2019 Life Logs, Day 284: Still Raining, Still Sitting at My Computer
Date: Friday, October 11, 2019
Weather: Still Overcast, Rainy, and Windy; High 58, Low 53 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage. East Falmouth, MA

I did exercise this morning, I did go to the gym to ride the stationary bike this afternoon, and I did manage to can the marinara sauce. But otherwise, the rain continued to come down and I continued to sit at my computer working on the Voyage of Windbird presentation. Late this evening I was just about finished when I lost an hour and half worth of work. Stupid mistake. So, I will continue tomorrow. Hopefully this storm will finally pass sometime tomorrow morning about the same time that I hope to finish the basic work on the presentation. I will continue putting the final touches on it right up until I give it on Thursday, but once the basic PowerPoint is completed, I can get back to life as usual.

2019 Life Logs, Day 283: James, Lumpy, and Cool Beans
Date: Thursday, October 10, 2019
Weather: Overcast, Rainy, and Windy; High 58, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage. East Falmouth, MA

Do days ever go as planned? I thought I would spend my morning and early afternoon working on my Voyage of Windbird presentation, but I never got there. As my good friend Lynne Kirwin always reminds me, “We make plans, then life happens.” Yes, it does. I ended up spending my time finalizing the plans for a Newcomers Teacher Group field trip to New Bedford and getting that information out to people which took much more time than I anticipated. But I did get that done and am looking forward to the historic tour of “The City That Lit the World” . . . New Bedford, Massachusetts. In the late 1800’s, it was the whaling capitol of the world as well as a center of manufacturing, especially the textile industry. Much has changed since then, but New Bedford is still ranked as America’s #1 commercial fishing port. I look forward to the tour on October 29th.

In the afternoon, I attended a Technology Tips learning session focused on Dropbox, hurried home to have dinner, and then attended the evening Newcomers General Meeting featuring Greg Skomal. Greg has studied Cape Cod sharks for 30 years and after tonight’s presentation I can see why he is sought out as ‘the North Atlantic’s go-to-guy for separating fact from fiction about white sharks.” He shared a visual tonight that showed the movement of three great sharks that spend the tourist season with us here on Cape Cod and it was fascinating to learn that the three sharks have completely different favorite places. A great white that they have named James hangs out near Chatham, whereas Lumpy prefers Monomoy, and Cool Beans travels the full length of the Outer Cape all the way up to Provincetown and then does down the Cape Cod Bay side of the Outer Cape down to Wellfleet. If you are not from Massachusetts, the names of those places won’t mean anything to you, but the idea is that the research is identifying patterns. The end goal is to try and learn enough about the travel patterns of the great whites to help people learn how to live with these creatures as our neighbors. Not an inviting thought, but Greg makes you want to learn more. Kudos to friend Karen Baranowski who arranged for tonight’s presentation.

As there is no school tomorrow or Monday, Heather and family left this afternoon for a long weekend in Boothbay, Maine with Jed’s mother, Marti. Thankfully for them, the weather in Boothbay looks better than here, so hopefully they will have a wonderful fall weekend. The nor’easter we are experiencing here will stay with us through tomorrow and part of Saturday. So, I do plan to spend both days inside finishing that Voyage of Windbird presentation.

2019 Life Logs, Day 282: Sitting at My Computer . . . All the Rainy Day
Date: Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Weather: Overcast and Rainy; High 61, Low 53 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage. East Falmouth, MA

It rained all night, so I skipped the hike this morning. Hiking in the rain is not my idea of fun. Instead, my day started with my exercise routine and then a phone call from Justin which is always a delightful way to start the day. All is well in Puerto Rico. Ziggy and Coco are back in school for the first time since Hurricane Maria and they are loving it. They have been home schooled the past two years, which they also loved, but everyone agreed it was time to try formal schooling again. Since the kids are in school, Justin has moved his office back home. Home is a bit chaotic right now as they are having the living room ceiling replaced, but that will be done soon allowing them to all settle in after a summer and fall of travel.

After talking to Justin, I made marinara sauce from the tomatoes from Heather’s garden and also made vegetable soup. I let the marinara sauce burble for most of the afternoon and will get it canned tomorrow or Friday. Finally, I sat down at my computer and I have been here ever since working on the Voyage of Windbird presentation I am giving next week. I love working on the round the world presentation as I get to relive it. It still amazes me that Mark and I really did sail around the world. What a fantastic adventure.

It rained all day and the weather tomorrow is supposed to be more of the same. And I will be doing more of the same by continuing to work on the presentation until 3 pm when I have a Technology Tips class. Tomorrow evening there is a Newcomers Meeting with a special speaker. White sharks will be the topic of that presentation given by Dr. Greg Skomal, marine biologist and shark expert from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. And in between all of this I am trying to arrange for a Newcomers teacher group field trip to historic New Bedford near the end of this month. No lack of things to keep me busy!

