2018 Life Logs, Day 290—Pumpkin Time
Date: Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Windy, 20-30 mph; High 60, Low 35 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

As the nighttime temperature will dip into the 30’s (brrrrrr!) tonight, this afternoon seemed like the perfect time to celebrate fall by picking pumpkins. Afterall, it is pumpkin time. Two weeks from tonight is Halloween, so the Goldstones invited me to go with them to the nearby Tony Andrews Farm where we went into the field to pick out our favorite pumpkins. We got one for each Goldpebble to carve at their house and one for them to carve or paint at my house. Ollie and Sam pulled the wagons while Jonah ran through the field scouting out the most interesting pumpkins he could find. Ollie wanted a big, round one, Sam wanted a tall, egg-shaped one, and Jonah just wanted something a little different. In addition to getting pumpkins, I was extremely pleased to get a good photo of Sam. Eleven-year olds and cameras don’t seem to go together, but I caught him at just the right time. Sadly for Oma, he is not a little boy anymore. But what a handsome young man. The weather was warm enough to make this outing an enjoyable venture. But tonight, the thermometer will go lower than it has this fall and tomorrow the high is forecast to be in the 40’s. Friday and Saturday might reach 60 degrees F, but then during next week the high temps will be in the 40’s and 50’s.

Due to the weather forecast, I changed my plans for today. I had planned to come home to work on the presentation for the Wayland Sailing Association, but I put that on the back burner. I had hoped to get Heather and Jed’s dining room chairs painted, one or two at a time over the next week. But with this forecast, I hustled over to their house and sanded and spray-painted three of the six chairs. I will do three more on Friday, weather permitting. Since I am spray painting them, the work must be done outside and the temperature needs to be at least 55 degrees F. The 20 to 30 mile per hour winds today didn’t make spray painting easy, but I got the job done. Just as I was leaving Heather’s Karen Baranowski called to see if she and Peter could drop by to visit. They were coming next door to do some chores for Shirley, and while they were here, Peter helped me check out the dehumidifier in the basement. This is something I have been reluctant to touch. It does such a great job of keeping the basement dry and I didn’t want to do anything to mess that up. But now I understand how it works and how to get the filter out to clean it. Otherwise, it is maintenance free as it has a built-in drain pump that pumps any condensation into a drain pipe that goes directly into the house drainage system.

I start my day early tomorrow. Heather and Jed both have work commitments that require them to leave home by 7:45 am. So, I will head over and get the boys off to school before heading to the gym. After that, maybe I’ll find time to work on that presentation.

2018 Life Logs, Day 289—Plumber, Writing, Laundry, Grandkids
Date: Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 68, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Yep. It was a day of a little of this, a little of that, and not a whole lot of anything. When I had the energy assessment done last week, they found that when I run the kitchen exhaust fan over the stove, there is a leakage of flue gas from the hot water heater in the basement. I was to call a plumber and get him to install a fan of some sort to fix the problem, but when the plumber came, he really didn’t understand the problem. We tried to recreate the situation, but he found no leakage. So, I called the technician that did the assessment and actually got through to him. He explained to the plumber what needed to be done, but the plumber had never heard of doing such a thing and thinks it will not work. He is going to do some research with other plumbers, but he suggests that I offer to remove the kitchen exhaust fan and see if that satisfies the gas company. If weatherization work is going to go forward, the gas company will not proceed if there is any type of flue gas leakage. If removing the kitchen fan idea isn’t going to satisfy the gas company, the plumber suggested I would have to get a different kind of hot water tank and he estimated the cost of that at round $2,000. The hot water tank that is in place looks new and with a $2,000 price tag, the project is just not worth it for me. So we’ll see what happens. But the plumber was able to fix the drain in the bath tub. I have been having to hold down on the drain toggle to drain the tub after a shower. Sometimes I can get the lever in just the right position to drain without holding it, but not most of the time. The plumber thought he was going to have to have replace the entire drain system, but when he got into it, he found he could just replace the toggle. Much cheaper!

