by Judy Handley | Jul 27, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 208: Soccer, Restore, Star Wars, Megansett Beach
Date: Thursday, July 27, 2023
Weather: Sunny, Very Windy; High 81, Low 73 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Today was the last day of soccer camp for Jonah, thus my last morning of delivering kids to Cape Cod Academy. On my way home, I stopped at the cottage and picked up the wall shelf that Mark made for me when we lived in Salisbury, Maryland in the 1980’s. I have no place for it and neither does Heather, and I didn’t want to take a chance that it would end up at the dump. So, I stopped at a consignment store to see if they would take it. No. Too big. I then took it to the Habitat for Humanity Restore. I told them the history of the shelf and asked if they could find a good home for it. They assured me they could and they also looked at the photos of the other pieces I need to get rid of and said they would take those as well. I went to pick up Ollie to help me, and we spent the rest of the morning getting the small pieces of furniture to Restore. Tomorrow Heather will take the things from the cottage that need to go to the dump, and then we can celebrate. The move will f-i-n-a-l-l-y be completed. Woohoo!
Ollie and I decided to watch one more Star Wars movie this afternoon, number VII, The Last Jedi. And then we ended our day by meeting the crew from soccer camp at Megansett Beach. It was Jonah’s request to go there so he could jump off the dock and it was a good choice for today. It was way too windy to be on the beach as the sand was blowing sideways. Ollie was a grump because he really wanted to play with Seton, but he (Ollie) was afraid to jump off the dock which Seton was doing with great energy. Ollie tried to cover up his fear with anger, but with some gentle convincing from Jed, he finally started jumping off the dock and then wouldn’t stop!
To back up for a minute, Jed attended the closing ceremony for the soccer camp before coming to the beach. Jonah was awarded The Most Committed Soccer Player, and that he certainly is. Congrats to Jonah. Sam comes home from West Virginia tomorrow and this afternoon Heather sent me another photo of his team white water rafting. This photo really shows Sam’s exuberance.
He had not been totally happy with his camping experience, but I hope the rafting trip made up for some of the other downers. We’ll hear all about that this weekend.
by Judy Handley | Jul 25, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 206: Soccer for Jonah, Mini Golf for Ollie
Date: Tuesday, July 25, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 81, Low 69 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Every seven weeks, Shadow his appointment at Pampered Paws to get his hair cut and today was that day. That requires taking him up to near the Bourne Bridge, so Ollie and I decided that we would play mini golf
and do the bumper boats in nearby Cataumet today before heading back across the Cape to pick up Jonah, Megan, and Seton from their soccer camp at Cape Cod Academy. And while we were up near the bridge, Ollie wanted to go to a remote-control hobby shop across the bridge in Bourne. So there was a fair bit of driving today, but we had fun in between. After picking Shadow up from his appointment, I had planned to drive Ollie and Shadow home and then go back to get Jonah and gang. But at the last minute, Ollie decided that he would like to go and he offered to hold Shadow on his lap. It was a bit crowded in my little car, but we all did fine.
Par for the Cataumet mini golf course is 42. I got my best score ever today with a 46 because I got 3 holes in one.
Unheard of for me! I had one really bad hole, however, so Ollie beat me 44 to my 46.
And after mini golf, you have to ride in the bumper boats and play at least one game in the arcade.
So, we did.
We arrived early to pick up Jonah et all at soccer camp, so Ollie, Shadow, and I sat on a hill above the field and watched the kids play. Seton is Ollie’s age and plays soccer on Ollie’s rec team and he hung out with Ollie when he was not on the field. I should have taken photos of Jonah when he was on the field and totally spaced on doing that. It is my turn to take the kids tomorrow morning, so I will hang around a bit and get some photos then.
Ollie and I ended our day back at Stoney Beach in Woods Hole. Again, he declined to come with us, but Ollie and I had a great time. He practiced swimming and we snorkeled together. I shared with him just how relaxing I find it to just float in the water with my snorkel mask on, so he tried it and found it relaxing as well. He calls it ‘rag dolling it’ because when he completely relaxes, his hands and feet hang down and he looks like a limp doll. When I do it, my feet float. This led to a little discussion about how body fat affects the way you float in water. I guess that was our science lesson for the day.
by Judy Handley | Jul 24, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 205: A Lazy Summer Day
Date: Monday, July 24, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 82, Low 69 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Ollie was determined to do ‘nothing’ today, so that is what we did. It was a beautiful, lazy day. We got outside a bit with Shadow and we watched the last half of The Empire Strikes back. I picked Jonah and two other kids up from soccer camp in the afternoon and then Ollie and I ended our day at Stoney Beach. We had hoped Jonah would go with us, but he was absolutely wiped out at the end of the soccer camp day. Plus, he had an early evening doctor appointment for an annual physical which would have shortened our beach time. There were no kids at the beach for Ollie to play with, so we snorkeled together, and he frolicked in the water while I walked in the water. It felt so good to spend an hour in cooling down and relaxing in the calm water Ollie went home for dinner, but he then returned and we watched The Return of the Jedi. I thought I had seen all of the Star Wars movies over the years, but I had never seen this one. We are getting to bed late, so hopefully Ollie will sleep in tomorrow morning. Then we are off to play mini golf.
by Judy Handley | Jul 23, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 204: Happy 17th Birthday to Lily
Date: Sunday, July 23, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 83, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
I left Ollie at home still asleep to join Heather at the cottage to try to finish cleaning out the basement. We also met a couple of people taking pieces of furniture that Heather advertised as free on Facebook. We have a few more pieces to get rid of and huge pile in the basement that has to go to the Swap Shop on Tuesday. Then I think I can say the move is complete. It has been a long month of moving, and I am ready to settle into living in the new house. I couldn’t have done this move without the help of Heather and family. I hated taking time out of their precious summer days but have truly appreciated all the help.
