2020 Life Logs, Day 169: Afternoon at The Knob with the Goldpebbles and Shadow
Date: Thursday, June 18, 2020
Weather: Sunny; High 74, Low 62 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The Knob in Woods Hole may well be the most beautiful spot on Cape Cod. It offers a nature trails and stunning views of Quissett Harbor plus three different beaches, and all are dog friendly. You are required to keep your dog on a leash, and in these days of the coronavirus, you are required to wear a mask on the trails and when close to others on the beach. We were not aware of the mask requirement and had to go back home to get masks for the boys before heading down the beach. This afternoon we only accessed only one of the beaches and Sam did take Shadow down one of the nature trails. He had hoped to be able to get down to the beach from the trail, but the first few trails were blocked off. Once we all gathered on the beach, we did find one path from the beach that led up to an open trail.

?

?

?

As the boys played in the water and one the beach, I enjoyed the views of the Harbor and thought of all the wonderful times we had in the Harbor during the two summers that Windbird “lived” there. This afternoon we chose a place far from other people and were able to let Shadow be off leash most of the time so he could frolic with the boys. Sam was determined to get him in the water, but Shadow would only go out so far on his own. Finally, Sam carried him out and put him in deeper water to try and get him to swim. It worked and Sam was very excited. But Shadow headed quickly back to shore and immediately dug a hole in the sand and rolled in it trying to dry himself. Quite a mess, but nothing a bath when we got home didn’t solve.

It seems when we go to Quissett, we always have a great wildlife experience. One summer Sam discovered a huge school of Menhaden and we got in the dinghy and followed them around. Another year we found sea stars on the sandbar. And the year that Jonah picked up a green crab that molted in his hand was quite spectacular.

?

?

Today’s adventure was catching a pufferfish. Evidently the boys saw it when they were out in the shallow water and herded it to shore where Jonah put it in a bucket. It was a large pufferfish and the bucket was just too small, so I suggested they dig a pufferfish swimming pool so they could observe it for a few minutes before releasing it. This was a northern pufferfish, Sphoeroides maculatus, in the family Tetraodontidae. It is found along the Atlantic coast of the US and Canada, and unlike many other pufferfish, the flesh of the northern puffer is not poisonous . . at least not as far as I know. Some pufferfish have enough tetrodotoxin to kill 5 adult humans and it has no antidote. I did not know this until I did some research tonight. And some pufferfish have a stronger bite than a piranha. Yikes! I need to do a little more research to know how to manage a situation like this in the future. Bruce, if you are reading this, weigh in and let me know if I let my grandkids unknowingly engage in a risky activity. I sure hope not. I do know people eat the northern puffer, so they must not have the tetrodotoxin that can kill adult humans who eat them. In any case, it was a gorgeous day and the boys really enjoyed their adventure with Fluffer Nutter, their name for this particular pufferfish, and with Shadow.

2020 Life Logs, Day 168: New Car Battery & Falmouth Skatepark Afternoon
Date: Wednesday, June 17, 2020
Weather: Overcast AM, Sunny PM; High 72, Low 58 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

?

?

?

It was almost 1 pm when I arrived at 43 Grasmere and it was still overcast. The boys and I had planned to go to the beach, but the clouds and the fact that Ollie had to be home by 4 pm helped us to make the decision to skip the beach today and go instead to the Falmouth Skatepark with scooters. There are only two scooters, so Sam decided to stay home. The Skatepark has added a new addition with what Jonah calls the pit and both boys enjoyed their time there. They wore masks as there were a few other kids, but I finally convinced them that there were so few people that going without their masks was okay. It was hard sell, but they were SO hot. I wasn’t even scootering around and I had to take my mask off at one point as I was really overheating in the sunshine. But taking the mask off and on at intervals gives you a chance to cool down. It will take a few trips out in public to figure out when masks are absolutely necessary and when we can go without them safely.

A construction detour around the area when my car was located made getting my car back at the end of the day a much longer ordeal than it should have been. But get back, I did, and hopefully we won’t be stranded at the beach again this summer.