2019 Life Logs, Day 281: Here and There
Date: Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Weather: Overcast; High 71, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage. East Falmouth, MA

Today I was here and there. I started my morning reviewing previous presentations I have made about the Voyage of Windbird around the world. This review is in preparation of three upcoming presentations. One is next week, so I will be spending a good bit of the next few days working on giving the presentation a fresh look. After lunch, I switched gears and went to visit with Olivia and Terry White. Olivia is recovering from a knee replacement and Terry has been a wonderful recovery ‘nurse’. Olivia’s surgery was just two weeks ago today and I was delighted to see that she is rebounding quickly. While there, I learned that their daughter Sheri, senior engineer in Applied Ocean Physics & Engineering at Woods Hole Oceanographic, who is out on a science mission on the Neil Armstrong science vessel, is prematurely headed back to Woods Hole due to a storm headed our way. I knew it was supposed to be rainy for the next three days, but I didn’t know that we are under a storm watch with rains capable of causing flooding and 25 to 30 knot winds with gusts up to 45 knots. So, time to batten down for a couple of days.

From Terry and Olivia’s, I headed to an appointment with Midge Frieswyk at The Cape Club to make arrangements for the Newcomers Holiday Party. Midge is in charge of the affair and she has asked me to assist her. We met with the Director of Food and Beverage, made food decisions for the holiday luncheon, and then I carried on to the next appointment. This was to hang out with Ollie and Jonah after school as Sam, Heather, and Jed would not be home until 5:30ish. We made gingerbread that we cut into pumpkin shapes for an after-school snack and then I made fried green tomatoes as a treat for Heather and Jed. Last week Karen and Peter Baranowski brought me a bounty of green tomatoes from their son’s garden. I put them in the refrigerator which is keeping them green, allowing me to continue to make my favorite summer treat in these early days of autumn.

Tomorrow morning I am supposed to go on a hike with a Newcomers hiking group that I recently joined, but the weather forecast doesn’t look inviting. The rain could start early in the morning, so I might just stay home and work on the Voyage of Windbird presentation.

2019 Life Logs, Day 280: Laundry Day
Date: Monday, October 7, 2019
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Surprisingly Warm; High 80, Low 56 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage. East Falmouth, MA

Early this morning I was off to the gym in downtown Falmouth for a pilates class. After the class, I headed to Heather and Jed’s to start my first load of laundry. Somehow with my travels last week, I ended up with much more laundry than usual. I got the first load in and then drove to Mashpee for a chiropractor appointment. Once I returned, I spent the better part of the afternoon, doing laundry loads two, three, and four. I combined H & J’s laundry with mine so I had full loads which meant more folding, but now both households have clean clothes, towels, and some bedding on my end. I spent almost an hour between two loads sitting in the sun and reading in Heather and Jed’s front yard. This day was much warmer than forecast and was just too lovely to spend inside all day. Looks like we are going to be having a few rainy days, so I figured I had an obligation to soak up the sunshine when it was available. Someone has to do it!

2019 Life Logs, Day 279: Fun and ‘Deliciousness’ with the Goldstones
Date:  Sunday,October 6, 2019
Weather:  Mostly Cloudy with Some Sunshine; High 70, Low 62 degrees F
Location:  At Home in The Cottage. East Falmouth, MA

Sam, Jonah and Ollie came over for dinner yesterday evening and spent the night.  We didn’t do anything special, but we did have fun.  Last night after dinner the boys talked me into letting them watch Home Alone 3 and we all found the silliness very funny.  This morning the boys got their 30 minutes each on Mark’s tablet which is a special treat, and then we played games, played Legos, and went down to the dock for a little water play.  Somehow having water battles was more inviting than seriously kayaking, but I just let them go at it.  We didn’t have lunch until 1:30 and then I took them home to get ready to go to what they call pick-up soccer.  Somebody decides to invite other friends and their parents to come to the field to play soccer.  Heather took the boys and played the whole game with them, and Jed came a little later.  It is grant writing season and he needs to spend what seems like every free minute writing and revising.  Then tonight, Heather invited me to dinner as she was fixing Afghan kaddo (pumpkin) with a tomato and ground beef sauce and yoghurt.  We first had this years ago at Helmand in Boston and since then about once a year during pumpkin season, Heather fixes it as a special treat.  It was delicious.  Thank you, Heather.

2019 Life Logs, Day 278: Fiddles, Soccer, and a Goldpebble Overnight
Date: Saturday, October 5, 2019
Weather: Sunny with a Cool Breeze; High 63, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage. East Falmouth, MA

It definitely felt like fall today, so it was a great day for Harvest Fest where Ollie performed with the Sonnay Fiddlers.

