2021 Life Logs, Day 143: Helpers, Friends, Family
Date: Sunday, May 23, 2021
Weather: Sunny and Hot, A Little Rain Late PM; High 82, Low, 51 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The big news of the day was that the high temperature was in the 80’s. Unfortunately, that was short-lived. It is already back to 59 degrees F right now and the high tomorrow will only be 62. But I sure enjoyed today’s gift of warmth.

Jed, Ollie, and Sam came over late morning to help me with some landscaping projects. I had Jed cut down a couple of small trees that were totally shading the raspberries. Sam helped his dad and Ollie helped clear a patch where I will plant more tomatoes. Heather and Jonah stopped by on their way home from Jonah’s soccer game and they worked on trying to secure the screws that hold my new garden bench together. I had already stripped a couple of the screws and Jed will have to return on another day to ‘fix’ the problem. But we made great progress today.

Then it was on to a lunchtime gathering of my dining-in friends on the Frieswyk’s deck. When Terry White turned 80 in January, I gave him an I Owe You for a Smitty’s ice cream cake. Smitty’s is closed during the winter but opened in May. So, Terry made his special order for a cake with one layer of chocolate fudge walnut and a second layer of butter crunch. He decided he wanted to share his gift with the group, and we all appreciated his kindness. It was delicious.

I then got an invitation to Heather and Jed’s for an artichoke family dinner. I had left Shadow all afternoon, so I took him with me for dinner. The new kittens are not yet ready to meet Shadow, so I had Shadow on the deck while the kitties were playing in the living room. Shadow saw them and tore two good sized holes in one of the sliding screen doors trying to get to them. The kittens were unfazed, but I obviously have a lot of work to do to get Shadow ready for this introduction.

2021 Life Logs, Day 141: Energy Audit
Date: Friday, May 21, 2021
Weather: Sunny, Slightly Warmer; High 68, Low, 53 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Morning came early today. I put Shadow in the crate last night and neither one of us got a lot of sleep. When I went to the bedroom and left him in the living room in the crate, he was quiet. But after a while I heard him making noises that seemed like quiet crying. It broke my heart, but I tried to ignore it and go to sleep. All night long, he went through quiet periods and then back to crying. Finally, when the sun came up, he quieted, and we got a good hour of sleep before it was time to get up. This made me wonder if he was having separation anxiety from me or if he is just afraid of the dark. I’ll have to keep working on this.

An energy specialist was arriving at 8:15 am to do an energy audit and Shadow had dog school at 9 am. So, we got up and started our day. I got dressed as quickly as I could so I could spend time walking with Shadow. By 8:15 am we were walking back to the cottage with the Rise Engineering truck following us. Since this was the third audit of the cottage, the specialist really only needed to check the new water heater, recheck that the furnace is properly vented, and recheck the attic. The assessment was done by 8:40 am, so I took off with Shadow to deliver him to his second day of dog school. When I returned, the Rise Engineering truck was still in my driveway. Was there a problem? No. The specialist had decided to sit in the driveway and submit his report so that he could give me a printout of the results before he left. He approved $5,400 in energy upgrades—new insulation in the attic (11 inches of R-40 cellulose), insulating the basement sills, drilling and filling the outside walls with insulation, insulating the bulkhead door, new vents in the soffit, and on and on. And because this is a landlord/tenant upgrade, there is no cost to us at all. Normally a homeowner pays 25 per cent of the total, but if it is a rental, the total cost is covered. The work cannot be scheduled to be done until August or September, but it will be done before cold weather season.

Ollie and I picked Shadow up from school and got a lesson in how to deal with a dog that was overly excited to see us. Ian, the trainer, keeps telling me Shadow is extremely smart and has learned to outsmart all of the humans in his life. It took 15 minutes, but he was able to calm Shadow before releasing him to us. Then Ollie was able to lead Shadow to the car. Patience, patience. It is time for bed and I am still trying to think of creative ways to keep Shadow from crying tonight. Tough love is tough!

