by Judy Handley | Jul 17, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 |
Day 280, Year 10: Crazy Scallops and a Molting Green Crab
Date: Friday, July 17, 2015
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Still Windy
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA
We spent our day in Quissett Harbor. We drove in to pick up the boys and arrived back here around 10:30 am. The boys and I delivered Mark to Windbird where he could get some rest, and then Sam rowed the rest of us to the beach. We go to the beach with a huge bag full of boogie boards, sand shovels, buckets, and nets. I sit and watch and Sam, Jonah, and Ollie invent something new to do every day. Today Sam was into snorkeling and Jonah was into jumping off the dinghy into the water, over and over. Ollie spent a lot of time just sitting on the beach today, but once in a while he would have a short burst of energy. Sure hope he’s not getting sick. I think he was just tired, but he was uncharacteristically quiet. After the first frenzy of swimming and snorkeling, Sam took off on the dinghy to explore and Jonah started collecting specimens to observe. He found an Atlantic bay scallop (Argopecten irradians) and put it in a bucket. A little later, he got it out to observe and it started clacking like a castanet in his hand. It obviously viewed Jonah as a predator and wanted to swim away. But Jonah calmed him down and then the clam would stay open while he was holding it in his hand without clacking to escape. You could look inside and see the mussel and you could clearly see the bright blue eyes (about 30-40 of them) around the fluted edge of the shell. When the clam was out of the water, you could not see the tentacles, but as soon as Jonah would put the scallop in the water, the tentacles would drop like a stage curtain all around the edge of the fluted shell. He picked up another scallop and it did all of the same things. The boys have seen scallops open their shells at the Buzzards Bay Coalition touch tank, but never at the beach, and never with quite the same energy as this morning. We were all enjoying the show these crazy scallops were providing. Then Jonah found a green crab (Carcinus maenas). Normally he would never pick up a crab for fear of being pinched by its claws, but this one looked a little strange and Jonah wanted to observe it more closely. He called me over and I immediately thought something was very wrong with this crab. It looked like it was blowing up like a balloon and its shell was separating. I was just about to tell him to put it back in the water when Sam yelled out, “Its molting.” And sure enough, the crab was molting its shell right in Jonah’s hand. A slightly larger crab emerged and left the old, smaller shell behind. Unbelievable. You know this happens, but to see it happen in the hand of a six year-old was pretty amazing. Jonah put the emerged crab and its old shell in a bucket and we took pictures and showed him off to some interested people walking down the beach. The boys named the crab Softy and decided that we should write a story about him.
Mark and Jonah took Sam to Woods Hole for his last Ponds, Woods, and Fields class while I put Ollie down for a nap. They returned and then a little later I went to shore to go pick up Sam. Once we got back to Quissett, Sam and Jonah got in the kayak and headed to shore to play. I was sitting in a chair on the deck watching them and realized that they were doing more swimming than playing on the beach, so I got in the dinghy and headed in to be closer. They played for a bit and they ended up rowing the dinghy back to Windbird and I ended up in the kayak. It was a great day of exploration in Quissett Harbor, but it was time to get them home and fix dinner. Jed returned from DC this afternoon and he and Heather were at a party honoring the volunteers at WCAI public radio. While I was fixing dinner, Mark went out to put the garbage can away (yesterday was pick-up day), when the big plastic ‘can’ on wheels got stuck in a pot hole in the driveway. It happened very fast and his face ran into the edge of the garbage can and scraped the first layer of skin from a wide swath on this right cheek. I don’t know if I have ever seen anything bleed quite so much, but we finally got it under control. He is going to have quite an ugly place on his face for a couple of weeks, but hopefully it will heal without complication. Seems like there is always something—wouldn’t want life to be too boring!
by Judy Handley | Jul 16, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 |
Day 279, Year 10: Not a Boring Day
Date: Thursday, July 16, 2015
Weather: Sunny, Windy, and 10 Degrees Cooler Than Yesterday
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA
I read the following on my daughter-in-law’s Facebook page, “Boredom—one of the greatest experiences you can give a child. Until faced with empty space they’ll never learn to let their full attention uncoil to its full potential.” And I do think children need time to just do nothing. So my intent this morning was to give them time to do just that—nothing. But even when we plan to be ‘bored’ by doing nothing, it doesn’t seem to happen. It felt like a fall day this morning. The air was crisp and cool and it was windy. So when I arrived at Heather and Jed’s with no plans for the morning, everyone thought that was a great idea UNTIL we realized that the conditions were perfect for flying kites. We went to the elementary school playground and spent our entire morning playing on the playground and flying kites. Sam no longer needs help getting kites into the air, so he spent a long time flying the kites by himself and then he helped Jonah and Ollie. I couldn’t believe how successful little Ollie was, even with the biggest kite. At one point Sam was afraid Ollie was going to go flying, but we managed to keep everyone but the kites on the ground. It was great fun and definitely the perfect day to do it. Maybe we can do nothing tomorrow morning . . . but Ollie has been asking to come to Windbird and that might win out—especially since Windbird might be coming out of the water for a few weeks a little sooner than expected.