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He looks so tiny compared to the other kids as he is at least five years younger than anyone that was playing today. I am amazed the number of songs he can play and he is still three months shy of taking lessons for a year. Needless to say, I really enjoyed watching him play. And I left the Harvest Fest after Ollie finished his last song and went to see Sam play soccer. His team won their game today and they were very happy. The fall season has been tough for them, so I was so pleased to see them enjoy their win today. Jonah was busy all day today, but I didn’t see him until 5:30 pm when Ollie, Sam, and I picked him up from his friend Luke’s house. I then brought the three boys home with me for an overnight with Oma. We had steak and calamari for dinner and then watched a movie together. What fun!

2019 Life Logs, Day 277: Home Again, Home Again
Date: Friday, October 4, 2019
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds; High 60, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage. East Falmouth, MA

What a wonderful week . . . meeting Lynne Kirwin in Philadelphia to visit and tour with Kevin Russell and Claire McKellar . . . driving to the Nyack, New York, area to spend the night with Lynne and her friend Jane . . . home for a night . . . going to Kittery Point, Maine, for the Celebration of Life of Rick Kole, husband of good friend Leslie Kole . . . spending time with many friends from my teaching days in Concord, New Hampshire . . . spending the night with long-time friends, Tom and Detta Porat . . . stopping to have lunch with my niece Lynn in northern Massachusetts on my way home today . . . and having happy hour and dinner with friends Bruce and Jane Woodin once back here on the Cape. Now it’s time for a good night’s sleep in my own bed. I love visiting with friends, but there is no place like home.

2019 Life Logs, Day 276: Celebration of Life
Date: Thursday, October 3, 2019
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High 52, Low 42 degrees F
Location: At Home with Detta and Tom Porat, Greenland, NH

The drive to Kittery Point, Maine, went smoothly on this cool fall morning. I drove from home to Kittery Point, Maine, for Rich Kole’s Celebration of Life. It was avice t a restaurant called The View, and indeed, it offered a beautiful view out over the Piscataqua River and on out to sea. It was a wonderful to be with my friend Leslie, and other teaching friends from our days at Beaver Meadow School in Concord, New Hampshire. Our principal, Roger Brooks, was there as well as Detta Porat and Cheryl Dolin. We listened to stories of Rich’s life told by his two brothers and his daughter Jessica and son-in-law Tom while eating delicious food and drinking wine in Rich’s honor. It was just as he would have wanted it.

After the celebration, I went home with good friends Detta and Tom Porat where we had more delicious food and talked the night away. I’ve made new friends, but kept the old, one is silver and the other gold, as song that I learned in Girl Scouts as a child good. Good advice and good friends.

2019 Life Logs, Day 275: New York to Cape Cod
Date: Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Weather: Overcast Turning Rainy; High 85, Low 49 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

On this unusually warm October 2nd, I made it home from New York, picked Ollie up from school and took him to meet Heather for his violin lesson, and then came home to get ready to leave again in the morning. Short as my visit home is, it is always a good feeling to get home and sleep in your own bed for a night. I can be glad to be home, but that does not take away from the wonderful time Lynne and I had in Philadelphia. Kevin and Claire were such gracious hosts. They moved off the boat and slept in their Roadtrek motorhome in the parking lot next to Pier 3, letting Lynne and I have the boat for sleeping. But we did spend our evenings together on the boat sharing stories. Chris and Georgette, who live on the boat next door, joined us for part of each evening and Claire and Georgette elicited sailing stories from Lynne and me. It was so much fun to back on a boat in a marina, sharing stories with other sailors. We enjoyed answering the questions about our circumnavigations:

What were the most fascinating things you saw? (That was a new question for us.)
What were your favorite places? (The most commonly asked question.)
What were your most interesting experiences?
What were the scariest moments?

And Philadelphia was so much fun. Despite the fact that I have blisters on my toes from walking seven and a half miles each day while there, we loved seeing the city sights. The old town historic district was my favorite, but Kevin and I had a great time on eclectic South Street at Tattoo Mom’s where we ate $1 tacos and walking along Penn’s Landing on the Delaware River. During the visit we walked to Chinatown, visited the Reading (railroad) Terminal Market, walked to Rittenhouse Square to have a fabulous organic vegan lunch, and walked through the streets of Society Hill with its million-dollar brownstones. Everyone was friendly and I did feel like I was in the City of Brotherly Love. Philadelphia is a great city to visit. And I just once again want to say a big thank you to two of my favorite people in this whole wide world. Thank you, Kevin and Claire.

Tomorrow morning, I leave very early to battle rush hour traffic around Boston in order to get to Kittery, Maine by 11:30 am to attend the Celebration of Life for Rich Kole, friend of mine and husband of my good friend Leslie. After the celebration, I will go home with two more of my favorite people, Detta and Tom Porat. I will spend the night at their home in Greenland, New Hampshire, and then head home on Friday. On my way I’ll stop to have lunch with my niece Lynn in Chelmsford, Massachusetts and make a couple of shopping stops before getting home again.