2020 Life Logs, Day 167: Boston, Beach, Dead Battery, and Dining-in Outside
Date: Tuesday, June 16, 2020
Weather: Sunny; High 72, Low 52 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

What a day! I know I say that often, but this really was quite a day. I got up early to check my emails to see if I had heard back about my order for a wetsuit for Ollie. Last night I got a confirmation, but then I got another email that said, “Don’t leave yet. We are processing your order.” At 8:30 am, I still had not heard from them, so Shadow and I started driving north to Dedham to Dick’s Sporting Good. I couldn’t wait any later to leave or I wouldn’t be able to get back in time for my 1 pm beach date with the Goldpebbles. When I reached Dick’s Sporting Goods in Dedham, I checked my phone and the email had arrived. “This item is no longer in stock.” Ugh. I was there, so I went in to inquire and was told that even though their website shows a couple of different full wet suits for kids plus a number of shortie wet suits, they no longer carry them in the store. I then called United Divers in Sommerville, just north of Boston. It was the only other place I could think of that might have a wet suit. Unfortunately, the person that answered the phone was not very helpful. He could only tell me that they a couple of full wet suits for kids and that I would have to come in to check the size.
It was another 30-minute drive to get there, but I was determined to find a suit for Ollie. United Divers is tiny little shop. I parked in front and went in to find that they did, in fact, have exactly two wet suits for kids, and both were a size 8. That was lucky. They looked a little too big, but I bought one anyway and headed home. I got home with just enough time to take Shadow for a short walk, feed him lunch, and pack the car with the beach gear. Last night I thought we would be spending the afternoon with Meghan Hannawalt’s goats at the Goldstones, but Heather had sent a text this morning saying the goats were not arriving until 5 pm. So, that gave us the beach time. I was a bit late picking up the boys, but they were ready to go. We had to wait for Ollie to put on his wet suit and he was so happy that finally something fit him. It is a tad too big, but not enough to be a problem. And I don’t know who was happier, Ollie or me. Now we have three Goldpebble Surfer Dudes.

The boys and I spent a couple of hours at the beach. They knew we needed to leave by 3:30 so I could get them home and get to the Frieswyk’s for our first Dining-in Group dinner since the beginning of March.
Ollie and I were the last ones to get to the car and when I put the key in the ignition and tried to start the car . . . nothing but a click, click, click. I have noticed a clicking noise for a couple of weeks now when I go to start the car, but it has always kicked over. Not this afternoon. Since I had been hearing this clicking noise, I had convinced myself that it was a starter issue, not the battery. But I called Jed and he came with battery cables. And that did the trick. I had been delayed by about 30 minutes, but at least I had a car that was running. Jed took the boys and I headed home to again walk and feed Shadow, get the food ready that I was taking to the dinner, and off I went. I was a few minutes late, but I felt lucky to be there at all. We met on the Frieswyk’s deck which is large enough to accommodate the nine of us with plenty of room for physical distancing. We each brought food to share that we had packaged in individual servings. And when we were distributing the food, we all wore masks which we removed once we were seated and eating. It was great to be together with this group of good friends and we’ll try this again in July. Thanks to Bruce Woodin for taking photos of some of us tonight.

The Goldpebbles suggested that tomorrow we go to the beach at Quissett where we can take Shadow with us. So that is the plan for the afternoon, but I plan to spend the morning doing absolutely nothing. After today, I need a little down time.

