by Judy Handley | Jul 29, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 210: Another Beach-less Day
Date: Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Weather: Cloudy Until Mid-Afternoon, Hot; High 85, Low 70 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It was another hot, beach-less day here today. Jonah had an afternoon birthday party to attend, so we went to the skatepark, rushed to my house so Jonah could change clothes for the kayak birthday party, fed him lunch, and then took him to meet up with his very good friend Luke and other friends. I tried to interest Sam and Ollie in going to the nearby South Coast State Park Beach, but I had no luck. We did drive in and they walked down to the beach to check it out, but it was a no go for today. They just wanted to go back to my house and chill. So that’s what we did. And that’s what kids should be able to do in the summer. They took Shadow for run, Sam spent time in the hammock, and Ollie and I played Legos. I left Sam and Ollie at home with Shadow while I went to pick up Jonah and when we returned, we watched a soccer game I recorded for them on Sunday. They really miss playing soccer and I know they love the Manchester United team. So, when I saw there was a game, I recorded it. After the soccer game, we headed back to the skatepark for another hour of skateboarding and scootering. It was a low-key, good day.
Tomorrow is Coco’s birthday. I ordered things early, but only one package has arrived. I wish everything I ordered was there, but I just need to be happy that at least one package has arrived. Tropical Storm Isaias also arrived, but from what I can see online, it looks like western Puerto Rico is not bearing the brunt of the storm. Hopefully the storm moves on early tomorrow and doesn’t take out their electricity and internet as I hope to be able to call Coco to wish her a happy birthday.
by Judy Handley | Jul 28, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 209: AC versus OS
Date: Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Weather: Still Sunny, Hot, and Breezy; High 89, Low 70 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It was another sunny and hot day here on the Cape. I assumed that the Goldpebbles would want to head to the beach, so I dressed for the beach and packed a lunch for all of us. But when I arrived to pick them up, they had decided that the AC inside was preferable to the heat OS (OutSide). All three boys were deep into playing with Legos, so I let them play while I did a little work on the drip irrigation system that I am slowly working on getting installed on their deck. Yesterday we tried the front yard irrigation system and found some issues. But last night Jed did some further research and found that there are problems with the way it was origin installed. Fixing it is going to take quite some time and a lot of money, so I’ll install a temporary system out front as well. But not today. It was 2 pm before the boys were ready to head outside and they decided to come back to my house to sink (and retrieve) kayaks instead of going to the beach. They had a great time doing this yesterday and they repeated that today. They jumped and dove into the water from a neighboring dock where the water is a little deeper, and try as they might, they couldn’t sink a kayak! But they had a wonderful time trying.
Tonight I tuned into the local School Committee Meeting where the school plan for this fall was to be unveiled. After two hours of watching, with no specific plan unveiled, I headed into the kitchen to fix a salad for myself for dinner. Naturally, while I was doing that, I heard a plan for Sam’s school being outlined by the Superintendent. Seemed backwards to me to present details first and the plan at the end. For whatever reason, the sound on the local community TV station airing the Zoom meeting was very hard to hear. I’ll have to hope the local newspaper prints the plan. But whatever it is, I just do not see how it is going to be safe to have all students returning to the classroom in September. I did hear enough to know that there are three parts to the plan—all students returning to school, half of the students in school at one time with the other half working remotely, and total remote learning. I know that the heads of all parents in this country are spinning right now as they try to figure out what to do with their children this fall. And as a teacher of 30 years, I’m sure every teacher is in a true quandary. Unfortunately, no one has the answers, but it sure would be comforting to have strong national leadership on this issue to so crucial to all.
by Judy Handley | Jul 27, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 208: Still Hot, Still Lovin’ It
Date: Monday, July 27, 2020
Weather: Sunny and Hot with a Breeze; High 89, Low 74 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Cape Cod is experiencing a period of hot, humid weather, and I am still loving it. I spent my morning with Shadow and then headed to the Goldstones. Sam and I had planned to spend some time working on the old irrigation system, but we needed Heather and Jed’s help which disrupted their work day. But we made some progress and figured out some of the issues with the old system. Then we left Heather and Jed to their work and we headed to the beach. Two of the three boys wanted to go to Surf Drive, but when we got there it was high tide and there was very little beach. 
No one was happy with that location today. Ollie had a great time diving down and catching baby pufferfish, but eventually we decided to go to my house and spend time trying to sink kayaks. All three boys love taking the kayaks out and jumping off them while trying to sink them. Sam convinced Shadow to go out with him in his kayak and all had a great time.
Most mornings, we have gone to the skatepark before heading to the beach. But the irrigation project took our skatepark time today. That was okay with Sam, but all day long, Jonah kept negotiating a trip to the skatepark. I told him that when we got home, I would take him if it was okay with Heather and Jed.
