2022 Life Logs, Day 108: Enjoying Life in Puerto Rico
Date: Monday, April 18, 2022
Weather: Hot with a Threat of Rain; High 87, Low 74 degrees F
Location: At Home in an Airbnb in Rincon, Puerto Rico

Day one of our family vacation in Puerto Rico was wonderful. Heather and I were the first ones up this morning and we made a run to the grocery store to get food for lunch, plus a few other necessities. Breakfast was taken care of by Justin and Ziggy. They arrived at our Airbnb with the ingredients for Ziggy to make pancake batter which Justin cooked on the griddle. Then we all walked to Marina Beach to snorkel. After snorkeling a bit, the kids decided they really wanted to rent a paddle board (they ended up renting two) and spent the next hour messing about on those boards.

Lunch was back at our BNB. While the adults fixed lunch, the grandkids played in the pool. We had not made plans for the afternoon as we wanted to let the kids decide what they would like to do. A decision was made that Justin, Jo, and I would take the kids to Finca Maravilla, the name of Justin and Jo’s two-acre homestead, to explore and just hang out. Heather and Jed stayed home and went to Steps Beach to check it out, while Justin introduced the Sam, Jonah, and Ollie to their horses, Hopi and Barnaby and let them each have a try at using a machete. Sam cut down some rogue almond trees while Jonah got to cut down the banana plant and Ollie got to chop the stalk of bananas from the tree. And Ollie got to feed Rabbit, the pet pig. Then the kids took off on a little exploration while I sat on the porch. So relaxing.

At the end of this perfect day, it was out to dinner at a new Thai outdoor eating venue. The service was extremely slow, but the food was absolutely delicious. And finally, it was back in the pool at the Airbnb. Tomorrow surfing and more snorkeling are on the agenda.

2022 Life Logs, Day 106: Fingers Crossed—Puerto Rico Tomorrow
Date: Saturday, April 16, 2022
Weather: Partly Cloudy and Windy; High 62, Low 42 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

It looks like the Goldstones and I are headed for Puerto Rico tomorrow morning. Everyone has tested negative for Covid, Heather just in the nick of time. None of us will be able to relax, however, until we are on the plane, and it is in the air. Heather is exhausted as she had to spend her entire afternoon totally repacking everything. Once the two big bags were packed, they were seriously overweight. So, she repacked everything in to four bags. It was cheaper to pay for four bags than two that were overweight. I delivered Shadow to Meghan and Sheri’s. Not everything got done, but it will still be here to do when we get home. I’ll head to Heather and Jed’s at 7 am and we will head to Boston from there. We take-off at 10:40, arrive in San Juan just after 3 pm, and then get in a rental van and head the two hours or so to Rincon on the western coast of Puerto Rico. Can’t wait to get there!

Tonight I watched another movie, the 2018 version of A Star is Born with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. What a powerful, powerful story of love and loss.

2022 Life Logs, Day 105: The Tide is Turning
Date: Friday, April 15, 2022
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Windy; High 63, Low 48 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The tide is turning. Heather’s Covid test this morning showed that she is just barely positive. If things continue moving at the current speed, tomorrow she will test negative. Yay! Yay! Yay! Heather, Jed, and the boys are so anxious to be together as a family again. Heather has been living, sleeping, and eating separately since she knew she was exposed to Covid. I don’t know what they decided about having a seder for Passover tonight. I usually join them, but if they did have the meal together, I thought they should have it together without anyone else involved. I stayed home and watched a movie. I watched CODA (stands for child of deaf adults) and absolutely loved it. What a beautiful story. If you haven’t seen it, you must.

I spent my morning and early afternoon with the Goldpebbles shopping for snorkel gear for our time in Puerto Rico and then came home and packed. We are flying on Frontier which means you have to pay for everything, even carry-ons. When we booked the trip, we decided to pay for only two large bags. Today I packed a carry-on with my things and delivered the bag to the Goldstones late this afternoon. When they are packing tomorrow, if there is room in the two big bags for my things, they can make the transfer. We are not taking a lot of clothes, but there are six of us. And the snorkel gear, especially the dive fins, takes up a huge amount of room. If everything doesn’t fit into the two bags, they will leave my stuff in the carry-on, and I will just pay extra for it.

So, I am packed, but not quite ready for take-off. I need to change the water in the aquarium, transplant some of the seedlings to larger containers, clean up the mess I made while packing today, get Shadow packed and delivered to Meghan and Sheri, and clean house if time permits. Things are falling into place and hopefully this family vacation is really going to happen.

