Day 286, Year 10: Low-key Day with the Grandkids

by | Jul 23, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 | 0 comments

Day 286, Year 10: Low-key Day with the Grandkids
Date: Thursday, July 23, 2015
Weather: Another Beautiful Day—Sunny, Windy, Not Too Hot
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA

Since everyone was up later than usual last night due to our County Fair visit, today was low-key. Two of the three boys voted for staying at home and doing nothing in particular. So we did just that.

I dropped Mark off at the oncology center early this morning as today was his cancer treatment day. I then went to Heather and Jed’s to find Jonah still asleep, Sam reading in the living room, and Oliver already dressed and in the backyard playing construction worker. He had on his Bob the Builder vest and he was in prime form. Can’t figure out how a three year-old can go strong long after his big brothers at night and then get started earlier in the morning. I guess I’ll just chalk it up to him being an energetic three year-old. I became part of his pretend play in the backyard this morning while Jed was in the house with the other two. Jed had to attend an 11 am funeral this morning, so he was around a little longer than usual. Just after he left, I started getting Sam’s lunch ready. At 11:30 am, Sam, along with Jonah and Oliver, piled into the car to head to Woods Hole to drop Sam off at class. We dropped him off and returned home to have our lunch. And just as we were finishing up, I got a text from Mark letting me know he should be ready for a pick-up around 1:30 pm. Heather was picking Sam up from school and had offered to pick up her dad, but I decided the quickest way to get Ollie down for a nap was to go for a ride in the car. He was fast asleep less than a mile down the road, so going for another ride was a good decision. Heather took Sam and Jonah to a 4 pm Frisbee demonstration at the public library in Mashpee while Ollie and Granddad napped and I worked in the garden.

Tomorrow Heather will bring the boys here to Quissett early in the morning and they (the boys, not Heather) will spend the whole day here except for the time that someone will break away to take Sam to class in Woods Hole. It’s only a couple of miles from here, so that is an easy one. We have invited Heather and Jed to stop by here on their way home from work tomorrow. They will have dinner and spend the night. Unfortunately we can’t go sailing on Saturday morning as Jonah has a birthday party to attend. It is his very good friend Luke’s birthday and he wouldn’t want to miss that. Since the boat comes out of the water next Thursday morning, the only chance for a sail will be to deliver Windbird to Fiddler’s Cove next Wednesday afternoon. Maybe Heather and Jed can leave work early and join us for an afternoon sail on Buzzards Bay. If not, it might be September before they can sail with us again. Summer is flying by way too fast.

Day 285, Year 10: Perfect Cape Cod Summer Day

by | Jul 22, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 | 0 comments

Day 285, Year 10: Perfect Cape Cod Summer Day
Date: Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Weather: Clear Skies, Temp in the 80’s with a Breeze–Perfect
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA

It was just a perfect Cape Cod summer day. It was a good 10 degrees cooler than yesterday’s temp in the upper 90’s, and it didn’t feel hot because there was a wonderful breeze blowing all day. Mark went with me to Heather and Jed’s and we started our day by inflating the backyard pool they have. The boys had some of their Lego boats in the water and invented ways to have a dry dock and testing pool for their ships. Before we knew it, it was time for Sam to have lunch and head out for his School of Science class in Woods Hole. Jonah, Ollie, and I decided to have ‘recess’ before lunch, so we went to the elementary school playground. Jonah wanted to practice some of the acrobatics he saw at the circus last night and the playground equipment gave him the perfect place to practice. Just before heading home for lunch and Ollie’s nap, Jonah found some insect parts in the wooden mulch on the playground. There were quite a few sets of pincers, some wings, and some leg parts. It was a strange find, but the boys insisted on taking the parts home to try and reassemble the insect so we could identify it. We left them on a tray on the kitchen table. They’ll make interesting breakfast conversation!

