After almost 6 years of traveling, we sailed into Woods Hole on Cape Cod. We continued living aboard for the next five years and I wrote about that, adding ‘and Beyond’ to the title of the blog. Then shortly before Mark’s death in 2016, we sold our beloved Windbird and my travel logs became land logs. At this point, I had written a daily account for each and every day for 11 years. I fully intended to end the blog at that point, but when I wrote that news in a log, I got many responses saying that I really needed to keep posting. At the same time, I realized that I couldn’t stop writing. Summarizing each day had become a permanent part of my life and I will probably continue writing until I can no longer. These postings reflect the ordinary, and sometimes the extraordinary, days in my life and I would like to invite you to join me on my journey.
2019 Life Logs, Day 154: A Little Gardening
2019 Life Logs, Day 154: A Little Gardening
Date: Monday, June 3, 2019
Weather: Sunny and Breezy; High 71, Low 49 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It is June 3rd and I am still having difficulty getting motivated to plant the garden beds. Despite my lack of motivation, I did do a little gardening today. I’m also researching drip irrigation systems and this afternoon I went to see Jeanne Harper’s system. Jeanne lives in Heather’s neighborhood and installed a system last year. I watch videos describing how to install a system on YouTube and convince myself this looks easy, but then when I begin to plan out a system for my garden beds, and for Heather’s, I get a little overwhelmed. Jeanne was encouraging saying it is easier than it looks, so once I have all the supplies together AND have the planting done, I’ll get to work on installation. In addition to visiting with Jeanne, I also stopped by Karen Baranowski’s to pick up some rhubarb she brought back from a weekend trip to the Berkshires. She had more than she could use, so I offered to take the extra off her hands. Strawberry rhubarb pie definitely makes the world a better place. I made one yesterday for Heather and Jed. My neighbors Shirley and Doris return for the summer next Monday, so I’ll bake a pie for them as a welcome home gift. I was invited for cocktails at Bruce and Jane Woodin’s at 5 pm, so ended my day there. Bruce and Jane returned this weekend from a vacation in Vancouver and Alaska. They flew to Vancouver and then joined a cruise to Alaska. When they reached Seward, they then took a train to Denali where they enjoyed unusually clear skies and lots of wildlife. I really enjoyed hearing all about the trip.
Tomorrow I am going to travel to Martha’s Vineyard with the Newcomer’s Teacher Group. This requires taking a bus to Woods Hole, a ferry to Martha’s Vineyard, and then getting on a mini-bus that will drive us around the entire island to learn about African-American contributions throughout the history of the island. It makes for a long day, but the weather forecast looks good and I am looking forward to the tour. I’ll end tonight’s log with a bon voyage message for my friend Lynne Kirwin. Lynne leaves Nyack tomorrow morning to relocate in Michigan for the summer and fall. She is from Michigan and most of her family lives there, thus the reason for the move. Her thinking at this point is that she will spend December through March in New Zealand and the rest of the year in Michigan. I will miss having her close by, but as Jane Woodin reminded me this afternoon, “Michigan is lovely place to visit.” Happy travels, Lynne.
2019 Life Logs, Day 153: June Jog
2019 Life Logs, Day 153: June Jog
Date: Sunday, June 2, 2019
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 70, Low 55 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today was the 2019 East Falmouth June Jog run by the East Falmouth Elementary PTO. The great thing about this race is that it is low key. Some people run or walk 4 miles, others run the 10k, all along the beach and then up Davisville Road to the school. This year all of the Goldstones ran while Oma watched with pride. Sam, Jonah, Jed, and Ollie did the 4-mile walk/run, but Heather ran the 10k (approximately 6 miles). My friend Meghan Hannawalt, the ‘goat lady’, was the first person I knew who came in. In the Goldstone family, Sam came in first, then Jonah, and then Jed and Ollie who did a combo of walking and running and finished strong. Heather was the last Goldstone in and was extremely pleased with her time, the fastest she has ever run. Many Goldstone friends ran, so it was a social event as well as a race. After the official race, there is a Fun Run for the kiddos in grades K through 4. Ollie ran the quarter mile with the first graders and Jonah blew away the fourth-grade half mile race. He got in the lead early and then just kept it up. Sam, his good friend Ethan, both in sixth grade, and a girl in fifth grade, all East Falmouth alumni, talked the organizers into letting them run as well. Like Jonah with the fourth graders, the young lady got the jump on Sam and Ethan and almost lapped them. But they ended up with a freeze pop, the award for running the Fun Run, which made them happy. This is a great event. Everyone is so supportive of all runners, regardless of age. Maybe I should walk it next year. But then there would be no one at the finish line to take photos. Good excuse.