2020 Life Logs, Day 166: Day of Dilemmas
Date: Monday, June 15, 2020
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 64, Low 52 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Today turned out to be a series of dilemmas. The first dilemma was solved early when I figured out how to send a birthday gift to Jo in Puerto Rico. When I tried yesterday, the website said it couldn’t send to her address. But sometime during the night, it dawned on me that I had used the address for USPS, which is how I thought the company shipped. But this morning I read the fine print and found they ship via UPS. I put in the address for that, and it went through immediately. I don’t think it will arrive in time for her birthday, but hopefully it will be there soon. The next dilemma arose when I drove to the U Pick strawberry farm to check out availability for afternoon picking and found out that so many people picked over the weekend that they are closed for picking until next weekend. Bummer. What to do? I drove to the Goldstones and announced that we wouldn’t be picking strawberries. Instead we would go buy a couple of quarts to make a strawberry syrup for them to use in the Soda Stream and that we would spend the afternoon washing cars. Dilemma number 2 solved. We had to move fast to drive Heather’s car to my house to wash it, drive back to their house so I could get my 3:30 call from the neurosurgeon and so that Jonah could have his 4 pm music lesson. The boys cleaned the inside of Heather’s car and checked it off the list and cleaned the inside of the van. We’ll hope to have time tomorrow to wash it on the outside. We are trying to avoid washing cars in their driveway right now as the water all drains down toward the garage doors and the drainage system is blocked. Water is left standing which makes for a bit of a mess, so it is just easier to do the washing at my house for now. The last dilemma today was that the first two wetsuits I ordered for Ollie were TOO SMALL and the third wetsuit that arrived this evening is TOO BIG. I ordered another one tonight, but it was the only one that is available until July. I kept searching and found one wetsuit in a sports store near Boston that looks to be his size. I ordered it for curbside pickup. If I get confirmation by morning, I am going to drive to pick it up. Hopefully that will solve that dilemma.

I did have my online visit with the neurosurgeon this afternoon to go over my MRI results. He says my back is operable due to the severe stenosis in the lower section, but he is not recommending surgery at this time. He thinks the main problem is the herniated disc in the lower lumbar area. But after listening to the chain of events, he feels it might be reabsorbing and healing itself. That’s the best case scenario. He recommends no more physical therapy for few weeks while I continue to take it easy and give the back more time to heal. Right now I am not having the pain. If that is still the case once I finish the current 12-day round of Prednisone, he suggests I then very slowly start walking more and doing a few stretches and strengthening exercises. If the pain returns, however, he suggests I try a cortisone shot. We shall wait and see.

Tomorrow afternoon friend Meghan Hannawalt is bringing her goats to Heather and Jed’s to get rid of some unwanted poison ivy. Depending on timing, I might just hang out at Heather and Jed’s with the boys to watch the goats do their magic. If time allows, we might work in a trip to my house to wash the van. Then tomorrow late afternoon I get together with my dining-in group.

2020 Life Logs, Day 165: More Running Around & Time with Family
Date: Sunday, June 14, 2020
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 66, Low 53 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I did a bit more running around today—to the Goldstones early to deliver some beach items that they were going to need for their family day at Wood Neck Beach and to do my laundry, home to walk with Shadow and give him his late morning meal, a Skype call with Justin, Ziggy , and Coco (Jo was not home and we did some secret planning for her upcoming birthday—shhhh), a trip back to the Goldstones to put my laundry in the dryer, a visit with Olivia White whose sister in India died a few days ago, back to pick up my laundry, to the nursery to buy more strawberries, and home to play with Shadow and get dinner ready. Whew! Doesn’t sound like much, but it took me until late afternoon to get those things done and then I spent the next couple of hours getting dinner ready as I had invited Heather and family over. It was great to have them over. I got to hear about their family day at the beach that they all enjoyed immensely and it gave us some time to talk a little about the summer plan going forward. Afternoon Camp Oma is not really fully beginning until school is out at the end of next week. I had misunderstood what Heather said last week. I thought it was beginning tomorrow, but the boys still have afternoon music lessons until the end of next week, so I will be with them on some afternoons, not on others. Tomorrow we are planning to go ‘pick your own’ strawberries.

2020 Life Logs, Day 164: Chore Day and Back Update
Date: Saturday, June 13, 2020
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 70, Low 54 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