Mark went his own way today, checking out possibilities for getting Windbird’s bottom repaired after our rocky grounding over three weeks ago. He had already found one possibility in the Falmouth Harbor, but the work can’t be done until September. The insurance company would like to settle things more quickly than that, so Mark checked out a couple of other possibilities today. One possibility was Fiddlers Cove Marina in North Falmouth where we have spent two of the past four winters and that is looking like the best bet. Their fiberglass man goes on vacation in two weeks, and they are estimating two weeks to get the work done. If we take the boat there this Saturday so they can start the drying-out process on Monday and we might have a chance of getting the work done in the two week period. But if not, their fiberglass man is only on vacation for one week, and we’ll just have to live aboard on land for an extra week or so. It won’t be great fun, but we’ll make it work. It is also looking like we are going to have to get a new dinghy motor. The Boat Guy thinks he can get it running, but it will never be the same, reliable motor we have enjoyed. And living aboard requires a reliable dinghy motor.
Mark returned from his travels just in time to go with us to take Sam to his School of Science class. Ollie fell asleep on the way, which was perfect timing. But then we needed to wait an hour and a half for Sam to get out of class as we were going to another event late in the afternoon. The plan was for all of us to drive to the park in Woods Hole and sit and read, but Jonah really wanted to go to the Wood Hole Exhibit Center. I reminded him that he went there with Grammie Goldstone a few weeks ago, but he retorted saying that was in June and it is now July and he hasn’t been there this month. I didn’t want to fight with his logic, so I went with Jonah to the Exhibit Center and Mark sat in the car in the park with a sleeping Ollie. Jonah really does love the Exhibit Center. He loves to sit in the original Alvin capsule and pretend that he going to the bottom of the ocean. And he loves the film they show of all the deep sea life. We had a great time and then once we picked up Sam, we traveled to Mashpee to go to a library presentation there. We have never been there before and weren’t sure about the quality of their children’s programs. But from what we saw today, I can highly recommend them. Today’s presentation was a professional, exotic animal handler showing the children a wide variety of small animals and letting them touch each one—a chinchilla, a guinea pig, a flying squirrel, a tortoise, a rather large tree frog from Africa, a bearded dragon, three different varieties of snakes, and a small alligator. All the Goldpebbles loved the little flying squirrel, so I would say it was the favorite.
After the presentation, we returned to Falmouth and met Heather on the Falmouth Library lawn. We were going to have pizza while listening to the Brian Boru bagpipe band practice, but they didn’t show up. So Heather suggested we pick up the pizzas and go to Marina Park in Falmouth Harbor to eat. When we got there, we saw that they were setting up for a Thursday night ‘Concert in the Park’ presented by the Falmouth Town Band. The boys wanted to stay for this, so I pulled out a blanket for them to sit on, a chair for Heather, four beach towels to wrap up in to keep warm, and sweatshirts I had brought for them in case it got cold on the library lawn (our original destination). Mark and I didn’t stay because Mark was losing energy quickly, but I sure hope Heather had a great time with the boys. Jed is out of town and he is the one who has been wanting to do this. So if it was a positive experience, hopefully they’ll make a return visit.
