2019 Life Logs, Day 25: The Three R’s Reimagined
2019 Life Logs, Day 25: The Three R’s Reimagined
Date: Friday, January 25, 2019
Weather: Beautiful, Sunny Day; High 40, Low 22 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It was a beautiful, sunny day. I went to the gym to put in my time on the recumbent bike to keep my bad knee in motion, came home and worked at getting caught up on mail, both snail mail and email correspondence, picked Jonah and Ollie up after school and spent a couple of hours with them, and then tonight went to a Falmouth Forum, a Marine Biological Lab (MBL) presentation. These presentations happen about once a month from September to May and are always interesting, but tonight’s topic impacts all of us and really hit home. The presenter, Dr. Kara Lavender Law, is a research professor at the Sea Education Association (SEA). The topic was “Ocean Plastics Pollution: From Sources to Solutions.” The production of plastics has skyrocketed since 1950 and the impact on marine organisms and habitats, as well as the impact on humans, has skyrocketed as well. Dr. Law did a fantastic job of leading the audience to the bottom line solution which is that each of us needs to do our part to curb our dependence on plastics, for our own health and for the health of every living organism. I have been trying to do this for a few years now and it really is not easy. Plastics are so pervasive in our lives that it seems almost impossible. But if you go back to the Three R’s, not Reading, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmetic’, but Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, you can make inroads. Reimagine these Three R’s in as many ways as you can. My recommendation for starting this process is to avoid buying foods in plastic containers. Start with simple things like buying nut butters in glass jars, olive oil in glass containers. It is a tiny start, but every plastic container not purchased makes a statement to those who package our food, and that is so important. I have one really bad habit that I will work on next. When I am traveling, I love to stop at Dunkin’ Donuts and buy a decaf coffee. I no longer drink coffee at home, but when I’m driving, it is an old habit. Dunkin’ hot coffee comes in Styrofoam (worse than plastic?) and the cold coffee comes in huge single-use plastic containers with a plastic straw. After tonight’s presentation, I decided to halt that habit. One of my foodie gurus says to carry four stainless steel travel mugs in your car. That way when you get the urge for that drink, have them put it in one of your mugs. The reason for four is that you will surely forget to take the mug in the house to be washed, so the next time you get the urge for a coffee, you’ll have another clean mug. And then another and another. By the time you have used all four, surely you’ll remember to take them in the house, wash them, and restock!
Heather and Jed got a late start this afternoon on their weekend away in Provincetown. Just as Heather got her program for next week ‘in the can’, President Trump decided that he was going to reopen the government. A good thing in every way, except for Heather. Part of her program was about the government shutdown, so she had to go back and make significant changes. That took almost two hours and delayed their take-off, but I think they got out of town in time to get to Provincetown, check-in, change clothes, and make it for their 6:30 pm dinner reservation. After such a rushed beginning, I sure hope the rest of their weekend is relaxing and wonderful. Jonah, Ollie, and I delivered Sam’s huge camping backpack to him at a friend’s home and then the friend’s parents were to take Sam and friend Nolan to meet up with the Scout troop. After the drop-off of the backpack, I took Jonah and Ollie back home and sent them next door where they are spending the night. I’ll head over there mid-morning and will then have Ollie and Jonah until Sunday evening. I’m looking forward to a fun weekend with the boys.
just south of Providence, Rhode Island for lunch. So off I went into the rain this morning. They were traveling down from New Hampshire to a marine consignment shop in North Kingstown to get rid of the last of their boat items as they sold Atlantis this fall. I wanted to check out the marine consignment shop, just for old time sake, so I met them there and then we moved on to lunch. It was well worth the rainy drive to catch up on life’s happenings with good friends. After lunch, we headed home, and I made a stop at Whole Foods in Providence to get a couple of items that I can only find at Whole Foods. While browsing the fresh veggie section, I spotted the most beautiful artichokes I have seen for many months. I bought six and will prepare them for a Sunday night dinner with the Goldstones. Heather and Jed are taking advantage of their Christmas present from the ‘mothers’ this weekend. Marti, Jed’s mom, and I went together to give Heather and Jed a weekend in Provincetown. I will stay with the Goldpebbles minus one as Sam is away on a Scout campout weekend. And I only have Ollie and Jonah Saturday and Sunday as they are doing an overnight with the Keefe’s next door tomorrow night. I will miss having Sam with us, but I’m sure that Jonah, Ollie, and I can find all sorts of wonderful ways to spend our time together. 
The highlight of the day was Jonah’s 4th grade concert tonight. There was singing,
xylophone playing,
and a song featuring some students playing the ukulele. The students really love the music teacher, Mr. Charles. And I always enjoy his explanations to the audience of what he is hoping the students are learning in the way each song is done. This is Jonah’s last year at East Falmouth and he looked so handsome tonight in a dress shirt and vest.
He was standing beside Molly, the little girl next door who is like a sister, and I had to take a deep breath to keep from tearing up as I watched them, looking so grown up. After the concert, the Goldpebbles headed outside and immediately climbed a tree.
What else would little boys do?
The weather continues to bing-bong all over the place. The temperature varies wildly from day to day. Tomorrow it will be in the 50’s with rain for my day trip to Rhode Island to meet up with friends Alan and Helaine Kanesgberg for lunch. Looking forward to that.
But even with the bitter cold, the Goldstones went for a walk on a trail in the nearby Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. This is only a couple of miles from my house and mid-afternoon Heather came knocking on my front door with Jonah. He had refused to wear layers of clothing and got too cold, so she brought him here and went back for the others. Jonah helped me make hot chocolate for them and then while they were here, Sam opened his birthday present from me. A longboard-type skateboard has been on his list of wants for a bit, so that is what I got him for his birthday. He seemed very pleased and was anxious to get home to try it out. Then this evening, I went to the Goldstones for a family birthday dinner. It had already been quite an exciting birthday weekend, but the family dinner was very special. Sam opened his last gifts, a hatchet for Boy Scout camping trips from Jed
and his presents from Grammy Marti. And he had rare steak for dinner,
his very favorite food in the whole wide world. I think after a weekend of birthday fun, he was a very happy birthday boy. 
