2021 Life Logs, Day 213: New Month, New Training
Date: Sunday, August 1, 2021
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 76, Low 62 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Weatherwise, this first day of August on Cape Cod was much like yesterday—sunny and warm. Not as hot as I like it, but it was a lovely day. Ian, The Reliable Dog Trainer, offered an e-collar training starting today and I decided to give it a try. I am probably just throwing more good away as other training attempts with my little wild man have not worked. Some people view e-collars as cruel, but the way Ian does the training makes it feel okay to me. During the class today, Shadow was a super star. It was when we got home and I tried to mimic what Ian had done in class, that it didn’t work. Shadow is a smart dog and the minute he saw that I had the remote controller in my hand, he recognized it and evidently decided he would just glue himself to my leg. I was supposed to walk in front of him and say “come, come” while feeding him treats. After a few round of that, I was to add a slight zap, zap with the controller while still constantly giving him treats. When I did that, he stayed right next to me the whole time and then he laid down. Ian mentioned that as a possibility for some dogs. He called it Velcro dog and it usually means the zap is too strong, but it was only on a 4 out of 100 levels of stimulation. He had not reacted that way in class using the same setting. I stopped for today and will try again tomorrow using only treats. Then on Tuesday, I’ll add the zaps and see what happens. Maybe all I need to do is just hold the remote as he obviously doesn’t want me to use it. We were trained not to use the stimulation as a negative for now but simply train the dog to come using food as a reinforcer. Only after a few weeks of this can I use it train him not to jump on people. It is long process and I sincerely hope it works. I love my little wild man and he is such a good dog when I am the only other person in his life. But when you add anyone else, he immediately wants to jump up on them and lick them in the face. Training Shadow has been more challenging that I would ever have thought, but I really don’t know what I would do without him. I shall persist.

Ollie and I will spend tomorrow afternoon together and then I will begin my two weeks without grandchildren. I started the house cleaning this afternoon, one of my goals for the two weeks. Today I mostly I only thought about it while watching the Olympics. Tuesday I will seriously attack the job. And when I am not cleaning, I will do gardening and spend more time working with Shadow. At least that is the plan.

2021 Life Logs, Day 212: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Date: Saturday, July 31, 2021
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 72, Low 56 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

This crazy weather just bing bongs all over the place. Today was sunny but cool, especially after the sun set. At least we had sunshine during the day and no mosquitos at night.

I invited Heather and family over for dinner tonight and Ollie came early to cut Shirley’s grass and make a strawberry rhubarb pie with rhubarb Olga Mitchell gave him. Ollie is good little yard worker and is quite competent in the kitchen as well. I prepared the strawberries and the rhubarb, but he did the rest. The recipe called for lemon zest and I thought I might need to help him with that. But no. He did a better job than I would have. We had the pie for dessert and it was delicious.

Sam and Jonah leave for Scout camp tomorrow. When they return next Saturday, they leave for ten days in Maine. Ollie and Jed leave Tuesday for Maine. Ollie and I will hang out together on Monday, but then I will be without grandkids until August 19th or 20th. It will be a little lonely around here, but I have a list a mile long of things to do while the boys are away.

We all talked to Justin and family tonight via Skype. Coco had a great birthday yesterday and was still partying tonight. I can’t wait until Thanksgiving when I get to see Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco and have my whole family together for a few days.

2021 Life Logs, Day 211: Happy Birthday to Coco and Rockin’ with Ollie and Jonah
Date: Friday, July 30, 2021
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 82, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

My youngest and only female grandchild, Coco Annabelle, turned nine today. I gave her roller blades three years ago and it was time for the next size, so that was one of the presents I sent her. The other was a felting kit and a book explaining how to do felting. Jo sent a video of Coco opening the new roller blades and she was over-the-top excited. Then Jo sent another video of her looking quite competent on those new blades. Happy Birthday, Coco!