This definitely was not a boring day. Maybe tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Jul 15, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 |
Day 278, Year 10: A Day of Firsts
Date: Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Weather: Partly Cloudy; Temp in the 80’s F
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA
We spent our morning at Wood Neck, on the beach side and then on the marsh side, and had a number of firsts. Mark attended a Buzzards Bay Coalition Itty Bitty Explorers adventure on the beach with the boys while I went to an annual doctor appointment. All three boys enjoyed the experience and just as they were finishing up, I got back. It was high tide and the marsh side of Wood Neck was a bit flooded with water, so all three boys decided they wanted to ‘shoot the rapids’. As the water floods out of Little Sippewissett Marsh and heads out into Buzzards Bay, it provides a great water ride on boogie boards or floats of any sort. As you approach the Bay, the water gets shallow and rumbles over rocks, making it looks like rapids. This approach to the Bay is known as Lazy River, but there was nothing lazy about it this morning. The water was rushing out and provided perfect conditions for the boys to hold on to their boogie boards and head swiftly out to sea. I was on the sea side and Granddad on the inside helping Ollie get on this board and head out for the ride. Jonah and Sam needed no help, and all three boys loved the experience. Sam had a snorkel mask with him and kept his face down in the water as he rode the flood tide. This was his very first drift dive and he loved it. After an hour of riding the tide, we forged our way inland to play in the marsh. Here there were a couple of additional firsts. Jonah, who is always very tentative around water, decided he should jump off the bank and do cannonballs into the water. He had a ball. Sam decided he should do back flips in the water. He was successful at this which was another first. And he spent more time underwater checking out the bottom than he did above water. He has become a free diver. Then there was Ollie who is convinced he can swim in water over his head, but who cannot really swim. But he braved the deeper water without any buoyancy support and held his own. I was always right there, but I never needed to rescue him. All three boys are making all kinds of strides toward becoming self-sufficient swimmers.
When we got out of the water to eat lunch there were hungry horse flies biting at our legs. So we left Wood Neck and went to the hill overlooking Water Street in Woods Hole to have lunch. This hillside is right between the building where Jed works and the one where Heather works, so the boys have been here many times for lunch and play. We ate lunch, walked Sam to the School of Science, and then took off for home. Sam had one more first after his class. Heather had an on-air interview and couldn’t be there to pick him up. So on the way to class, we rehearsed his solo walk back to Heather’s office. He has done it so many times with someone, that it was no big deal for him, but it was another first. Mark and I told him that when we were his age, we both walked a mile to and from school each day with no adult chaperone. He wanted to know why kids can’t do that today. I decided that explaining to him that today’s world is more complicated for kids than it was back in the 40’s and 50’s would not make sense to him, so I more or less avoided the question. But it is true that kids today have much less freedom of movement than we did when we were kids. Thankfully, Woods Hole is still one of the safe places in the world.
by Judy Handley | Jul 14, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 |
Day 277, Year 10: Unexpected Morning Rain
Date: Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Weather: Mostly Cloudy with Morning Rain; Temp in the 80’s F
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA
Heather took Sam, Jonah, and Ollie to a special event at the Woods Hole Daycare Cooperative this morning, so I was free to walk with my friend Jane Woodin for the first time in weeks. I checked the weather last night and it looked clear for this morning, so we met at 8:30 am and started walking. Soon we felt sprinkles and by the time we got back to the cars just before 10 am, it was pouring. So much for weather forecasts. But despite the rain we had a great walk. Thank you, Jane, for being a force to get me out there walking!
As soon as the walk ended, I needed to get into high gear. I drove back to Quissett and rowed out to get Mark in the pouring rain. Actually, just before he got in the dinghy, it let up a bit, but by this time I was soaking wet. I had a 10:30 am physical therapy appointment and no time to change except for a quick shirt change in the hospital restroom. This was my last appointment and my trainer, Bronwyn, was delighted to hear that I had just walked for an hour and a half. So she didn’t mind that I smelled like a wet puppy! Mark went to pick up the boys so Heather could go to work. They all then came to pick me up and we went to Heather and Jed’s for a lunch break. Then it was on to Woods Hole to drop Sam off at the School of Science. After dropping Sam off, we drove around a bit to let Ollie get to sleep for his nap, and then we stopped at the Buzzards Bay Coalition to sign up for a beach activity tomorrow. They were having a touch tank feeding when Mark went in, so Jonah joined him while Ollie slept in the car. Jonah got to hold a sea star upside down while it was being fed. And he was fascinated with a sea star that extended its stomach to absorb the food that was being squirted from the tube. Then he got to squirt the tube food to feed the crabs. He was feeling quite proud of himself when he and Granddad returned to the car. Then it was on to the public library to participate in a program presented by the Wampanoag Nation Singers and Dancers. The Wampanoag people were long established in this area when the first Europeans arrived and they are still a strong force here today. Wampanoag means People of the First Light and this afternoon they performed and invited all in attendance to join them. Ollie was reluctant, but I was really proud of Jonah who jumped right up and joined them in their first dance. Near the end of the program, Heather arrived with Sam, and I was glad that he got to experience some of the music and dancing. The Goldpebbles are lucky little guys to live in an area so rich in history and natural resources, and with organizations that share this with children during the summer months. It takes a bit of research to find everything, but it is almost like you can’t turn around without bumping into another activity. So, as it seems to be with our lives these days, as soon as once experience is ended, it is on to the next. After the library program, Heather took Mark to his PT appointment on her way home and I took Sam, Jonah, and Ollie to Walmart on a shopping spree. They all had money that was burning holes in their pockets, so we worked on solving that problem. They were really wonderful little shoppers and all walked away with a new treasure that made them very happy.
