by Judy Handley | Aug 7, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 219: Friday Fun at the Skatepark
Date: Friday, August 7, 2020
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High 77, Low 66 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It is the end of another week of afternoon fun with the Goldpebbles. When the remnants of Tropical Storm Isaias swept through this area earlier in the week, it took with it the super hot, humid weather. The daytime temp today was 77 F and it almost felt chilly. There was a forecast for a rainy day, but that did not develop. So when I picked up the boys we packed the scooters and Sam’s skateboard in the car and headed out.
We went to try and replicate a great run the boys had down the hill from Falmouth Academy down to the old train depot a couple of weeks ago, but it was not as much fun today. Evidently the Falmouth Academy staff is already back at work, so the packed parking lot made the boys nervous. They felt like they were trespassing and don’t want to do that again. Plus, the restaurant at the depot is open on Fridays, so they couldn’t use the ramp there that was so much fun a couple of weeks ago. So, after one run, we ended that activity and headed to the closest Subway to get lunch to go. We ate on the way to the Skatepark which we have not visited since Jonah’s accident over a week ago. The cut on Jonah’s hand is not totally healed, but today he was feeling like he was ready to re-enter the Skatepark world. He kept his had wrapped and after the first few tricks, he came to report that his hand was fine. The stress of jumping was not on the part of his hand that was injured and he regained his confidence quickly. All three boys were enjoying their time and we were there for almost two and half hours.
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We ended the day at my house where the boys took Shadow for a skateboard run. Shadow pulls Sam on his skateboard and Jonah and Ollie follow behind on their scooters. Shadow prefers Ollie and Jonah out front so he can chase them, but we realized this teaches him to chase others. We have changed that by having them follow Sam and Shadow and it didn’t seem to stop Shadow from having a great time pulling Sam along.
by Judy Handley | Aug 6, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 218: Running Here and There
Date: Thursday, August 6, 2020
Weather: Sunny Early, Partly Cloudy Afternoon; High 84, Low 64 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
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It was a day of running here and there. Sam went kayaking with his Scout Leader and a couple of other kids. Shadow had an appointment with the groomer. I dropped Shadow off and drove across the bridge to go to Target to pick up an order. For those of you who don’t live on the Cape the words “drove across the bridge” don’t mean much. But for those of us who live on Cape Cod, “going across the bridge” is our link to the outside world. On the way home from that little trip I drove to Hyannis on a wild goose chase. Shopping in person just isn’t worth it these days. Online shopping is also frustrating as so many things aren’t available. But at least you can do online shopping in the comfort of your home. Lesson learned. Next, I drove back to Falmouth and picked up Ollie and Jonah and headed to the soccer field. Jonah practiced his kicking skills while Ollie played goalie and tried to keep him from scoring. Then we all went to pick up Sam and then Shadow and headed to my house and then home. While we were at my house, Coco called on Skype to show me some of her birthday presents that just arrived. It was great to talk with her, but then we were on the road again. Whew! I and then ‘we’ were here and there and everywhere. By the way, Shadow looks great. When we got back to 43 Grasmere, we still had time to go to Morse Pond School for some late day scootering and I was introduced to the resident ospreys who make their nest in the vent chimney for the school. It wasn’t an exciting day, but it sure was a tiring one. I’m not sure I can stay awake long enough to finish this log. But I just grabbed some chocolate and I hope that helps!
Whew! By the way, Shadow looks great. We still had time to go to Morse Pond School for some late day scootering and I was introduced to the resident ospreys who make their nest in the vent chimney for the school. It wasn’t an exciting day, but it sure was a tiring one. I’m not sure I can stay awake long enough to finish this log. But I just grabbed some chocolate and I hope that helps!
by Judy Handley | Aug 5, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 217: The Love of Soccer
Date: Wednesday, August 5, 2020
Weather: Beautiful Day, Slightly Cooler; High 82, Low 65 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
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Since Jonah cut his hand last week, we have avoided our normal activities. No skatepark and no going to the beach. We’ve increased the Lego activity and today we headed to the soccer field. Jonah loves to play soccer but I had to do some convincing to get Sam and Ollie to go along. The age difference makes it difficult. Sam and Ollie would rather be playing with kids their own age. So would Jonah, but his deep love of the sport makes playing it with anyone just fine with him. Once we got the field, everyone had a great time. Jonah’s cut is healing nicely from the inside out, but it is still a slightly open wound. Hopefully by next Monday, we will be back to normal activities. For the next two days, however, we need to be creative.