2019 Life Logs, Day 152: Soccer, Tomatoes, Wine
2019 Life Logs, Day 152: Soccer, Tomatoes, Wine
Date: Saturday, June 1, 2019
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High 69, Low 52 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
What do soccer, tomatoes, and wine have in common? Nothing that I can think of, but I spent my day watching soccer games, planting tomato plants, and going to a wine tasting on this first day of June 2019. I started my morning at Sam’s soccer game. It was still the first half and Sam’s team was trailing by one goal. Then, all of a sudden, there was a loud verbal battle between one of the referees and a father of one of the players on Sam’s team. I have been to many soccer games in the past few years, but I have never experienced anything like this. Evidently the father thought the call by the referee was unfair and he verbally expressed that. The ref on the field then yelled at the father that he could either shut up or leave. This same father has been at all of the games that I have attended over the years, and as far as I remember, he has never commented on a call before. But he would not back down this morning and the referee demanded he leave. It was awful to watch this from the sidelines and it was even worse for the boys on the field to watch it play out. Then when the father left the field and the game resumed, there was another perceived bad call and the normally mild-mannered assistant coach yelled something that caused the referee to stop game again to tell him that if made another comment he was out as well. There was another comment by the assistant coach and he was told to leave the field. We were all in shock. Never has there been any incident like this at any of our games and it certainly took the fun out of the morning. As one parent commented, the rest of this game felt like the longest in history. But it did finally end and Heather, Ollie, and I headed on to Jonah’s game at a field in a different part of town. Jonah’s team won handily. Jonah’s closet goal shot hit the goal bar and was deflected, but his good friend Luke made a couple of goals which made Jonah a happy soccer player. After the game, we all dispersed in different directions. I went to Heather and Jed’s to plant some tomato plants and then I headed home for lunch. I had planned to go to the gym to ride the stationary bike, but I opted for an afternoon nap and a mile-long walk in the neighborhood. I never take naps, but I was tired and enjoyed the down time. Then I headed to a Newcomer’s Wine Tasting event at the Cape Cod Vineyard that is only a couple of miles from here. This should have been a happy evening, but glyphosate interfered. If you don’t know what glyphosate is, it is one of the main components in Round Up, Monsanto’s (now Bayer’s) popular weed killer that I personally believe is one of the main causes of the healthy crises we are experiencing in this country. This weed killer is sprayed with abandon on our food, grapes included—especially in California. I was hoping that the Cape Cod Vineyard wine might be sans glyphosate, but tonight I found out that they use California grapes in all of their wines. Ugh. Still it was a lovely evening, despite my hope for a glyphosate-free wine being dashed.
2019 Life Logs, Day 151: From Nyack, NY to Dedham, MA and Then Home
2019 Life Logs, Day 151: From Nyack, NY to Dedham, MA and Then Home
Date: Friday, May 31, 2019
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 77, Low 58 degrees F
Location: Back Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
My visit with Lynne was wonderful, but this morning it was time to say my farewells and head to Boston.
I got across the Tappan Zee Bridge with no problem, but then my GPS headed me in what I thought was the wrong direction. Then five miles later, it had me turn around and head back the same five miles. I carefully set my GPS before leaving Lynne’s, but I struggled with it all the way to Hartford, Connecticut. When I get a chance, I’m going to retrace the trip to see what happened, but even with the confusion, I arrived at Alan and Helaine’s new home in Dedham, near Boston, by 12:45 pm.
