2026 Life Logs, Day 224: The Little Things in Life
Date: Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Hot; High Temp 84, Low 65 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I literally cannot believe it is almost mid-August. For me, this is just the summer that wasn’t. But it is not over yet, so maybe I can still have some ‘normal’ summer days. Today was a baby step back toward normal, but I still had to spend a huge chunk of time dealing with issues for my sister. I did call my friend Karen Baranowski whom I haven’t talked to for a couple of weeks. So that was one little normal thing. Then mid-afternoon, I took time to go outside and play with Shadow and decided to take him with me to the hardware store. I just had to run in and get a garden hose, so I knew he would be fine in the car for that little bit of time, especially since I would leave the windows partially down. I used to take him with me when I was running errands, but this summer that just hasn’t happened. As soon as he realized what was happening, he was like a little kid in a candy shop. He hopped up and down with joy as we walked to the car. But when I opened the back door, he sat down and looked to me to give him the okay to get in, even though I didn’t prompt him to do it. That was a first! When we got to the hardware store, he moved from the back seat to the front like he always does, but on the way home, he didn’t go to the back seat. He just inched closer to me and looked at me all the way home as if to say, “Mommy, why don’t we do this more often.” The whole trip was such a little thing, but it felt so normal. Not much that I have done for weeks has seemed normal, so our little trip made me very happy.
When we got home, I spent the next little while using the new hose to wash down the picnic table and chairs and spayed down the entry way. Then I got the cushions for the outside chairs out of the basement. My neighbor Billy is have a few friends from work over Friday evening for a barbeque and I told him he could use the picnic table. I’ve only used it once this whole summer. Next week, my good friend Kevin Russell is coming to visit and I know we will sit at the outside table as well. So back to normal, one little step at a time.