2021 Life Logs, Day 140: More Writing and A Short Shopping Spree
Date: Thursday, May 20, 2021
Weather: Sunny, A Little Cooler; High 66, Low, 48 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Shadow and I survived the night apart from one another. But I cheated. I did not feel that he was yet comfortable going into the crate for the night, so I let him sleep in the living room on the sofa and I closed my bedroom door so he couldn’t come in. He barked for about ten minutes once I went into my room, but then he was quiet for the remainder of the night. I spent time today putting treats in the crate to get Shadow thinking positively about it. Then this afternoon when I left to take Sam and a friend to rowing in Hyannis, I did put him in the crate. He went in quietly but didn’t look happy. When I got back four hours later, he seemed fine. Tonight I’ll try the crate.

I spent most of my day writing and then headed to Hyannis with Sam and his friend Alex. We have not been carpooling because of Covid, but now that the boys have had one shot, we decided to do it with all of us wearing masks in the car.
Once we got there, I watched as they got the boats in the water. Alex and Sam were in a double today. Once they were off, I headed into Hyannis to Home Depot. Jed has these amazing loppers that will cut down small trees and I decided that I needed a pair of those to help clear some small stumps I keep tripping over and to trim branches. I have been borrowing his, but I never have them when I need them. Now I have my own. Then I went shoe shopping. I needed something I can just slip on to take Shadow out for bathroom breaks and for gardening. I have never worn Crocs because one size is slightly too small and the next size up is slightly too big. But they seemed like the best choice, so I bought the wildest looking pair I could find in the size that is slightly too big. We’ll see how that works out.

2021 Life Logs, Day 139: Day School for Shadow
Date: Wednesday, May 19, 2021
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High 73, Low, 49 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The wonderful run of spring weather we have had for the past week continues. I’m hoping this continues right through until summer. It is fabulous.

Who knew parenting a dog could be so hard and so expensive? Not me. That’s for sure. And I am not new to dogs. I had two Wire Fox Terriers when I met Mark and he had an Irish Setter. When we decided to head to the mountains to build a cabin, I had to give my terriers to friends, but we kept Shane, the Irish Setter. Shane was not a smart dog and he was not obedient. But other than trying to knock Mark’s mother off her feet on Fort Myers Beach, he did no harm. While we were visiting in Florida, he kept running away. He finally succeeded. Then when Justin and Heather were almost one and three years old, we got a Collie puppy. Her name was Starr. She looked like Lassie and never gave us any problems. She barked at strangers, but other than that, we never had issues with her. At the same time, we had fourteen sled dogs that we ran daily. We certainly didn’t need expensive dog trainers. When Starr died, Justin talked me into getting the cutest little Cocker Spaniel I had ever seen. I spoiled her rotten, but still, I never felt the need to pay a trainer. I just had a spoiled, misbehaving dog that didn’t attempt to hurt anyone. But Shadow is another story. He is so very exuberant and anxious all at the same time. He jumps on everyone, nips at the grandkids’ pants leg, jumps at their faces, as well as Heather’s, will not come when called, and on and on. But he is a very smart dog. Too smart. Despite the very expensive training that we both went through when he was a puppy, nothing changed. The training was for me and I failed! So, we are trying again. This time Shadow is going to a very expensive day school with a few other dogs. He had his first day today and he is already better. I picked Shadow up just before going to pick Ollie up from school, so I took Shadow with me for the after school pick up. Normally when Shadow sees Ollie and the other walkers coming from the school, he starts pulling at the leash and jumping like a wild thing. I can barely control him. But today, he sat and watched as Ollie approached. He did jump once when Ollie got close, but I pulled him away and he settled. The difference was amazing. The reason—treats! The first trainer did not allow the use of treats. Her training was based solely on voice command and the use of a choke collar for corrections. The new trainer, Ian, doesn’t allow choke collars and trains using a special treat. I did not think this would work with Shadow as he is so picky about what he eats. But he LOVES Ian’s treats, and they work like a charm. Eventually, the use of treats will be lessened. But for now, lots of treats are making an unbelievable difference. Tonight, will be the test, however. I can no longer allow Shadow to sleep on my bed until he is fully trained. I have to put him in a crate at night. We are both going to hate that, probably me more than him. I am hoping it is going to be easier than it sounds. Shadow goes back to school on Friday, so you’ll get another update then.

