by Judy Handley | Aug 3, 2013 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 273, Year 8: Storage Decision
Date: Saturday, August 3, 2013
Weather: Morning and Early Afternoon Rain, Clearing Late Afternoon
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
A decision was made today solving our dilemma as to what to do about our storage unit . . . at least for now. We went to a local self-storage place that we found online last night and rented a 10 by 15 foot unit. It is only a couple of miles from Heather and Jed’s and is right beside the highway. In fact, it is next door to the hardware store we often visit, so it is most convenient. We unloaded the few boxes we brought from the Concord storage unit and will return to Concord tomorrow for more. This unit is slightly smaller than our current one, so we still need to get rid of a few things. But that we know is doable. Since we have already spent a small fortune to keep the things that are in storage for the past ten years, what’s another five years or so? At least this unit is close-by and it is cheaper than what we currently have. Of course, this means we have to rent a U-Haul to get all of our things down here, but I think we will be much happier with the situation once this is done.
Mark went to work at West Marine in the afternoon and I spent time at Heather and Jed’s clearing our stuff out of their basement. They are in Maine, but when they return I know they will be so happy to have their space back. They have generously shared what little storage space they have for the past few years. Now maybe we can repay them by having a bit of space in the storage unit for them to store some of their things.
Tomorrow is a busy day for us. We’ll get up and head to Heather and Jed’s to leave the grandkid car seats in their garage giving us more space for things from storage. If it’s not raining, I’ll also pick green beans. I wanted to do this today, but it rained into the afternoon and the plants were wet. Picking beans when the plants are wet or before the early morning dew has dried is a no-no as it causes the spread of bacterial bean blight. Once that is done, we will head to Concord to the storage unit. We will spend time there making more decisions about what can be trashed and what must be kept. Then we will drive another hour to the coast to visit with friends. On Monday, we will go further north to Kennebunkport, Maine, to visit with my sister-in-law Sue and her husband Brad, and then on Tuesday morning we will return to Concord, take things that we have decided to trash to the local dump, then return to pack the car with as much stuff as possible and return to the Cape. Sometime in the next couple of weeks, we will rent a U-Haul and go get the rest of the stuff. It feels good to have made the decision, but it will feel better once all the work of moving things is done. And it also feels good to put off the inevitable purging of everything. There are just too many memories in all of those boxes. It is true that we haven’t needed most of the stuff in storage for ten years, but then we haven’t lived on land in ten years. It is when and if we do return to a land-based life that we will need the things in storage.
by Judy Handley | Aug 2, 2013 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 272, Year 8: On the Road ALL Day Long
Date: Friday, August 2, 2013
Weather: Early Morning Rain, Then Mostly Sunny, Temp in the Low 70’s
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
We left Woods Hole at 8:30 am in the rain headed for Boston and returned as the sun set at 8:30 pm. When we left we expected to be home by early afternoon, but a very last minute decision to go to Concord, New Hampshire, to assess our storage unit situation changed that timing. It was a long day of fighting Friday traffic, but we accomplished a lot. The initial reason for our trek north was to see our friends Tom and Detta Porat as they waited for their son Matthew to come to the Recovery Room after gall bladder surgery at Mass General Hospital. We didn’t have a lot of time to visit as the surgery went smoothly and quickly, but that’s a very good thing. We can visit later. We were just so glad to see Tom and Detta and to be able to give them hugs in person. And if things go as planned we will see them again on Sunday when Matthew is back home in Greenland, New Hampshire. I just got word that Matthew was not released from the hospital this afternoon as he has been nauseous, but hopefully he will feel better by morning and can go home then.
Here’s the long, sad story of our storage unit in Concord. Mostly, it is expensive when there is very little in it of real value. But letting go of all of those ‘things’ is most difficult (that’s the sad part). In 2003, when we made the decision to move from a house on land to the boat, I just was not ready to let go of everything. I am a keeper. I have all of the art projects Heather and Justin have ever done, all of the science projects, their toys and books, and that is just the beginning. There is furniture, kitchen ware, boat parts, Windbird’s old sails, books, books, and more books, clothes and more clothes, family antiques, and even walnut boards we had cut from trees on our land in West Virginia in 1979. The unit is 10 by 20 feet and it is packed. And it is a three-hour drive to get to it. There are days when we think we should just have a dumpster delivered and throw everything into it. The problem is that it would take more than one dumpster and that wouldn’t deal with the furniture. On other days, like today, we think we might be able to pare down and move the essentials to a storage unit here on the Cape. That would be convenient, but it would be even more expensive. So what to do? We should have gotten rid of everything to begin with. We would be $15,000 richer and we would not be dealing with this now. We will return to Concord on Sunday and make another attempt to sort things out. Wish us luck, or better yet, send us suggestions as to what we should do. We need help!
by Judy Handley | Aug 1, 2013 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 271, Year 8: A Day with Sam, Jonah, and Ollie
Date: Thursday, August 1, 2013
Weather: Mostly Sunny; Windy with Temps Cooling Down in the Afternoon
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
I spent my day with Sam, Jonah, and Ollie. Mark was with us for the early morning before he went to work at West Marine, and then I was on my own. The boys behaved beautifully, or at least as well as you would expect boys to behave. We started our day at the pond at Goodwill Park for swim lessons, played on the beach and in the water, and then went to the park playground. All three boys loved their time on the playground. We were the only people there which made it extra special. Ollie is still not feeling 100%, but he played hard this morning and spent a lot of time giggling. So I’m hoping he is on the road to recovery. He is still wheezy and needs the nebulizer every 4-5 hours, but he is hanging in there.