They live in a Hebrew senior life center called Newbridge on the Charles. It is known as one of the most successful senior living centers in the country and is celebrating ten years of success this year. It is associated with the Harvard Medical School, has a variety of living situations—cottages, villas, apartments, independent living, assisted living, and continuing care. It has a K-8 school on the grounds, a fantastic central building that has restaurants, a state-of-the-art gym, an inside pool, a theater, meeting rooms, and an auditorium. And the Charles River runs through the grounds with nature walking paths alongside it. In fact, Helaine and I took off to walk on those paths having no idea where they headed. We enjoyed the walk and eventually we found our way back home. There’s even an area on the campus where residents can claim a raised bed to plant. I was quite impressed with what I will call the village and, in particular, I was impressed with Alan and Helaine’s cottage. Compared to my little cottage, it felt HUGE. It has vaulted ceilings and lots of tall windows making it light and airy. And most importantly, both Alan and Helaine already love their cottage and their new life at Newbridge. We had lunch in one of the restaurants and while there saw many people that Alan and Helaine have met. Everyone is friendly and the staff helpful. It is easy to see why Newbridge has been so successful. It was 5 o’clock on a Friday afternoon when I was ready to leave, not the best time to head south to Cape Cod, so I drove through Dedham to a shopping area that had both a Whole Foods and a Costco and did a little shopping while waiting for the rush hour traffic to calm down. From my little explore of the town, it seems it has unlimited shopping opportunities. In the future, I’ll drive to Dedham for my off-Cape shopping trips and include a visit with Alan and Helaine.
2019 Life Logs, Day 150: Free and Easy Day in Nyack
2019 Life Logs, Day 150: Free and Easy Day in Nyack
Date: Thursday, May 30, 2019
Weather: Overcast with Rain Late Afternoon; High 66, Low 61 degrees F
Location: At Home with Lynne Kirwin in Nyack, NY
It was another free and easy day here in Nyack with Lynne. Our goal for this visit was just to be together with no agenda, nothing we had to do, and that is what we have done. Late morning, we walked uptown to the post office and then look a long, circuitous route home. We had lunch, and like yesterday, we managed to talk away the afternoon while packing things into Lynne’s car. We were able to put a small bookcase in the backseat of the car which delighted Lynne. When she arrives in Michigan, she will be staying in a room at her sister’s home for the summer and fall, so she won’t have a lot of space. Still, having at least one small bookcase was a priority. Lynne will be working for the next three days at the Nyack Library annual book sale, and then on Monday she will finish up the last of the packing and head to Michigan on Tuesday. It seems so far away, but I know we will find ways to visit. We were supposed to go to her grandson’s baseball game this evening, but we had late afternoon pouring rain and the game was cancelled. Instead of an evening at the ball field, we had another lovely dinner at home. Tomorrow morning I head back to Massachusetts, but will be making an afternoon stop at the Newbridge on the Charles retirement village in Dedham, near Boston, to visit Alan and Helaine Kanegsberg in their new home.
2019 Life Logs, Day 149: From Cape Cod to Nyack, New York
2019 Life Logs, Day 149: From Cape Cod to Nyack, New York
Date: Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Weather: Overcast with Rain Late Afternoon; High 66, Low 57 degrees F
Location: At Home with Lynne Kirwin in Nyack, NY
The drive from Cape Cod to Nyack, New York, went without a hitch. It was four hours door to door with very little traffic. I did take a wrong turn after I crossed the Tappan Zee Bridge which delayed my arrival by fifteen minutes, but otherwise, it was a smooth trip. Lynne and I talked and walked the afternoon away and then Lynne fixed a fabulous salmon dinner with Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, and a salad. One thing I can always depend on is having great, healthy food to eat when I visit Lynne. Not sure what our plans are for tomorrow, but the whole point of this visit is to just spend time together before Lynne moves to Michigan next week.
2019 Life Logs, Day 148: Back to Cool Weather
2019 Life Logs, Day 148: Back to Cool Weather
Date: Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Weather: Overcast with Some Rain; High 62, Low 53 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
As predicted, today was back to the cool weather we have had this spring. I actually wore a light-weight winter sweater and still needed a polar fleece vest, but I survived. I had a nice late morning walk with friend Karen Baranowski, came home to have lunch, and then headed into town to do my daily duty of riding the stationary bike at the gym. A little later, I went to Heather’s to be there when Ollie and Jonah got home from school. Actually, I went to the school to pick them up as I have most every Tuesday this school year, but they weren’t there. I called Heather and she reminded me that they are now walkers on Tuesday and I was supposed to be at the house to await their arrival. Letting them walk from school is something new, and I totally forgot. But I got home before them and all was well. I spent my evening getting ready for my trip to Nyack, New York, tomorrow. It is going to a little warmer there, but sunshine doesn’t seem to be in the forecast for here or there for the rest of the week. Oh well, Lynne and I will enjoy being together no matter what the weather.