It was a Saturday with a lot of running around. Today was a hazardous waste recycling day at Falmouth High School. I volunteered to pick up items from Heather and Jed’s and do that chore first thing this morning. And while I was in town, I filled my empty fuel tank in my car and went to the liquor store to get a couple of cases of fuel for me. It was early and there was almost , curbside. I know from the first time I did this that it is not fast. Then I headed home to make my morning smoothie, to get a batch of chicken mineral broth burbling, give Shadow a bath, and then go for a walk with Shadow. Following the advice of the breeder where I got Shadow, I have been feeding him raw chicken wings late morning, and so far that is working. Sonja, the breeder, told me that is what she feeds her picky eaters, Shadow’s mother being one of those. But I give him the wings outside as I don’t want raw chicken all over my floor. Not sure what I’ll do in the winter, but I’ll worry about that in a few months. Evidently raw chicken wing bones are safe for dogs. But never cooked bones. Who knew? Not me. I gave Shadow that much needed bath and then grabbed my smoothie and my book and went outside to sit and read and have late breakfast with him while he dried out in the sunshine. By the time he ate and we went for a walk, he was dry. That process takes all day in cold weather inside. So much easier now.

I spent my afternoon running around again. This was an unplanned adventure, but in reading my email this morning, I read about a strawberry tower you can grow on your deck. That reminded me that I have a three-tiered hanging basket in the basement that looks just like the tower. Justin and Jo gave it to me years ago when Mark and I were living on the boat. I haven’t used for a couple of years, but I decided to see if there were still strawberries to be bought and fill the hanging basket tower for Heather’s deck. I went to my favorite nursery first, all outside, and they had only one variety of strawberry left. They were beautiful, with red blossoms, but I needed 9 of them and they were going to cost more than I was willing to spend. So, I then drove all the way back home and beyond to the wholesale nursery that exists only in May and June. They have already put everything on sale at 25 per cent off, and I decided to get 6 strawberry plants there and then drive back to the other nursery to get three of the red-blossomed ones. A lot of driving, but when I planted them in the hanging baskets, I was very pleased with the look. I then planted a few things in my garden before delivering the strawberry hanging tower to the Goldstones. Jonah and Ollie love strawberries, so they were both very excited. Jonah took the lead in getting the ‘tower’ from the car to the deck and made sure it was hanging securely. When I left, he and Ollie were ‘petting’ the little strawberries already formed on a couple of the plants. These strawberries will be much loved.

Now, on the subject of my back. I reported earlier that I had an MRI on Tuesday, met with my primary care physician on Wednesday, and he arranged an appointment with a neurosurgeon for me this Monday to review the MRI impressions. In the meantime, the primary care doctor had me cancel any physical therapy sessions until I meet with the neurosurgeon. That was on Wednesday. And Thursday morning I woke up and things were much better than they have been for weeks. I was supposed to start taking Prednisone starting on Thursday to reduce the inflammation, but I put it off a day just see if the lack of pain on Thursday morning was just a fluke. But Friday morning was even better than Thursday. Maybe it is a coincidence and things are just now starting to heal, but I am convinced that the exercises were aggravating the situation. I will get to a point when I can do them again, but for now, I think I just need to give things a rest. That’s what my chiropractor has been advising all along. We’ll see what the neurosurgeon says on Monday. I still have some tingling and numbness in the legs when I walk, but the pain in my hips has disappeared for now making life much more pleasant.

2020 Life Logs, Day 163: Stoney Beach and Goldpebbles Rock
Date: Friday, June 12, 2020
Weather: Rainy, Foggy Morning, Beautiful Afternoon, High 72, Low 57 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

This morning was a little rainy and totally overcast and foggy. But the weather forecast for the afternoon was for sunshine. At exactly 1 pm, the transformation happened. So, I got ready to head to the Goldstones to see if I could convince the boys to go to the beach with me this afternoon. At first there was not a lot of excitement, but eventually all three boys decided that if we could go to Stoney Beach in Woods Hole, they were in. So off we went. We had a back up plan as Stoney is a small beach with a small parking lot. But it was not full and we were able to find a space well away from others. Longtime friends from one family from the Goldstones’ new neighborhood were there, but at first the Goldpebbles decided to stay away.

?

?

?

?

