2022 Life Logs, Day 208: Beautiful Summer Day
Date: Wednesday, July 27, 2022
Weather: Sunny; High 83, Low 68 degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

It was a beautiful summer day—sunny, but not too hot. I picked Sam up after rowing this morning and hurried him home so he could get to work by 10 am. Then Jonah and Ollie came home with me and spent their afternoon kayaking and jumping in the water from the Maui mat. Ollie decided to try kayaking while standing up. Must be time for a paddle board.

2022 Life Logs, Day 207: Afternoon Sail on L ‘Escargot
Date: Tuesday, July 26, 2022
Weather: Partly Cloudy, Cooler, Afternoon Wind; High 83, Low 60 degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

After days of having the window fans running constantly to fight the heat and humidity, I just now had to turn off the fan because I felt chilly. Yes, chilly at 74 degrees F. But with the fan off, I am fine.

Around noon I went to Heather and Jed’s to see what the boys would like to do this afternoon. As I got out of the car, near-by neighbor, Sam Patterson, walked by with his little dog, Wickett. Sam is the sailing partner of Bruce and Jane Woodin on their sailboat L’ Escargot and Sam was looking for crew to go out with him this afternoon. He asked if I would like to go and invited the Goldpebbles. I went inside to check and emerged with only Ollie. Sam doesn’t work on Tuesdays, but he had rowed for two hours early in the morning and then done some vigorous cycling, so he wanted to do nothing. Jonah just wanted to veg out, but Ollie was excited to go sailing. So off we went. Ollie has not really sailed except in his Opti since he was three years old as far as I know, but he seemed to know just what to do. He stayed on the dock to release the lines and then jumped aboard like a pro. He watched Sam as we motored out of the harbor, listened carefully to Sam’s description of the best way to navigate with shallow areas on either side of us, keeping the red buoys to port (left) on our way out. It was blowing hard and was a little rough outside, but Ollie didn’t even blink. His job was to hold Wickett on our way out to Cleveland Light and then Sam let Ollie take the tiller all the way home. He is a steady helmsman and did a great job. It was a fun afternoon. So, thanks, Sam Patterson, for the invitation. Ollie and I had a great time.

2022 Life Logs, Day 206: Happy 85th Birthday to Friend Olivia White
Date: Monday, July 25, 2022
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Windy, Hot and Humid; High 81, Low 66 degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Tonight, was the monthly gathering of my dining-in group and we celebrated (one day early) the 85th birthday of one of our members, Olivia White. Olivia is a good friend and an amazing person. Her role as a community leader is invaluable to all of us, and it so special to have her as a personal friend. Happy birthday, Olivia!

Dinner tonight was great—all vegetarian!!! Thank you, Karen and Peter Baranowski. Dinner started with a tomato, cucumber, and watermelon gazpacho topped with Rose of Sharon blossoms, followed by stuffed zucchini, sautéed mushrooms, and corn on the cob, and ended with a chocolate birthday cake for Olivia.

This morning Sam returned from Martha’s Vineyard with a big bag of quahog clams. Then this afternoon Heather, Jed, and Ollie returned from Maine. Ollie enjoyed his weekend working on getting Eider ready to sail south. Next week, Sam and Jonah will be in Scout Camp. Ollie has another pottery camp, but I think he is going to take a rain check and go with Heather and Jed to sail Eider from Brooklin, Maine to Boothbay. I don’t think I will get to ‘meet’ Eider until they sail her down her the following week. Can’t wait.

2022 Life Logs, Day 205: Day of Rest After Saying Farewell to Lynne
Date: Sunday, July 24, 2022
Weather: Still Sunny, Still Hot; High 88, Low 75 degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Bruce and Jane Woodin invited Lynne and I over for coffee this morning. I took Shadow and he loved sitting on Bruce’s lap. Bruce and Jane are getting their house painted, and what is done so far looks great. We enjoyed the coffee and conversation on their deck, and then Lynne headed on to visit with a friend who lives north and west of Albany, New York. After feeding the cats and guinea pig at Heather and Jed’s, I headed home and basically enjoyed doing nothing for the remainder of the day. Shadow and I were lonely without Lynne and hope she will visit again before heading back to New Zealand in October. Heather and Jed will return from Maine tomorrow. I know they got a lot of boat cleaning done, but I will look forward to hearing more about Eider when they get home.