2022 Life Logs, Day 104: Shadow to Groomer, Shopping, Laundromat, Sam to Rowing
Date: Thursday, April 14, 2022
Weather: Mix of Sun, Clouds, and Fog; High 59, Low 44 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I managed to spend my entire day in my car driving from one thing to another. It started when I took Shadow for his every six weeks’ grooming appointment. I dropped him off and then drove on to Boston on a scuba scouting trip. I wanted to check a couple of dive shops to see what they had in terms of snorkel masks, snorkels, and fins for the Goldpebbles. The places I checked out had almost nothing, but by the end of the day I did find two possibilities. I drove back to the Cape by way of Costco. I ran in quickly to see if they had gotten in swimwear, which they had not, stopped at a Petco to get food for Shadow as the pet stores here in Falmouth have not had a delivery of his new food for two weeks, stopped at a laundromat near Shadow’s groomer to do laundry and wait for Shadow to be done, and finally picked him up and headed home. I had five minutes to get him in the house and head back out to pick up Sam and take him to rowing. That is a four-hour commitment as he rows for two hours and it is a 40-minute drive to and from, plus the drive from my house to Heather and Jed’s. Whew! What a day.

At least I now know where to take the Goldpebbles tomorrow to get the scuba gear they need. I’ll do that in the morning and then come home and pack for Puerto Rico. At least that is the plan.

I was so sad to hear from my friend Detta that her son Matthew just tested positive for Covid. He lives and works in New York City and says cases are rising there, as they are here. Like Heather, he was exposed to Covid though a work-related activity. I hope Matthew is as lucky as Heather and has a mild case. I have a real soft spot in my heart for Matthew as he was one of my favorite students ever.

2022 Life Logs, Day 103: Book Club and Soccer Practice
Date: Wednesday, April 13, 2022
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Warm; High 63, Low 49 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Woohoo! Jed and the three Goldpebbles all tested negative for Covid today. I have not tested, but I have had no symptoms. We still have three days to go before flying to Puerto Rico, but so far, so good. Heather is still slightly congested but has no other symptoms. The scratchy throat is gone, and she says she feels fine. We are living day to day, but hoping we will be on that plane on Sunday morning bound for San Juan.

This morning my book club met once again on Zoom as a measure of Covid caution. Every member is gathering with family this weekend, so we decided to be extra cautious. Thankfully, our group has found meeting on Zoom almost the same as meeting in person. We do miss the face-to-face socialization, but the discussion of the books is just as effective on Zoom as in person. Today we discussed a book I had recommended, Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley, It is a ‘must read’ if you are interested in what it might be like to grow up in modern day America as the member of an indigenous community. The author is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa Indian tribe, an Ojibwe community in the upper peninsula of Michigan. This is the setting for the book. And she is the daughter of a tribal ‘firekeeper’, a person whose responsibility it is to keep the ceremonial fire burning during spiritual activities while providing cultural teachings through stories.

This evening I took Sam to his soccer practice which was at the Cape Cod Academy fields between here and Hyannis. I enjoyed watching his game on Sunday because the team seemed so upbeat and supportive of each other. I’ve watched a lot of grandson soccer games, but I had never seen camaraderie quite like I witnessed on Sunday. Then this evening when Sam got out of the car this evening, team members ran to meet him with big smiles on their faces, even hugs. It is such a treat to see teenage boys so happy. Part of it must be cultural. Most team members and two of the coaches are Brazilian. But they have obviously ‘adopted’ Sam as one of their own. He admits that he has never had so much fun playing soccer, even just practicing, as he does with this team. How lucky he is to be associated with this team.

2022 Life Logs, Day 102: Daffodils and Osprey
Date: Tuesday, April 12, 2022
Weather: Drizzle Early, Sunny Mid-Afternoon; High 63, Low 42 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

It might not be as warm as I’d like, but the beauty of springtime abounds around me. The daffodils in the woods surrounding the cottage and across the driveway in my neighbor’s gardens are in full bloom and the osprey are back circling and soaring above. When the wind stops blowing and the sun comes out, it is warm and beautiful. That happened around 2:30 this afternoon, so I immediately took Shadow for a walk in the sunshine and then headed to Heather’s to plant peas. I planted my peas on April Fool’s Day, but it has been so cool and windy since that it just didn’t seem like planting time. I had put together two hardware cloth barriers to put around the peas to keep the critters out, but when I got to that stage of the project at Heather’s this afternoon, I discovered my barriers were too small to go around the bean towers that will support the peas. I will have to find more hardware cloth tomorrow to finish the project. But the peas are planted. Now we just need the weather to warm up a tad.

