2021 Life Logs, Day 302: Good News from Friends
Date: Friday, October 29, 2021
Weather: Mostly Cloudy and a Little Windy; High Temp 54, Low Temp 51 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

My lazy morning was spent reading and then walking with Shadow. I was planning to spend my afternoon playing ‘pick up sticks’ to clean up after the storm this week. The yard and driveway are strewn with branches, large and small that need to be removed. I was procrastinating when I got a text and then a call from friend Jane Woodin. Jane had a total knee replacement on Tuesday and was released from the hospital on Wednesday during the storm that left most of Cape Cod without power. Since her house did not have power, she spent Wednesday night on a friend’s couch, and then yesterday moved into Peter and Karen Baranowski’s home with a generator as they left for Boston for Peter’s brain surgery today. The reason for Jane’s call was to ask if I could come over and spend part of the afternoon with her while Bruce went to his PT appointment and then to their house to see if their power had been restored. Since I was procrastinating anyway, it was the perfect excuse. I abandoned ‘pick up sticks’ and went to play nurse for real Nurse Jane. It was great to see her. As everyone who has had a knee replacement, she is trying to stay ahead of the pain. She is certainly not pain free, but she seems to be doing great. We got a text from Karen while I was still there saying Peter was out of the operating room and was alert and talking. That was good news indeed. And just after I got home, I got a group text from Karen with a photo of Peter smiling. I am so thankful that two good friends are doing so well after surgery.

2021 Life Logs, Day 301: Slowly Getting Back to Normal
Date: Thursday, October 28, 2021
Weather: Overcast and Cooler; High Temp 51, Low Temp 44 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The rain and strong winds have moved on and things are slowly getting back to normal. There will still be no school tomorrow, but my neighborhood had power restored today at 4:30 pm. Jonah and I had stopped at my house to pick up Shadow to go with us to Jonah’s soccer practice. Just as I closed the front door, I heard the aquarium filter kick in. I reopened the door and turned on the porch light. Voilà! Let there be light . . . and heat. I was very happy. Sleeping in a 58 degree house is just fine, but it is not comfortable during the day. Things in the freezer were starting to thaw and the fish in the aquarium had stopped heating. Tropical fish don’t like 58 degrees F. But tonight, the fish seem happy and things in the freezer are saved. I had moved frozen seafood and a few other things to Heather’s freezer this morning, but I think what I left in the freezer is fine.

I spent the morning with Shadow and headed to Heather and Jed’s before noon. Heather and Jed both had busy work days and I thought I might be helpful in keeping the boys in control. Not sure I was successful at that, but I did get started on cleaning up the mess of leaves and sticks in the yard from the storm. Finally, the boys joined me, and they did a great job. When it dries out, they can mow to pick up the remaining leaves in the yard.

Sam prepared dinner tonight for a Scout cooking merit badge. He pan fried ribeye steak that he finished in a butter and herb sauce. He roasted fingerling potatoes and prepared a salad. It really was delicious, and the steak was perfectly done. After dinner, he and Heather made a poppyseed cake in the cake pan I gave Heather and Jed on their anniversary. I didn’t stay for dessert, but Heather sent a photo. I love the result of a cake baked in the spiral shaped pan.

The wild weather this week complicated the return home of friend Jane Woodin after her total knee-replacement surgery. She was sent home from the hospital yesterday, but because their house had no power, she spent last night at a friend’s home. Then this morning, when Karen and Peter Baranowski headed to Boston for Peter’s brain surgery tomorrow, they invited Bruce and Jane to move into their house. The Baranowski’s had a whole house generator installed this summer, so they have power when the rest of us do not. Jane is doing great, but hopefully she will get to return to her own home soon to rehab from the surgery. There’s no place like home.

