2026 Life Logs, Day 251: Book Club, Board of Library Trustees
Date: Tuesday, September 08, 2026
Weather: Perfect Summer Day; High Temp 82, Low 62 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

My book Club meets at 11 am, so I had time earlier in the morning to take a carload of things to Hand in Hand and the Swap Shop at the town dump. It always feels good to fill your car with things you no longer need or ever needed and instantly get rid of them. So, my day was off to a good start. Plus, I was feeling much better, having mostly kicked whatever ailed me the past two days.

I was hosting the book club today and I decided to meet outside. It was warm and beautiful and so nice to spend a couple of hours outside discussing an interesting book. The book this month was The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown. I read The DaVinci Code, and then Angels and Demons, while we were sailing around the world, but I have not read other Dan Brown books since then. This one was a little too close to what might really be possible in today’s world making it a bit frightening, but fascinating. Netflex is turning it into a series. The story takes place in Prague and all of us agreed that if we never previously wanted to visit Prague, it now sounds like a good idea.

Between the end of book club discussion and the beginning of my monthly Board of Library Trustees meeting, I worked on an Indivisible project, went to pick Ollie up from his golf practice, and finalized the final budget for the coming year for the Library Trustees.

2026 Life Logs, Day 250: Sunny and Warm Labor Day
Date: Monday, September 07, 2026
Weather: Warm and Lovely; High Temp 79, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Summer returned today. There was none of the slight chill of a fall day on this Labor Day. For some, this is the official end of summer. But not me. I hold on to summer as long as I can.

Whatever I had yesterday, persisted today. The only symptoms are a runny nose, itchy eyes, and feeling tired. Maybe it is a cold, but I tend to think it is a ragweed allergy response. Whatever, I am running at 50 percent. I did get a lot of house cleaning/rearranging this morning, went to visit with my sister and helped her with a video call with her granddaughter who introduced Patsy to her almost 3-week-old grandson, Jack. What an alert baby he is. And so cute. Once home, I spent time resting and then repotting a few indoor plants that I started to do in June and just got back to it!

2026 Life Logs, Day 249: Happy 23rd Anniversary to Heather and Jed
Date: Sunday, September 06, 2026
Weather: Feels Like Fall; High Temp 70 Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Twenty -three years ago at Spruce Point in Boothbay, Maine, Heather and Jed were married. Happy twenty-third anniversary to them!

I was invited to dinner to celebrate, but late morning I got this instant runny nose that just wouldn’t quit and decided not to go and take the chance of exposing everyone to a cold. It happened just after I came back inside from trying to pull some of the very prolific ragweed out of the perennial (currently mostly weeds) garden in front of my house. I didn’t make much progress as it was very hard on my back pulling hard enough to get the roots out of the ground. But the time I did spent was either just enough to set off a terrible allergic reaction, or I have a cold.

I spent the afternoon napping, house cleaning and re-arranging, and baking a flourless chocolate cake for the anniversary dinner. I delivered that and spent a quiet night at home.

2026 Life Logs, Day 248: Saturday on the Green, Muddling About
Date: Thursday, September 5, 2026
Weather: Perfect Late Summer Weather; High Temp 73 Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

After months of being so busy that I have had almost zero time for myself, things have settled down and I’m feeling almost normal again. I had extra duties on the Green today as the two people who always set up the sound system were away. Plus, the leadership person who usually introduces speakers was away. So, I had to do both. But it was easy and no stress. This Labor Day weekend around the country groups of people are holding rallies to support our workers over billionaires. Our job going forward is to make sure that all across the country the people elected in November are willing to stand up for workers over billionaires.

And as is often the case at our Saturday rallies, I met a new to me, really interesting person. We ended up talking for a half-hour after the rally. Then I headed to Bruce and Jane Woodin’s to pick up some hand-me-down clothes from Jane. Her hand-me-downs make my good clothes look shabby, so I am always grateful to get them.

When I got home, I fixed a late lunch, ran some errands, and then walked around my house and faced reality. My house is a mess. The biggest issue was that I still had a huge pile of things belonging to my sister that was taking up an entire corner of my living room. I just have not had the time or energy to deal with it. But this afternoon and this evening, I made great progress. Some things need to be packaged and sent to Patsy’s granddaughter, while other things just need to be delivered to a thrift shop. There are boxes of photo albums that are going to the basement so I can deal with them this winter. There were piles of clothes that needed to be sorted and washed. And personal items, like her jewelry that will stay in the corner until I have time to sort through that. But it looks so much better. Tomorrow I will attack the rest of the house! But I can’t tell you how nice it feels to have time to just muddle about and get things done without the pressure of having to rush on to the next thing.

