Life After Windbird, Day 11: Wonderful, Relaxed Day with Ed and Lynne
Date: Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Weather: Sunny and Warm after a Cool Night
Location: At Home in The Studio #8, Falmouth, MA
We had a wonderful, relaxed day with Ed and Lynne.
Mark is battling a new round of nausea and fatigue, so he slept-in while I ran errands and Ed and Lynne went for a walk down to the beach and back. Once we were all back together, we launched in to various projects. At Lynne’s suggestion, she and I went through the five really big plastic bins stacked in our back hallway. Two of those bins contained things we bought on our trek around the world. I’m a collector and pack rat. Lynne is the exact opposite. So all she could say to me was, “What were you thinking when you bought all these things.” The only response I could think of was that I must have thought I’d be opening a world market shop someday!
I was able to find room in an empty under-the-bed storage drawer to put one plastic bin of things. But the second bin remains in the hallway. We emptied two more bins, but the one marked ‘Christmas’ was left unopened. I’ll deal with that one in December. So we started with five bins and ended up with only two. Good job. That allowed me to stack two large bins that have been sitting behind the dining room table on top of the two remaining bins in the back hallway. So our afternoon was quite productive. Mark and Ed assembled two bar stool height deck chairs that were delivered by the postman so that we can now sit on the deck and watch the boat traffic. The view from the regular height deck chairs is impeded by the deck railing, so the new chairs are a welcome addition.
Just before dinner, Mark got a call from Sam Weigel, Windbird’s new captain. He called yesterday with the news that he thought it was possible Windbird had been hit by lightning, and today’s call seemed to confirm that. We are just heartsick for Sam and Dawn. Taking over the helm of a boat for the first time is difficult enough, but being hit with a lightning strike complicates things immensely. We are still having a hard time believing this has happened and keep telling Sam to check different systems. But after reading his blog tonight, I’m pretty much convinced that this has really happened. The title of his blog says it all. “Zap.” Sam and Dawn, just know that we are thinking of you.
Ed and Lynne leave in the morning, headed home to Nyack. But we won’t be alone for long. Bob and Beth Lux, friends from the Concord Yacht Club, are dropping by for lunch. We’ll just make sure Mark gets plenty of rest in-between. The new immune-therapy was billed as a treatment with no side-effects for most people. But Mark must be the exception. We’ve always know he was exceptional! Unfortunately, in this case, being the exception means he is experiencing extreme fatigue, edema (swollen feet and ankles), nausea, and reduced appetite. This, of course, means he will lose even more weight. So we will spend the next few days regrouping and figuring out how to best attack these side-effects. We’ll start tonight by getting the essential oil diffuser going with peppermint oil to fight the nausea. Hope I have positive results to report tomorrow night.
And the last note for tonight . . . Today it was confirmed that Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco will be flying in for a week’s visit on September 9. My sister and brother-in-law Joe arrive on September 3 and leave on September 10. We will have a one night overlap so Patsy and Joe and Justin and Jo get to visit. We are really looking forward to these visits and just hope we can get Mark’s energy level up a bit so he can fully enjoy the time together.