2021 Life Logs, Day 138: Gardening, Writing, Playing
Date: Tuesday, May 18, 2021
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High 72, Low, 56 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

‘Have Children in Your Life’ is #9 on Dr. Roger Landry’s top ten list of things that are necessary to ‘Live Long, Die Short’. That is his way of naming the things that are necessary to age with grace and health. I am so blessed to have my Falmouth grandchildren in my life every day in one way or another, so I can check off #9. I spend time with the grandkids in many way, but this spring on Tuesdays and most Thursdays I spend a large chunk of my day with Sam. I leave home at 3 pm to pick up Ollie and take him home. On the way home, he talks about the things that are important in the life of a nine-year-old. Then I head to Falmouth Conservatory to pick Sam up after his drum lesson. We come back to home just long enough for him to change clothes and we head to Hyannis for his 5 pm rowing practice on Wequaquet Lake. I love having the time in the car with Sam. He helps me keep up to date on what is happening in the lives of teenagers and tries to help educate me in the world of technology. It is so special to have this little window of time with a fourteen-year-old. While he is rowing for an hour and a half, I read, go into Hyannis to shop, and pick up dinner for Sam. He eats on the way home and then I drop him off for his weekly Scout meeting. I get home around 7:30 pm and head out for a short walk with Shadow and then I play ball with him until almost 8 pm. Then I come inside and ‘think’ about dinner. It is almost 9 pm by the time I eat and then get on my exercise bike. Whew! All of this makes for a busy afternoon and evening, but I would not trade it for anything in the world.

I did a little gardening today and started writing the next chapter in my book. I am hoping to somehow finish writing about year one of the voyage of Windbird before the middle of June. Speaking of Windbird, Sam and Dawn said farewell to Windbird at Lightkeeper’s Marina in North Myrtle Beach today. They packed all of their belongings in a cargo trailer that they are pulling along with them as they head westward. They will visit with family and friends along the way. I wish them the best. Westward Ho!

2021 Life Logs, Day 137: Walk, Talk, Watch
Date: Monday, May 17, 2021
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High 72, Low, 52 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

What a day. I was all over the place, both physically and mentally. I started the day with a walk with friend Olga Mitchell. Olga is in her mid-80’s and recently lost her husband. She is also a woman her spent her life working for the Bell Lab as a physicist and loves nothing more than doing loops and spins in her Decathlon aerobatic plane that she keeps in her garage. She lives in the Falmouth Airpark and can drive her plane from her garage onto a fairway that leads out to the main airstrip. And she walks like she flies. We walked at least two to three miles in in an hour and half on the paths through the woods near her home. And when we got back, I was astounded by the shitake mushroom ‘forest’ she has growing on oak logs outside her garage and a worm farm with more garden worms than I have ever seen. I wish I had half of her energy. She is an amazing woman.

I got home just in time to take Shadow for his morning mile, had lunch, and headed into town to talk with Jerry Lanson. Jerry is a Professor Emeritus at Emerson College, and a former newspaper editor, reporter, columnist. I signed up for his Newcomers Memoir Writing Class last year and he encouraged me to start writing in earnest about the Voyage of Windbird. I haven’t talked to him since I did start writing in earnest in January of this year, so today’s conversation was about how things are going. We met at Coffee Obsession, outside in the beautiful weather, amongst others outside and unmasked. It seemed so normal! He asked one question that I did not answer out loud as I answered in my head. He asked who I perceive to be the target audience of my book. In my head I thought, “People who believe in fairy tales.” Out loud I answered, “People who enjoy adventure and travel.”