I picked Sam up and delivered him to Olga’s to do more yard work early this morning. Then I went to get him and we, along with Heather and Jed, went to see the culminating concert for Ollie and Jonah’s week-long Rock Bank Camp at Falmouth Academy.
In only four days, fifteen kids who had never played together before, learned to play four songs: Brain Stew, Seven Nation Army, Funky Town, and We Will Rock You. We were all quite impressed. Ollie played electric violin and Jonah played electric bass guitar and they rocked us all.

Then we celebrated with a lunch from the French bakery that we ate on the library lawn. A little later, the Goldpebbles went home with me to chill for the afternoon. On the way to my house, we stopped at Walmart to do a little shopping for ‘essentials’ for Scout camp coming up next week.

It was a beautiful afternoon, but when we got to my house, all three boys just wanted to read. So, Jonah and Ollie read in the backyard and Sam read down on the dock.Sam and Jonah head to Scout camp on Sunday for a week and on Tuesday or Wednesday, Jed and Ollie head to Maine. Then the next week, Heather, Sam, and Jonah will join them. Once they are all away, it will be very quiet around. But I have lots of projects to keep me busy!

I spent my evenings right now watching the Olympics. After I took the boys home and before the Primetime Olympics began, I watched the last half of the US Women’s Soccer team playing the Netherlands. Like the last game with Australia, this one ended in a tie. But because it was a quarter-finals game, both teams could not advance. It ended in a shoot out and the US came out on top. Go, USA.

2021 Life Logs, Day 210: Making New Quissett Memories
Date: Thursday, July 29, 2021
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High Temp 77, Low 68 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The weather yoyo continues. Last night as I was watching the Olympics, the heat kicked on. I had it set on 60 and the temperature outside was 57 degrees F. As it had been hot just hours earlier, I had all the windows and doors open and a strong wind blew the cooling air right into the cottage. I immediately shut the windows and put a blanket on the bed for the night. When I took Shadow out for his last pee break of the day, I had to put a jacket on. Then this morning, it was warm again. Well, warmer than last night.

Today was mostly cloudy and too cool for the beach, but despite the lack of sunshine, we had a great day. Jed sent a text mid-morning saying he would pick Jonah and Ollie up from Rock Band Camp today and then meet me at the Farmers Market for lunch. The Goldstones rode their dbichose Mexican, Heather had Asian, and Ollie went with a Chicago Hot Dog. Everyone but me had a apple cider donut for dessert. Jonah noted that I am just weird because I didn’t have a donut, but I reminded him that if dessert is not chocolate, I usually give it a pass. Jonah just shook his head. After the food market, we shopped the art market and then headed home. Heather and Jed went back to work and the Goldpebbles and myself headed to Quissett Harbor to make new memories.

Jed proposed to Heather on The Knob at Quissett.

2021 Life Logs, Day 209: The Sandwich Boardwalk
Date: Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Weather: Overcast AM, Sunny Mid-PM, Way Cooler; High Temp 73, Low 57 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Yes. There is a town on the Cape named Sandwich. It is was settled in 1637 and is named for the seaport of Sandwich, Kent, England. Along with Yarmouth, it holds the distinction of the oldest town on Cape Cod. I don’t know how Sandwich, England got its name, but it was not from the sandwich we eat. It was not until the 1700’s that the Earl of Sandwich supposedly ordered his valet to bring him meat tucked between two pieces of bread. I’ll need to do some more research to find out how Sandwich, England, got its name. Regardless, mid-afternoon I headed to Sandwich with the Goldpebbles to walk on the Sandwich Boardwalk that has been in place over the marshland there since 1875. The current boardwalk is going to be replaced by a higher boardwalk to accommodate the rising waters as a result of climate change. The boys had never been there, so this afternoon was our chance to experience history before it is replaced.

