2023 Life Logs, Day 323: Laid Back Day at Finca Maravilla
Date: Sunday, November 19, 2023
Weather: Overcast and Windy; High 86 Low 80 F; Sunset 4:20 pm (-1 min, Cape Cod)
Location: At Home with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco at Finca Maravilla

Yesterday’s nice weather and day of no nerve pain in my hips were gone today, but we still had a relaxing day together here at Finca Maravilla. Honestly, this is the most painful day I have ever experienced with the nerve pain from my herniated disks. I often have issues early in the morning, but today the pain persisted all day. I guess the warm weather was not the solution to my problem. I can only hope that I wake up in the morning and things are back to ‘normal’. The weather is also not cooperating. It was totally overcast all day today and rain is forecast for tomorrow, followed by another day like today on Tuesday. But Wednesday and Thursday look good.

Coco and I experimented with making cinnamon buns today. I’ve never made them before, but we followed the recipe and things turned out great. Today we made cinnamon buns with wheat flour, and now we want to make grain-free cinnamon buns that Jo can eat. Since I had not made these before, I had no idea you cut each bun out of a roll with dental floss. Coco was great at doing this.

Ziggy and Justin took the horses up to the road to ride mid-afternoon while Jo roasted a chicken for dinner. I read away much of the afternoon after helping Coco with the cinnamon buns. After dinner, I asked the kids if they would be interested in watching my Voyage of Windbird presentation, They were, so that is how we spent our evening.

2023 Life Logs, Day 322: Warm, Wonderful, Windy Puerto Rico
Date: Saturday, November 18, 2023This
Weather: Hot and Windy; High 88, Low 80 F; Sunset 4:21 pm (-1 min, Cape Cod)
Location: At Home with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco at Finca Maravilla

Heather sent me a photo of Ollie at the Harvard-Yale football game today and he looked like he was freezing. She said she hoped I was enjoying the sunshine. And I certainly am. I got up before anyone else this morning and went outside to read in the sunshine. It was wonderful. When everyone else got up, I watched as Justin and Ziggy fed some of the animals–Hopi, their female pony, Cacique, their new male horse, Pog (originally named rabbit) their not so mini pig. And last night when I arrived, I met Gilbert, Ziggy’s goldfish, in his new tank with black sand on the bottom. Really beautiful. Next, we went down to the plaza in Rincon and had breakfast and then on to Marina Beach. None of us could believe how big the waves were. It was high tide, and the waves were rushing onto the beach. In fact, there was no beach, and no one was in the water. It was really windy and rough. Justin wanted to go out to get a mooring ball that had broken loose, but Coco said absolutely not. No one was going in the water today. We then drove to Steps Beach to check out the waves and it was even wilder. The waves were huge and the tops of the waves were being blown off by the wind. Again, no one was in the water, but other people had come to see the sight. By this time, however, the kids just wanted to go home, but I wanted to go a little further to Domes Beach to see if there were any surfers. We went and there were not. We were up high at the light house, so looking down on the waves, they didn’t look so bad. But Justin assured me they were.

We drove Jo and the kids home, and then Justin and I went grocery shopping. Not exciting, but necessary. Jo stayed home to clean out the refrigerator to make room for all the food. We are trying to buy what we will need for our Thanksgiving feast, so the refrig is going to be packed for a few days. When we got home, I joined Jo and Coco in the above ground pool. Jo was cleaning out some of the leaves that had fallen today due to the wind. As we were relaxing in the pool, we heard a loud noise and saw a tree falling across the property. Justin checked it out and it was the top of a huge African Tulip tree, not the whole tree. But it sure fell with bang. Since I was here last Thanksgiving, there has been so much growth that Finca Maravilla looks quite different, even more like a tropical paradise. There is so much green that losing the top of an unwanted, invasive tree is no big deal. Just glad it didn’t cause any damage.

I am writing this early as we are going to Cowboys for dinner tonight. We didn’t want to spoil what has felt like a true vacation day with cooking! And I have no idea why, but my back has not been a problem today. Warm weather??? The coquis have started their evening song and, even though it is dark, Justin is outside putting branches through the wood chipper. Interesting combination of sounds.

2023 Life Logs, Day 321: Boston to San Juan to Rincon, Puerto Rico
Date: Friday, November 17, 2023
Weather: Hot; High 82 F on arrival in San Juan; Sunset 4:23 pm (-0 min Cape Cod)
Location: At Home with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco at Finca Maravilla

I made it! It is wonderful to be here with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco. And as I write this, I am listening to one of my favorite bedtime ‘songs’. The little frogs here are coqui and they make a wonderful sound, repeating their name over and over. Coqui, coqui, coqui (pronounced co-key).