Late morning, I had my every two-month chiropractor appointment to make sure things are aligned properly. When I asked Michael, my chiropractor, why I have to continue to do leg stretching exercises and bridges every morning to keep things aligned between appointments, he simply said, “Age and previous damage to your lower back.” He smiled as he said it and told me to expect to keep doing these exercises, plus walking at least 30 minutes or more, every day for the rest of my life if I want to keep moving. He also thinks when I have my right knee replaced, it will be easier to keep things aligned. At present, one side of my body is constantly compensating for the weaker side. I did have that the surgery scheduled in early March of 2020 but cancelled it when Covid hit. Maybe next winter.

On the Covid front, Heather still has a scratchy throat, but no other symptoms. According to CDC guidelines, tomorrow she will consider relaxing her quarantine just a bit. Everyone in the house has been masked and she has contained herself in one part of the house for the last few days. She will continue eating and sleeping separately and will certainly stay masked through day ten, but she hopes to be able to help-out with morning and evening kids responsibilities after tomorrow. She will test first, and then make her decision. But we are still hopeful that we are on course for heading to Puerto Rico on Sunday. I love these “wait and see” situations! Just in case, after my chiropractor appointment this morning, I did a little hot weather clothes shopping. I have been wearing the same bathing suit for three years now, so I bought a new bathing suit and a warm weather shirt. Hopefully, I get to use them in Puerto Rico next week.

2022 Life Logs, Day 101: Quiet Day at Home
Date: Monday, April 11, 2022
Weather: Partly Sunny, Windy; High 57, Low 44 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Today was a quiet day at home, but I spent a great deal of the day dealing with backing out of social commitments due to secondary exposure to Covid. I have not had direct contact with Heather since she was exposed to Covid last Tuesday, but I have had contact with the grandkids and I did go into Heather’s house on Saturday. I was masked and she was masked and at a great distance, but still I felt the need to let people know. I was supposed to host my book club here on Wednesday, but after sending an email explaining my situation, a decision was made to meet via Zoom. I was supposed to go to a Mah Jong class tomorrow, but again when I explained my situation, just as with my book club, people whose young grandchildren are coming to visit this holiday weekend, some babies, did not want to take the chance. And I don’t blame them. So, I won’t go to Mah Jong tomorrow.

Heather‘s Covid symptoms are very mild and now she is taking Paxlovid, an antiviral medication developed by Pfizer, and she is very hopeful that she will be okay to fly to Puerto Rico on Sunday. I heard tonight that Nancy Pelosi is now testing negative after only four days after her positive test result. I sure hope Heather can replicate that! In addition, the rest of us just needs to stay healthy. I was also in contact with Justin and Jo today to make plans for our arrival. Arriving on Easter Sunday on an island that basically shuts down on Easter weekend requires that Justin and Jo do some food shopping and preparation to get us through breakfast on Monday. Some things will be closed on Monday, but hopefully there will be some place we can buy food.

I did leave home long enough this evening to pick Ollie up from soccer practice and take him to Cub Scouts, but other than that it was a day at home. Tonight, I watched the last of the two-part Ken Burns’ Benjamin Franklin documentary. I heard about it when I saw Ken Burns on the The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and knew I had to watch it. It was a fabulous documentary that truly captured the brilliance of Benjamin Franklin. The man had faults, as do we all, but watching the documentary you realize that without his constant participation and dedication, we might not have become the United States of America. He was a true diplomat and his ability to help people reach compromise was crucial in the development of our republic. We need a Benjamin Franklin right now.

2022 Life Logs, Day 100: Soccer Sunday with Sam
Date: Sunday, April 10, 2022
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 56, Low 38 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Can you believe there have already been 100 days in 2022? And unfortunately, they have all been colder than I care for! Hopefully the next 100 days will be warm and wonderful.

This morning I did the prep work for a steak and veggie shish kebab dinner for the Goldstones and at 1:15 pm I delivered the food and headed north to Weymouth (on the way to Boston) with Sam for his soccer game. He tested negative for Covid just before we left, but still we both wore our masks in the car. Heather and Jed are doing everything they can to be try and keep Covid from spreading to other members of the family. Heather was feeling a little better today and hopefully none of the rest of us get it. We are still hopeful that all of us will be flying to Puerto Rico next Sunday morning.

