2020 Life Logs, Day 120: Back and Weather Better Than Yesterday
Date: Wednesday, April 29, 2020
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 55 degrees, Low 41 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Both my back and the weather were better today than yesterday, so I’ll call that a win, win. And then I had a fun afternoon with the Goldpebbles, so that’s a third win. But in these coronavirus days, the good news always seems to come with some disturbing news. Tonight on the Rachel Maddow Show, Rachel shared the results of a coronavirus projection model produced by Mass General Hospital, Harvard Medical, Boston University, and Georgia Tech. It shows that for the state of Massachusetts, if we keep doing everything exactly the way we are doing them right now, by the end of August, the number of deaths will go up from the current 3,000+ to almost 5,000. But if current standards are relaxed, that August death toll is projected to be almost 29,000. By this model, if we stay in lockdown, we save 24,000 lives. That part is good news. Lives can be saved, but it means continuing to live as we do right now and that is the reality according to this model. While Heather and Jed were here for dinner tonight, Heather got the news that there will be no 4th of July fireworks this year and that the Falmouth Road Race has been cancelled. It is most certainly going to be a different kind of summer.

Speaking of summer, there were times this afternoon when it felt like summer. I picked up the Goldpebbles around 1:45 pm and brought them here to spend the afternoon. We watched some of the Woods Hole Research Center webinar hosted by Heather and then headed outside to transplant raspberries. We didn’t get them all transplanted, but I called a halt to the work as it was time to head down to the dock to launch the kayaks. The boys spent the next hour and a half out on the water while I sat and watched. I had on my winter coat, which was needed while sitting still while the wind blew. But there were times when there was no wind orders the sun shining down on my face felt burning hot. It felt so good. But all good things must come to an end, so we headed back to The Cottage around 5 pm. I needed to make another batch of those 40-minute hamburger buns that I made last Thursday when the boys were here, as we were once again having hamburgers for dinner. Heather and Jed arrived in time for Jed to do the grilling. Thank you, Jed. He, Heather, and I had portabella mushroom burgers instead of ground beef burgers and the mushroom burgers were delicious.

No plans for tomorrow other than doing some online shopping for food and beverage deliveries. Afternoon activities will depend on the weather.

I leave you with a stark statement by Fintan O’Toole, Irish Times Columnist. He wrote, “The world has loved, hated, and envied the U.S. Now, for the first time, we pity it.” How I wish we had had wise, thoughtful leadership in this time of crisis.

2020 Life Logs, Day 119: Another Day of Rest
Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Weather: Overcast, Still Chilly with N Winds; High 45 degrees, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Ye old back gave me a direct message this morning that this would be another day of rest. I know the key to recovery is to keep moving, but I really didn’t sleep much last night due to the pain, so I slept away part of this afternoon. It was windy and cold this morning and no matter what exercises I did, the shooting pains from my lower back into my hips didn’t go away. As a result, I didn’t force myself to take my morning walk with Shadow. That was a mistake. I spent most of the day sitting or lying down, and still the pain was no better. So late this afternoon, I did more exercises, put on my hiking boots, and headed out for that walk with Shadow. Amazing. The first half mile was painful, but after that it got better and better. Maybe it was a combination of the rest and the walking, but I think it was just the walking that made things better. So no matter how painful, I just have to force myself to keep on walking!

The wind was from the north today, so no matter what the thermometer said, it was still a winter hat and coat and gloves day. But we should have a one day reprieve tomorrow. The winds have already died down and the forecast calls for some sunshine tomorrow. I have invited the Goldpebbles over for an afternoon of gardening and kayaking to celebrate the sunshine. Then Heather and Jed will join us for dinner.

I did venture out once today. After sending the seeds to Jo yesterday, she sent another request for some seeds for medicinals. I called the garden center that is right across the highway from my neighborhood and they had one of the four things she needs. They are open for business, but really only for curbside pick-up. So I paid for the seeds on the phone, drove over to their outside kiosk, waited until there was no one in line, and was handed the seeds through a sliding window. The governor announced today that things won’t start opening up in Massachusetts until after the middle of May, but this type of shopping works for me. I was able to find the other 3 things Jo needs online. They will deliver here, but not to PR. So once I get the seeds, I’ll send them on. It takes a village.