by Judy Handley | Jul 13, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 |
Day 276, Year 10: Sand and Mud Mania
Date: Monday, July 13, 2015
Weather: Hazy Sky, Intense Sun; Temp in the 80’s F
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA
At the end of today, I am just amazed at the energy level of three little boys. Sam, Jonah, and Ollie were in full gear at the beach this morning and were plastered with sand. They then ended their day by painting themselves in mud in the backyard. Their Grammie Goldstone spread new topsoil in their digging area last week and today they decided they should wear it! As Heather said on Facebook, there are no words to describe this. It can only be appreciated by seeing a photo.
We ended up at a beach on Surf Drive this morning. We were headed to Stony Beach in Woods Hole, which the boys love, but after we dropped Granddad off at West Marine, we drove down to Surf Drive and all three of them yelled at once, “Let’s stop here.” So we did. The tide was going out and the water near the jetty was very shallow. Jonah took advantage of this to try and stand up like surfer on his boogie board. Then, of course, Ollie had to try the same thing. Jonah would run and jump on his board, but Ollie chose to get on the board on all fours and then stand up. The conditions were perfect and they both were able to stand up on their boards in the shallow water and declare themselves surfers. Then Ollie decided he needed to go swimming in water over his head. He doesn’t really swim, but you can’t tell him that. He was determined, as long as Oma was right beside him. Sam spent his time in deeper water on his boogie board and then after an hour or so, they all came back to the shallow area to build a sand castle. Building a sand castle, the Goldpebbles way, simply means piling sand as high as you can, as fast as you can. So the three of them were literally running in circles, going higher on the beach to shovel up some dry sand, and then running back to the shallow water to dump it. I really should have gotten a video of this circle running, but I was laughing too hard watching the show. But I did get a few photos of them playing in the sand.
At the end of the afternoon, I returned to Quissett to get the Yamaha 15 hp dinghy motor to take it back to The Boat Guy for further repairs. The thing weighs a ton and I had to recruit help to get it off the dinghy and into the back of the car. It only runs at full throttle and not even that once you put it in gear. So we have to determine if it will ever run right again. If not, we need to file an insurance claim to get a replacement. We would much rather keep the engine we have, just not in its current condition. In addition to dinghy problems, we also have a car issue. None of the tires on our Honda Fit will stay fully inflated. This has been an issue ever since we bought the car, but it is getting worse. Finding the time to take the car in to have the tires checked is easier said and done. But we are sick of pumping quarters into the air pumps at gas stations. We’ll call tomorrow to make an appointment and then find a way to get the car to Hyannis. Then there is the issue that the boat needs to be hauled to get an estimate on repairing the bottom. I’m obviously seeing the glass half empty, so enough said for now.
by Judy Handley | Jul 12, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 |
Day 275, Year 10: Sunny Sunday
Date: Sunday, July 12, 2015
Weather: Another Beautiful, Sunny Day; Temp in the 80’s F
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA
We are having a spell of sunny, very warm weather. Last week it was a bit humid, but the weather this weekend has been fantastic. So we had a sunny Sunday. Mark worked at West Marine today and I took the day off. I did food shopping, a little food preparation for the week, and not much else. Nice.
We are still dealing with the aftermath of ‘the big blow’. We got our dinghy motor back and now have it on the dinghy, but it is not running right. Jed got it to run yesterday, but today it sounds just awful. It will start, but as soon as you put into gear, it dies. We’ll call The Boat Guy tomorrow and see what he has to say, but Mark is thinking we are going to have to buy a new engine. We are also looking for yards that might be able to do the fiberglass repairs on the bottom of Windbird. Right now the best option looks to be a yard in the Falmouth Harbor, but they can’t do the work until September. They would have us bring the boat in next week to haul and assess the damages and then haul it again in September at no additional charge. Actually, that timing is perfect for us, but Mark will continue searching this week just to see if there are other options.