2019 Life Logs, Day 147: Happy Memorial Day
2019 Life Logs, Day 147: Happy Memorial Day
Date: Monday, May 27, 2019
Weather: Sunny; High 76, Low 51 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
What a beautiful Memorial Day weekend we had here on Cape Cod. After weeks of weather that was too cool and too dreary, this weekend made up for all that ugly weather by being absolutely gorgeous. Heather, Jonah, and Ollie walked with the Scouts in the downtown Memorial Day parade this morning. I drove separately and went straight to the library lawn to wait for them to arrive for the ceremony. As I was walking across the lawn. I spotted my good friend Olivia White. Olivia was sitting in one of the seats provided. In the past, I have always stood during the ceremony as I assumed those seats were for veterans and their families. But Olivia was sitting in one of those chairs and asked if I would like one. I hesitated because I thought taking one would be ‘against the rules.’ But Olivia simply asked, “Are you going to get one or am I?” I can’t believe I just stood there, frozen in place, while Olivia went to get a chair for me. My father did a good job of teaching me to follow the rules. I literally get paralyzed just at the thought that I might not be following rules. But I’m glad Olivia doesn’t have that hang up because sitting during the ceremony was much more pleasant that standing the whole time. Thank you, Olivia!
I watched Ollie and Sam walking up the library walk with their Scouting buddies and once everyone was in place, the ceremony began. Afterwards there was a group photo of all the Scouts attending and then we headed home. I stopped at the gym to ride the stationary bike on the way home and then headed to Heather’s.
She was working on assembling another raised bed and the boys were relaxing in the backyard—Sam in the hammock and Ollie in his hanging tent. I planted the tomatoes I bought yesterday in the large containers that will be their home this summer, and then mid-afternoon, we all headed to the cottage.
Heather, Sam, and Ollie went kayaking and I sat on the dock in the sun and watched them for a while. I also watched the osprey in the nest on Wallers Island and eventually walked back to the cottage to start organizing dinner. After a bit, I walked back down to the dock and found a very wet Sam. At the end of his kayaking expedition, he somehow ended up in the water not far from the dock. He actually enjoyed the spill. But then he realized that his prized Ipod was in his pocket and his world fell apart. What had been a lovely day up to that point suddenly changed. We rushed to the cottage to get the Ipod wiped down and put in a container of uncooked rice. We won’t know for a couple of days whether or not this will save his Ipod. We all tried hard to regroup and about that time Jed and Jonah arrived from their drive home from Maine. I feel so bad for Sam. He struggled, but eventually he was able to enjoy the rest of the evening. I suggested that Heather take a quick trip home with Jed to show him the things she accomplished this weekend, and while they were gone, I let the boys have a water battle before cleaning up for dinner. Evidently, blasting your brothers with water solves all the world’s problems! We had a delightful dinner together to end our Memorial Day weekend. The high temperature for tomorrow is forecast to be 20 degrees cooler than today, so I guess our little slice of early summer is over. But it was wonderful while it lasted.
2019 Life Logs, Day 146: Enjoying a Beautiful Day
2019 Life Logs, Day 146: Enjoying a Beautiful Day
Date: Sunday, May 26, 2019
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 72, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today was the second day in a row that could convince me that it is finally spring and that summer is right around the corner. It was deliciously sunny and warm, a repeat of yesterday. Ollie and I had a lovely morning together and I realized that he has the right name. He is Oliver, but his nickname is Ollie—my mother’s name. And in my family, Ollie’n around was a familiar phrase. My mother was famous for finding every way in the world to not get something done. And this morning, Ollie was Ollie’n around. But I just let that play out as he was as happy as a little boy can be. At his request, we played chess while eating a late breakfast. 
He eventually got dressed and went out to continue his Farmer Ollie job of using his little battery-operated tractor to deliver bricks to my house from Shirley’s across the drive-way. He got the job done, but he spent an enormous amount of time just driving in circles. He was Ollie’n around, but a little boy should have the time to do this, so I just let him drive in circles. When I thought it was time to take him home, he decided that he really needed to kayak for his first time this season. 
And so he did. I sat on the dock and watched him as he paddled out toward Wallers Island.
