2019 Life Logs, Day 96: The Long Way Home
2019 Life Logs, Day 96: The Long Way Home
Date: Saturday, April 6, 2019
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 58, Low 40 degrees F
Location: Back Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
After a morning walk with Leslie with beautiful seashore views, I left Rye to head west to a place called Ashburnham, Massachusetts, on the New Hampshire border. I had planned to do a surprise stop to see my niece Lynne on the way, but when I stopped to get gas and set my destination in Google Maps, I realized I really didn’t have time for that. So I decided to drive along the coast for a bit and then head west. As I left the coast to head west, I kept getting the strangest directions from Google Maps. But since I was unfamiliar with the route, I just kept following. I went through towns I had never heard of and the drive took much longer than anticipated. It should have taken me an hour and a half, but it took three and a half hours!!! I have been considering getting a puppy and a friend’s sister has a little yellow Lab boy available in Ashburnham. The farm is quite remote, but in a beautiful spot. Nancy, the puppy’s owner, is the sister of my friend Meghan, the goat lady. Nancy was in with the sheep when I arrived checking out a newly born lamb. Once she was sure the lamp was okay, she brought the puppy’s mother, Kylie, to meet me and then I met the five remaining puppies.
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and is probably going to be bigger than his mother. He is adorable, but I think a large Lab will be too big for my tiny cottage. Decisions, decisions. I make that decision tomorrow, but today I needed to get on the road home. I had checked out the timing before leaving home and thought it would take about two and half hours. But this afternoon, my phone said it would take over four hours. When you are driving alone, you just basically do what your phone tells you, but things got weirder and weirder. I was being routed on tiny little roads, no where near I 495 that I thought I would be taking for most of the trip. And in addition, my phone battery was low and I was fearful that it would shut off while I was in the middle of nowhere with no paper map. I kept stopping and trying to memorize the route, but even when I changed it to head directly to I 495, it continued on side roads. After two and half hours, I was in slightly more familiar territory and I followed my nose to the main highway. At this point, my phone was still saying I had two hours to go, but I knew it should only be an hour and a quarter at most. I looked at the route and it was taking me off I 495 and back onto side roads. Then the phone died and I drove home by the highway that I know. I was exhausted when I got here and so confused by what had happened. When talking to Heather tonight she said to check the settings on my new phone. She thought maybe it was set to avoid highways. I had no idea there was such a setting, but indeed there is and indeed my phone was set that way. Ugh. What a long way home, but I was introduced to all sorts of places where I have never been before. I guess that’s a good thing. And I’ve learned to never leave home without a paper map and a car charger for my phone.
so dinners here are always a delight. Tonight we had a wonderful salad and a delicious shrimp and sausage paella. Good food and good company always makes for a great evening. Earlier in the day, I worked with Helaine to pack up some of the things from her kitchen cabinets that she knows she won’t need in the next month before their move. When we finished our packing job, we went to a restaurant called The Common Man for lunch. Everything about the day was delightful from beginning to end.
so we ate and sat around and listened to a few of those yarns. A couple of members that I haven’t seen for years were there tonight which made it a special evening for me. Alan Kanegsberg has been our Commodore for years and even though he and Helaine are moving to Massachusetts, he will continue to keep us organized. Thank you, Alan, for your dedication to this group. After the meeting, I drove back to Alan and Helaine’s to spend the night at the Hotel Kanegsberg where we stayed up late to continue talking. Wonderful evening. 
which thrived while they were away. We had tea and then Jane and I went for a walk on the bike path. We did the mile+ walk that Lynne and I did last Friday. I came home, had lunch, worked on my puzzle, elevated and iced my knee, and then went to pick up Ollie after school. An hour later I went back to pick-up Jonah from his after-school program and in-between I did a load of laundry. Once Jed got home, I hurried home to have a quick dinner and then head to the Waquoit Bay Reserve Visitor Center, about a five-minutes’ drive, to attend a Tuesday night science talk. During April, they are hosting these Tuesday night talks to highlight research happening on the Reserve. Tonight’s talk was about carbon fixation in salt marshes. Karen and Peter Baranowski told me about the talks and it was great to see them there tonight. I came home and finished working that 1,000 piece puzzle that Lynne and I started (hurray, hurray),
but I didn’t get to the taxes today. I’m giving myself one more day. So that will be tomorrow’s BIG job.