I have been running Camp Oma for eight years now and I don’t remember having to accommodate our activities on a daily basis due to such fluky weather. But fluky weather we do have this summer. I knew today was going to be cooler than yesterday, but when I got us this morning it felt much cooler than I expected. The hour-by-hour forecast showed some clearing mid-afternoon with the change of sunshine. So, after Jonah and Ollie were finished with Rock Band Camp for the day, we hung out at my house eating lunch and watching the Olympics until mid-afternoon. We then made a ‘necessary’ trip to the Dairy Queen for a little treat and then we drove to Sandwich. With traffic, it was a 45-minute drive which got us there just at 4 o’clock which meant we didn’t have to pay $20 to park as they stop charging at 4 pm. The view of the marsh from the dock was spectacular and the boys were interested in walking out to the raised bridge where kids and adults and were jumping into the water. Sam decided he would jump. Jonah wanted to, but he knew it was going to take him a bit to get up his nerve. Ollie really wanted to jump, but in the end, he decided to think about it and come back later to do it. I reminded him that there were no children his age jumping, but if the boardwalk is going to be replaced with a higher bridge, he wants to do it before that happens.

We then walked to the other end of the boardwalk that leads down to a beach on the Cape Cod Bay. It was too chilly and windy to entice the boys into the water, but they did go back and swam in one of the waterways that runs through the marsh. Cape Cod has so many special places and we decided that the Sandwich Boardwalk over the marsh is definitely one of those places.

Going backwards, Sam worked at Olga Mitchell’s this morning doing more garden weeding for her. When Jonah, Ollie, and I went to pick him up, Olga had raised the garage door so they could see her aerobatic airplane and she offered them a ride on her golf cart to go out to the hangers on the airfield. Sam had driven the golf cart out that way earlier in the morning with Olga, so she let him drive again. All three boys enjoyed the exploration of the Falmouth Air Park. Thank you, Olga.

2021 Life Logs, Day 208: More Woodneck Fun
Date: Tuesday, July 27, 2021
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 85, Low 65 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The Goldpebbles and I had another great mid to late afternoon adventure at Woodneck. I picked up Sam just before noon and we went to pick Ollie and Jonah up from Rock Band Camp. We then went to my house for lunch and to watch the US Women’s soccer game against Australia. The game was on at 4 am this morning, so I recorded it to watch this afternoon. Neither team scored during the regular game time nor in the overtime. It was a disappointing performance by the US team, but they do get to advance to the next round. Then we headed to Trotting Park where Sam was supposed to meet friends at 3 pm to play soccer and celebrate a birthday while Jonah and Ollie were going to ride their bikes on the trails in the woods there. We didn’t find out until we got there that Sam’s soccer gathering had been cancelled, so we changed gears and went back to Woodneck beach and marsh. I was not dressed for swimming, and it was just too far to go home, so I was just going to have to watch. But Trotting Park is about 4 minutes from Heather and Jed’s, so it was quick to go there for the boys to get on their beach gear.

The late afternoon weather yesterday and today was just spectacular. It was mostly sunny and very warm which made staying at the beach longer than usual delightful. Today Heather and Jed joined us after work. Once they were both at the beach and I had finished collecting jingle shells, I headed home. Jed had ridden his bicycle from Woods Hole, so I took his bike home so he could come home a little later with Heather and the boys. When I got to my house, I took Shadow out for a ‘pee’ break and then I got a text from Heather. Jed had lost his wedding ring while at the beach. She left him there to look for it while she took Sam and Jonah to their 7 pm Scout meeting and was headed back to the beach. I immediately got back in my car and headed to Woodneck to help with the search. But Heather called while I was on my way and said that it would be more helpful if I went to their house to be with Ollie and to start getting dinner ready. By 8 pm, Heather and Jed still were not home. She sent a text saying a Scouting parent had shown up with the metal detector and they were going to continue to look. I went to pick up Sam and Jonah and then got the text saying they had found the ring. Fantastic! They have no idea how the Scouting parent heard that they needed a metal detector, but they were certainly very grateful. I didn’t want to stay at their house for dinner because I had been away from Shadow all afternoon and evening, so as soon as they got home, I headed home and started fixing dinner at 9 pm. Long day, but truly another wonderful Woodneck experience. The temperature is supposed to be a good 10 degrees cooler tomorrow, so our run of wonderfully warm evenings are over for now. But we made the best of the yesterday and today.

