2019 Life Logs, Day 294: Dining-in with Friends
Date: Monday, October 21, 2019
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 64, Low 49 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

This evening was the monthly meeting of my Newcomers Dining-in group. This evening we gathered at Peter and Karen Baranowski’s for a Mexican feast. Karen made chicken enchiladas with a homemade red sauce and all the trimmings. I brought fried green tomatoes as an appetizer, the Woodins brought a salad, the Frieswyks contributed apple pie and ice cream, and the Whites were given a pass tonight due to Olivia’s recent knee surgery. As always, the food was delicious and the company delightful.

First thing this morning, I learned that Heather was home with a sick Sam today. Heather is also fighting a cold that just won’t let go, so she decided to stay with Sam and work at home. I went over early to pick up the apples that we cooked in the slow cooker yesterday to make apple butter and I brought the rest of the apples home with me, along with the slow cooker, to finish the process here. Tomorrow is an early release day and I will spend part of the afternoon with the boys. On Wednesday, I’ll finish up the apple butter making and get it canned before I head to New Hampshire on Thursday. Another busy week.

2019 Life Logs, Day 293: More Time in the Kitchen
Date: Sunday, October 20, 2019
Weather: Cloudy; High 60, Low 49 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I headed to Heather and Jed’s this morning to offer help in making apple butter after making chili for Ollie. He is having a hard time kicking this bug and just has not wanted to eat. He loves chili with mac and cheese, so I made the chili and Heather made the mac and cheese for Ollie’s lunch. He didn’t gobble it down like he usually does, but he did eat. So, that was a success. But back to the apples, Heather made an absolutely delicious apple sauce and we put 5 pounds of apples in the slow cooker to make apple butter. I will return tomorrow morning to finish that process. If the slow cooker method is a success, we will make more apple butter that way. But it is slower than just doing all of the apples at once on the stove. Unless the results are fantastic, I think I’ll go back to the regular method. Heather had a book club meeting this afternoon, but I stayed on to help Jed with basement reorganization. I think we were both pleased with the process, but always more to do. While Jed and I were in the basement, the boys were in the front yard doing a little Halloween decorating. By the time Jed and I emerged from the basement, we had spider webs and skeleton bones littering the front yard and Ollie had managed to carve a jack-o-lantern all on his own. He did ask me to help a little with scraping out the inside of the pumpkin, but he did all the rest on his own using the child-friendly carving tools. I then went food shopping and came home to make green tomato salsa that I will can tomorrow. Looks like I am going to be spending more time in the kitchen over the next couple of days.

2019 Life Logs, Day 292: Preserving the Fall Harvest
Date: Saturday, October 19, 2019
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 64, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The temperature tonight is going to dip to the mid-30’s, but the daytime temperatures are still warm enough to keep the garden going. I’m still getting enough San Marzano plum-type tomatoes out of Heather’s garden to make a small ball of marinara sauce every couple of weeks. Three times in the last six weeks I have gotten 5 to 6 pounds and that translates into 5 to 6 pints of sauce each time. Today was a marinara sauce day. It was also the day to make chutney. For years I have been making apple chutney in the fall. I don’t eat much chutney these days, but Heather has carried on the tradition and today we used some of the apples they brought home from the family farm in Boothbay, Maine, to make a double batch of chutney. They still have two big bags of apples and Heather would like some apple butter, so I might take on that task tomorrow, along with making green tomato salsa. Whether both get done, we’ll have to see. I was very pleased with the bounty from today’s canning project, adding more marinara sauce and chutney to the winter larder.

I had planned to go to Ollie’s soccer game today, as on the last soccer Saturday I skipped his game to go to Sam’s and Jonah’s. Sam is away at Scout camp this weekend, and unfortunately, Ollie still has a fever so there was no soccer playing for him. Jonah had an away game, but Jed took Jonah while Heather, Ollie, and I stayed home to preserve the fall harvest. I got a text from Justin yesterday telling me that Coco was going to be in a rodeo today. He sent a photo of her getting ready for the event and then today he sent a video. Justin also sent a photo of Ziggy’s Friday school athletic event. Ziggy is sticking to water sports and the photo is of a small dot far out in the ocean, but I am sure there was a big smile on that small dot’s face.