As the afternoon wore on, however, the boys from the two families ended up playing together. And then another friend of Ollie’s arrived and Davey was added to the group. All of these families are good friends and are all taking super precautions in their lives to avoid the coronavirus, but somehow it just seemed okay to the let the boys play together at the beach. Then things got even more complicated as the boys met new friends out on the jetty as they were trying to catch crabs. There were two boys that live in one of the homes on the beach each summer. I watched as everyone tried very hard to keep a good six feet apart, but playing on the jetty made that a little difficult. So, they all headed out to play in the water. The boys love the little beach in Woods Hole, but as the summer progresses we might have to limit our visits there as more and more people head to the beach. For now, however, we will enjoy it. Today was the first beach day that Jonah has worn a full wet suit as it just arrived yesterday. The water really is still very chilly and the wet suit made all the difference in the world for Jonah. He is often freezing as there is not ounce of fat on his body and he is ready to leave the beach after a short time. But this afternoon, there were no complaints. He was warm the whole time. Ollie’s wet suit still hasn’t arrived, but he didn’t complain. At the end of the day, however, I could see he was really chilled. I sent him to the car to warm up while Sam and Jonah got all of the beach things together. Hopefully, Ollie’s wet suit will arrive early next week.

?

All three boys really enjoyed their afternoon. At the end of the day, Jonah and Sam wanted me to get a photo of them in their wet suits and Jonah asked me to post it on Facebook with #surferdudes. They look so grown up.

Things went a little down hill from there. And it was all my fault. I stayed at the beach too long with the boys, so it time for dinner when got home. Heather and Jed had invited me over for artichokes for dinner, but I hated to leave Shadow alone for so many hours, so I dropped the boys off and headed home to get the puppy. By the time I got back, it was almost 7 pm and we were supposed to join my family on a Zoom call to discuss a possible family vacation trip to Great Britain next summer. I had already decided that I will probably not be joining this family vacation as I am just not sure the coronavirus will be under control by then. But I still wanted to join the call to see everyone. We set things up so we could eat and talk. That worked, but Shadow was just not cooperating. I suppose he just needed attention after being left alone all afternoon, but I could not stop him from jumping up on everyone. A jumping puppy, while trying get connected to family on a call with some technical issues, and eating dinner at the same time, got a little tense. If I had left the beach an hour earlier, much of this could have been avoided. Lesson learned, but because the Goldpebbles and I all love the beach so much, I know we will continue to have trouble tearing ourselves away. I just have to do a better job of planning.

After dinner, the boys headed down to the basement to practice for an open mike music event tomorrow. Evidently late morning they had done the same thing while Heather was upstairs on a Zoom staff meeting. She kept her mike muted except when she had to talk, but everyone on the call eventually heard the Goldpebbles playing Ironman. No one said anything, but staff members were texting her with messages about the awesome background music. Tonight, the Goldpebbles were practicing a different song in preparation for tomorrow’s open mike time and I was really amazed at how good they sounded.

?

I have heard Sam playing drums and know that he is good, but I haven’t heard Jonah play the bass all that much. Tonight, the duo sounded fantastic and Ollie was serving as their manager and tech support. It was a delight to watch and to hear. The Goldpebbles rock.

2020 Life Logs, Day 162: Newcomer Showcase
Date: Thursday, June 11, 2020
Weather: Mostly Overcast and Windy; High 75, Low 63 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Today ended up to be a bit of dreary one and the weather seemed to dampen my energy level. I worked on extending the drip irrigation system in my raised beds, I had a short visit with friend Midge Frieswyk when she dropped by to return a book, and I prepared for my contribution to tonight’s Newcomer Showcase on Zoom. And that was it.

The Newcomer Showcase was put together by the leadership team as an attempt to get Newcomers together on Zoom to celebrate some of the talent of various members. There was an impressive array of musicians, artists, photographers, and writers. I was asked to read the first chapter of the book I am writing about The Voyage of Windbird. The chapter is titled, “There He Was.” It tells the story of the day that I met Mark, a man of many dreams that we followed together. The chapter ends with this. “Evening turned into the middle of the night with us still sitting outside on that stone wall talking and falling in love. Then he started talking about the things he had always dreamed of doing . . . building a cabin in the woods and sailing around the world. Whoa. I didn’t even like camping, much less living in a cabin in the woods, and I certainly didn’t want to sail around the world. But decades later, after 31 years of marriage where together we built homes, built our careers, and built our family, he convinced me to do just that.”