by Judy Handley | Aug 4, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 216: The Simple Joys
Date: Tuesday, August 4, 2020
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Then Stormy; High 85, Low 72 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Life is so complicated in these coronavirus days. But today I experienced the simple joys of just watching grandchildren enjoying a lazy summer day. Heather and Jed were up and out of here just after 7:30 am, but the boys were still asleep. As Heather and Jed walked through the living room to the front door to leave, I waved farewell and went back to sleep. Shortly before 9 am, Sam and Jonah emerged from their bedroom and it became obvious it was time to get up. And just about that time, my phone dinged and I suddenly remembered that I had a 9 am chiropractor appointment. Normally, I would just have called and said I couldn’t make it. But I really wanted to talk to the chiropractor to find out how to get in contact with his daughter who is home due to the spread of the cornonavirus from teaching children in Vietnam. I know she was planning to return this fall, but I read late last week that the case numbers in Vietnam are increasing. If she is not returning, I wanted to see if she might be interested in monitoring the Goldpebbles and whatever friends might join together in a pod of home learning. The ding on my phone told me I had 10 minutes to get there. It is 7 minute drive in the best of conditions. So, I threw on my clothes, made myself presentable in about 3 minutes, and headed out the door. Ollie woke up during this time, so I gave all three boys marching orders to have 30 minutes of quiet time until I returned. As I left, they were all making a body pile in Ollie’s bed, Shadow included. I promised that they could watch a Wild Kratts episode if all was well when I returned. When I returned 40 minutes later, all was well, so they watched Wild Kratts while I fixed breakfast. Then Ollie and Jonah spent the rest of the morning assembling the Lego Hogwarts Express kit.
Sam is not as into Harry Potter at this point as Ollie and Jonah, so he chose to spend his time in a tent of pillows on his phone texting with friends. As Jonah keeps reminding me, this is just what teenagers do. By 1 pm, all three boys were still in their sleepwear (underwear) and I decided it was time for them to get dressed and have lunch. That process took almost an hour, but by 2:15 pm everyone had joined me outside for lunch and then gone back inside to get dressed. It was a lazy day, but we all enjoyed the laziness. It gives me great joy to just see them enjoying such a lazy day. 
But I decided they needed a little outside exercise, so I drove to their house to pick up their croquet set and we spent the rest of the afternoon in a rousing croquet game that I won! I think Sam ‘allowed’ that to happen, but we’ll not spread that word.
As we were playing our croquet game, Tropical Storm Isaias arrived. It was so windy that Ollie was sure the wind was going to affect the acceleration of our croquet balls. But we played on. Just as we finished, it started sprinkling rain. And as I drove the boys home the rain increased. But by the time we arrived, both the wind and rain subsided. We were spared the worst of this storm, but a little more rain would have been welcomed. It is cooler tonight, and that coolness is also welcomed.
by Judy Handley | Aug 3, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 215: Goldstone Overnight
Date: Monday, August 3, 2020
Weather: Sunny and Hot; High 85, Low 72 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Last night Heather and Ollie spent the night and tonight the whole gang is here. Heather got up super early and went home to start her work day at 6 am. But Ollie and I slept in until 9 am and then had a very low key morning. Around 1:30 pm, Heather called to say that Jed, Sam, and Jonah were home from their Scout camping weekend. She also reported that some of the Legos I purchased to give us some quiet time until Jonah’s hand heals had arrived and Jonah was already busy building his Harry Potter Quidditch Match set. So Ollie wanted to head home ASAP to help out. So off we went. At the end of the day, Heather joined me with the boys and we headed back to my house for dinner and for the night. Jed had to go to the lab for a bit, had an outside Scout leadership meeting in his back yard, and then joined us later at my house. In the meantime, when we got back to my house, I got the meat and veggies that had been marinating during the afternoon ready for the grill. Heather manned the grill and we had a great summer dinner with chicken, steak, and veggie shish kabobs, rice, and corn on the cob.
The cottage is hot tonight, as it was last night. One of my really good fans bit the dust a couple of days ago. I have borrowed a couple of fans from Heather and Jed, but no matter how many fans I have, the humidity is making it miserable. I think that is why Heather and I got very little sleep last night. We both had the strangest dreams. She dreamed on and on about a SpaceX school that had no social distancing and I dreamed that Donald Trump was my boyfriend and I felt so sorry for him because he had never been allowed to wear jeans. I was convinced that wearing suits all the time had taken his youth away from him. What a nightmare!
The Goldstones are spending the night tonight as a plumber is arriving at their house very early in the morning to do some needed work. Heather and Jed will leave early in the morning to go get things ready for the plumber. Then Jed has meetings on the their deck while Heather is planning to go into work to meet a colleague. The boys and I will continue with our Lego adventures. Right now, everybody but me and my Shadow are sound asleep, so I think it is time for Shadow and I to join the ranks. I’m hoping for a dreamless night—at least no Donald Trump nightmares.
by Judy Handley | Aug 3, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 214: Hamilton
Date: Sunday, August 2, 2020
Weather: Sunny; High 80, Low 75 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I’ve heard people rave about the Broadway show Hamilton for the past five years, but not until tonight did I understand what they were raving about. A recording of one of the performances is now available on Disney Plus. Heather and Jed wanted the kids to see it, so they subscribed to the Disney Plus and watched it last week. Tonight, Heather and Ollie are spending the night with me, so they decided to introduce me to it. It lived up to all expectations. Someday I would love to see Hamilton on Broadway, but for now the recorded version is fantastic. I plan to watch it over and over. The creator of Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, is an amazing composer, lyricist, actor, singer, rapper, producer, and playwright. And the talent he recruited for Hamilton is absolutely fabulous.
