by Judy Handley | Jul 9, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 190: Beach, Goats, and Evening Sail on Buzzards Bay
Date: Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Weather: Beautiful, Sunny Day; High 91, Low 63 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
What a beautiful day! Early this morning Meghan Hannawalt arrived with her goats to attack the poison ivy on the cottage property. Last year it took two days for the goats to get rid of most of the poison ivy. It was quite successful, but some always grows back. So, I invited them back for a follow-up. After talking to Meghan, I left to get the Goldpebbles and take them to swim lessons. Jonah is having private lessons this week and I think the one-on-one attention is giving him self-confidence. After Jonah and Ollie had their lessons, we left Sam at the beach for his lesson and headed to the cottage to see how Meghan and the goats were doing. Meghan showed us a particularly large poison ivy root they had unearthed and Ollie and Jonah enjoyed playing with Meghan’s new black Lab, Griffin. Then it was back to the beach to watch the rest of Sam’s lesson and head home. Jonah was being picked up by his friend Kayden’s mother for an afternoon playdate and Ollie, Sam, and I had a relaxed afternoon. When Heather got home, I headed to Kingman Marine to meet Bruce and Jane Woodin, Sam and Hazel Patterson, and Doug Doerr for dinner at the Chart Room. All but Hazel had sailed there in Bruce and Jane’s new boat, L’Escargot. Bruce couldn’t do the return sail and he had to head to Boston to pick up his daughter Kate and her family who were returning from a vacation in the British Isles. So I sailed back to West Falmouth with Sam and Doug. It was my first time on L’Escargot and I was very impressed—so easy to handle. Sam, who was at the helm, is a seasoned sailor and I’m sure part of the ‘ease’ was due to his expertise. There was a gorgeous sunset and enough wind to make for a fast sail home. Beautiful day, beautiful evening.
by Judy Handley | Jul 8, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 189: Monday at Menauhant Beach
Date: Monday, July 8, 2019
Weather: Most Overcast AM, Partly Sunny PM; High 79, Low 63 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Menauhant Beach is our home beach, two miles from my cottage and two miles from Heather and Jed’s. And it is where the Goldpebbles are having swim lessons this summer. This is one of only two weeks when all three boys are available for swim lessons as they are also signed up for other various camps throughout the summer. So even though everyone was in slow motion due to a busy weekend with late nights and the fact that it was overcast, we headed to the beach. Jonah’s class is at 10 am and there is one class before his. We try to arrive a few minutes early so he can play beach games with friends at the end of the first class. But this morning when Jonah ran out onto the beach, he came right back to the car where Sam, Ollie, and I were still putting on sunscreen and getting organized. Jonah said, “This is really weird. There is absolutely no one on the beach except the lifeguards.” On an overcast and much cooler day like this last week, there were loads of people on the beach. I guess everyone had too much activity over the weekend and decided to sit this one out. But the boys wanted to stay. Jonah had a private lesson while Sam played on the beach and Ollie played in the water. Ollie found a couple of ghost crabs and came running with excitement with each discovery. Ollie then had one little buddy for his class and they got to take the rescue kayak out to the buoy and back which was a special treat. After Ollie’s class, a harbor seal swam into the swim area. This also happened last week and is a new occurrence this year. It puts the lifeguards on full alert, as where there are seals, there is the possibility that they are being chased by Great White Sharks. Not a creature you want to take lightly. The Great Whites used to stay close to the the Outer Cape shores, but this year there have been many sightings in the Cape Cod Bay to the north. So far this year, there have been no sightings here on the south shore, but you don’t want to be the first one to have an encounter. The seal finally swam back east, and Sam’s class was allowed to go on. Since he was in a photography class last week, this was his first lesson. He is in the Junior Life Saving class and the other kids two to three years older than him. But he was not intimidated by that. In fact, he seemed to really enjoy it. Today the class ran the length of the beach and then swam back. That is about twice as far as Sam has ever attempted to swim, but he did it. Then they practiced lifesaving. One member of the class goes out and fakes floundering in the water while another takes the life preserver out to rescue and then swims back with the victim. Jonah was watching and thought this looked very hard, but Sam reported that it wasn’t hard for him. He has always been resistant to swim classes, but at least for this first class, he was totally enthusiastic. Sure hope this lasts.
by Judy Handley | Jul 7, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 188: Special Day in Two Very Different Ways
Date: Sunday, July 7, 2019
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 79, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today was a special day in two very different ways. First, I went to Heather’s to watch the Women’s World Cup final game between the US and the Netherlands. Yesterday, at the last minute, Heather and Jed had invited members of Jonah’s and Sam’s soccer teams and their parents to come watch. Many already had plans, but we had 12 boys, if I counted right, and a few parents watching with us. It was a hard-fought game, but in the end we won 2-0. This is the fourth World Cup win for the US Women’s soccer team and the second consecutive win. In today’s game, it was interesting that the two goals were scored by, first the oldest member of the starting line-up, and then by the youngest. Our group filled Heather and Jed’s living room. And during the half time and after the game, the boys played soccer in the front yard. This was the grand finale for soccer, but tomorrow we’ll have turn our attention to tennis and check out what is happening in Wimbledon.
