we were going to be living through the additional chaos of a pandemic and an economic crisis in 2020.  Since mid-March, we have all been doing the best we can to survive in the days of coronavirus.  It is not going to go away magically at the end of 2020, but I was happy to realize that at midnight tonight we will be half-way through this year.  2020 is a leap year, so it has 366 days.  Today is Day 183 and at midnight we go over the hump.  I think this is one year that all of us will be happy to see come to an end, so going over the hump is a good thing.

Halfway Day was a beautiful day.  The sun was shining, and it was warm.  Definitely a beach day.  I delivered Shadow to his 9 am appointment with the dog groomer and headed across the bridge to go to Lowe’s to buy some things needed for various projects.  Going off Cape just before the July 4th weekend means you are going to have to wait in a line of traffic to get back across the bridge and onto the Cape.  I finished my shopping as quickly as possible and did have a little traffic getting back home, but it wasn’t too bad.  I got home, quickly packed a lunch for myself and the Goldpebbles, and headed to pick them up and get to the beach.  We went to Menauhant Beach on the Nantucket Sound side of Falmouth.  Shortly after we arrived, we discovered the Keefe’s, the Goldstone’s nextdoor neighbors from Vidal Avenue, were there.

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Molly and Joey are like family and all the boys were so excited to see them.  Joey, Jonah, and Ollie played together for the entire afternoon.  The water is warming, but it is still on the chilly side.  Sam did not wear his wet suit and with the wind, he quickly got cold and had to get out of the water.  But Jonah and Ollie did wear their wet suits and they were in and out for five hours without one complaint of being cold.  I had planned to leave the beach at 3:30 with the boys and go pick up Shadow.  But there was no way I was going to pry Jonah away from Joey.  So, Joey’s mom, Melissa, offered to watch Ollie and Jonah while Sam and I went to pick up Shadow.  Sam was so cold that he was sitting in the car anyway, so a drive to pick up the puppy was fine with him.  The groomer did a great job and sent Shadow home with a festive red, white, and blue bandanna around his neck.

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Sam and I dropped Shadow at my house and headed back to the beach where Sam braved the water one more time.  It was after 5:30 when we headed home.  By the time I dropped the boys off and ran a few errands in town, it was almost 7 o’clock when I got home.  I don’t know about the Goldpebbles, but I know I am going sleep soundly tonight.  Just sitting in that wind for five hours exhausted me.

Windbird sailed into Cuttyhunk on a broad reach today and will arrive in Falmouth very early in the morning, arriving before the wind switches to the north.  The tentative plan is to meet Sam and Dawn on the beach in Quissett Harbor to visit.  There is just not enough room on a sailboat for all of us to visit with appropriate physical distancing.  So, we’ll just have to look at Windbird as we visit on land.