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It was almost 6 pm by the time we got home, but H & J were fine with me taking him to the skatepark as long as he was home for dinner at 7 pm. Ollie decided to go with us, so off we went. Jonah’s new bright red helmet arrived today and he was looking good.
by Judy Handley | Jul 26, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 207: I Love It Hot
Date: Sunday, July 26, 2020
Weather: Another Gorgeous Summer Day; High 88, Low 73 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
When the thermometer on Cape Cod goes into 80’s during the summer, I am in my glory. I love it hot. Today was another one of those days, but because it was a weekend day, I had planned to do more chores around the house instead of getting out and enjoying the beautiful weather. I started taking down the shelves I put up in my living room for starting plants in the spring, but about that time, I got a call from Heather giving me an update on what they have been doing this weekend and inviting me to dinner tonight. They went to Martha’s Vineyard to visit friends yesterday and when they got home last evening they watched Hamilton on the Disney Channel. Today both Heather and Jed were working on projects around the house. When Heather called she had just finished sanding and putting a primer coat on the upstairs bathroom. Jed had to go the hardware store and the boys convinced him to drop them off at the skatepark. The new trick scooters for Jonah and Ollie arrived yesterday and they were very anxious to try them out. I used that excuse to stop working on my project and head to the skatepark to watch them break in those new scooters. Long story short, I ended up staying at the skatepark for the remainder of the afternoon as the boys showed off their new skills on the scooters and their skateboards. And they took a break to play some soccer on the adjacent fields. Heather joined us for a while, but I convinced her to go back home as I was enjoying watching the boys while reading my book. It was 5 o’clock when left the skateboard park, we headed to Smitty’s to get chocolate frappes even though it was almost time for dinner. What the rest of the world calls a milkshake is called a frappe in New England and the idea of cold ice cream drink sounded like the perfect way to end a hot afternoon. 
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While waiting for the frappes, Ollie took some great photos of a blue dragon fly with the craziest green eyes. Once we had the frappes, I somehow managed to drop mine and spill half of it. But they are so big that it was probably best for my health that I didn’t drink the whole thing. But the spill prompted Jonah to share some of his frappe with me and then Ollie shared some of his with Sam. Next time, we’ll buy only two frappes for the four of us and share. We went to my house to pick up Shadow and then headed to Grasmere for dinner. But first the boys put a harness on Shadow and went for a run around the neighborhood on their skateboards. Shadow loves it, but he is a tired puppy tonight. For dinner we had clams that the Goldpebbles brought back from a clamming outing on Martha’s Vineyard yesterday. Ollie wanted to see if Shadow would eat clams and we discovered that he LOVES clams as much as he loves pulling Sam on his skateboard.
by Judy Handley | Jul 25, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 206: Errand and Chore Day
Date: Saturday, July 25, 2020
Weather: Gorgeous, Sunny, Hot Day; High 85, Low 72 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It was a gorgeous, sunny, hot day—definitely a beach day. But I had a long list of chores to do and errands to run. So that is how I spent my day. Shadow got a much needed bath, laundry got done, food that was delivered or bought at the grocery store was put away, bottles got recycled, books needed for book club reading were bought or ordered, and the last bits of hardware needed to do the drip irrigation system at Heather and Jed’s were bought. That was it. All of the emails I wanted to write didn’t get done. Maybe tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Jul 24, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 205: The Joy of Grandchildren
Date: Friday, July 24, 2020
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 80, Low 66 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today was supposed to be a day off for Camp Oma as Heather and family had planned a vacation day on Martha’s Vineyard. But the weather was not perfect, so this morning that trip was put off until tomorrow. I stayed home during the morning, but just before 1 PM I called Heather to ask if they had eaten lunch. The answer was no, so I offered to deliver lunch from Subway. Yesterday Sam mentioned that he hadn’t had Subway for months, so we did it today. Sam was especially grateful and the smile on his face was a great big thank you to me. Jonah was just as grateful, not for the sub, but for the chocolate chip cookie I got for everyone. Jonah definitely has a sweet tooth and is absolutely sure that chocolate is a food group.
After lunch Sam helped me with my drip irrigation project for plants on their deck and that required a trip to the hardware store. Heather was working on sanding the upstairs bathroom and just before I headed to the hardware store, one of sanders bit the dust. Sam went with me to the hardware store where we got a new sander, the parts we needed for the irrigation system, and fancy dancy PVC pipe cutter.
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I then suggested that he run across the street to the skateboard shop to see if they had bearings and spacers for his new skateboard. Last week it became evident that all three boys needed their own skateboard, so I suggested that Sam order the parts he would need to build his own. He was super excited by this idea and his smiles and thank you’s have given me great joy. He spent a lot of time last week trying to order the just right parts, but wheels in particular just weren’t available until August. We checked the shop downtown and they didn’t have them either. But the board shop in Hyannis had them, so Jed picked those up yesterday when he took Sam and Jonah to their Scout outing. That left only two parts needed for board completion and those are to be delivered next Tuesday. But this afternoon I thought that if needed in the board shop and completed the building of board when we got home. Just watching him building his own skateboard was joyous, but look of accomplishment on his face was total joy. And Jonah and Ollie were also overjoyed as they now each have their own board. This called for a trip to the skatepark. On each visit to the park, the boys increase their skills as they get a really good physical work out. There are falls and scrapes, but no one complains too much. I love watching them improve their skills and they are very proud of their accomplishments on both the skateboards and the scooters. Ahh, the joy of grandchildren.