The second special event today was the observance of Mark’s July 7th birthday. He would have been 77 today. No day goes by without thinking of him, but on his birthday and on the September 11th anniversary of his death, there are always special observances. This evening I had Heather and gang over for a special dinner and the three boys went out in kayaks. I always feel closer to Mark when I am near the water, so sitting on the dock watching the boys kayak was a delight. There were lots of geese and almost grown goslings and a family of ducks that joined us. Mark wouldn’t have enjoyed the soccer game as he really did not like competitive team sports, but he would have loved watching the boys out in the kayaks.
by Judy Handley | Jul 6, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 187: Jonah’s Birthday Scavenger Hunt, Then Shopping
Date: Saturday, July 6, 2019
Weather: Partly Cloudy, Windy, Humid, Rain Late; High 84, Low 67 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
We celebrated Jonah’s birthday with family on June 26th, but his party with friends was delayed until today as his two best friends were out of town until now. Luke has been Jonah’s best friend since pre-school and Luke was in Paris with his mom attending a couple of World Cup soccer games. Lucky Luke! Kayden is Jonah’s best friend from elementary school and his family left for a trip to the west coast immediately after school was out. There are a couple of girls that have been good friends throughout elementary school, but only Lillie could come today. And Molly and Joey from next door were out of town this weekend. But Jonah was fine with just enjoying the day with just three of his best friends. After watching a little World Cup soccer and eating pizza, the remainder of the party was centered around a scavenger hunt. Evidently someone had stolen the birthday cake but left clues as to where it could be found. The clues were quite challenging and took the kids down to the bogs and all around the neighborhood. Jed and Sam tagged along to take photos and give a little direction when needed and finally the cake was found. After eating cake and opening presents, it was back to the front yard to play soccer. What a fun birthday party!
After the party, I headed to Hyannis to do a little food shopping in preparation for the arrival of Justin and family next week and then came home and finished the window cleaning I have been working at for a couple of weeks. Now I can open the windows and get some fresh air in this cottage.
by Judy Handley | Jul 5, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 186: Museums on the Green and Sonnay Fiddlers
Date: Friday, July 5, 2019
Weather: Sunny and Hot; High 86, Low 68 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The 4th of July celebrations are still in full swing here in Falmouth. The traffic is unbelievable so you just have to plan an extra 15-20 minutes to any trip into town. Today Sam had his last day of Photography camp and Jonah had a 10 am annual physical, so Jed took Jonah to the doctor and I had Ollie. Ollie and I headed into town to go to the Free Friday at the Museums on the Green. We went last year, and photos of Sam and Jonah playing colonial games have been used by the Museums in their advertisements for this year. Sam’s photo is in the official Chamber of Commerce tourist booklet and a photo of Sam and Jonah has been in all of the emails sent out by the Museums on the Green. There was no official photographer today, but Ollie had a great time playing colonial games–learning to roll the hoop–and then trying to break the huge bubbles that the Bubble Man made for the children. Once Jed and Jonah arrived, the boys had free Smitty’s ice cream (red strawberry, blueberry, and white vanilla) and Jed and Jonah played the games. Then we all toured one of the colonial homes. At that point, Jed had to leave and the boys went back outside to break more bubbles. When I thought we were ready to leave, Jonah said, “Oh, Oma. We can’t leave yet. They are going to read the Declaration of Independence at noon.” How do children know these things? And how can you deny a 10 year-old who wants to hear a reading of the Declaration? So, we stayed and listened for a bit before the boys got a bit antsy and wandered back into the forest area to explore the model of a colonial building. It is big enough for an adult my size to stand up in, just barely. I continued listening to the reading and then I heard this beautiful voice singing America the Beautiful. I knew instantly it was Jonah. It was enough to bring tears to my eyes. It turns out that the words to that song were written in chalk on the inside walls of the model building and Jonah couldn’t resist singing the song. When I went back to investigate, he and Ollie sang the song together for me. Very special.
Heather had the afternoon off and she and Jed met after Sam’s class to take the boys to the beach. I took the opportunity to do a massive grocery shop and then at 6 pm, I met up with the Goldstones at Peg Noonan Park on Main Street for a Stanley & Grimm and Sonnay Fiddlers concert. Stanley & Grimm is Ollie’s violin teacher, Nikki, and a guitar player who play Irish tunes and a little bluegrass. The Sonnay Fiddlers are Nikki’s violin students of all ages who come and go from the stage depending on the songs being played. Nikki wanted Ollie to play with the group tonight, but he decided to sit this one out and just watch. Since he has only been playing for six months and has already done a couple of pubic concerts, sitting this one out was just fine. And I think he really enjoyed watching his teacher play. He took my camera and got some great photos.
Coming up . . . tomorrow is Jonah’s belated birthday party with friends and Sunday morning at 11 am EDT is the final game of the Women’s World Cup–USA versus the Netherlands. Later in the day we will have dinner at my house in honor of Granddad’s birthday as Heather and the boys still like to observe that day in his honor.