All of the above took much more time than I expected, so it was late morning before I got started writing my November presentation. Surely didn’t get as much done as I had hoped, but there’s always tomorrow. While I was sitting at the dining table writing, out of the corner of my eye I saw something fly by the front window. It looked like a Monarch butterfly, but I figured that couldn’t be so. I went to the window, and sure enough, there was a Monarch feeding off the last of the flowers in my deep beds. I took this to mean that there’s still hope for summer-like weather! I had a late lunch and then headed to the laundromat. I had multiple pairs of jeans that needed to be washed. It was a big, heavy load, so I opted for the laundromat where I could do all of the heavy things in one big washing machine. I then took the more delicate things to Heather’s to use her laundry facilities for that load. It was warm enough to paint, so I had hoped to spray paint the two dining room chairs I had sanded for her over a week ago. I got the chairs outside and was ready to do the job, but then I couldn’t find the paint. It was almost time to go pick up Jonah, Ollie, and Jonah’s friend Kaiden, so on I went. On Tuesdays, Sam takes the bus to Woods Hole for his weekly drum lesson. I pick up Jonah and Ollie so Heather and Jed can wait in Woods Hole for Sam to complete his lesson before heading home. While the kids played, I was able to get the chicken mineral broth I made yesterday canned. Always some job waiting to be done.

I’m hoping to get up early tomorrow and go to an 8 am yoga class. I went to one class two years ago and thought it was probably not my thing. But I want to check it out again. Then I’ll head home to keep working on that November presentation.

2018 Life Logs, Day 288—Attached to My Computer
Date: Monday, October 15, 2018
Weather: Overcast and Warmer; High 67, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Today I was attached to my computer and I need to stay that way for a while. I am giving a talk called “Passing It On” on November 10 to the Wayland, Massachusetts, Sailing Association. Mark and I spoke to this group in 2009 while we were sailing around the world and they would now like to hear about the sale of Windbird and the friendship that blossomed with the new owners. The presentation was named “Passing It On” and will focus on the seller/buyer relationship and my voyages with the new owners aboard Windbird. When I agreed to do this in late August, I thought I’d have plenty of time to come up with a presentation, but to this point, I have done nothing. So, I need to get busy and today I did. Of course, I got side-tracked. Seems that happens to me more often than not. When I tried to photos on my computer from 2017, I found that some of them are still on my computer and others have already been saved onto a hard-drive. I started trying to fix that problem, but soon discovered that I have hours and hours of work to do that. So, I gave it up on that and just started writing and searching for photos wherever I can find them. I will continue tomorrow and the next day and hope to have a basic outline of the presentation done by then.

I did make a trip into town in the early afternoon to attend a meeting about wellness programs offered by the Senior Center. I got notice of this on my phone and thought I should check it out. Either I am delusional or all the other people there were at least five to ten years older than me. So nice programs for those in their late 70’s and 80’s, but I’m not ready for their offering just yet! The only other happening is that Heather is back in town. I pick up Ollie and Jonah after school on Tuesdays and stay with them until 5:30 pm when Heather and Jed get home. Hopefully I’ll get to see Heather then. She did report that she had a good weekend in DC but that ‘reentry’ was a bit overwhelming. Upon returning to the Cape, she went straight to a school council meeting and then on to Scouts with Jonah and Ollie. My daughter is one busy woman.

2018 Life Logs, Day 287—Love Those Grandkids
Date: Sunday, October 14, 2018
Weather: Partly Sunny, Still Cool; High 56, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I often have Heather, Jed, and boys over for Sunday dinner, so this morning I invited Jed and boys over. Heather is still in DC and won’t be home until tomorrow. At my invite, late this afternoon Jed dropped off Sam, Jonah, and Ollie while he went to the grocery store and the boys and I headed down to the dock. Somehow we managed to mess about in kayaks for almost two hours and really enjoyed our time together. It was high tide, so Sam decided to try and cross the island between our dock the the canal on the other side by pulling his kayak and the Ollie’s kayak which were tied together. Jonah and I watched the process and were pretty amazed that they made it to the canal on the other side of the island. Those Goldpebbles always seem to be able to think up fun adventures and this afternoon was no exception. After Jed and boys left, Justin sent a text asking if I would like to Skype. He wanted me to see the kids using the yoga swing I got Jo for her birthday. He just got it hung this week and the kids are having so much fun with it that I’m not sure Jo has gotten a chance to try it out yet. When we hung up, all I could think was how dull life would be for me without the craziness that comes with grandkids. They fill my life with joy. Love those grandkids.