2026 Life Logs, Day 247: Volunteering and Dinner in Woods Hole with the Family
Date: Friday, September 4, 2026
Weather: Perfect Late Summer Weather; High Temp 77, Low 71 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

The Democratic Campaign Headquarters for the general election in November is just getting up and running, and I have volunteered to help man the office when other volunteers aren’t available. Today was my second shift this week and I was there from 10-2 pm. But next week it looks like we have enough volunteers. I am filling in for my good friend Olivia White on Wednesday morning, but I think that will be it for me next week.

Later in the afternoon, I picked Ollie and Jed up at the golf course. There was no school today, so Jed arranged to take the afternoon to play golf with O. When I returned home, it was time to fix dinner. But about that time, I got a text from Heather asking if I would like to go out to dinner at Shipwrecked down by Falmouth Heights Beach just to be near the water on a gorgeous evening and not have to cook. Sounded great to me, but when we got there, we realized that everyone in town had the same idea. There was going to be an hour and a half wait and Jonah and Ollie were both starving. So, we headed to Captain Kidd in Woods Hole where the only table was inside. We didn’t’ get to eat with an ocean view, but at least we got to eat. And it was nice just to be together. Sam was not with us as he has a new job plating salads and desserts at The Glass Onion, the most high-end restaurant in town. It was his first night on, so I hope it went well for him.

2026 Life Logs, Day 246: A Little Work, A Little Play
Date: Thursday, September 3, 2026
Weather: Rain Early, Turning Partly Sunny; High Temp 70 Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

I spent the rainy morning dealing with various issues and then went to visit my sister Patsy in the early afternoon. When I went to see her yesterday, she was very confused, could not follow any directions, couldn’t figure out how to hold her toothbrush or a bottle of water, and I am not even sure she knew who I was. I panicked at first but decided to visit again today to see if she was still this way before calling the doctor. All I could figure was that she might have had a stroke. But today, she was back to her cheery self. That was a relief.

Then after a trip home to have some lunch and play with Shadow, I was off to another of Jonah’s pre-season soccer games. They won on Monday and they won again today. He has a tournament in Nauset on Saturday, but then the first actual game of the season is next Wednesday. The team is playing great and they have a lot of talented players. I am hoping it will be a good season for Falmouth High School.

I heard from Jo this morning that Ziggy was having 4 wisdom teeth pulled today. Ouch x 4! Here’s wishing him a smooth recovery.

2026 Life Logs, Day 245: Now the Real Work Begins
Date: Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Weather: Partly Sunny, Cooler; High Temp 70 Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

The final results are in and the Massachusetts primary is over. Now the real work of electing people in November that will fight to take back our democracy begins. I spend a great deal of my time working on this through Indivisible Falmouth and we are happy that all but one of our endorsed candidates won their primary race. And I so happy to finally be able to say that Dan Gessen did win. Falmouth is his hometown and when our votes finally got submitted, that put him in the lead.

I had an early morning Indivisible Steering Committee Zoom meeting, went to visit my sister Patsy, got home to find the plumber working on my slow draining bathroom sink. He found a slight blockage somewhere way down the line. It was easy to clear and now the sink is draining just fine. I grabbed a quick lunch and then headed to do my first volunteer stint at the downtown Falmouth Democratic Campaign Headquarters. I have volunteered to do the Wednesday afternoon shift and to substitute when I can when others cannot come in. Olivia White, who does the Wednesday morning shift, was still there when I arrived. She cannot come in two Wednesday mornings this month, so I told her I would substitute for her if I can’t find other volunteers. It takes a village! Right now, there is not a lot to do while there, so I can bring my computer and work while I am there. Today, however, there was a No Kings Mobilization Lab Zoom at 3 pm that I wanted to watch, so I was able to do that there. It was a conversation about the next NO KINGS Day which will be in October. But it is not going to be massive protests all around the country. They are asking people to plan activities that day in every community in the country to promote early voting for the November 3 general election. If you have some creative activities, please send them my way. Organizing a protest seems easy next to this task. How do we involve the whole of Falmouth in activities promoting early voting? This is going to be a challenge.

I headed home to have a little play time with Shadow as he has been left alone way too much lately. Then it was time to head to the golf course to pick up Ollie. This gives me an excuse to go sit and read while I wait for him. I am so behind on things that I need to read, so I really enjoy waiting for him. Golf is not like soccer. You know how long a soccer game is going to be, but a golf game ending time can vary wildly. If today is an example, I will get in lots of reading this fall!