2020 Life Logs, Day 118: Something’s Gotta Give
Date: Monday, April 27, 2020
Weather: Overcast, Misty, Windy; High 45 degrees, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Today I kept hearing Frank Sinatra singing in my head, “Something’s gotta give, something’s gotta give, something’s gotta give.” The weather has been miserable and I see no end to this slow cooker environment we have all been living in for the past six weeks. I have had it easy as I have been able to see my family. But most people have not and I know that is so hard. Regardless, this is not the time to let up. For me, the thing that has to give is my vision of how things should be. Maybe that has already happened as I find it hard to even think beyond today . . . therefore, no vision of how things should be. I have lost any vision for the future. But I heard an interview with Al Gore tonight that gave me hope for the future. He painted a picture of the possibility of an almost immediate future that looks very different from the past. He talked about the connections between the coronavirus pandemic and climate change and thinks we must come out the other side of this pandemic with drastically different energy policies. He thinks it is perfect opportunity to go totally green and leave fossil fuels behind. He also expressed his hope that all Americans will come together in November to make a change in who is leading our country in these very difficult times. He basically said this is not a partisan hope; it is our only hope. I couldn’t agree more.

I was much relieved this morning to get a text from Sam on Windbird saying they had stayed in the Intracoastal Waterway instead of going off-shore around Cape Hatteras. They are going to slow down and spend time in the waterways in North Carolina before heading further north. Before the end of May, they need to get Windbird to New York City where they will live aboard for the next year or so. But as Sam pointed out in his message to me, he probably won’t be doing a lot of flying, so no big hurry. I also heard more from my daughter-in-law Jo. She found a way to send me the video of her garden via WhatsApp. When I was last there in March of 2017 after Hurricane Maria, Jo had just started gardening on the hillside beside their home and the garden was in the shape of a heart. She has expanded and expanded and now has a lush hillside garden. It is beautiful and will soon start providing them with lots of fresh veggies. This morning, I was able to get seeds that Jo needs to expand the garden. She was shocked that I could get seeds here as there are none in Puerto Rico. I reminded her that it has been so cold here that no one is thinking about planting anything quite yet. Once the weather warms up, I’m sure the seeds will quickly disappear, so this morning I bought what I think I need as well. I went to the local hardware store where I could see the seed rack while still standing outside. I knew the seed rack’s location and most of its content as I had gone there in early March just before the lockdown to buy seeds. I talked to the clerk on my phone telling him which seed packets I wanted. He then checked me out via phone and brought the bag of seeds to my car. I did have to go in the Post Office to send the seeds, but I was very careful. And it warmed my heart to think that I could contribute to the garden at Finca Maravilla that will feed Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco.

Back to “something’s gotta give”—this weather is absolutely miserable, and it needs to give. It was misty most of the day and very windy. When I took Shadow out for a walk early this morning, I had on my winter coat and hat, but I had put my winter gloves away thinking they were no longer needed. Before my afternoon walk, those gloves came out and helped a bit. But Shadow got soaking wet on both walks and I’m sure he was freezing as well. Tomorrow looks a little sunnier but still windy. But Wednesday looks good before more rain on Thursday. So I’m going to plan a mid-week weather celebration.

2020 Life Logs, Day 117: Definitely a Day of Rest
Date: Sunday, April 26, 2020
Weather: Rainy Day with Thunderstorms; High 49 degrees, Low 41 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I took the ‘day of rest’ thing seriously today and did absolutely nothing of consequence other than survive. Yet somehow I have been busy all day. The unfortunate thing is that my back is no better at the end of do-nothing day. The good thing is that it is no worse. I’ve started doing a few exercises for sciatica and they help for a bit, but then the pain returns. Walking helps the most, so even in the miserable rain, Shadow and I did our walking today.

I did hear from Sam aboard Windbird this morning. Windbird is rounding Cape Hatteras tonight as he and Dawn are headed to Norfolk on their way north. I also talked to Kevin and Claire in Philadelphia this evening. They have hardly been off Merganser in weeks. They are treating it like a long passage and are enjoying it. But the weather was beautiful there yesterday and they took a ride out in the country in their motor home. It was fun, but they feel safer back home on the boat. I didn’t talk to Justin and Jo in Puerto Rico today, but I got an email from Jo. She is working hard at growing as much food as she can but needs seeds that she can’t get locally. I have some of the seeds she needs, so I’ll get those in the mail tomorrow. And my other activity was to listen to the interviews on The Food Revolution. Today’s topic was brain health and the take-away from the three interviews was that the health of your brain is dependent on the food you eat. And the best food for your brain is fresh vegetables, and lots of them! Both Heather and I have been able to procure lots of greens during these coronavirus times. For brain health, greens at every meal is the recommendation. I get that with my green smoothie for breakfast, a big salad for lunch, and a dinner that includes at least three different veggies, one of which is a green. My assessment of what I heard today to maintain brain health is to “Go Green.”