2020 Life Logs, Day 161: MRI Report
Date: Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 73, Low 62 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Plans for today changed. I thought I was going to be taking the Goldpebbles to the beach or have them here for a kayaking this afternoon, but there was a march in Woods Hole of scientists and researchers in support of racial equality in the early afternoon, so the Goldstones headed there. As I was deciding what to do with my afternoon, the problem was solved for me by my primary care physician. One of his nurses called and asked if I could get on a Zoom call with him to discuss my MRI results. She went over the results with me and I was shocked that a report had been written and sent so quickly. The report verified exactly what my chiropractor has been telling me. I have severe stenosis in the lower lumbar region which I already knew, but I also have two bulging discs. One of them has a central extrusion. I don’t know exactly what that means but will soon find out. As I talked to Dr. Ahmed on Zoom, he got on the phone to a neurosurgeon that promised to review my MRI report within the hour. Dr. Ahmed said he would get back to me before the end of the afternoon with the next steps. I was literally shocked at the speed at which all of this happened. But I really have a lot of confidence in Dr. Ahmed. He is the doctor that met with Mark and I for the first time a month before Mark’s death. After examining Mark, he came in to talk to me and said what no doctor to that point had said. He even said at the time, “I know that Mark’s oncologist has probably not addressed this issue with you, but your husband has a very short time to live and you need to get ready for that.” I was jolted, but his actions that day made the last month of Mark’s life so much easier. He immediately ordered home nursing, had me sign all the forms needed to get Hospice involved when the time came, and much more. The point being, Dr. Ahmed is a man of action and I really appreciate that. He did call me back later this afternoon and said that the neurosurgeon had read my MRI report and wanted me take another round of Prednisone to calm down the inflammation. That doctor will meet with me via Zoom on Monday and discuss next steps. In the meantime, Dr. Ahmed said to stop the physical therapy but to continue to see my chiropractor that had insisted that I ask for the MRI to confirm his diagnosis. I feel very lucky to have such a good medical team. I will also contact the Spine Clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital where I had my upper spine issues diagnosed in 2014. At that time a young neurosurgeon there told me to keep seeing my chiropractor (the same one I have now) and to not come back until I can’t walk. Dr. Ahmed thinks I should get a second opinion from him if that is possible at this time. Basically, all of this took most of my afternoon, but I did head to the Goldstones around 3:30 pm to go do a little gardening. I solicited help from Sam and Jonah while Ollie had his Wednesday violin lesson. After his lesson, Ollie helped me finish the planting job. The boys have two more weeks of “school”, but I think we are going to start our summer plan next week. It sounds like this summer Camp Oma will be an afternoon affair, with the boys staying at home in the morning to slowly get their day started and to read and relax before an afternoon of activity. It is going to be a different summer, for sure, but I think the current plan sounds like one that will work.

2020 Life Logs, Day 160: PT and MRI
Date: Tuesday, June 9, 2020
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 74, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Today was all about my back issue. I had a Zoom PT session this morning. The therapist just can’t figure out what is going on. And things seem to be getting worse, not better, every time we try something new. So, he is having me do nothing other than stretching exercises until this Friday when I meet with him in person for the first time. I spent my afternoon driving to Hyannis for an MRI of my lower back. My physician should have the results in 2-3 business days. It would be great if I could get a copy of the report before the PT in-person session on Friday, but I doubt that will happen. Depending on the results, whenever I get them, I think the next step will be to get an appointment with a specialist who can help me better understand the results of the MRI. Another inch-by-inch situation.

I checked in with my book group on Zoom right after my PT appointment. Today’s discussion was on a book that I did not read, “The Gentleman from Moscow.” I will read it at some point, but right now I am dividing my time between reading the Harry Potter series and keeping current on the coronavirus pandemic and reading things related to the current protests. I’ll end this blog post with another quote from Ta’Nehisi Coates’ book, “Between the World and Me” (2015). Food for thought. “The problem with the police is not that they are fascist pigs but that our country is ruled by majoritarian pigs.”