2019 Life Logs, Day 291: Return to the Cape, Storm Worse Than I Knew
Date: Friday, October 18, 2019
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 59, Low 55 degrees F
Location: Back Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

After coffee with Alan and breakfast with Helaine, I shopped my way back to the Cape. In doing so, I listened to public radio in between shopping stops. I heard a couple of local reports about how many people on the Cape, particularly in Falmouth, were still without power. Yikes. I started getting the idea that yesterday’s storm did more damage than I realized. I had received a message from friend Olivia White yesterday saying she and Terry were without power, I had received a text from Karen Baranowski with a photo of a flat Menauhant Beach where just two days ago there was a huge mound of sand, and I had seen on Facebook that Jane and Bruce Woodin’s sailboat had a shredded genoa. But somehow, I still didn’t get it. It wasn’t until I got back to Falmouth and stopped by Heather’s that I found that there was no school yesterday due to the power outages. When the weather is so severe that school has to be cancelled, you know it is bad. In addition to having to stay home with the boys yesterday, Heather had to stay home today with a sick Ollie. I wish I had been here to help out, but it is probably best that I didn’t know what was going on until I got home.

I was only away from home for a little over 24 hours, but I have to say it is always good to get back on the Cape. It is cranberry harvest season here, so the view driving to my house from Heather’s was a flooded cranberry field. We don’t have the beautiful splash of color from fall leaves here that is seen further north, but we do have our cranberries. Just beautiful.

2019 Life Logs, Day 290: Successful VOW Presentation at Newbridge
Date: Thursday, October 17, 2019
Weather: Mostly Cloudy and Incredibly Windy; High 63, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home with Alan and Helaine Kanegsberg. Dedham MA

My day started at midnight with thudding sounds coming from outside. I was in bed reading and got up to open the front door to see what was happening. It was raining and the wind was blowing incredibly hard, blowing leaves and limbs off trees. Thus, the thudding sounds. Once I knew what was happening, I was able to go to sleep. But this morning the wind was still blowing, probably 25, maybe 35 miles an hour. It was a WINDY night and morning on Cape Cod. The morning walk I was going to take with a Newcomers walking group was cancelled, so I just stayed home and did further preparations for tonight’s presentation. Good thing I didn’t go for that walk because it took me all morning to make the final changes to my PowerPoint presentation. I lost my AT&T phone connection for a couple of hours this morning, but I did have power and lost only tree limbs, not trees. Others lost power and had trees blown down. And my good friends Bruce and Jane Wooden lost the genoa sail on their sailboat L’Escargot. In the picture I saw on Facebook, there was another sailboat that had broken it’s mooring and was blown up on the beach. At least Bruce and Jane still have a boat, but L’Escargot looked so sad with its shredded genoa. So sorry, Bruce and Jane.

Because of the weather, I checked with Alan and Helaine Kanegsberg to make sure my presentation was still on for tonight at Newbridge on the Charles, their retirement community in Dedham, not far from Boston. While it was still blowing hard on the Cape, the wind had calmed down in Dedham, so I headed north. I could feel a difference as soon as I crossed the bridge. The wind was blowing, but not nearly so hard as on the Cape side of the canal. I arrived at Alan and Helaine’s mid-afternoon so that we had time to visit. Then at 5 pm, Helaine and I took my computer to Great Meadow Hall to meet with the activities coordinator and get all the technical details set for the presentation. It was so easy because their set-up is so nice. I just had to get used to the idea of wearing a lavalier microphone and plug my computer into their system. All systems were a go and we returned home to get ready for dinner. We went back to the main building for dinner and then went to the hall for the presentation. There was another staff member there to assist with all things technical, so all I had to do was focus on my presentation. By 7:30, most of the chairs in the hall were filled and I began my 45-minute trip around the world in Windbird. I love giving this presentation because I get to relive the six wonderful years that Mark and I spent sailing around the world, and I get paid to do it. It’s a win-win for me, and the people in the audience seemed to truly enjoy the presentation. There were very thoughtful questions afterwards and many of the people attending came up to thank me before they left. The Newbridge audience was most gracious. I now understand why Alan and Helaine love living here so much . . . great place, great people at Newbridge on the Charles

2019 Life Logs, Day 289:  Opposites
Date:  Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Weather:  Mostly Cloudy; High 64, Low 51 degrees F
Location:  At Home in The Cottage. East Falmouth, MA

Yesterday and today were opposites.  Today was as slow and easy as yesterday was busy.  Yesterday was mostly sunny and today was mostly cloudy.  Yesterday there was very little wind.  Today it was windy, causing leaves to whirl to the ground.  I did go for a bike ride, made a few changes to tomorrow’s presentation, and took Ollie to violin lessons.  That was about it.  Tomorrow I head north to Dedham to visit with Alan and Helaine Kanegsberg and give the Voyage of Windbird presentation at Newbridge on the Charles tomorrow evening.  I’ll spend the night and shop my way home on Friday.  We are supposed to get rain tonight, but I’m hoping it ends before I leave home late tomorrow morning.