On Wednesday I wrote that I would be ready to leave on Friday morning, one way or the other. And I barely made it. Getting the house ready to leave for house guests and packing yesterday challenged my back issues to the point that I finally had to just go to bed and get up at 6 am to finish up. Shadow knew something was up when we slept in the living room last night instead of in the bedroom. This morning, he didn’t want to get up and he didn’t eat. And I heard from Brian and Nadia that he didn’t touch his dinner. I am sure he will be fine and will eat sometime tomorrow. But I worry.

I left home barely in time to drive to the Sagamore Park and Ride to catch the 8:35 bus to Logan Airport, but I ran into two traffic back ups and didn’t arrive until 8:36. As I turned into the parking lot, the bus was leaving, so I turned around and raced the bus to Plymouth to get on there. I passed the bus and got to the Plymouth Park and Ride with about 2 minutes to spare. Finally, I was on the bus and could relax. I arrived at the airport two hours before my 12:15 pm flight and it was smooth ‘sailing’ from there. The plane loaded a few minutes late, but we took off on time. When the pilot announced that the temperature in San Juan was 88 degrees, I almost stood up and cheered. The fall weather on Cape Cod has been wonderful, but I love hot. And I love visiting with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco. So, as I got off the plane, I was happy, happy.

Justin met me at the airport in San Juan. It was so good to see him! We decided to delay leaving San Juan until after rush hour, so we went to Costco to buy a few things and then went to a nearby sushi restaurant to have dinner. When we arrived home at Finca Maravilla it was almost 11 pm, but the coquis welcomed me with their song and Ziggy, Coco, and Jo welcomed me with hugs. We stayed up too late catching up on life, so I don’t think we will have any early risers in the morning. It is so good to be here, worth every minute of the getting ready agony.

2023 Life Logs, Day 320: Getting Ready to Head to Puerto Rico
Date: Thursday, November 16, 2023
Weather: Still Sunny and Warm; High 60 Low 36 degrees F; Sunset 4:24 pm (-1 min)
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

Today was a bit of shocker for me. For whatever reason, the pain from my back issues ruled the day. Getting the house ready for Brian and Nadia, plus packing, plus finishing up some Encore business was overwhelming. I started with the Encore business and got that done. Then I moved clothes in my closet to make room for guests to hang things. Just that little bit of work was more than my back could handle, so I had to sit and rest a bit. Then I took the bedspread, the comforter, and sheets off the bed. I managed to get the sheets in the washer, but then had to rest again. The bedspread and comforter are too big to wash at home, so they required a trip to the laundromat. Just carrying that much weight was also hard. And so it went all day and evening. I did a little work, rested, did a little more work, rested again, did some shopping and came home and rested. You get the idea. Everything took twice as long as it would have normally. I can’t wait to get the MRI on December 2nd to see what is causing all this pain. Whatever, it is just no fun. But I persisted and finally got packed when I got home from taking Ollie to tennis lessons. I will do the final house cleaning in the morning as I just can’t do it tonight. Hopefully, I will be out of here by 8 am tomorrow morning and at home at Finca Maravilla to sleep tomorrow night.

2023 Life Logs, Day 319: Encore General Meeting, Hosting Ollie for the Evening
Date: Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Weather: Sunny and Warmer; High 51 Low 45 degrees F; Sunset 4:23 pm (-1 min)
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

Busy day and so much more to do tomorrow to be ready to leave early on Friday morning for Puerto Rico. This morning was the November Encore General Meeting that I led, and that took the entire morning. Afterwards, I picked up my ring that I had resized, and ran some errands. By the time I came home to eat lunch and walk and play with Shadow, it was time to go pick up Ollie for the evening. Jed left yesterday for a business trip to London and Heather needed to take Sam and Jonah to soccer practice in Hyannis tonight. They had to leave at 5 pm and didn’t return until almost 9 o’clock. So, Ollie and I had dinner and a movie night and had a great time. But the really good news was that Heather, Sam, and Jonah also had a great evening. Jonah had practice from 5:45 to 7:00, so Heather and Sam found a pizza place close to Barnstable High School that Sam absolutely loved. Then while Sam had practice from 7 to 8:15, Heather took Jonah to Five Guys for dinner and shopping at Trader Joe’s. And they all had fun.

Tomorrow I really do have to spend time getting packed and getting the house ready for house guests. Plus, I still have a few Encore bits of business to attend to. But I will be ready on Friday morning, one way or the other!