It is close enough that I could hear him call my name if he needed help, but usually Sam is out there with him, so this solo ride made me a bit nervous. I know he loves to try and kayak in the narrow cut through the island, and that is what he tried today. I couldn’t see him, but I could his orange-tipped paddle. As I suspected, he made it half-way through the cut and then started going backwards as he had gone aground. What I didn’t know is that when he got stuck, he simply stood up and turned his body around so that he could paddle his way out. When he got back to the dock, he was beaming with pride because people in the yard close to the cut had congratulated him on his ingenuity. I have to admit that I’m not sure I would have thought of doing that. Once I convinced him that it was time to head home, he announced that he needed to drive that tractor in a few more circles before we put it in the car headed home. It was almost 1 o’clock when we got there. I dropped Ollie off and then headed into Falmouth to buy some organic tomato plants for Heather. There is only one source of fully organic plants in Falmouth and it was closed . . . on Memorial Day Weekend. The woman who grows these plants is named Jenny and to be closed on this prime garden planting day on Cape Cod led me to believe that she has either sold out all of her plants for this year or some sudden personal issue came up. Whatever, I was now on a quest to find tomato plants that have not been sprayed with herbicides or pesticides. I went to a nursery that I thought would have the closest thing to certified organic plants and they did. BUT the place was crazy busy. I had not had lunch, so I decided to return to Heather’s, have lunch, and check with her as to whether these mostly organic plants would be okay before fending my way through the frenzy of people. After a lunch break, I was ready to go back into the fray. I took Heather’s van as Sam and Ollie advertising car washes and my car definitely needed a good cleaning. Heather was having neighbors over dinner and needed somethings from the grocery store, so I volunteered to do the food shopping while out to get the tomato plants. I accomplished my mission, but by the time I got back, I certainly didn’t have time to do any planting. Maybe tomorrow. Heather invited me to stay for dinner, which I did. I really enjoyed the dinner and the conversation with Heather’s neighbors, Jean Harper and Dan Hennen. Tomorrow morning begins with a Falmouth Memorial Day Parade and ceremony before we can get back to gardening. Hopefully by tomorrow evening, we will have most of Heather’s garden planted and mine as well. If not, I can finish up on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, I head to Nyack, New York, to spend a couple of days with my friend Lynne Kirwin. She is moving from Nyack to Michigan the first of June, so I want to have one farewell visit. Michigan seems so far away, but I know we will find ways to continue seeing each other.
2019 Life Logs, Day 145: Ollie Sleepover
2019 Life Logs, Day 145: Ollie Sleepover
Date: Saturday, May 25, 2019
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 72, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Ollie is spending the night with me tonight. I always love having him here for a sleepover, but there is usually one or both brothers with him. So, I think he was feeling a little lonesome tonight and decided he wanted to sleep with me in my bed. Jed is in Maine with Jonah and Heather is probably just now driving home from Boston with Sam and two of his friends. They went to a Revs game tonight. The Revelations are Boston’s professional soccer team. For Christmas, each boy got tickets to a Revs game with one parent and a friend or two, and tonight was Sam’s night. Heather worked outside all day today, as did I, and if she feels anything like I do, the drive home from Boston at this late hour will be challenging. It was great to be able to be outside today, but I am worn out. I arrived at Heather’s at 8 am so she could go for a run. The June Jog is in two weeks and the miserable weather we have been experiencing has not been great training weather. So, she took advantage of the sunshine this morning. We then divided up the chores for the day and got to work. Sam had a Scout meeting this morning, Ollie worked on cutting the grass in the morning and then washed the van in the afternoon, Heather cut the boards for making another deep bed and worked on other gardening projects, and I swept the van to get it ready for the trip to Boston this evening, got the boys’ room ready for Sam’s friends to spend the night, worked on laundry, went to the nursery to buy some plants, and went to my house to get some of the plants I have been growing for Heather’s garden. Heather transplanted strawberries from the main garden to a raised bed in the front yard and I finished planting the raised bed just off their deck and planted one large container with Aurora peppers that I started from seed. I brought Ollie’s little tractor to my house at the end of the day, and he made a few trips bringing bricks from Shirley’s concrete patio over here to use as garden edging. He will finish that job in the morning as this day just wasn’t long enough. That’s why there is a tomorrow.