2019 Life Logs, Day 288: Happy Birthday, Jane Woodin
Date: Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 67, Low 42 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage. East Falmouth, MA

It was a busy day, but the highlight was celebrating the birthday of friend, Jane Woodin. Her birthday was actually earlier in October, but she was traveling at the time. So the celebration with the ‘Friends Five’ had to be delayed until today. A few years ago, Jane, Olivia White, and myself started getting together to lunch on our birthdays. Then we all became part of a Dining-in group with two additional couples, so Midge Frieswyk and Karen Baranowski were added to the group making us the Friends Five.

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It is a special thing to have a group of female friends and we really enjoy our birthday outings. Today we had lunch in Woods Hole at The Landfall. We got a table by the windows and we were able to watch Olivia’s daughter, Sheri, coming into port on the WHOI scientific vessel, the Neil Armstrong.

I started my morning at 8 am with an annual dermatology skin check, attended a For Your Health seminar on the evils of sugar in our diets. After lunch with the Friends Five, I came home and watched sat in the sun in the front yard while listening to an online program on the effect of the microbiome on the development of Alzheimer’s. And I ended the day fixing Taco Tuesday dinner for the Goldpebbles and getting them to bed. Heather was moderating a presentation on microplastics at the Marine Biological Lab in Woods Hole tonight and Jed joined her for dinner and the presentation. Once the boys were in bed, I watched the Democratic debate quietly on my phone. I had hoped to go on a Newcomers hike in the morning, but it is late and I think I’ll just sleep in and get my exercise by riding my bike. Then I’ll put the finishing touches on the Voyage of Windbird presentation that I will make on Thursday evening at Newbridge on the Charles. I’m looking forward to that and to visiting with Alan and Helaine Kanegsberg. Now to bed so I’ll have the energy to do these things.

2019 Life Logs, Day 287: Skype Calls with Family and Friends
Date: Monday, October 14, 2019
Weather: Overcast and Rainy, Again; High 69, Low 46 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage. East Falmouth, MA

The highlights of my day revolved around Skype calls. When I got home from my Monday morning pilates class at the gym, I got a call from Justin and family. And then tonight I got a call from friends Linda and Mike Stuart who are on the island of Lankawi in Malaysia. It was great to catch up with both. Ziggy and Coco are in school this fall for the first time since Hurricane Maria and they had Columbus Day off today. They attend the private school they were in before the hurricane and Coco was very excited that on Fridays she gets to go sailing or sometimes horseback riding. I want to go to that school. Justin took me out to the driveway to show off their new Toyota Tacoma 4-wheel drive truck. They had a Dodge Caravan that simply could not handle their driveway. It is challenging as you have to drive up a hill that is at 45-degrees steep or maybe steeper. When it is wet, which is often in Puerto Rico, they sometimes couldn’t get out. And now that they kids need to be taken to school each day, getting out became more important to have a reliable vehicle. That, plus the Caravan was literally falling apart. They are all very excited to have the new truck. My conversation with Linda and Mike was prompted by an email I sent to them this evening, their early morning. I read their blog and found that they were on the island of Lankawi and not particularly happy with it. I had raved about it, as had others, but it seems things have changed. I sent them parts of my logs from our explorations there, so Linda called to talk about that and their return to the US for a few months this winter. I am trying to figure out when I will visit with them. Linda and Mike are my friends that are biking around the world, but they have decided that it is time for a break. Linda’s mother is in her 90’s and not doing well, so it is important for Linda to come home to visit with her as well as to regenerate and get ready for the next world biking adventures. I am so thankful for Skype!