2023 Life Logs, Day 318: Book Club and Getting Ready for an Encore General Meeting
Date: Tuesday, November 14, 2023
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Chilly; High 48 Low 34 degrees F; Sunset 4:24 pm (-2 min)
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

This morning was book club morning. We read a book of short stories called “Your Duck is My Duck.” Great title, but none of were enthralled with the book. But we took the opportunity to get a photo with our two new members in front of Lynda Connoly’s fourteen ornamental ducks, one for each grandchild. Just couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

I spent most of the afternoon finishing the PowerPoint for tomorrow morning’s Encore meeting. I also needed to write the agenda. And that required communicating with a lot of people to let them know their role in tomorrow’s meeting. This is all for the business meeting preceding the speaker. It is a short period of time, and I was amazed that it took me so long to get the job done.

After the meeting tomorrow, I will turn my attention to getting ready to go to Puerto Rico. I am on grandkid duty tomorrow evening, but then I have all day Thursday to finish packing and getting the house ready for the house sitters. Hopefully that won’t take me as long as getting ready for a short meeting took!

2023 Life Logs, Day 317: Meeting with House-Dog Sitters
Date: Monday, November 13, 2021
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Still Chilly; High 44 Low 36 degrees F; Sunset 4:26 pm (-0 min)
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

This was one of those “a little bit of this, a little bit of that” days. My day started with the arrival of the tree cutting entourage, the workers and all of the big trucks and pieces of equipment. The property directly next door to me was the target today, but they needed to use my driveway. I had to have them move their trucks so I could get out of the driveway to go to a chiropractor appointment. And after the appointment, I did a little grocery shopping on the way home. Once home, I launched into making a huge pot of chicken magic mineral broth. I stopped making it a few months ago when I stopped eating chicken as part of my attempt to change to a plant-based diet. But, honestly, with this new bursitis thing, I need to be on an inflammatory diet. That means no beans. And no beans in my diet meant I was finding it too hard to be plant-based. So, I roasted a chicken yesterday and made broth today. I’ll get back to plant-based once I get this whole pain management situation under control.

At noon, Brian and Nadia, the couple who will house-dog sit for me while I am in Puerto Rico arrived to meet Shadow and the house. We spent over an hour together, and after they left, I thought of one thing after another that I didn’t tell them. Before I leave on Friday morning, I will try to write down the things I forgot. Brian and Nadia are a terrific couple. Nadia is from South Africa and Brian makes a living doing online work, much like Justin. They have lived all over the world, but they are here now to be close to Brian’s dad who has ALS. They are dog lovers, so I think Shadow will be a happy doggy. In getting ready for their arrival at noon, I did a little getting ready to travel to Puerto Rico. Thursday will be packing day, but I did get started this morning.

After Brian and Nadia left, I sent a text to Sam to see if he could come over after school to help me move some things around. I needed to get the big crate out of the basement and put it in the living room in case Brian and Nadia need it for Shadow while I am gone. Sam also helped put more outdoor furniture in the basement and he helped me get my grill up and running again. Thank you, Sam. I also did a little Encore communication that had to be done today. I didn’t get everything done, so that will be first on the agenda tomorrow morning.

We had another frost overnight. The first one killed only the most sensitive plants. This one did in the basil. But somehow the tomato plants are still surviving. Regardless, it is time to put the garden “to bed” for the winter. Maybe I’ll get that done before I leave on Friday, but more likely, I will work on that the week after Thanksgiving after I return from Puerto Rico.

2023 Life Logs, Day 316: Living with Coyotes
Date: Sunday, November 12, 2021
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Colder; High 44 Low 30 degrees F; Sunset 4:26 pm (-1 min)
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

Just last week I was saying to a friend that I don’t have coyotes in my new neighborhood. But then a couple of mornings ago, I saw one walking down a nearby street while I was out walking with Shadow. Then today I looked out my living room window, and there was a big, beautiful coyote, or maybe a coywolf, staring back at me. I watched as he ate the ‘apples’ that fall from the Kousa dogwood trees in the yard. He obviously saw me watching him, but he just kept eating. I banged on the window, but he didn’t budge. So, I went outside to try and shoo him away. He was unfazed. I persisted and he finally sauntered down the driveway and out into the street. Shadow was barking this whole time, and he didn’t stop even when the critter walked away. I am going to have to keep a close eye on Shadow as I know he would want to play. I’m not sure the coyote would feel the same!