2020 Life Logs, Day 116: Never Ending Move . . . Almost Done
Date: Saturday, April 25, 2020
Weather: Beautiful Sunny Day; High 57 degrees, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Hurray, hurray! What has come to feel like the never ending move is almost done. I have not been able lift and carry boxes since throwing my back out on the first day of the move, but I have been able to find other ways to support. It was a huge decision for Heather and Jed to do this move without any professional help. But, understandably, they really didn’t want to introduce outsiders into the family unit during these days of the coronavirus. I left them around 6:30 this evening as they were unloading the ‘almost last’ van load. They were going to have take-out pizza for dinner and make one last trip before bedtime. That should be the last load. Then, hopefully, they can start fully focusing on the unpacking and the renovations in the new house. While Heather and Jed are working full time at home and home schooling the three boys, it is going to be a slow process. But I know it will be a huge relief for them to know that they no longer have to shuffle things from one house to the other. Closing on 60 Vidal happens on Thursday, so it will be done by then for sure. Today was a beautiful day and as we worked on packing up the last things, the boys played in the backyard with Molly and Joey from next door. They have grown up as brothers and sisters and the farewell this evening was definitely bittersweet. The Keefe’s were going somewhere, so the kids said one more farewell as their next door neighbors drove away. They will, of course, remain friends, but that is different from being next door. The Goldpebbles seem to be taking this in stride. They love exploring the conservation area behind their new house and they are excited about the renovations planned for their new bedrooms. And they are constantly planning a ‘man cave’ music room in the basement.

This evening I am listening to interviews from the first day of the 9th Annual Food Revolution Summit. This is hosted by Ocean Robbins, son of John Robbins, who was a major food revolution leader beginning in the 1970’s. I found the first interview of the series to be absolutely fascinating. It was with Dr. Matt McCarthy who is an assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and an assistant attending physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He has been on the frontline during the coronavirus pandemic and shared his experiences of the past few weeks. He wrote a book that came out last summer called, SUPERBUGS: The Race to Stop an Epidemic. Matt went to Yale College and played baseball for his four years there. When he graduated with a degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry, he spent a year in Minor League Baseball. After one year, he left baseball and wrote about that experience in a book entitled Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mound with a Minor League Misfit. From Minor League Baseball, he went to Harvard Medical School. Once he became a physician, he wrote another book, The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly: A Physician’s First Year. He has the special talent of being about to write about his experiences. In Superbugs he wrote about his research in West Africa with pathogens transferred to humans from animals, specifically from bats. He saw clearly that a world pandemic was coming. He just didn’t know exactly when. He is now living through that pandemic, treating Covid-19 patients. The things I loved most about the interview was that he shared what he and his family are doing at home to protect themselves from Covid. It was interesting to hear how they deal with the food coming into their home. They unpack outside and leave paper bags and boxes outside to be recycled or thrown in the trash. They wash vegetables in water with nothing added. But as he pointed out, there is no research that tells us exactly the best way to do this. His family is just like mine or yours. We are all just doing the best that we can with the information we have.

2020 Life Logs, Day 115:  Harry Potter Times Three
Date: Friday, April 24, 2020
Weather:  Overcast and Rainy; High 47 degrees, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

As forecast, it was indeed a rainy day which made for a great movie binge day with Sam, Jonah, and Ollie.  We were up early, had breakfast, and then watched Harry Potter 1.  We took a break after the first movie to try and watch a science webinar about the current herring run.  We connected my computer to the television and we could watch it just fine.  But none of us could get the sound going.  After twenty minutes of trying, we realized that my computer was on mute.  Duh!  Sam was shocked that none of us had thought to check that, but we hadn’t.  Since we can watch that program later, we abandoned watching it and started watching Harry Potter 2.  We paused for lunch, finished watching the second HP, and ended the afternoon with Harry Potter 3.  At the end of the afternoon, the boys couldn’t believe they were still in their PJ’s and had not been outside all day.  I had taken Shadow for a couple of walks, but it was miserable out.  It was a great day to spend inside.