2021 Life Logs, Day 299: Rainy Tuesday
Date: Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Weather: Heavy Rain Overnight, Today Overcast with Periods of Light Rain; High Temp 64, Low Temp 56 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I went to bed when it was pouring rain and thunder. During the night it sounded like torrential rains coming down, but by 7:30 am it sounded calm outside. So, Shadow and I got up for our first foray outside for the morning. Indeed, the rain had stopped, so we walked the first loop of our morning mile. We came home and I checked the weather. It looked like we might not get rain again until the afternoon, so I had my smoothie, and we took off for the second half of our mile. About that time, I got a text from my summer neighbor Andrew who lives with his family just north of Manhattan the rest of the year. He got a high-water alarm from a sensor in his garage here and asked me to check it out. Shadow and I were headed that way, so we stopped and found that if there had been high water in the garage, it was now all but gone. However, it was evident that some water had come in, so I told Andrew I would line the left side of the garage door, the side that is not well sealed, with sandbags when I got back from my walk with Shadow. Just as we were completing that job, I heard from Andrew that he was going to drive up this afternoon and replace the garage door seal. About an hour ago he came over to borrow some tools as he is still struggling to get that new seal in place. I haven’t heard from him since so I sure hope he was successful.

Good friend Jane Woodin had a total knee replacement today and is doing great. The PT told her that tomorrow might not be quite as pain free, but hopefully she will continue to do well. If all goes as planned, she will be headed home tomorrow. Healing thoughts coming your way, Jane.

I wrangled with my computer for much of the afternoon. For days, I have been getting a daily message from Google saying ‘backup and sync’ is no longer working and that I needed to download ‘Google Drive for your desktop’. I have tried with no success, but today I stayed with it and finally got it downloaded. Then my computer spent the remainder of the afternoon and early evening syncing my files with the files in the cloud.

I went to the grocery store and did some cooking while waiting for my computer to finish syncing with the cloud. And that was about it for my day. It looks like rain overnight and all day tomorrow, so I am planning to work on photo organization. Nothing exciting, but something I have been trying to get to for months.

2021 Life Logs, Day 298: Fickle Weather
Date: Monday, October 25, 2021
Weather: Rain, No Rain, Thunderstorms; High Temp 70, Low Temp 61 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

When Shadow and I got up and went outside early this morning, it was cool and rainy. An hour later when we went to his annual health check-up, the rain had stopped, but it was overcast and still felt cool. By noon when we went for a long walk, it was clearing and warming. Then at 3:30 pm when I headed to Sam’s soccer game, it was sunny and warm. As I write this log, it is pouring rain with thunder and some lightening. The weather just can’t make up its mind. It is simply fickle. But I am so happy that it stopped raining which allowed Sam’s soccer game to go on this afternoon. This was my last chance to see him play this season. He did get to play, but after the game he expressed his frustration with having to play a forward position rather than backfield defense. Regardless, he made some really nice plays, and his team won the game. All good.

I took Sam home after the game and delivered a pumpkin pie I made today for ‘review’. This pie was dairy and sugar free and was made with coconut crème and maple syrup. I baked some in a small glass container so I could do my taste test. I thought it was acceptable but a little too sweet and not as firm as I prefer. But it was good. If I make it with a gluten-free crust, it might make the grade for Thanksgiving. I am anxious to see what Ollie, our resident pumpkin pie expert, has to say.

2021 Life Logs, Day 297: Goldstones Come for Sunday Dinner
Date: Sunday, October 24, 2021
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Cool; High Temp 57, Low Temp 47 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

After our whirlwind weekend, Shadow and I had a quiet day at home. We invited Heather, Jed, and the boys over for dinner and I spent much of the afternoon preparing for that. This morning I had a nice, long telephone conversation with friend Helaine Kanegsberg, took Shadow for a long walk, and then headed out to do some food shopping. I bought pulled pork at Wicked and Wood, the nearby weekend barbecue take-out and went to the grocery store to get a few items.

The gang arrived around 6 pm and they spent some time getting me caught up on their happenings this weekend. Jed and Ollie went on a Cub Scout camp out this weekend, Sam had a soccer game yesterday and got to play for much of the game now that the ankle and knee injuries are healing, and today Heather took Jonah to play in a soccer game in Smithfield, Rhode Island. We had pulled pork on homemade buns with red cabbage slaw, macaroni and cheese, and broccoli for dinner, followed by chocolate pie and whipped cream for dessert.