Today I took Shadow for a nice, long walk before leaving for Sam’s game. It was not windy, and the sun was shining. It actually felt a tad warm, just as it did when I took Shadow for his walk yesterday before Jonah’s game. But also, just like yesterday, when I stepped out of the car upon arrival at the Weymouth soccer fields, the sun went behind the clouds and the wind almost knocked me down. And just like yesterday, it stayed that way. So, it was another cool soccer game, but I was glad I was there. Sam’s team won and I truly enjoyed watching them play. The team members all seem to support each other with positive comments during the game and they appeared to be serious about playing while having fun at the same time. Sam plays defense and I thought he played a good game. He was disappointed with his performance, but he admitted that he did have fun. He enjoys playing with this team although he only knows one other player, his friend Sebastian. The other boys are not from Falmouth as this is an all-Cape league.

2022 Life Logs, Day 99: COVID
Date: Saturday, April 9, 2022
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 57, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Last night I talked to my friend Lynne Kirwin who has been living in New Zealand for the past two and a half years. They had huge upsurge of Covid cases a month ago, but things are settling down a bit now. Lynne is the friend that always reminds me, “Judy, you can make plans, but then life happens.” Indeed. This morning I texted Heather to see how she was feeling, and she wrote back that she tested positive for Covid this morning. She has a low-grade fever and a mild cough and is hopeful that her bout with Covid will be mild and short-lived. But in the meantime, plans for the family vacation in Puerto Rico are on hold. The boys say they don’t want to go without Heather, so we will either all go or only I will go if I manage to stay healthy.

Heather went to work on Tuesday and attended an hour-long staff meeting. They were using social distancing by sitting in every other chair, but were no longer wearing masks. On Wednesday morning she found out that the person sitting next to her tested positive with Covid. So far only Heather and the person sitting on the other side of the infected person have tested positive. The people that were sitting on the other side of the table are fine so far. The good news is that the person with the initial case is already on the mend. Now we just have to hope that Heather can bounce back that quickly and hope that none of the rest of us gets it. It will be a wait-and-see game this week.

I found out this morning that not just Jonah and Sam are away at Scout camp this weekend, but Jed and Ollie are there as well. It was perfect timing for them to be out of the house this weekend. After getting Heather’s news this morning, I headed to Mashpee to buy an organic chicken to roast for her and to use the bones for making a fresh batch of bone broth. While I was in Mashpee, Heather texted to ask me if I could go to the drugstore to get “a boatload of Zarbees immune booster” for her. She had asked her primary care if she could get Paxlovid. It is an antiviral developed by Pfizer, but because she is not immunocompromised her request was denied. So Zarbees will have to do.

I went directly to a CVS and asked for Zarbees immune booster and they tried to put me in the line waiting to get a Covid booster shot. I explained again what I wanted and finally the message got through. I bought all they had—two bottles of elderberry gummies for Heather and one for me. I then headed home to take Shadow for a walk while the chicken roasted. By the time I ate lunch and got to Heather’s, it was time for me to head to the eastern side of the Cape for Jonah’s soccer game. But Heather’s weekly box of Misfits organic fruits, veggies, and meat was sitting on the porch. Since Jed will not be home until noon tomorrow, I decided that I was going to mask up and take the box inside and put things away. There was no way I was going to let Heather do that. Besides I got to see her from a distance and that made me feel better. Then I drove the 45 minutes to Jonah’s game.

It was fairly warm and sunny in Falmouth when I left, but when I got out of the car in Harwich, I thought I was going to be blown away. I still had on my windbreaker from taking Shadow for a walk, but almost left it at home as it had really been too hot. Sure glad I had it on because it was not warm in Harwich. I was very glad I had my gloves in my pocket. Jonah’s team lost the game, but he made the only two goals for his team. He was disappointed that three other attempts he made did not result in goals, but glad that at least that his team scored. He and Jed then returned to Camp Greenough, and I headed home. It was after 6 pm when I got home, so I quickly deboned the chicken and took that and some kale I cooked yesterday plus a roasted beet to Heather for dinner. Then I rushed back home to make a big batch of chicken mineral broth. It is burbling away as I write.

Tomorrow afternoon the plan is for me to take Sam to his soccer game in Weymouth which is on the way to Boston. Jed is slated to referee a soccer game in Falmouth and can’t take him, so I offered as long as he agrees to wear a mask in the car and sit in the backseat. I will mask-up as well and hope it is warm enough to have the windows open partially. Learning to live a normal life with Covid constantly lurking around every corner is certainly a tricky business.