2020 Life Logs, Day 114: Boundless Energy
Date: Thursday, April 23, 2020
Weather: Sun Early, Then Mostly Cloudy and Windy; High 47 degrees, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

No, I don’t have boundless energy. But the Goldpebbles do and tonight I am worn out from just watching them put that energy into another spring vacation work and play day.

I had a follow-up chiropractor visit this morning at 10 am and there was definite improvement after my visit yesterday. So, I will return a couple of times next week and probably the week after that. I am just thankful that my chiropractor is nearby and is doing everything possible to make visits to his office as safe as possible. I was in and out fairly quickly and was at the Goldstones by 10:30. I was met by a bag of groceries sitting by the door for me and three boys ready to spend the rest of the day, tonight, and tomorrow at my house. Heather made a trip to the grocery store for both of us this morning. Thank you, Heather. Unfortunately, many things on our lists were not in stock. I had hoped to get grassfed ground beef so I could have hamburgers for dinner for the boys tonight, but that was a no go at Stop and Shop. Later in the day, however, I ordered from the tiny organic market in Mashpee Commons and within an hour, the bag with the grassfed ground beef and other goodies was on my doorstep. They didn’t have buns of any sort, so I made hamburger buns. They were not only a great hit, they were extremely fast and easy to make.

Even though the boys were packed and mostly ready to go. We made a stop at 60 Vidal to dig up a few raspberry plants that we want to move to my yard. We only dug up a few to use as guinea pigs to see if our plan was going to work. By the time we got to my house, it was time to fix lunch. While Ollie and Sam dug the trench for transplanting raspberries, Jonah and I made flakey biscuits to go with a mac and cheese lunch. Not sure what happened, but the biscuits were definitely not flakey. I’ve made those biscuits for years, but maybe using almond milk instead of regular milk doesn’t work with this recipe. The boys ate them anyway and then we returned to the raspberry project. We planted the ones we had brought with us and determined that our plan was going to work. But before going back to get more plants, it was time for the next item on our agenda which was kayaking. Once again, Shadow and I sat by the dock in what felt like freezing wind and watched the Goldpebbles enjoying another kayak explore. Then we went back to 60 Vidal for more raspberries. I’ll not go into detail on what is like trying to oversee three fully energized boys doing this project. I’ll just say they work like bulls in a China shop. But bottom line. They got the job done! There are still more raspberries at 60 Vidal, but if we are going to transplant those, that project will have to wait until the weekend.

When we got back in the house after transplanting the raspberries, it was time for quiet indoor play while I got dinner together. I made those 40-minute hamburger buns, but then realized that I had no ketchup. The Goldpebbles consider ketchup to be its own food group and believe you can’t have a meal without it, especially not a hamburger. So as soon as the buns came out of the oven, we drove to 43 Grasmere to borrow some ketchup. When we got back home, Sam grilled the burgers and everyone agreed that the burgers were perfectly grilled and that the buns were perfect. Success.

The boys are fast asleep now and I am tired. But I am not nearly as tired as the parents in this country and around the world trying to work full-time while basically homeschooling their children. It is hard enough to home school kids, but to do it while you are working full-time from home is almost impossible. Then there are the parents who are still out there going to work everyday with kids at home with no one to be with them. It’s not like summer when you can send them to camp and enroll them in other activities. There are no camps and no other activities. And then there are the parents who have lost their jobs and are at home and have the time to educate their kids, but are so stressed out about how they are going to pay the next rent check or feed their family with no money coming in that they can’t think straight. We, all of us, have a lot of figuring out to do right now. As I am sure you know, it is totally overwhelming. We’ll get there, but this is tough stuff.

The Goldpebbles and I are going to totally ignore the world’s problems tomorrow. It is supposed to rain all day and we have planned a movie binge day to celebrate the last day of spring school vacation. We are going to start by watching Harry Potter 1 and 2 for the second or third time, maybe watch Harry Potter 3, and in between we might fit in a few science videos. Stay tuned on how that goes.

