by Judy Handley | Jul 20, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 201: Mini-Golf on a Hot, Hot Afternoon
Date: Wednesday, July 20, 2022
Weather: Sunny and Hot; High 91, Low 72 degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Compared to much of the world, our day today was not super hot. But for Cape Cod, 91 degrees F that feels like 96 qualifies as hot. Yet there was a nice breeze off and on throughout the day and we didn’t feel the heat until the middle of the afternoon when we were playing mini-golf. Who goes to play mini-golf when it is that hot?
Evidently not many people, as there were only two other families on the course. Despite the heat, Lynne, Jonah, Ollie, and I had a great time.
Jonah should not have been with us. He should have been at soccer camp. But early this morning, Heather called to tell me that Jonah had fallen on his knee playing soccer yesterday. He didn’t think much about it, but this morning he had trouble walking downstairs and realized there was a problem. Heather decided he should not play today, so Lynne and I had Ollie and Jonah. Sam was working. After mini-golf, we made the requisite stop for ice cream.
Then I dropped Lynne home and took Ollie and Jonah home. Right now, I am sitting in the dark writing this log as the electricity went off about thirty minutes ago. One minute there was light; the next we were in total darkness. The outage map shows outages all over town, probably due to overload because of the heat. The notifications from the electric company say they expect the electricity back on by midnight. I’ll have to let you know about that in tomorrow night’s log.
by Judy Handley | Jul 19, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 200: Fun Kayaking and Sailing in the Eel River
Date: Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Weather: Sunny and Windy; High 84, Low 70 degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
After driving Shadow to the groomer and Jonah to Cape Cod Academy for day two of his soccer camp, I picked up Sam and Ollie and brought them home with me. Ollie and I wanted Sam’s help in figuring out how to attach the little sail I bought on one of the kayaks. That didn’t take long because Ollie was right. It was not a smart purchase. Sam immediately figured out how to attach it, but it just didn’t work.
We abandoned that project and Sam decided to sail the Opti and Ollie decided to kayak along with him.
Then Lynne got in a kayak and before I knew it, they were all out of sight.
I didn’t want to miss the fun, so I got the third kayak out, launched it, and got in. But before long, I realized why the boys have always said that kayak is hard to steer as it has a totally flat bottom. I would paddle a long and then a gust of wind would blow by and the kayak started to turn a circle no matter how hard I paddled. I still made progress and caught up with the gang just as they were turning around to come back. I paddled and twirled most of the way home and then Ollie decided I needed a tow.
It was a good day to be out on the water.
After a late lunch, Ollie and I then left Lynne at home and spent the remainder of our afternoon in the car taking Sam home, driving to pick Shadow up from the groomer which is just before the Bourne Bridge, heading across to Osterville to pick up Jonah, and then driving home to get bathing suits and heading to Surf Drive to meet Heather for an end-of-the-day swim.
It was 6 pm when I got home. Lynne, Shadow, and I took a short walk, and then it was time to fix dinner. Another fun summer day.
by Judy Handley | Jul 18, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 199: Lynne Arrived
Date: Monday, July 18, 2022
Weather: Cloudy and Humid with Some Sprinkles; High 81, Low 72 degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
My good friend Lynne Kirwin arrived this afternoon to spend a few days with me just as the humid weather arrived. I suppose we are having a heat wave, but no complaints, because it is not really hot . . . just a bit sticky. The boat closing did not happen today, maybe tomorrow. Ollie and I tried to figure out how to attach a sail I bought to one of the kayaks. In doing so, we discovered a porcupine living under the tarp where I store the kayaks. It was not going to leave, so we just had to work around the critter. We were not successful in attaching the sail and Ollie said, “Oma, I think this is the worst purchase you have ever made. It just doesn’t work.” I think he might be right, but we will give it another try. Lynne arrived just as Ollie and I were getting ready to have a late lunch, so we all ate together. Then Ollie and I drove to Cape Cod Academy to pick up Jonah at the end of his first day of soccer camp. Tomorrow is busy day of transporting Shadow to the groomer, taking Jonah to soccer camp, picking Sam up from rowing, and then coming home to spend some time with Lynne and Ollie before I have to head back to pick up Shadow and Jonah. But on Wednesday, Ollie and I have some plans for showing Lynne parts of Cape Cod that we love. Tonight, Lynne and I did a catch up on life and that will continue tomorrow. It has been almost three years since we have been together as Lynne’s 2019-2020 visit to New Zealand got extended by Covid restrictions. But she is here now, and it is just so much fun to be together again. Life is good.