But then tonight I got a text from Sam and Dawn on Windbird. They wanted me to know that they had finished getting Windbird ready to be put on the market. She is in North Myrtle Beach, where we left her in the February of 2016 and where they first saw her and purchased her. The same agent and friend that sold her to them for Mark and I is the same agent and friend who will attempt sell her this time. They sent photos and she looks great. And they wanted me know that I will always be their “sailing fairy godmother.” Maybe the book I am writing really is a fairy tale! It is certainly the story of a woman who was incredibly reluctant to sail around the world and transformed into a woman who thought sailing around the world was the most wonderful way to see the world and get to know her people.

I picked Ollie up after school and he came home with me to cut the grass in Shirley’s side yard before I took him home. While he was cutting the grass, I played ball with Shadow. Then when I took him home, I got to see the kittens, Mel and Leo, at play. They are doing great and are so much fun to watch. And then I came home to quickly get dinner for Shadow and for myself and tune into a Zoom presentation presented by the Harwich Conservation Trust. It was advertised as a presentation to help you learn how native plantings can create a more inviting and healthier yard for birds, beneficial insects, and other wildlife. The talk was by Doug Tallamy who has written bestsellers on enhancing your eco-friendly yard. His books include Nature’s Best Hope and Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens. I was definitely convinced that turning your yard into a native plant haven is well worth the effort—less grass and more native plants.

2021 Life Logs, Day 136: Deck Party to Deck Dinner
Date: Sunday, May 16, 2021.
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High 74, Low, 51 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Shadow and I had a quiet Sunday morning walking through the neighborhood and doing a little gardening. Then this afternoon I went to Bill and Midge Frieswyk’s for a Sunday afternoon deck party. Midge even had her bubble machine going to add to the festive mood. This was an unofficial gathering of our Dining-in Group just celebrating the warm weather. Karen and Peter Baranowski brought a surprise strawberry rhubarb pie that we all enjoyed. Bruce and Jane Wooden and Olivia and Terry White were also there. Bill starts a new round of chemo this week so we hope he will be up for our regular gathering next Sunday. But if not, at least we had a fun time this afternoon.

I then drove home to make my 40-minute buns for a pulled pork dinner at the Goldstones. Heather took Jonah had an afternoon soccer game near Hyannis, so I offered to get pulled pork, coleslaw, and mac ‘n cheese at Wicked ‘N Wood, a take-out barbecue place near me. Heather picked up a spicy lettuce mix and feta cheese to add to beets that I brought to make salads for us. We ate dinner on their deck and celebrated the end of an incredibly busy week and the beginning of another.
The kittens, Mel and Leo, are still living in Heather and Jed’s master bedroom and bathroom. They are so tiny that they are afraid to give them full reign of the whole house for fear of losing them. They will probably spend a few more days in their present space and then maybe get access to the whole downstairs area. They are getting less and less afraid of new people and are loving their new climbing tower. They are certainly a very cute duo.

2021 Life Logs, Day 135: Another Soccer Saturday Plus Pinewood Derby
Date: Saturday, May 15, 2021
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High 73, Low, 52 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Today was the same temperature as yesterday with the same sunshine, but there was almost no wind and today felt hot. I wore long pants and a long sleeve cotton shirt to Jonah’s 10:30 am soccer game and I was roasting by the end of the game. I headed home to get some lunch, take Shadow for a walk, and change into shorts and a short-sleeved shirt for Sam’s afternoon game. Much better.

Jed and Ollie headed out at the same time that I picked up Jonah to take him to his game. Jed and Ollie were going to the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. The actual races didn’t begin until 1 pm, but Jed needed to go early for set-up and Ollie wanted to go with him. Thankfully neither Heather nor Jed had an adverse reaction to their second Moderna vaccines. Heather had a headache and Jed was lethargic, but they were able to function. Jonah and I played with Mel and Leo before leaving for his soccer game. Leo is acclimating more quickly than Mel, but both kitties are doing great. Jonah and I headed to the soccer game and Heather followed along shortly leaving Sam in charge of the kittens.