I don’t have much on my calendar for the upcoming week, but it is a busy one for the Goldstones starting with a high school soccer game tomorrow. That will be the last game I will get to see of Sam’s as the last high school home game of the season is on Thursday. I will be taking Jonah to soccer practice on Thursday and won’t get to see that one. Then starting with a Halloween parade at Ollie’s school on Friday afternoon, there is a weekend of activities to attend, ending with Halloween Trick or Treat on Sunday evening.

Last, but certainly not least, I want to send belated 75th birthday wishes to my dear friend Lynne Kirwin in New Zealand. I am absolutely terrible about remembering birthdays, so Lynne had to send me a reminder yesterday. Her birthday was on Friday and friends had a party for her. She sent me the photo of her with the birthday cake they made. When I saw the whipped cream on top, I just knew she did not partake. And she didn’t! She is so good about never eating anything she feels is not healthy. I wish I had her resolve. Belated as it is . . . Happy Birthday, Lynne.

2021 Life Logs, Day 296: Visit with Tom and Detta Porat
Date: Saturday, October 23, 2021
Weather: Partly Cloudy and Cooler; High Temp 56, Low Temp 42 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I just home from my whirlwind visit with friends in New Hampshire. It was wonderful to visit with Leslie and then Detta and Tom, but on the way home I realized that next time I will spend an extra night and start home earlier in the day. I had to fight falling asleep at the wheel late this afternoon, so I won’t risk that again!

Other than having trouble staying awake on the way home, I had a wonderful two days in New Hampshire. Detta, Tom, and I talked late into the night last night, but morning came too soon. The dogs were up bright and early and ready for a walk. Detta made a great strawberry smoothie for us for breakfast and then she and I took off for Wagon Hill Farm in nearby Durham. The 40-acre farm is owned by the city of Durham, and it is truly a wonderful public property. It has extensive community gardens, field after field of wild plants, beautiful walks through the woods that lead down to various viewpoints of the Oyster River, open areas where the dogs ran and played, and a walk up to Wagon Hill and beyond. It is called Wagon Hill because there is a wagon on top of the hill. The old wagon has been updated a few times and is now brightly painted. We walked much of the property, but we stopped at the wagon to get photos and didn’t do the ‘beyond’. Another time.

When we got home, Tom and I talked while Detta fixed lunch. Tom told me the story of how Wagon Hill became a city property. It was a family-owned active farm for almost 300 years. It was passed from family to family, from the mid-1600’s onward until the 1980’s when it was about to be sold to an oil company for development. The city of Durham stepped in to stop the development by buying the property and making it available to the public. That was a wonderful ‘save’ for the people of the Durham area. Tom also shared some photos with me that he has taken of the Great Bay wildlife during the winter months when the bay is frozen over. The photos of Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles were impressive. As was lunch. Detta served baked salmon with a lemon cilantro sauce along with quinoa and fresh green beans. Delicious.

It was a special two-day visit and Shadow really behaved himself. I didn’t need his day bed or his crate. Other than jumping up on people, his specialty, he was a little gentleman. And he had a great time with Quinn and Addie. Thanks to Detta and Tom and to Leslie for hosting us.

2021 Life Logs, Day 295: Visit with Friend Leslie Kole in Rye, NH
Date: Friday, October 22, 2021
Weather: Partly Sunny and Warm; High Temp 70, Low Temp 45 degrees F
Location: At Home with Detta and Tom Porat, Greenland, NH

As Shadow and I got into the car to drive to New Hampshire this morning, I noticed that it is finally beginning to look like fall on Cape Cod. We don’t get a lot of color, but this week enough leaves have fallen in my side yard to completely cover the ground. The leaves on the oak trees, however, are still as green as they were in the summer. As I drove northward toward Boston, trees with leaves in all shades of red, yellow, and fiery orange lined the highway. But once I drove through Boston and headed northeast toward Portsmouth, the color began to fade. Many trees had dropped all their leaves. My suspicions that my trip north this fall was too late to enjoy the height of the ‘leaf peeper’ season were confirmed. Next year I’ll have to coordinate my trip with the changing of the leaves.