I spent my evening on Indivisible work. I tuned into Indivisible’s General Election Kickoff Call from 8-9 pm and then tried a practice run of setting up the sound equipment for our Saturday rally on the Green. Jim Newman usually does this set up, but he is going away for a week, so he dropped the equipment here. I did the set up once before, but it took a bit of trial and error and a phone call with Jim to get it right. This time I will take photos of the set-up and do written instructions so others can do this as well.

2026 Life Logs, Day 244: Jam-packed First Day of September
Date: Tuesday, September 1, 2026
Weather: Rainy Day; High Temp 70 Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

September has always been my favorite month of the year, so I always welcome this first day. When I was a kid, I loved school and always looked forward to the opening of the school year in September. I also loved the slightly cooler weather and later in the month, the changing colors of the leaves. This first day of September was a somber one, however. Early this morning I traveled with my friends Warren and Christina Brodie to Quincy (near Boston) for the graveside memorial for Christina Natale. Christina was the daughter of friends Jane and Bruce Woodin. Other than my daughter and son-in-law, I have known Bruce and Jane longer than anyone else in Falmouth and cherish their friendship. The memorial was a beautiful tribute to Christina who died way too young. Bruce played the guitar to back his grandson Jasper who sang Halleluiah and at the end of the memorial, Bruce and Jane’s other daughter, Kate, along with Kate’s three children, Jasper, Aurora, and Piper sang The Irish Blessing. There was much more, but those two musical additions, sung with such tenderness and love, highlighted the ceremony for me. My heart aches for Bruce and Jane as no parent ever wants to live to see the death of a child. But surrounded by family and a few friends, hopefully today gave them some closure. They hosted a lovely lunch at the Common Market Restaurant before we headed back to Cape Cod. I hope it was comforting for Bruce and Jane to be surrounded by so many family members and friends who will always be there for them.

The rain held off during the morning memorial, but as we approached the Cape, the rain began again. After weeks of saying to others that they should vote early, the first thing I had to do when I got back to Falmouth was to go cast my ballot in the primary election, on election day, not early. All I can say is people should do what I say, not what I do! Then after going home to have a playtime outside with Shadow, I headed to the golf course to pick up a very soggy Ollie. He was not sure they would practice today in the rain, but they did and he enjoyed it.

I then headed home to have dinner before going to the after-election watch party hosted by candidate Dan Gessen at Bad Martha’s in East Falmouth. The party started at 8 pm after the polls closed and Christina and Warren Brodie joined me there. Dan and his brother arrived a few minutes after 8 pm as they were still knocking on doors right up until the end. I had met Dan a few times during the campaign, but tonight I got to see him in action. He is a prime example of the intelligent, vibrant, caring young people who are deciding to dedicate their lives to public service. Dan is running for County Commissioner against the incumbent who has held the office for some time and who people feel has done a good job. So that makes it a touch choice. I left at 10:30 and the results from Falmouth were still not in. Now that I am home, I keep checking, but Falmouth results are still not in so there is still no final result for this race. I am not sure why Falmouth is so slow in reporting tonight, but for whatever reason, I will have to wait until morning to find out as the race is very close. But the other primary candidate, the one I have been canvassing for, won his race. Ed Markey will be the Democratic candidate running to keep his US Senate seat in November. So, I did get to celebrate that.

2026 Life Logs, Day 243: First Day of School
Date: Monday, August 31, 2026
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 76 Low 64 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

The Falmouth Public Schools rarely start the school year before Labor Day, but this year is one of those rare occasions. My research shows the last time was in 2009. But whatever the reason, today was the first day of school here. Heather posted on her Facebook page, “And they’re off! First day of freshman and senior years, with golf practice and a soccer game after school. Saxophone and trombone already loaded into the car. Jonah started high school as the little brother and finishes it as the big bro – pretty special. (Sam’s first day is next week, so he’ll get his photo then.)”

I attended Jonah’s soccer game, but I had to leave with 10 minutes to go to pick up Ollie from after-school golf practice. Jed had Board of Health this evening and Heather had Select Board, so I was in charge of getting boys home and figuring out dinner. We made it easy and ordered out from Le Bon Jour and I picked up 3 pints of chocolate ice cream at Smitty’s. It was celebration of the first day of school and Jonah’s first goal of the 2026 fall season (score 2-1, a win for Falmouth). Welcome, first day of school 2026.

I spent my morning knocking on doors for Senator Markey’s re-election campaign. And I saw on Facebook that Heather, on behalf of the town, spoke at a commemoration to honor those lost to addiction. Today was National Overdose Awareness Day.