I love watching Jonah and Sam play soccer. Jonah plays offense and Sam plays defense. And I must say that the eighth to tenth graders play hard ball. The sixth and seventh graders play hard, but the next step up is huge. I picked Sam up at the church where the Pinewood Derby was happening and took him to his game while Jonah, Jed, and Heather stayed at the church to watch the Pinewood Derby races. Ollie came in third in his troop and he was very happy about that. Heather left for a bit to see the very end of Sam’s game and then returned. I took Sam home and left him playing with the kittens. Then I returned home to walk and play ball with Shadow, and then collapse. But the day was not over for Heather and Jed. One of them, and I’m not sure which, took Jonah to his late afternoon game across the bridge toward Boston. I think they have nothing on their calendar for tomorrow morning, so I hope they all get to enjoy a lazy Sunday morning.

Tonight, I watched the first episode in Amazon Prime’s new television series, The Underground Railroad based on the book by Colson Whitehead. So hard to watch. I read Colson Whitehead’s book. It was hard to read, but not nearly so hard as it is to watch the treatment of black slaves in the South on the screen. Whitehead’s ingenious vision of the Underground Railroad is a secret network of tracks and tunnels that carried slaves to freedom. Actually, it was just a series of brave people, black and white, who ran safe houses and provided aid for the runaway slaves as they headed north. But Whitehead’s version makes for great television. At the same time, I am reading by book club pick of the month, American Dirt. In the first chapter of that book that I read last night, an upper-middle class Mexican woman watches the murder of her husband, mother, and entire family by a drug cartel. She escapes with her nine year-old son. That’s as far as I got last night, but I know that she and her son make it to the US to live as undocumented immigrants. Another hard, but essential read.

2021 Life Logs, Day 134: Welcome Leonardo and Melbourne
Date: Friday, May 14, 2021
Weather: Gloriously Sunny and Warm; High 73, Low, 50 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Today was gloriously sunny and warm. We broke out of the 60’s, reaching a high of 73 degrees F. It felt like summer and made me so lazy that I really did not do much of anything except enjoy the day. Despite that, it was a VERY special day.

#1: Following Sam’s first vaccine yesterday, Heather and Jed got their second Covid vaccine today.

#2: Welcome Leonardo and Melbourne. The Goldstones are the new parents of two adorable kittens, Leo(nardo) and Mel(bourne). As Heather wrote on Facebook, she is now outnumbered 7-1: Sam. Jonah, Ollie, Jed, Zuzu the guinea pig, and now Leo and Mel. Heather and Jed have resisted getting pets other than the guinea pigs. But when Max and Mortimer, the oldest of the three guinea pigs, died of old age this winter, they decided to try a pair of kittens. Leo and Mel are so adorable. It will take a couple of days for them to get acclimated, but soon I have a feeling those two little kittens will be ruling the roost in that household.

We looked a bit like a parade as I followed Heather and gang in their van to the home where we met the new kittens. They were waiting for us outside in a tall plastic clothes hamper, tall so they wouldn’t escape. The owner transferred them to Shadow’s puppy car carrier that he has long outgrown, and we then paraded back to 43 Grasmere. I made a little detour to mail something at the post office and by the time I arrived the kitties were well hidden. Heather’s plan is to keep them in their master bedroom and bathroom for the weekend before giving them full run of the house. They are so tiny and the house is so big. They spent their first hour hiding, but eventually, with lots of creative coaxing, Heather and Sam were able to catch and hold one. Hopefully before the end of the evening, everyone got a chance to hold a kitten.

Here’s hoping Heather and Jed have few side effects from their second Moderna vaccine as tomorrow is a busy one. Jed and Ollie were spending time tonight getting ready for tomorrow’s Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. Sam and Jonah have soccer games and I think Ollie’s violin group is playing together for the first time since 2019 due to coronavirus.

#3: Tonight I exceeded 710 miles on the exercise bike that Heather, Jed, Justin, and Jo got me for Christmas. I didn’t start riding faithfully until mid-January and I try to ride 6 miles every evening. We are 124 days into 2021. If you divide 710 by 6 you get 118. So, I think I have been faithful to my goal. You can’t adjust to the total miles, so I can’t cheat!