Mark took Sam to school and went to get a hair-cut while waiting to bring him home. Sometime in the late spring, Mark’s hair started getting kinky curly. We are assuming this is due to the cancer treatment, but for whatever reason, he looks very different with his new hairdo as he has to keep it cut really short. Ollie took a nap and when Mark returned with Sam, I took the big boys to the beach that is a couple of miles from their house. We only had an hour, but they had a great time playing in the water. Once we got home, it was time to get ready for going to the Barnstable County Fair. As soon as Heather and Jed got home from work, we all jumped into our cars to go to the fair. And we all had an incredibly fun evening. It helped having at least one adult for each child because we could split up and let each child do their own thing. We started out together by walking through the Petting Zoo where the boys rode on small ponies. We then advanced to the big rides and this is when we needed to divide and conquer. Ollie immediately went for a motorcycle on a merry-go-round type of ride. He rode all by himself with no problem and went on to ride on a fire truck and then on a bumblebee. He was upset that his bumblebee didn’t go up high, but I was thankful that it didn’t. Jonah chose the Fun House and then a bungee trampoline ride. This is the first year he has been tall enough to qualify and he was so, so excited. Sam went with his dad and I’m not sure what he rode, but he then met us at the bungee trampoline and did that as well. When 7 o’clock came, we went to see the Demolition Derby. Some of us sat on the hillside to save seats for those who went to get food. We then sat on the hill and ate dinner and watched the destruction. I have never seen a Demolition Derby and all I could think is that we haven’t advanced much as a civilization since the days of the gladiators fighting lions. About the time I was thinking this, Ollie decided that he really didn’t want to watch the cars smashing into each other. He wanted to go back to see the animals and Mark and I quickly offered to take him. As we were walking away, he summed it up just right. “They (the guys driving the demolition cars) don’t play nice.”

150722 Day 285 Cape Cod, USA–Barnstable County Fair

Day 284, Year 10: Hot, Hot, Hot

by | Jul 21, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 | 0 comments

Day 284, Year 10: Hot, Hot, Hot
Date: Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Weather: Clear, Sunny, and Hot–Temp in the mid-90’s F
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA

It was as hot today as I ever remember it being here on the Cape. Temps in the mid-90’s are not the norm! But it is not that hot everywhere. The high in Woods Hole today was 10 degrees cooler than in East Falmouth. So it wasn’t until after we returned to Heather and Jed’s in East Falmouth from having lunch in Woods Hole that the heat became unbearable. I insisted that Sam and Jonah do some sort of water play in the backyard, and once Ollie woke up from his nap, he joined them. Heather and Jed came home from work early and they were off with the boys to see a performance of Circus Smirkus tonight. This is an international traveling youth circus with kid performers from age 10 to 18. They do all the things that are normally associated with a circus—highwire and trapeze, clowns, jugglers, acrobats, and more. I can’t wait to hear about this tomorrow.

Mark and I came home and enjoyed the cooler temps out here on the water and we started making plans for time that Windbird will be out of the water for repairs. Once out of the water we won’t have this wonderful respite from the heat. We will move Windbird a couple of miles north to Fiddler’s Cove next Wednesday and she’ll be hauled out of the water on Thursday, July 30. Hopefully this heat will have subsided by then, because then we’ll be living on land. Actually we’ll spend most of our time at Heather and Jed’s and just come back to the boat to sleep. We’re hoping we will be out of the water for no more than 3 weeks and then we hope to do a little local sailing. But we will just have to wait and see how the repairs go. We also got word today from The Boat Guy that our dinghy engine is not repairable. Hopefully our insurance will cover the cost of a new one. We love our current Yamaha 15 hp motor, but I guess we’ll just have to learn to love another motor. Rowing while being moored close to shore has been delightful, but when we return to the water after repairs, we will once again be moored out in the hinterlands. Rowing against current and wind then will not be fun. So the motor will be necessary. Mark is not scheduled to work weekends in August, so once Windbird is out of the water, we hope to visit with out-of-town friends on the weekends. So lots to look forward to.

Note: The photos attached show some of today’s activities not mentioned in the log. There is a photo of Granddad with Jonah and Ollie looking at the boats being built at the Woods Hole Museum. What a nice way to pass the time while waiting for Sam to get out of his School of Science class. The next photos are of a pair of juvenile osprey we have been watching from the time they were hatched. Their nest is on Surf Drive, the road we drive everyday between Quissett and town. How wonderful that we get to see the wonders of nature right along the road. Today we watched them eating lunch. And then there are photos of our old Avon dinghy that has been at Heather and Jed’s for years. It needs a lot of repairs before it is usable again . . . maybe it will just go to the Swap Shop at the dump.
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150721 Day 284 Cape Cod, USA–Woods Hole Museum