2018 Life Logs, Day 286—Thinking Ahead
Date: Saturday, October 13, 2018
Weather: Overcast, Cool, Intermittent Rain, Clearing Mid-Afternoon; High 52, Low 42 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Exercise, move the fish tank, get hair trimmed, go see a movie, spend some time thinking ahead . . . that was my day. It was the coolest day we’ve had this this fall with a daytime high of 52 degrees F and not a hint of sunshine until after 3 pm. When I sent a text to my friend Lynne Kirwin to check in on how Ed is doing, I mentioned the cool weather but added that I was sure we would have another warm spell. She was not encouraging. She told me to face it, summer is over. True, but I will not give up yet! Exercise was easy and moving the fish tank went more smoothly than I expected. Last week Ollie and I had put the new fish tank on top of a half-height book case, but there were three problems with that. Even with a second board cut and put under the aquarium, in one week quite a sag was developing. The second problem was that the reinforcing board we used was particle board and somehow it was getting damp. The aquarium is definitely not leaking, but dampness and particle board just don’t go together. The third problem is that after setting up the aquarium, Ollie decided that he would like it down lower so he could sometimes put Lego structures in for the fish to play with. For instance, he might want to take out the castle we bought and put in a Lego underwater research vessel with divers, and of course, sharks. The aquarium is now on a shelving unit with a metal frame, so sagging and moisture shouldn’t be an issue. Ollie hasn’t seen the new location, but hopefully it will please him. In the afternoon, I drove into town to get my hair trimmed and to go see a movie. I couldn’t decide which I would rather see—First Man or A Star is Born. I knew one started at 3:15 and the other at 4:15, but couldn’t remember which was which. The hair trim went faster than expected and I arrived at 3:20 in time to see . . . First Man featuring the story of Neil Armstrong, the first man to step on the surface of the moon. I think my favorite movie of all time is The Right Stuff (1983) about the original Mercury 7 astronauts. I have always had a fascination for astronauts and space travel and this movie didn’t disappoint. In between these activities, I spent a good deal of time thinking ahead to my schedule for the winter. I focused on researching dates and times for local events I want to include in my calendar as well as thinking about out-of-town trips I might want o take. I am seriously considering having knee surgery done in late February as the surgeon has a cancellation and can do my surgery on February 25th. I don’t have to make a final decision until I meet with him on January 9, but at this point, I am thinking that I will go ahead with this. I researched flights to Nevis-St. Kitts in mid-January to meet up with Windbird, and I am still trying to find the best time to fly to Nashville to visit with my sister and brother-in-law. My brother-in-law, Joe, seems to have one medical issue right after another, so I’m sure my sister could use a little distraction. Much to think about and do.

2018 Life Logs, Day 285—Energy and Geopolitics
Date: Friday, October 12, 2018
Weather: Heavy Rain AM, Cloudy to Clearing PM; High 64, Low 45 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Tonight was the second Falmouth Forum of 2018-2019 season. Each month the Forum presents a speaker sponsored by the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole and the general public is invited to attend. In addition to the general public, the audience is filled with scientists from the Woods Hole community making the Q&A most interesting. Tonight’s topic was Energy and Geopolitics presented by Ambassador Richard Morningstar. I attended along with Terry and Olivia White. Ambassador Morningstar is not a scientist. He is a lawyer that has served in various government positions, the last being as Ambassador to Azerbaijan from 2012 to 2014. He was also the Ambassador to the European Union during the Clinton administration. Tonight’s presentation included his reflections on the various ways he has seen geographic location affect politics and the way both affect the decisions various governments make on energy policies. And, of course, those decisions guide the way we are facing climate change. I was most interested in the various ways the world’s largest energy companies are, in some cases, leading the way, in the absence of leadership by governments. Unfortunately, this sounds to me like the blind leading the blind.

I spent the very rainy morning out running around. I had an early morning routine mammogram, went to the grocery store, and then came home and did some cooking. Focusing on food led me to watch a few videos from a digital docu-series on the Healing Power of Food. And that led to more food preparation. In between cooking and watching the videos, I texted back and forth with Heather whose flight from Providence, RI to Washington, DC was delayed due to weather. She arrived in a sunny DC this afternoon. She is attending a conference for science writers and will be home on Monday, so Jed is a single parent this weekend. I’ll see him at Ollie’s soccer game tomorrow afternoon and see what I can do to help out. The weather here improved this afternoon, but when I walked out the door this evening to go to Woods Hole, I had to come right back in and grab a polar fleece jacket. I was wearing a light-weight sweater, but even though the temperature was in the 50’s, but it felt really chilly to me. Fall is finally really here.