I have been watching a docuseries online and learned a couple of things today that I would to share. Dr. Dale Bredesen is the President and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. He has spent 30 years searching for a treatment for Alzheimer’s. He is not there yet, but he has found that prevention Alzheimer’s and all memory issues is where we should put our attention. Prevention requires attention to what I’ll call the Big 5– a healthy diet, an active lifestyle, avoiding stress, having good sleep habits, and avoiding toxins in the environment. His recommended diet is called KetoFlex 12/3. The ‘flex’ part means that there is flexibility in the type of diet, but whatever diet, it must include mostly vegetable. It can include organic and grassfed meat if you want, but meat should be viewed as a condiment rather than the center of what is on your plate. All processed foods and sugar should be avoided. The carbohydrates in your diet should come from whole foods, not breads and pasta. The ‘keto’ part refers to ketogenesis, a body process that can be brought about by fasting. He recommends that you eat dinner at least 3 hours before bedtime and that your next meal after dinner occurs at least 12 hours later. That is the 12/3 part of the diet. He also says that your brain needs good fats and he recommends S.M.A.S.H. fish. That stands for salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, and herring. I love salmon, but the ‘mash’ fish are going to be a stretch for me. I’ll start by trying to learn to like sardines. The new science shows that memory issues can be turned around if the person affected is willing to make changes in their lifestyle to address the Big 5. He uses an analogy that the brain of people with Alzheimer’s a little like having 32 or some random number of holes in a roof. You can’t patch just 2 holes and eliminate water from dripping into your house. You can’t fight memory issues without addressing all of the Big 5. But if you want to prevent memory issues, you can start small and work your way slowly to addressing all aspects.

I spent part of my afternoon practicing and timing the Voyage of Windbird presentation that I will give on Thursday. In my first practice session, I was only one minute over my goal of 45 minutes. I’ve adjusted a few things and will practice again tomorrow and hope to get under the 45-minute timeline. But tomorrow is busy day. I have an 8am annual dermatology appointment, a For Your Health seminar on the topic of sugar in the diet, a luncheon with friends to celebrate Jane Woodin’s birthday, and then I will kidsit the Goldpebbles for the evening. Heather and family returned from Maine late this evening and tomorrow night Heather is moderating a session on microplastics in Woods Hole and Jed wants to attend. So, I volunteered to fix dinner and get the boys to bed. I’ve set my television to record the Democratic debate and as I will probably miss the first hour while getting the boys to bed. But I’ll get home in time to see most of it and can catch what I do miss on the recording. With such a busy day coming up, I’d better get myself to bed.

2019 Life Logs, Day 286: Visit from Candi, Lynn, and Sue
Date: Sunday, October 13, 2019
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 72, Low 48 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage. East Falmouth, MA

A beautiful full moon tonight and sunshine today after five days of overcast and rainy weather made today a special day. But even more special was the visit of my sister-in-law Sue and my two nieces. It was wonderful to welcome them to Cape Cod. After we had lunch in the cottage, we went a little tour of Falmouth and Woods Hole. Our first stop was Nobska Lighthouse. The lightkeeper’s house is undergoing renovation but the lighthouse itself has already been renovated and today they were giving tours of the interior. Lynn couldn’t make the climb up to the lighthouse but Candi, Sue and I did, and then Candi and I went on a tour of the interior. I have visited the lighthouse many times but have never toured the interior. The views Vineyard Sound, the Elizabeth Islands, and the Woods Hole Cut are spectacular from up high. Our next stop was Woods Hole where we did a driving tour and then parked the car and walked down Water Street. On the way home we stopped at Highfield Hall to see Stix Works and visited the French bakery on Main Street to buy dessert to take home and enjoy. After dessert at home, Sue, Candi, and Lynn headed to Plymouth where they will spend the night before heading home tomorrow. So glad they came to visit. It was a really enjoyable day.

2019 Life Logs, Day 285: C & C & C
Date: Saturday, October 12, 2019
Weather: Still Overcast and Drizzly; High 61, Low 48 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage. East Falmouth, MA

C=Computer – C=Carpentry – C=Cooking. That sums up my day. I spent most of the day at my computer finishing the PowerPoint for my presentation on Thursday. It is complete, but I’ll continue to send time making sure I can fit it all in a 45-minute time frame. It is always a challenge to fit almost six years of world travel into a 45-minute presentation, but I hope I’ve done it this time. I didn’t do any carpentry, but Nilson Fialho came today to replace pieces of trim on the cottage that were rotting and he finished that job. Then this evening I spent time doing a little cooking to get ready for tomorrow. My sister-in-law Sue Cook from Florida is in Massachusetts visiting with her two daughters (my nieces Candi and Lynn) and they are all driving down from the Boston area to visit for the day. We will have lunch here at the cottage and do a little touring in the Falmouth and Woods Hole area. Sue was married to my brother who died 55 years ago today. Sue was from the Boston area and moved back to Massachusetts after my brother died, but the family has always stayed in touch over those many years. I’m looking forward to spending tomorrow with Sue, Candi, and Lynn.