Life After Windbird, Day 109: Ten Degrees Makes a BIG Difference
Date: Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Weather: Lots of Rain, but Warmer; High Temp 57, Low 46 degrees F
Location: At Home at The Studio, Falmouth, MA
At this time of year, ten degrees makes a BIG difference in just how warm or cold we feel. And it seems like every few days we go from what feels relatively warm to what feels downright cold. These days I keep three different jackets hanging on the coat rack—winter jacket for the cold days, polar fleece jacket for the warmer days, and foul weather jacket for the rainy days. I started today with a polar fleece, but by afternoon I had to change to the foul weather jacket as it was pouring rain. But the temperature stayed in the 50’s and it felt relatively warm. Unfortunately, this is short-lived as on Friday the temperature will start to dip again and by the weekend, it will be in the 40’s during the day and below freezing at night . . . and it will feel cold no matter how sunny it is. I was hoping it might be a bit warmer in Nashville when I arrive there next Thursday. But when I checked the weather tonight, the forecast tells me it will be colder there than here and that I will arrive with the first snow of the season. Brrrr. But despite the weather forecast for cold weather, I am really excited about my visit with my sister Patsy, brother-in-law Joe, and niece Janet. I’ll only be there for a little over a week, but that will give us time to do a little holiday celebration together.
Knowing rainy weather was coming this afternoon, I decided to bring the inflatable kayak inside to deflate, clean, and store for the winter. This would have been much easier to do on the deck, but I fear that I missed my window for doing this outside without freezing to death. The kayak is at least 16 feet long, maybe more, and it fills the entire long hallway in this apartment. I thought I could get it deflated and rolled up this morning, but then I realized I don’t know exactly how to do this. Heather inflated the kayak the past two years and Mark deflated and stored it. That leaves me with exactly zero knowledge of how to do this. It is now partially deflated and waiting for a time when I can get some pointers from Heather. After dealing with the kayak, I took off for Hyannis to do a little shopping. My first stop was at Trader Joe’s and I promptly tried to enter through the DO NOT ENTER door. The last time I was there, that door was the entry. Then I found out that in May they had totally revamped the store. Is it really possible that I haven’t been shopping in Hyannis all these months? Evidently. But I made up for lost time today, by going to Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Home Depot. We have none of these stores in Falmouth. In fact, other than a lot of mom and pop stores, all we have is a Walmart, Staples, Michael’s, TJ Max, and Home Goods. The trip to Hyannis was prompted by the fact that I am out of Brazil nuts that are an ingredient in a high protein shake I make two to three times a week. And I could not find Brazil nuts in Falmouth. I got my Brazil nuts today and not much else except for a few purchases at TJ’s for Heather. But it was good to be out and about. Hopefully the stores won’t be rearranged before I return again.
Today I picked Sam and Jonah up from school and stayed with them until Heather and Ollie got home. Tomorrow we flip flop again, and Heather will come home early to pick up Sam and Jonah and I will head to Woods Hole at 4:30 to pick up Ollie. Heather has early morning and late afternoon engagements on Thursday, so I’ll be on Oma duty much of that day. On Friday Heather is also on the air from 4-7 pm, so I’ll be on Oma duty once again. And then the weekend of holiday activities begins . . . Friday night caroling at Nobska Lighthouse, Saturday morning arrival of Santa in Falmouth Harbor, Saturday night lighting of the Green in downtown Falmouth, and Sunday’s annual Christmas parade. Heather, Sam, and Jonah will be in the parade with the Scouts, so for the second year in a row, Ollie and I will be the observers. Last year Heather and Jed were in Europe, so Granddad was in the parade with Sam and Jonah. Busy days coming up.