by Judy Handley | Jul 17, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 198: Getting Ready for the Week Ahead
Date: Sunday, July 17, 2022
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 83, Low 68 degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth
Like most of my summer Sundays, I spent today getting ready for the week ahead. My friend Lynne comes tomorrow . . . Ollie and I hope she will join us in some of our activities during the week . . . Jonah starts a four-day all-day soccer camp that requires daily transportation to and from . . . Sam works W-F-Sat-Sun and does his own thing on the other days . . . if all goes as planned, Heather closes on the sailboat tomorrow and makes phone calls to the boat yard in Maine to see if the boat will be ready to sail away this coming weekend . . . and we all hope we will survive another busy week! Heather is single parenting this week as Jed is away at a conference. That means she is super busy, but still she invited me over to have dinner tonight. Dinner was great and Jonah and Ollie got to show off their freshly cleaned bedroom. That was their project today. Since Sam was working today, he will attack his room tomorrow. And all of us are enjoying the beautiful, warm weather.
by Judy Handley | Jul 16, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 197: Tropical Christmas in July
Date: Saturday, July 16, 2022
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High 80, Low 66 degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth
I am so lucky to be a member of a great wine club. One of the members, Kim Caverly, has two big parties each l—a Christmas party and a Christmas in July party. Tonight was her Christmas in July party and the theme was ‘tropical’. I did not know most of the people there, but all of our wine club members were in attendance, so we had an unofficial meeting.
I had great conversations with Billy and Eileen Sullivan about the Cape Cod Curling Club. They are active members, and I was there recently for the Celebration of Life of member Peter Mitchell and learned so much about curling. I talked with Don Mroz and Susan Lapine about boating in Buzzards Bay and life in general. David Brassard and I had a long conversation about grandchildren that love to play soccer. We were able to grab Kim long enough to get an official wine club photo. Kim is one of the Beta Readers of my book and she presented me with her copy with her added notes. I wore my Maui’s hook earrings tonight and a woman sought me out to ask where I got them. I replied that I bought them in New Zealand. She is from Nelson on the South Island of New Zealand and that led to another great conversation. I had spent my day cleaning house and was not enthusiastic about attending tonight’s party. Glad I did. It was great!
by Judy Handley | Jul 15, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 196: Jonah’s Graduation from ASLP
Date: Friday, July 15, 2022
Weather: Sunny; High 79, Low 61 degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The Advanced Studies & Leadership Program (ASLP) held its graduation for the class of 2022 and Jonah Biggs Goldstone was in the graduating class.
This was a 10-day college-like program that emphasized leadership as well as project-oriented classes in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) plus the humanities for Cape Cod students entering grades eight and nine in the fall. It is sponsored by the Cape Cod Collaborative and takes place on the Massachusetts Maritime Academy campus with their cadets serving as counselors. For Jonah, the greatest part of the experience had nothing to do with the classes. It had to do with social interactions. Students were up at 0630 every morning and to bed at 2200 (10 pm) every night, with very little free time. They were involved in classes or social activities all day and evening. Students were not allowed to bring phones or any other electronic devices–and they survived. The total focus was on positive face to face interactions with other students. There was no contact with parents for ten days. 
Jonah was beaming when he saw his mom and dad, but I don’t think there was time to miss family. Jonah was too busy making new friends. On the way home he did share that he won’t miss getting up at 6:30 am every morning!
I will spend my weekend getting ready for a visit from my friend Lynne Kirwin. She arrives on Monday!!! Jed and Ollie are away at Cub Scout camp this weekend. Ollie will come home on Sunday with a friend and Jed will continue on to Boston for a flight to DC for a conference. He returns on Thursday night. On Friday, if all goes as expected, Heather and Jed, and maybe Jonah and Ollie, will head to Brooklin, Maine to officially take possession of Eider, the 36-foot Cape Dory sailboat, they have been trying to buy for a couple of months now. Closing should finally take place on Monday. So, fingers crossed that all goes smoothly. I have said it before, but I will say it again. It is going to be so exciting to have a sailboat in the family again.
Evidently not many people, as there were only two other families on the course. Despite the heat, Lynne, Jonah, Ollie, and I had a great time.
Jonah should not have been with us. He should have been at soccer camp. But early this morning, Heather called to tell me that Jonah had fallen on his knee playing soccer yesterday. He didn’t think much about it, but this morning he had trouble walking downstairs and realized there was a problem. Heather decided he should not play today, so Lynne and I had Ollie and Jonah. Sam was working. After mini-golf, we made the requisite stop for ice cream.
Then I dropped Lynne home and took Ollie and Jonah home. Right now, I am sitting in the dark writing this log as the electricity went off about thirty minutes ago. One minute there was light; the next we were in total darkness. The outage map shows outages all over town, probably due to overload because of the heat. The notifications from the electric company say they expect the electricity back on by midnight. I’ll have to let you know about that in tomorrow night’s log.