Heather, Jed, and boys are going to Maine tomorrow to spend a few days with Jed’s parents. Normally Jed’s parents would be in Maine for the whole summer, but Jed’s dad, Donald, is battling cancer and needs to be at home in Washington, DC, for medical care. So they are just in Maine for a couple of weeks and Heather and Jed want the boys to have time to visit with Papa. They love Maine and they love being with Papa and Grammy, so I know they will have a great extended weekend there. They will be home mid-week and then we will get back to Camp Oma.
by Judy Handley | Jul 31, 2013 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 270, Year 8: All About Ollie
Date: Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Warm
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Today was all about Ollie. He had cold-like symptoms yesterday, but he had trouble breathing during the night and didn’t get much sleep. Even using an inhaler, his breathing was still labored. Heather needed to take him to the doctor, so Mark and I met Heather and Jed at Goodwill Park to be with Sam and Jonah for the morning. Ollie’s appointment wasn’t until 10:30 am, so Heather and Ollie hung out with us on the beach for a bit and Ollie seemed somewhat better. But the doctor thought he had pneumonia and sent him to the hospital for x-rays. Mark and I took Sam and Jonah home for lunch and sometime later, Heather and Ollie got home. Ollie was obviously not his easy-going self and became more listless, and the wheezing became more pronounced, as the afternoon progressed. It was obvious that he was just not getting enough oxygen. The doctor called to let Heather know that he does not have pneumonia, so that is good, but he obviously has asthma symptoms. So the doctor prescribed a steroid for the next five days. We couldn’t believe the transformation. Ollie went from listless baby to crazy child after taking the Prednisone. Ollie won’t be going to daycare tomorrow, so Camp Oma plans have been adjusted to include him. We will have a ‘free and easy’ day.
by Judy Handley | Jul 30, 2013 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 269, Year 8: Happy First Birthday, Coco Annabelle
Date: Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Warm
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
One year ago our one and only granddaughter, Coco Annabelle, was born. Happy Birthday, Coco! Justin sent photos of her birthday party in England which can be seen here. It’s hard when families are so spread out and you can’t be there for such special events. But our best thoughts for a happy birthday were there in England for Coco.
I started the day at the Goodwill Park freshwater pond where I met Sam and Jonah for swim lessons. We then drove to another beach, Wood Neck, where we met Katie from the Buzzards Bay Discovery Center to explore the salt marsh. We were first sent out to find:
–1 thing that has (or had) at least 4 legs
–3 things that are green
–2 things that are or were alive
–1 thing that is smelly
We found a fiddler crab that had at least 4 legs (actually it was its front pincers on one side), green sea weed, rocks turned green with algae, lots of shells that once held live animals, hermit crabs, and smelly marsh mud. Then we were challenged to build a habitat for at least one live critter that had been found. That was the favorite part for the boys. Sam and Jonah loved the challenges and really enjoyed seeing friends who had come for the activity. But after Wood Neck, we had a change of plans.
Oliver was home sick today with a bad cold. He seemed fine when he left the boat yesterday, but something put him into a tailspin. So that slightly changed our plans for today. Ollie could not go to his daycare, so Sam, Jonah, and I left Wood Neck and drove to Woods Hole to pick up Granddad. We went to Heather’s to take care of Ollie, as well as Sam and Jonah. Mark drove Heather to Woods Hole to work, did a little shopping in downtown Falmouth, and returned to take Sam and Jonah to a pirate show at the public library while I stayed home with Ollie. Pirate Captain Robbie Bones called on Sam to help him with one of his pirate magic tricks and that made Sam’s day. Jonah loved the pirate magic, especially when it produced a live rabbit. It was a fun day for all.
by Judy Handley | Jul 29, 2013 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 268, Year 8: Back Home in Eel Pond
Date: Monday, July 29, 2013
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Warm
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Windbird reentered Eel Pond at the 9:30 am bridge opening this morning. It is a very short distance from Hadley Harbor to Woods Hole, but in order to get here safely it is best to come through the cut between Buzzards Bay (Hadley Harbor side) and Woods Hole (Vineyard Sound side) at slack tide. When the tide is running full tilt it is a wicked little cut with little room for error. Every year boats go on the rocks and we don’t want to be one of those. In fact, this morning as we got to the Woods Hole side, we saw a mega yacht surrounded by Tow Boat US and Sea Tow boats, and even a Coast Guard boat. The crew must have misread the markings and went right on the rocks and they were obviously stuck there and waiting for higher tide. But we made it safely—always thankful. I went to the beach with Heather and all three boys, Jed went to work, and Mark stayed onboard and worked on the internet and on the phone. He’s working on a project funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting which entails talking to radio stations all across the country. This, along with his West Marine job, should keep him quite busy for the next few weeks. Luckily for him, his work at West Marine had been reduced for a couple of weeks, but as soon as the temporary summer staff leaves at the end of August, his hours will increase again. And then in October, we will be leaving here and we will asking, “Where has the summer gone?”
Note: I totally forgot to mention that last night and this morning Sam and Jonah fished off the boat. They didn’t catch anything, but nevertheless, this was the highlight of the weekend for them. They REALLY want to catch a fish, so we are going to have to arrange a real fishing expedition sometime this summer.