2021 Life Logs, Day 207: Woodneck Fun, Now and Then
Date: Monday, July 26, 2021
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds; High Temp 83, Low 65 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I picked Sam up at 10 am to take him to friend Olga Mitchell’s to do some gardening and weeding. I then came home, walked with Shadow, went to the grocery store, and picked Ollie and Jonah up from their first day of Rock Band Camp at Falmouth Academy. Then we all went to pick Sam up at Olga’s. Jonah and Ollie were so excited to get to go into Olga’s huge garage that houses her aerobatic airplane and her Mercedes convertible, both of which this amazing woman in her mid-eighties still ‘pilots’. Quite the woman. The boys and I then went to my house to have ‘make your own’ pizzas (on English muffins) while we watched Olympic rowing. Ollie had a 2:10 pm appointment with the orthodontist, so we met Jed there to drop off Ollie and then Sam, Jonah, and I went to their house to get ready to go to the beach while we waited for Ollie.

Finally . . . we headed to Woodneck Beach and Sippewissett Marsh. Mark and I started taking Sam and Jonah to Woodneck in 2012 when Ollie was just a baby. My first photos of Sam and Jonah exploring the marsh were taken in 2013 and then in 2014, Ollie joined us. The boys have always used their shovels and buckets and nets to catch critters and move as much sand as possible from one place to another. Today we arrived as the tide was going out and we first went out to the beach side where the boys swam and dove like dolphins. Then we walked back to the marsh side and they started searching for critters. They caught a few green crabs and Ollie found the tiniest hermit crab shell I have ever seen, along with a very tiny crab.

Sam is going to high school this fall, but this afternoon, he reverted to the little boy who can move more sand with a plastic shovel than any other. He decided that he and his brothers should try to dam one of the outlets of the marsh to keep the water from heading out to sea and they did it! But as I watched Sam sitting in the sand and shoveling away, all I could think is, “Some things never change.” Thankfully. All of this took much longer than we planned and finally at 6:30 pm I told the boys we had to go home.

They reluctantly stopped working on their dam and decided to breach it and watch the water rush out. They were amazed at how fast the water the flowed out and even more amazed that they were able to use rocks and sand to block the flow for so long. It was another great Woodneck experience.

2021 Life Logs, Day 206: Dreary Sunday
Date: Saturday, July 25, 2021
Weather: Overcast, Some Rain; High Temp 73, Low 69 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I don’t remember ever labeling Cape Cod summer days as dreary. But this year there are more of those days than I remember from the past. The high point of this dreary day was a birthday luncheon with friend Olivia White. It was her 83rd, so all of the females from our Dining-In Group met for a celebratory luncheon. Happy Birthday, Olivia.

I came home from the luncheon, walked with Shadow, did some garden weeding, watched a little Olympics, and then got invited to Heather and Jed’s for a fresh tuna dinner. A friend of Jed’s donated the tuna and we all enjoyed. Jed and Ollie reported that they had a great weekend at Scout camp and we all enjoyed watching more Olympics. It is difficult with so many options to decide what to watch. I decided the Goldstones need four more TV’s so everyone can watch what they want. But since that is not going to happen, they are going to have to come up with a fair way of making the decision on what they will watch when. Thankfully, here, I can watch whatever, whenever.

I ended my evening with a phone conversation with friend Lynne Kirwin in New Zealand. It is winter there and much cooler than here, but she is watching the Olympics the same as I am and dealing with many of the same issues. As with here, coronavirus cases are rising. But the real problem is that more than 20,000 Kiwis are vacationing in Australia and need to get home before new quarantine rules go into effect.