2022 Life Logs, Day 204: The Hot Days Continue
Date: Saturday, July 23, 2022
Weather: Sunny, Still Hot; High 92, Low 71 degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The hot weather continues. It was 92 F today but felt like 96 according to WeatherUnderground. One way or the other, it was hot. There was a breeze, however, so sitting in the shade in the breeze felt great. Lynne, Shadow, and I went for a 2.5 to 3 mile hike at Quashnet River this morning. I knew the path would be mostly shady, and it was, so not as hot as hiking in full sun. At one point there is path down to the river. We took it and Shadow enjoyed a cool drink from the river. There was not another soul out hiking, so Shadow got to run free. He loved it. We returned home for lunch and then went over to Olga’s to check on the tomatoes I planted there. I have totally ignored them for three weeks. They need more water and need to be weeded, but they are surviving. When we returned home, we went down by the dock to sit in the shade and breeze to read. And finally, we went to Heather and Jed’s to do a laundry, go to the grocery store, and get Sam off to Martha’s Vineyard to spend tomorrow and Monday with friend Robert. He worked until 5 pm and had to wait for folks who returned their bike rentals late. Then he had to have some work done on his bike. By the time he got home, we barely got to Woods Hole in time for the 6:30 pm ferry. It was a stretch, but we made it. Lynne and I then returned home with spanakopita and a Greek salad for dinner from a Limani, a local Greek restaurant. Tomorrow morning we go to have coffee with Bruce and Jane Woodin, then she is off to visit a friend in the lakes region in New York state. She is out on a walk in the dark with Shadow right now, so I am going to sign off so we can have our last ‘chat’ before she leaves tomorrow.

2022 Life Logs, Day 203: Fun with Lynne, Ollie, and Jonah
Date: Friday, July 22, 2022
Weather: Sunny, Still Hot; High 89, Low 70 degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

It was another fun day with Lynne, Ollie, and Jonah. Lynne and I started the day by taking Shadow on a walk at Quissett Harbor and out to The Knob. Beautiful. Then we drove to Woods Hole to hear Bruce Woodin playing with his music group, Noon Tunes. Jonah and Ollie had been hanging out at home during the morning, so we picked them up on our way home from Woods Hole. They decided it was time to launch the Maui pad, so they paddled it out to deeper water using the kayaks and jumped in and played in the water on this very hot afternoon. Lynne and I sat in the shade and read and watched them play. At 4:30, we drove a wet Ollie and Jonah to Menauhant Beach to meet Heather and Jed. Then Lynne and I went to Karen and Peter Baranowski’s for Happy Hour. Lynne had met Karen on a previous visit but had never met Peter. She thought she was a tall woman until she stood next to Peter!

2022 Life Logs, Day 202: Welcome to Eider
Date: Thursday, July 21, 2022
Weather: Partly Sunny, Still Hot; High 86, Low 65 degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Let there be light! As a follow-up to last night’s log that had to be sent today because there was no electricity and no internet, the electricity came back on at 3 am this morning.

There were two big announcements this week. Heather and Jed are now officially the owners of Eider, a 1983 Cape Dory 36 sailboat. They are going to Maine on Saturday to check on their newest acquisition. Sam will stay here with Lynne and me as he has to work. The other announcement is that Heather and Jed were finally able to order a new electric vehicle, a van. I think they have been on the waiting list for two years just to get the privilege of placing the order. Who knows when they will get it, but it is on the way at some point in the future. Congratulations to the Goldstones!

Jonah’s knee was better this morning, so I took him to his last day of soccer camp. Sam had a friend coming over for the afternoon, so I brought Ollie home with me as he wanted to do more kayaking. Today, he kayak chose to use the kayak that gave me so much trouble day before yesterday, letting Lynne and I have the easier to maneuver kayaks.