Day 283, Year 10: Fun in the Sun

by | Jul 21, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 | 0 comments

Day 283, Year 10: Fun in the Sun
Date: Monday, July 20, 2015
Weather: Clear, Sunny, and Hot–Temp in the mid-80’s F
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA

Today the sky was clear and the bright sun warmed things up a bit. It was a hot summer day on the Cape and we had fun in the sun. Jed drove to Quissett with the three boys this morning and picked me up. We then dropped Jed off at work and went on to Stoney Beach. It was a perfect beach day and all three boys enjoyed frolicking in the water. Terry Smith, a friend I know through Jane Woodin, was at the beach with her grandson Miles. He had a swimming lesson and Jonah and Ollie were quite interested in watching everything he did in his class. Afterwards they played together for a short time before Terry had to leave. And about the same time, just before noon, Heather arrived to walk Sam to his class at the School of Science. Jonah, Ollie, and I had a bit of lunch in the shade of the van and then headed back to the beach. Sam’s classes last an hour and a half, so we played at the beach and at the park in Woods Hole until time to pick him up. Ollie fell asleep on the way home, right on cue, and when we got home, I could see that Sam and Ollie also needed some down time. It was hot, hot, hot. I let them have some screen time and then they volunteered to help me fold laundry. Now that was a first. Sam turned it into a game that required that he and Jonah fold clothes, put them in ‘stations’, and then carry the clothes from each station upstairs to put them away. I loved it!!! And since there is ALWAYS more laundry, I’m hoping we can turn this game into a routine part of their weekly chores. But today, it gave them time inside to regroup and then we went out to cool down. We played in the sprinkler, devised a game where Ollie got to spray anyone who tried to steal a soccer ball from his domain, played in the kiddie pool next door, and then set up the Slip & Slide in the backyard for some rowdy fun sliding down hill on a sheet of plastic with water running over it. Mark had to work until 7 pm today and it was almost 5 o’clock when Heather and Jed got home. It didn’t seem to make sense to try to get back the boat and then turn around and come back into town to pick-up Mark. So I ended up staying at Heather and Jed’s until 6:30 when I caught the bus to town. I walked from the end of the bus line to West Marine and got there just as Mark was headed out to find me. Tomorrow is supposed to be almost as hot as today, but because of schedules (Jonah as a yearly physical check-up in the morning), it will not be a beach day. Heather and Jed are taking the boys to a special event at the Barnstable County Fair tomorrow evening and they want to the boys to be rested. So tomorrow will be a low-key day.

Day 282, Year 10: 50th Class Reunion

by | Jul 19, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 | 0 comments

Day 282, Year 10: 50th Class Reunion
Date: Sunday, July 19, 2015
Weather: Mix of Sun, Clouds, and Fog, Still Windy, Temp in the Upper 70’s F
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA

Last night was the 50th class reunion of the Nitro High School Class of 1965. OMG—I am getting old! I couldn’t attend, but I just saw the photo of those who did attend on Facebook. I recognized only one person and she was my best friend through the elementary years. At least I think that is who I recognized. I went to my 25th reunion and everyone still looked basically the same as in high school. But I guess the last 25 years have changed us all beyond recognition. I ordered a copy of the photo and hopefully it will come with names. It will be fun to see who those people in the photo really are!

Mark worked today and it was my food shopping, cooking, cleaning day. Nothing exciting, just a day in the life.

Day 281, Year 10: Saturday–Our New Sunday

by | Jul 18, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 | 0 comments

Day 281, Year 10: Saturday–Our New Sunday
Date: Saturday, July 18, 2015
Weather: Mostly Cloudy and Windy, Temp 80 degrees F
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA

Summer’s half over, but we are just now getting into the swing of things. Mark works at West Marine on Sundays and Mondays, and I run Camp Oma Monday through Friday. That leaves only Saturday to be a day of rest. So Saturday is our new Sunday. And today we did the best we can do at having a day of rest. I edited photos, dusted the louvered cabinet doors in the boat, and organized my spice drawer—all quiet activities. Mark polished a little stainless on deck, worked on cleaning up his computer, and took a nap. Then we took a walk. It was a lovely day.

By the way, I saw a wooly worm today and the poison ivy is turning yellow and red already. Are these signs of another severe winter? I sure hope not.