The Goldstones went to the beach in the afternoon while I stayed home to do a few things. I returned to the cottage to finish cutting the little bit of Shirley’s grass that did not get done yesterday. Heather would have done it while we were there in the morning, but I forgot the battery. It took much longer to drive there and back than it did to finish the mowing. Then I hurried home to get ready to go out to dinner for Lily’s birthday.
Lily has become a member of the family here. She is staying at Heather and Jed’s doing an internship at WHOI under Jed’s direction. Andrew, her father and my ‘almost’ next door part0time summer neighbor at the cottage, plus her Lily’s little sister Lena, drove here from New York to spend the day and evening with Lily. They invited us to all to dinner at Estia, and then Heather and Jed invited them back to their house for birthday cake and presents. Lily is such an unassuming young woman and I think she was truly overwhelmed that she would be showered with gifts. She will go home in a couple of weeks with a WHOI hoodie, a WHOI bracelet, a WHOI lunch bag, and a book about a WHOI female scientist. After cake and presents, the kids went into to have a dance party. The boys have a disco light blub that they screw in and instantly turn the living room into a disco dance floor. Happy 17th Lily!
by Judy Handley | Jul 22, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 203: Day at Home Alone
Date: Saturday, July 22, 2023
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 79, Low 65 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
I hardly knew what to do with myself today. Ollie left early to go home to play with his friend Seton which left me alone for the day. While the boys played, Heather and Jed and Seton’s dad drove to Mass Maritime for the ASLP graduation. Jonah and Seton’s sister Meagan were two of the graduates. They were home by noon and back to summer life in Falmouth.
I took the newly charged battery for the lawn mower and went out to the cottage to continue the grass cutting job Ollie started yesterday. The battery gave out before I was quite finished, so I will finish it up tomorrow. Because the grass is holding so much moisture, mowing was just a longer process than usual. Normally we can finish three quarters of Shirley’s yard before we have to charge. And then we can finish up with plenty of battery power left to do the yard at the cottage. But not this time. After mowing, I headed to Woods Hole to get a birthday present for Lily as she turns 17 tomorrow. Her dad, Andrew, is coming from New York to spend the day and evening with her and then we will all go out to dinner to celebrate.
The remainder of my day was very quiet. I spent way too much time getting angry and disgusted over something I read in the NYT Morning Newsletter. It was just one sentence from the newly adopted Florida Black history curriculum. It says “slaves developed skills” that could be used for “personal benefit.” It made it sound like slavery was a good thing. What kind of people write such nonsense? Any human with any amount of compassion for mankind knows slavery was not good in any way for slaves. They were stolen from their homeland, shipped across the ocean in conditions that were totally inhumane, then beaten, whipped, or hung, and if they did survive, they were once again separated from any family they made in this country. If I lived in Florida, I truly think I would have to leave that state. And if that was not an option, I would have to spend my days protesting. But I finally moved on and busied myself with things I really needed to do. Still this curriculum issue continues to haunt me. I took the time to buy my tickets to fly to Charlotte in late August and I rented a car. I caught up on email and also checked my finances. I have not even looked at my bank account since I moved here. Thankfully, Bill Pay is doing its job and I still have money even though some bills were automatically paid that I should have cancelled. Hopefully, I’ll get that money back at some point.
Tonight, Ollie is going to return to sleep over. It is already 8:30, so we’ll only have time to barely begin a new Star Wars movie. But begin we will.
by Judy Handley | Jul 21, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 202: Star Wars, Yard Work, Beach, and Soccer
Date: Friday, July 21, 2023
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 77, Low 63 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Today was Day 4 of the Star Wars marathon. Ollie and I have pledged to watch all of the Star Wars movies before summer’s end, and we got a great start this week. We tend to watch one episode in two sittings, one in the morning and one at night. This morning we finished the last of the prequel trilogy, Revenge of the Sith. Since I have previously only seen the major movies in the series, starting with Episode 4, watching the prequel this week allowed me to learn about the origin of the characters. I finally know where Darth Vader came from!
Ollie and I also spent time back at the cottage. Ollie cut as much of Shirley’s lawn as he could before the lawnmower battery went dead. The grass was heavy with moisture which made it a much longer and harder job than usual, but he persisted and got the entire side yard done. We came home to have a late lunch and then a late afternoon play date with his friend Seton at Stoney Beach. Heather, Jed, and Lily joined us after work just in time to enjoy the only real sunshine we had today. Heather invited me to their house for dinner which was a delicious veggie curry. Then Ollie and I headed back to my house for another Ollie overnight. He is loving his little ‘nest’ we have created on an inflatable mattress in the living room.
After a dessert of fresh pineapple, we had a soccer evening switching back and forth between the FIFA Women’s World Cup, USA versus Vietnam, and Inter Miami versus Mexico City’s Cruz Azul. Ollie predicted that the US women’s team would win their game 3-0. And they did. We wanted to also watch the Miami game as it was Messi’s Major League Soccer debut. Messi didn’t play until the second half, and we didn’t get to see him make a goal in the 94th minute of the game giving Miami a win. We turned in at 10 pm because we were both really tired. Too much Star Wars kept us up very late last night.
He had not been totally happy with his camping experience, but I hope the rafting trip made up for some of the other downers. We’ll hear all about that this weekend.