2022 Life Logs, Day 201: Mini-Golf on a Hot, Hot Afternoon
Date: Wednesday, July 20, 2022
Weather: Sunny and Hot; High 91, Low 72 degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Compared to much of the world, our day today was not super hot. But for Cape Cod, 91 degrees F that feels like 96 qualifies as hot. Yet there was a nice breeze off and on throughout the day and we didn’t feel the heat until the middle of the afternoon when we were playing mini-golf. Who goes to play mini-golf when it is that hot? Evidently not many people, as there were only two other families on the course. Despite the heat, Lynne, Jonah, Ollie, and I had a great time. Jonah should not have been with us. He should have been at soccer camp. But early this morning, Heather called to tell me that Jonah had fallen on his knee playing soccer yesterday. He didn’t think much about it, but this morning he had trouble walking downstairs and realized there was a problem. Heather decided he should not play today, so Lynne and I had Ollie and Jonah. Sam was working. After mini-golf, we made the requisite stop for ice cream.

Then I dropped Lynne home and took Ollie and Jonah home. Right now, I am sitting in the dark writing this log as the electricity went off about thirty minutes ago. One minute there was light; the next we were in total darkness. The outage map shows outages all over town, probably due to overload because of the heat. The notifications from the electric company say they expect the electricity back on by midnight. I’ll have to let you know about that in tomorrow night’s log.

2022 Life Logs, Day 200: Fun Kayaking and Sailing in the Eel River
Date: Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Weather: Sunny and Windy; High 84, Low 70 degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

After driving Shadow to the groomer and Jonah to Cape Cod Academy for day two of his soccer camp, I picked up Sam and Ollie and brought them home with me. Ollie and I wanted Sam’s help in figuring out how to attach the little sail I bought on one of the kayaks. That didn’t take long because Ollie was right. It was not a smart purchase. Sam immediately figured out how to attach it, but it just didn’t work. We abandoned that project and Sam decided to sail the Opti and Ollie decided to kayak along with him.

Then Lynne got in a kayak and before I knew it, they were all out of sight. I didn’t want to miss the fun, so I got the third kayak out, launched it, and got in. But before long, I realized why the boys have always said that kayak is hard to steer as it has a totally flat bottom. I would paddle a long and then a gust of wind would blow by and the kayak started to turn a circle no matter how hard I paddled. I still made progress and caught up with the gang just as they were turning around to come back. I paddled and twirled most of the way home and then Ollie decided I needed a tow. It was a good day to be out on the water.

After a late lunch, Ollie and I then left Lynne at home and spent the remainder of our afternoon in the car taking Sam home, driving to pick Shadow up from the groomer which is just before the Bourne Bridge, heading across to Osterville to pick up Jonah, and then driving home to get bathing suits and heading to Surf Drive to meet Heather for an end-of-the-day swim. It was 6 pm when I got home. Lynne, Shadow, and I took a short walk, and then it was time to fix dinner. Another fun summer day.

2022 Life Logs, Day 199: Lynne Arrived
Date: Monday, July 18, 2022
Weather: Cloudy and Humid with Some Sprinkles; High 81, Low 72 degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

My good friend Lynne Kirwin arrived this afternoon to spend a few days with me just as the humid weather arrived. I suppose we are having a heat wave, but no complaints, because it is not really hot . . . just a bit sticky. The boat closing did not happen today, maybe tomorrow. Ollie and I tried to figure out how to attach a sail I bought to one of the kayaks. In doing so, we discovered a porcupine living under the tarp where I store the kayaks. It was not going to leave, so we just had to work around the critter. We were not successful in attaching the sail and Ollie said, “Oma, I think this is the worst purchase you have ever made. It just doesn’t work.” I think he might be right, but we will give it another try. Lynne arrived just as Ollie and I were getting ready to have a late lunch, so we all ate together. Then Ollie and I drove to Cape Cod Academy to pick up Jonah at the end of his first day of soccer camp. Tomorrow is busy day of transporting Shadow to the groomer, taking Jonah to soccer camp, picking Sam up from rowing, and then coming home to spend some time with Lynne and Ollie before I have to head back to pick up Shadow and Jonah. But on Wednesday, Ollie and I have some plans for showing Lynne parts of Cape Cod that we love. Tonight, Lynne and I did a catch up on life and that will continue tomorrow. It has been almost three years since we have been together as Lynne’s 2019-2020 visit to New Zealand got extended by Covid restrictions. But she is here now, and it is just so much fun to be together again. Life is good.