Due to Covid, I haven’t been to the Portsmouth, New Hampshire area to visit with my friends Leslie and Detta and Tom as often as usual. As I got closer to Rye to visit with Leslie, I got super excited. The plan was to spend the afternoon with Leslie and her new dog named Quinn, have dinner with Leslie and the new man in her life, Bob, and then go to Detta and Tom’s to spend the night. I was a little nervous about how Shadow was going to deal with this, but I am happy to say that he is doing great. Leslie and Quinn, a super cute little female white and tan Cockapoo, were waiting for us on the front steps and Quinn and Shadow hit it off immediately. Quinn can run as fast as Shadow, so they enjoyed playing chase in the front yard while Leslie and I visited. Then we went for a long walk. We put the dogs in the car and drove about a half mile to New Castle Island. The island is surrounded by the Piscataqua River and there is a lovely, wide walking path to the Great Island Common with a beautiful view of the Piscataqua entering the Atlantic Ocean. Leslie and I talked and talked as we walked back. We took a detour to walk out to Fort Stark which has another lovely viewpoint and then we headed back home. Shortly after we returned, Bob arrived. He and Leslie are planning a trip to French Polynesia in March, so we spent time talking about some of the experiences Mark and I had there. Leslie served a delicious Tuscan stew for dinner and then Detta and Tom arrived to have dessert with us. It was wonderful to be together, but the time passed much too quickly. Detta, Tom, Shadow and I said farewell to Leslie, Bob, and Quinn and headed on to Greenland where Detta and Tom live. They live on Great Bay that leads out to the Piscataqua River.

I had been forewarned about the major construction happening at the Porat’s, but it was even more extensive than I had expected. They renovated part of their house when they moved there, but left an adjoining part to do later. The adjoining part included a family room and the guest quarters where I have stayed many times. That is now gone and the new foundation is in place ready for a two-story addition. The views of the bay from the point on which their house stands are gorgeous. I will be anxious to see the construction and the views in the morning. But tonight, we spent time visiting while Shadow and the Porat’s dog, Addie, played together. Addie is a four-year-old Golden Retriever and quite a bit bigger than Shadow, but they are getting along great. Shadow met Addie about a month after I got him in the fall of 2019, and they seem to remember each other.

2021 Life Logs, Day 294: Beaches and Seals
Date: Thursday, October 21, 2021
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High Temp 72, Low Temp 63 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The trip to the Outer Cape to visit beaches and see seals today was fantastic. The weather was perfect, warm and sunny. I went with two women that I didn’t know but who are members of the Newcomers Singles Group. I did a shout out on email to members of that group asking if anyone wanted to go to High Head Beach to see the seals. About ten people replied, but only two could go with me on this day and it worked out great. We arrived at High Head Beach parking area and walked the half mile on a sandy road and up a dune to reach the beach. You can only drive to the beach in a four-wheel drive vehicle with a permit. I have been there three times prior and each time when I reached the top of the dune, there were lots of seals in view. Today there were none. My heart sunk. But as we started down the dune to the beach, we saw a congregation of seals just a little south of us. Whew! And what a show they put on for us. They were frolicking in the water and making noises that sounded like moaning and braying. Tonight when I googled the sound made by grey seals, this is what popped up: “A party of grey seals can be recognized by the utterance of barking, moaning, hissing and snarling noises.” Maybe I imagined the braying as their heads look like that of a horse or mule. In addition to the seals, we enjoyed the beauty of High Head Beach. On the way home we visited more beaches. I think the next time I drive out to the Outer Cape to visit beaches, I will attempt to stop at every oceanside beach along the way. There are more beaches on the Cape Cod Bay side, but there’s no way to visit them all in one day. That is another day trip. Cape Cod is such a beautiful little corner of the world and her beaches, in the fall after all the tourists have abandoned us, are a true work of art.

This evening I had dinner with Bruce and Jane Woodin. We stopped at the French bakery in Wellfleet today where I picked up goodies for dinner. And now I am home getting ready for my trip to New Hampshire tomorrow. Packing for me is easy but getting all of the things needed for Shadow is a bit like getting ready to travel with a baby. I need his crate, his favorite blanket, his daybed, his food and food bowl, and various other smaller items. So, I had better sign off and get those things packed in the car.