2026 Life Logs, Day 244: Jam-packed First Day of September
Date: Tuesday, September 1, 2026
Weather: Rainy Day; High Temp 70 Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
September has always been my favorite month of the year, so I always welcome this first day. When I was a kid, I loved school and always looked forward to the opening of the school year in September. I also loved the slightly cooler weather and later in the month, the changing colors of the leaves. This first day of September was a somber one, however. Early this morning I traveled with my friends Warren and Christina Brodie to Quincy (near Boston) for the graveside memorial for Christina Natale. Christina was the daughter of friends Jane and Bruce Woodin. Other than my daughter and son-in-law, I have known Bruce and Jane longer than anyone else in Falmouth and cherish their friendship. The memorial was a beautiful tribute to Christina who died way too young. Bruce played the guitar to back his grandson Jasper who sang Halleluiah and at the end of the memorial, Bruce and Jane’s other daughter, Kate, along with Kate’s three children, Jasper, Aurora, and Piper sang The Irish Blessing. There was much more, but those two musical additions, sung with such tenderness and love, highlighted the ceremony for me. My heart aches for Bruce and Jane as no parent ever wants to live to see the death of a child. But surrounded by family and a few friends, hopefully today gave them some closure. They hosted a lovely lunch at the Common Market Restaurant before we headed back to Cape Cod. I hope it was comforting for Bruce and Jane to be surrounded by so many family members and friends who will always be there for them.
The rain held off during the morning memorial, but as we approached the Cape, the rain began again. After weeks of saying to others that they should vote early, the first thing I had to do when I got back to Falmouth was to go cast my ballot in the primary election, on election day, not early. All I can say is people should do what I say, not what I do! Then after going home to have a playtime outside with Shadow, I headed to the golf course to pick up a very soggy Ollie. He was not sure they would practice today in the rain, but they did and he enjoyed it.
I then headed home to have dinner before going to the after-election watch party hosted by candidate Dan Gessen at Bad Martha’s in East Falmouth. The party started at 8 pm after the polls closed and Christina and Warren Brodie joined me there. Dan and his brother arrived a few minutes after 8 pm as they were still knocking on doors right up until the end. I had met Dan a few times during the campaign, but tonight I got to see him in action. He is a prime example of the intelligent, vibrant, caring young people who are deciding to dedicate their lives to public service. Dan is running for County Commissioner against the incumbent who has held the office for some time and who people feel has done a good job. So that makes it a touch choice. I left at 10:30 and the results from Falmouth were still not in. Now that I am home, I keep checking, but Falmouth results are still not in so there is still no final result for this race. I am not sure why Falmouth is so slow in reporting tonight, but for whatever reason, I will have to wait until morning to find out as the race is very close. But the other primary candidate, the one I have been canvassing for, won his race. Ed Markey will be the Democratic candidate running to keep his US Senate seat in November. So, I did get to celebrate that.
