2026 Life Logs, Day 160: Illusions and a Philadelphia-Inspired Dinner
Date: Monday, June 29, 2026
Weather: Partly Sunny; High Temp 82, Low 61 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
First thing this morning, I attended the first Falmouth Immigrant Rights Coalition Zoom meeting in weeks. But I realized halfway through that right now, I just don’t have the energy to put into this very important organization. I will continue to do what I can, but I am going to have to step down from being on the Steering Committee. Literally all of my time and energy right now is going into getting my sister settled, so some things are going to have to go by the wayside. I will stick with Indivisible Falmouth because that is where my heart is. We must do all we can to stop the current attack on our democracy. And that is a full time job!
I took some time to sit in the sun in the early afternoon and then I regrouped and got ready to go visit my sister and then go to Midge Frieswyk’s for our dining-in group gathering. I sat with Patsy while she ate dinner, helping her as I could. Without prompting, she just sits and looks at her food. Then I headed across the street to Midge’s new condo in neighboring Southport. On one side of the street you have a lovely senior living neighborhood and on the other side you have a ‘neighborhood’ for those dealing with memory issues. So, I guess you can live the good life until you can’t and then check yourself in across the street!
In honor of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, tonight’s theme was food from Philadelphia. Midge served Philly cheesesteak sandwiches. A Philly cheesesteak is made with thinly sliced steak and melted Cheez Whiz on a long hoagie roll. Not the healthiest dinner choice, but really good. I decided to do Midge one better by brining a dessert snack that originated in Philadelphia in 1914. I made a tower of Tastykake individually wrapped-in-plastic cakes. The slogan for these high fructose sugar infused treats was “The Cake That Made Mother Stop Baking.” On the first day of sales in February of 1914 they sold $28 worth of cakes at ten cents a piece and by the end of the first week of sales they had made $222. By the end of the year, they grossed $300,000 in sales, and they are still going strong.
Heather is still in the Arctic, preparing for the two day trek home that begins tomorrow. Jonah is still in Hawaii, but will arrive home on Friday. Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco are in England visiting with Jo’s family. I got a photo from Justin mid-afternoon showing him hanging by one hand on the side of a building at the Museum of Illusions with Ziggy and Coco standing and sitting on the top ledge of the front door and Jo hanging from the front. When I asked Justin if he was really hanging by one hand, he admitted that he was not. They were on the floor. Interesting illusion. But the full Strawberry moon tonight was not illusiion. It was beautiful.