2020 Life Logs, Day 113:  Remembering Rachel Carson on Earth Day 50
Date: Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Weather:  Mostly Sunny, Very Windy and Cold; High 46 degrees, Low 31 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Rachel Carson has always been one of my heroes.  She was a writer, a marine biologist, and a conservationist.  Anyone who loves the world’s oceans has probably read her book, THE SEA AROUND US.  But it was her book published in 1962 that had such an impact on those fighting to keep our environment healthy.  SILENT SPRING sounded the environmental alarm about the use of pesticides.  She died of cancer only two years after the publication of that book, but her words of wisdom have stayed with us.  During her college years, she took a summer course at the Marine Biological Lab in Woods Hole.  She is honored there in Marina Park with a bronze sculpture depicting her in deep concentration as she looks out over the water.  I told the Goldpebbles yesterday that I was going to take them to Woods Hole today to see Rachel.  We planned to take face masks in case there were other people in the park.  And we all agreed to stay in the car until there were no other people near the Rachel Carson sculpture before getting out of the car.  The boys have grown up with Woods Hole as their ‘backyard’, but we all felt that today’s experience was so very different.  There were absolutely no other people on the street, no other cars, and no one in the park.  Definitely a first and it felt very strange.  It felt like a ghost town.  But we enjoyed having Rachel all to ourselves and I took photos of the boys with her with and without their masks on.  Sam remarked that the photo with the masks will always remind us of celebrating Earth Day in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.  It was also Sam that kept seeing things in Woods Hole that he had never noticed before.  Like he said, “For the last month we have only been out of one house to drive to the other house.”  The Cottage to Vidal Avenue to Grasmere Drive and back to Vidal.  I promised him that things haven’t really changed during that time.  It is just that our isolation has opened our eyes to a new way of looking at the same old things.  But, like him, I kept seeing things I have never noticed before as well.

On our way to Woods Hole, we also visited some of our favorite places in Falmouth.  We stopped by Falmouth Heights Beach, drove along Surf Drive to check out the various osprey nests, drove past Nobska Lighthouse and saw that it is being renovated, drove by Stony Beach in Woods Hole and were saddened to see all of the police tape keeping people from entering the parking area, and on the way home we stopped to see the baby lambs at Peterson Farm.  There were other stops we wanted to make, but we ran out of time as we wanted to get back to my house by noon to watch the Woods Hole Research Center webinar hosted by Heather.  I connected my computer to the television so they could see Heather on the bigger screen.  It was interesting to see their eyes open wide when Heather started the webinar on the big screen.  Jonah was quite impressed that one of the people Heather was interviewing was a young man named Jonah from the National Children’s Campaign.  Sam was convinced that he would learn nothing new, but he was surprised to learn that he did not know about a website that Jonah (not our Jonah) mentioned as a resource for students in schools wanting to organize around environmental issues.  Sam and a friend started an environmental club at their school this year and will now be able to use this resource going forward.  https://schoolsforclimateaction.weebly.com/

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After watching the webinar, the boys were out the door and down on the dock launching all three kayaks.  Exploring by kayak was their chosen activity to end our celebration of Earth Day 50.  I sat down by the dock with Shadow and watched as they paddled and explored.  The wind made it a chilly experience, but it gives me great joy to watch them explore.  We had to end our day together early as I had a 3 pm appointment with my chiropractor.  When I woke up this morning and my back problem was no better, I called and made the appointment.  The office is scheduling appointments so that only one person is in at a time and they are taking every precaution to make it safe.  Unfortunately, my chiropractor agrees with me.  Whatever I did this time, is not going to be an easy fix.  I’ll see him again tomorrow morning and then a couple of times next week.  Then we’ll see how I’m doing.  I can still function, but there are times when there is excruciating pain.  If a just keep moving, which is not always easy, it goes away.  So hopefully continued, careful movement interspersed with visits to Dr. Mike will get my back in working order soon.

2020 Life Logs, Day 112: MA Students Will Not Go Back to School
Date: Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Weather: Overcast, Windy, Rain Late; High 53 degrees, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Massachusetts Republican Governor Charlie Baker announced today that schools in this state will not reopen this spring. The decision puts a huge burden on parents, but it is the right decision. In school districts where teachers are actually teaching online it is less of a burden, but in school districts like ours where teachers are sending assignments but not teaching the subject matter, it is quite a stressful situation even in the homes where both parents are working from home. For those parents who will be returning to work, I have no idea what they do with their children.