I took Sam and his friend Sebbie to ACI spring soccer tryouts this afternoon. They both played for Falmouth High School this fall, but there is no high school soccer in the spring, thus Atheletic Club Independence (ACI) league soccer. Jonah’s tryouts were earlier, so Jed took him. Last year the tryouts and practices were in Harwich, but today’s tryouts and the practices in the next few weeks are much closer, at Cape Cod Academy in Osterville. It is only half the distance, so that is good.

Otherwise, it was a slow Sunday. I needed to get a PowerPoint presentation completed for Wednesday’s Encore meeting, as well as sending out the agenda. I got started but didn’t get the jobs done. Tomorrow . . .

2023 Life Logs, Day 315: Veteran’s Day Parade, Family Fun in Hyannis
Date: Saturday, November 11, 2021
Weather: Sunny; High 12 Low 32 degrees F; Sunset 4:27 pm (-2 min)
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

The weather today was perfect for the annual Veteran’s Day Parade. The huge American flag flew from a crane high above, waving wildly in the wind with a perfectly blue sky in the background. It was cool, but not cold, so Sam, Jonah, Ollie, and Jed marched with the Scouts without jackets. This year it was Ollie’s turn to be a flag holder in the Color Guard and he held that flag proudly. Heather, Jed’s mother Marti, and Jed’s brother Toby were in the audience with me. At the end of the ceremony, Ollie and the other Scouts that were part of the Color Guard marched out while a member of the Brian Boru Pipe Band played his bagpipe.

It brought tears to my eyes.

Marti, Toby, and Heather came to my house with me to see my new abode before heading home for lunch. We then reconvened at 4 pm and drove to Hyannis for a fun family evening. Axe throwing was first on the list. It didn’t sound like fun to me, but I tried it and really enjoyed it. It took Marti and I more than a few tries to catch on, but near the end of our hour, we both hit the bull’s eye.

Everyone had a good time.

Then we headed to the Brazilian Grille for dinner. It was my first trip there and it was a great place for a family dinner. There is an all you can eat buffet with an overwhelming number of options. After filling your plate, you sit down, and the meat starts coming around. Again, the choices were many and all grilled to perfection and delicious. Then there is dessert to top off the evening. All delicious.

2023 Life Logs, Day 314: A Day All About Trees and Plants
Date: Friday, November 10, 2021
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 52 Low 42 degrees F; Sunset 4:29 pm (-0 min)
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

By 8 am this morning, there was a big wood chipper truck in my driveway whirring away and at lease four chain saws buzzing. The noise was overwhelming, and it continued all morning. Cape Home Tree Service was seriously at work, cutting and trimming trees in my backyard and the adjoining property and cutting up the logs from the trees they cut yesterday. Watching these guys standing high in treetops using a chain saw is horrifying, but they are belayed with a series of ropes. So, supposedly, it is not dangerous. It just didn’t look that way to me. The tops of trees and branches were carried to the driveway to be ‘eaten’ by the chipper, and a little later the chipper was replaced by a huge truck that was loaded with the big logs by a another piece of equipment like a back hoe. But instead of a bucket it had huge jaws that picked up the logs and put them in the back of the big truck.

At 11 am I was in the living room on my computer and suddenly I stopped because it was quiet. The guys were taking a break, but the silence was overwhelming. I had invited Ollie over to watch the process, but he and Jed didn’t arrive until the 11 am silent period. Jed dropped Ollie and his little John Deere tractor off and Ollie spent the next three hours watching the process while working for Lynda. He hauled wood chips from a huge pile to garden areas and spread them in the parking area. He is a good little worker and it was so cute to see him on his little tractor alongside the guys in the big equipment.

By 2:30 pm, I took Ollie and his tractor home and went with Karen Baranowski to tour the gardens of friend Kate Eldred. This was my second tour in two weeks, but those two visits have given me a great introduction to garden plants. When I got home and headed into my house, my attention was drawn to my glass-topped outdoor table in the front yard. The sun was beginning to set and it looked like there was puddle of water under the table. Upon closer examination, I realized that the glass top had shattered and fallen to the ground. Lynda appeared to explain that while I was gone, the tree people had brought in stump grinder to remove the stumps of the two holly trees that were taken out. Lynda was standing by the table when suddenly the glass shattered. She believes it had to be the vibration of the machine. The tree people said they would clean up the glass tomorrow, but I am not sure if they will replace the glass. The table and chairs were given to me by the Woodins and I love it. I was very sad to lose it. But other than that one incident, the tree removals went smoothly. It is going to take me a while to get used to the new landscape. I miss those trees.