2018 Life Logs, Day 284—Busy from Start to Finish
Date: Thursday, October 11, 2018
Weather: Overcast, Late Afternoon Rain; High 77, Low 61 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

This was a busy day from start to finish. At 8:30 am, representatives from National Grid came to do an energy assessment of the cottage. It was a two-and-a-half-hour affair and I was very impressed with their thoroughness and with what they offer to do to fix issues at very little cost to the consumer. The cottage mostly needs more insulation and some other tweaks here and there that would cost almost $5,000. But they supply the materials and do the work, and the cost to me would be less than $500. Sounds like a good deal to me. But before I can take them up on their deal, there is an issue with the hot water heater that needs to be addressed. My landlord, Shirley, has already said she will pay for that, so I just need to get a plumber here. Easier said than done! During the afternoon I attended a Newcomers Technology Tips class. Today’s topic was photo editing and I knew most of what was presented, but I learned how to edit photos on my phone which I have never done before. These classes are offered once a month and I will definitely return for next month’s class on making photo books. I have done this multiple times and have been happy with my results. But the process is always frustrating as I just do it by the seat of my pants, not really understanding the right way to do things. The instructor of this class is really good and it’s free. The class consisted of whole group teaching to one-on-tutoring to participants helping each other. Great resource. Then I ended my day by attending the monthly Newcomers General Meeting. This meeting usually takes place during the morning, but for some reason the October meeting is held at night. The speaker tonight was what you would call an “old salt” who has spent his life as a captain of ships, tugs, and ferries. He was involved in the design and building of some of the ferries that travel between Woods Hole and Martha’s Vineyard and it was most interesting to learn what is involved in building and maintaining those ferries.

We had rain in the late afternoon, lots of it, and then it became misty. And it warm with temps in the 70’s. But that is going to change. From tomorrow all through next week, the forecast is for high temperatures in the low 60’s and 50’s and lows in the 50’s and 40’s. Ugh. I have been loving the warm weather. Hopefully there is more of it to come after next week.

2018 Life Logs, Day 283—Falmouth Trolley Tour
Date: Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Weather: Early Morning Fog, Turning Sunny; High 74, Low 66 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

A few days ago, a friend from the Newcomers group posted that she had an extra ticket for the last trolley tour of Falmouth for this season. This is sponsored by the Museums on the Green and is a two-hour driving tour highlighting all of Falmouth’s early history. I have lived here for seven years and have learned a lot about the town, but I jumped at the chance to learn more. It was a good decision because I really enjoyed the tour. I learned so many new things about this town and came home feeling very positive about this beautiful place where I live.

Our tour started at the Museums on the Green in downtown Falmouth. The Village Green is just that. A large green area that has been the town center since 1756. It is surrounded by homes dating back to that period and before. Next to the Museums on the Green is the Falmouth Congregational Church. I learned today that the first meeting house was built in 1700 or earlier near the Old Burying ground off Mill Road on the way to Woods Hole. I never knew that cemetery existed, but today we were shown the gate and told that you can walk in to explore. From that first meeting house, a second was built in 1717 and was then moved and rebuilt by 1756 on the Village Green. The current building dates back to 1857. The frame of the building on the Village Green was moved across the street and renovated. In its steeple it has a bell made by Paul Revere. In 1858, Reverend William Bates was the minister and lived just down the street. Unfortunately, he died a year later just after his daughter, Katharine Lee Bates, was born. She went on to graduate from Wellesley College and become a professor there. One of her poems, America the Beautiful, was published in 1895 and Americans still sing that poem today. Across the Village Green an Episcopalian church was built in 1890. It was funded by the wealthy Beebee family that moved to Falmouth from Boston. The two churches are very different in appearance. The Congregational Church is made of wood painted white. St. Barnabus is built of dark stone and looks like a small cathedral. But the stark contrast makes for a very interesting center for the town of Falmouth. As our tour continued, we drove by the homes of traders and whaling captains. Some of these homes have holes in them from cannon shots from the British ship, the HMS Nimrod, during the war of 1812. The Nimrod stood off Falmouth firing shots, but Falmouth fought back and no damage was done other than leaving behind canon shot. We drove on to Woods Hole, visited the Nobska Lighthouse, and drove through the Village of Woods Hole whose main street is lined with prestigious scientific research institutions: MBL or Marine Biological Laboratory dating back to 1888, WHOI or Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution dating back to 1930, NOAA and National Fisheries whose research began here in 1871. From Woods Hole we drove back to Falmouth and visited the Highfield Hall which was once the home of that very wealthy Beebee family that funded the building of St. Barnabus. While there, I walked down to the gardens and watched the Painted Lady butterflies. Beautiful. We ended our tour exploring parts of Falmouth Heights that I had never seen before despite the fact that I lived in that area for two years. I had no idea that there were homes there in the same gingerbread architectural design called Carpenter Gothic as those in Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard. It was a wonderful tour and certainly peaked my interest in wanting to learn more about this town. After the tour, I had lunch downtown with two friends. We ate outside as the weather was so warm and sunny. As I started the drive home, the fog was beginning to roll in from the Vineyard Sound, but it was still bright and sunny in East Falmouth. I stopped by Menauhant Beach close to my house and saw the last beach rose and beach rose hip of summer and then drove by homes with what I call daisy bushes. They bloom in late summer and are at their peak at this time of year. Daisies are my favorite flower, so I love these bushes. It was a glorious day. I will end with the words of Katharine Lee Bates’ America the Beautiful.