I spent another spring vacation day with the Goldpebbles. While I walked Shadow and then fixed breakfast, I let the boys have some screen time on Granddad’s tablet. They also did some chores for me. Sam drilled a larger hole in the bat house they gave me for Mother’s Day last year and finally got it hung on the front of the house. All three boys then worked to replace the free play time in their new backyard. At first it was sunny, making the windy day tolerable. But when the sun went away, the boys gravitated inside to read until lunch time. Then it was back to my house to play with Shadow, do more reading, go kayaking, and attempt a ‘deforestation’ project. I put deforestation in quotes. We are not chopping trees down, but Sam and Jonah are practicing their Scout skills with an ax to remove some saplings from the tree line in the side yard of The Cottage. Tomorrow, on Earth Day, we hope to transplant some raspberries from 60 Vidal along that tree line.

I continue to struggle with back pain. I have tried all of my tricks and they work, for a very short time, and then the pain is back. Obviously I have a disc sitting on a nerve that sends shooting pains into my hips and on down both legs. Walking gives me the greatest relief, but I really do need to see my chiropractor. I talked to Heather about it, explaining that I don’t want to chance bringing the virus into our family unit, but she agreed that I should make an appointment. I think she is going to have to make another grocery store run in the next week and Jed is desperate to go to hardware store. Of course, we will all be as careful as possible, but after no exposure for a few weeks now, going out seems a bit scary.

2020 Life Logs, Day 111: Wetlands Walk and Kayaking
Date: Monday, April 20, 2020
Weather: Overcast; High 51 degrees, Low 32 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I did, in fact, kidnap the Goldpebbles today. We had a fun day and now they are fast asleep here in The Cottage. Heather and Jed joined us for dinner, but the boys really wanted to stay the night. Heather and Jed were very appreciative of the extra time they could put into their work without the interruptions of three boys and I really enjoyed exploring with Pebbles today. We started with a walk through the 30-acre wetland that begins in their backyard. I didn’t have my camera with me, but I did have my phone and I found myself talking photos of everything to document the area in early spring. It will look so different in another month. I insisted that the boys wear mud mucking boots, but it is I who should have had on the boots. I slid on a mud bank and landed sitting on a pokey root with one foot in the water. I’ll wear my Bogs on the next walk! I have a big bruise on my bum where I landed on that root, but otherwise, I was fine. And I probably enjoyed the exploration more than the boys. New plants to identify, ducks, turtles, and egg masses in the water to keep an eye on . . . these are a few of my favorite things. After the walk we headed to my house for lunch and to brainstorm ideas for activities this week. Basically, all three boys want more time to explore the conservation area in their back yard and they want to do a little marsh mucking here at The Cottage. They want to kayak, and on a rainy day, they want to do a binge movie day. I have seen Harry Potter 1, 2, and 3 with them, but now that I am reading the books, I want to see them again. And so do they. Friday looks like our rainy day with Harry Potter. The weather this week looks miserable, but we’ll do our best to enjoy our outdoor explorations as we can. Jonah and Ollie are also interested in learning more about Mah Jong. I tried to convince them that it is just too complicated, but I lost that argument. We set up the card table and dove right in. It is great for me as it has been more than a month since I last played. This gives me an opportunity to see what I remember. We will also spend time transplanting raspberries from Vidal to here and hacking out more paths in the woods surrounding The Cottage for Shadow and I to enjoy.

The 50th anniversary of Earth Day is on Wednesday, so we need to find a way to make that a special day for all of us. Heather will be moderating a conversation on Zoom at 12 noon about how climate scientists and climate activists can work together and learn from one another. That will definitely be on our ‘watch’ list for Wednesday. If you would like to join us, go to this address to register: https://whrc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Z4TtWLzTSkaio3KqmoYekA. If clicking on that link doesn’t work for you, just Google whrc.org/spring-series/ and you will get to the registration page. Not a part of Wednesday’s program is a selfie video Heather did today at Marina Park in Woods Hole. There is a bronze statue of Rachel Carson there, so Heather drove down to Woods Hole to sit beside Rachel and do a little Earth Day video. I can remember when Heather was a little younger than Sam and read her first Rachel Carson book. A beautiful memory.

Back to today. I wasn’t the only casualty of marsh mucking. Sam, Ollie, and I launched two of the kayaks for the first time this year and the two of them went out for the first exploration. They returned with treasures–plastic trash for disposal and half of a big egg that a baby swan has recently hatched out of. Then Sam went out with Jonah and they attempted to combine kayaking with marsh mucking by pulling their kayaks through a narrow and shallow path in the marsh. Both ended up with muddy foot and a very wet boot each. But there were no complaints and we didn’t lose any boots to the mucky marsh. So we announce that the kayaking season has officially begun.