2021 Life Logs, Day 205: Sailing and A Full Moon
Date: Saturday, July 24, 2021
Weather: Beautiful Day; High Temp 79, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Bruce and Jane Woodin invited me to go sailing with them this morning on L’Escargot. It was a gloriously beautiful morning, but there was very little wind. Sam Patterson was with us. He prides himself on being able to keep a sailboat going in light winds, so Bruce handed the tiller over to him. Sam kept us moving for quite a while, but then the wind totally disappeared.
We started the engine and headed for Quissett Harbor. It was the first time I have entered that beautiful harbor on a sailboat since the summer of 2015 and it brought back a flood of memories. Mark and I lived aboard Windbird in Quissett for two summers and loved it there. It is truly is a quintessential New England harbor. I heard from Sam and Dawn this week that the sale of Windbird to a new owner is official and the final papers will be signed on Friday of this next week. All I know about the new owner is that he is a young man named Toby from Texas who plans to sail Windbird around the world again. I told everyone aboard L’Escargot today that I feel like a mother whole daughter is getting divorced and remarried to someone who is going to take her far away. I just hope he treats her as she deserves.

I got sad news this evening. Doris, one of the aunties that lives next door, has been in the hospital since Monday and she had a stroke yesterday. The hospital was planning to release her this evening and her daughter Caroline was arranging for hospice to come into her home in Scituate. Doris is 102 and has lived a good life. We’ll just have to wait and see if she can survive this episode. Her sister, Shirley, is going to stay in her home next door to me until they see how Doris adjusts to the transfer. The two sisters have lived together since Shirley’s husband died in 2013, so naturally Shirley is going to want to be with Doris.

A bit of good news is tonight’s full moon. It is beautiful. And the other good news is the Olympics. I really enjoy watching each athlete achieve his or her personal best, regardless of the sport. In the 1970’s, Mark and I did not have a television. The first time I remember watching the Olympics obsessively was 1984. That was the year Mary Lou Retton from West Virginia became the first US woman to win a Gold Medal in the individual all-around gymnastic competition. Since then, with the exception of 2008 when Mark and I were sailing through Indonesia, I have enjoyed watching the Summer and Winter Olympics.

I talked to Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco on a Skype video call this evening. It is the first time I have talked to them since they returned from England. The rainy season is in full swing in Puerto Rico, as is mango season. Wish I was there to enjoy those mangoes with them. They are adjusting to the tropics after a cooler than normal time in England. A friend gave Ziggy a keyboard this week, and he is learning play amazing quickly. I love talking with them, but I can’t wait to see them. It has been two years and that is just too long. This Friday is Coco’s birthday, so I’ll get another chance to talk with them then. And then I will get to see them when they come for Thanksgiving.

2021 Life Logs, Day 204: Beach and Olympics
Date: Friday, July 23, 2021
Weather: Mix of Sun, Clouds, Even Some Rain; High Temp 79, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

This afternoon I had only Jonah and Sam as Jed and Ollie were packing and getting ready to leave for a weekend of Scout camping. The weather was strange today and changed our plans a bit. We had a beautiful, sunny morning. Like yesterday, it was a tad cooler than the previous couple of days, but it was not too cool, not too hot, just right. Then when I packed the car to get ready for the beach, the clouds came in. By the time I got to Heather and Jed’s, the skies opened up and we had unexpected rain and distant thunder. The thunderstorm was short lived, but the sky remained cloudy, so Sam, Jonah, and I went to my house to lunch instead of heading straight to the beach. Then when the sun came out, we left for the beach. The breeze “refreshing” and we mostly sat in our beach chairs and looked at the water. When the boys did dive in, they came out almost immediately and said the water was freezing. Instead of waiting for Heather to join us after she finished her workday, we headed home. We’ve had a few good beach days this summer, but not as many as usual. Maybe the best is yet to come, but we only have one more week of Camp Oma before we have a two-week break. Sam and Jonah go to Scout camp for a week while Jed and Ollie go to Maine. Then Heather, Sam, and Jonah join them for a week or so and everyone one comes home, but at slightly different times. Who knows what the final two weeks of summer vacation will look like. We’ll just have to wait and see.

I have been watching the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics tonight. I love watching all of the different countries make their entrance. I thought Team USA looked like pirates tonight, but they certainly seemed excited and ready for the next two weeks. Go, USA! And I loved that after all of the countries entered, singers from around the world sang John Lennon’s Imagine. “ . . . and the world will be one.” Just imagine.