O beautiful for spacious skies
For amber waves of grain
For purple mountains majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee.
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

2018 Life Logs, Day 282—A Trip to See My Orthopedic Surgeon
Date: Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Weather: Overcast Early, Beautiful Afternoon; High 73, Low 65 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Today was my day to deal with my left knee issue. I had a 3 pm appointment in Hyannis and somehow this took the whole day. Since I was going to Hyannis, I had made an appointment to get a new passenger side airbag installed since the one I have was recalled. I was also supposed to get a new key fob cut and programmed, but for the second time in a few days, I got there and they still did not have the right key. I had explained what I wanted as graphically as possible, but they ordered only a regular key. I need a replacement for what I call ‘the clicker’ to remotely open and lock doors. I will have to return again for that and now that they say they understand what I need, the cost has gone up to about $275. Losing your keys is an expensive proposition.

I had some time between the car appointment and the knee appointment, so I headed to Whole Foods to do some food shopping. I got to the orthopedic center right on time, but I had to wait an hour and a half to see the doctor. I had a book with me and I enjoyed the reading time. The doctor assures me that the x-rays of my knee don’t match what he sees when I enter the room. He says I look fit and energetic, even though my left knee is beyond bone on bone and he doesn’t understand how I am walking without a cane based on those x-rays. He feels that I am an excellent candidate for surgery and promises that I will be so much happier when I can once again really use that knee. But he is also willing to go along with my attempts to do whatever I can to put off the surgery. I have not been a patient in a hospital for over 50 years and I am not looking forward to being one. But since his surgeries are booked six months out, he is suggesting that if I have a time that I prefer, I should book the surgery and then back out if I decide against it. I really don’t have time to get this done until February and he did say that he has an opening in that month as someone just cancelled. I will work with his scheduler to come up with a date. In the meantime, I got a cortisone shot to help with the pain, scheduled some PT sessions, and met with the technician to help me adjust the brace I have. I stopped wearing it, even though it helps, because it just felt too tight. The technician fixed that problem. So, I will continue to limp along with these supports, work hard at getting back to a scheduled exercise program, and hope for a miracle. The doctor tells me the evidence says this is just not going to happen, but I appreciate his patience in letting me try.

2018 Life Logs, Day 281—Cranberry Harvest and Birthday Lunch
Date: Monday, October 8, 2018
Weather: Overcast; High 66, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Once only known as Columbus Day, this day has now also become Indigenous People Day—not as a replacement for Columbus Day, but a different way of celebrating the day. Columbus Day is a national holiday, so there was no school today. Heather and Ollie spent the night again and Ollie and I really did sleep in this morning. Heather got up early and evidently tried to wake me up to tell me she was leaving, but evidently I was snoring happily and totally did not respond to her attempts to wake me. She snuck out to go pick up Sam and start her day of bathroom painting. It was almost 9 am when I woke up and Ollie slept until almost 9:30. When we did get up, we enjoyed our time together and then I took him home via the cranberry bog. Heather had texted that they were harvesting today. Ollie and I watched the harvesting for a bit and he enjoyed taking photos and videos of the process using my phone. When we got home, we found that Jed, Sam, and Jonah were all home from their weekend of camping . . . a bit tired, but all had a good time. I then headed home to get ready for my lunch with friends to celebrate Jane Woodin’s birthday. Midge Frieswyk, Olivia White, and I treated Jane to lunch at one of her favorite downtown restaurants, La Cucina Sul Mare. We all had Shrimp and Scallop Piccatta in a white wine and caper sauce. This is usually served over angel hair pasta, but at Jane’s suggestion, I asked to have this over spinach and everyone else had it over a mix of spinach and pasta. It was delicious and it was delightful to spend a couple of hours in the company of good friends. The fifth member of our little group, Karen Baranowski, couldn’t join us today as she babysits for her son’s children on Monday’s this month. We really missed her and declared to find a way for all of us to be present for the next birthday.

On my way home, I once again drove by the bogs and got to see the next stage. The harvested cranberries had been corralled and almost all had been sucked up into the truck waiting to take them to a processing plant. And the water from the bogs on the right side of the road was being channeled into the bogs on the left side of the highway through an under-road culvert. The fields on that side of the road will probably be harvested tomorrow, but enough cranberries were floating due to the influx of water allowing the ducks to feast. I love watching this colorful process which, for me, has become as much a part of fall as fields of pumpkins.