2024 Life Logs, Day 330: Double Beach Day and Wonderful Puerto Rican Dinner
Date: Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Rain Late Afternoon; 88 High Temp, Low 76 degrees F
Location: At Home with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco in Aguada, Puerto Rico

Today was another beautiful day here in Puerto Rico. The weather has been just gorgeous, with no afternoon rain yesterday, but this afternoon the rain started around 4:30 pm. That gave us plenty of time for our double beach day. Coco and her good friend since pre-school, Aurora, wanted to go surfing. Jo went to pick up Aurora and bring her here to meet me before we headed to the beach. When I got here Sunday night, I learned that Aurora has been saying that I am her long lost grandmother, so naturally we needed to meet each other! After seeing Coco and Aurora together, I now call them the dynamic duo. Coco has whitish blonde hair and Aurora has jet black hair, both exuberant and fun loving twelve years girls.

But I learned very quickly that having two ‘granddaughters’ is very different from having grandsons. There is a lot more giggling.

There are many surfing beaches in Rincon, but Justin thought Rio Grande might be the calmest. Jo dropped us off at Rio Grande and then went back to get Ziggy and take him to the gym. There truck cab seats five, but not six people, so she had to make the two trips. As the girls headed down to the beach ahead of us with their surfboards, we heard exclaims of the waves looking too rough for them

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But with Justin as their personal lifeguard, they gave it a try.

The waves were not big, they were just crashing too close to shore with little time between each wave. Plus, there was a strong current pulling them down the beach. They finally gave up and Justin gave it a try, but even he declared it a no go. He thought the beach in Aguada where they used to live might be okay, so as soon as Jo got back from delivering Ziggy to the gym, we headed there. It was fun to visit the Aguada beach where we have had so much fun in the past, but the waves were no better. Justin was able to ride a couple of small waves.

But like Rio Grande, they were cresting too close to the shore to get a good ride. It was starting to cloud over a bit, so we took that as the sign to head home. I didn’t even get in the water today as it was rougher than I wanted to brave, but I still loved just being on the beach watching my two ‘granddaughters’ play in the surf. We documented the event with a photo of me with the two of them.

Not long after we got home, Justin decided to drive to Mayaguez to look for an electrical connection for the truck’s air conditioning. It shorted out and damaged the current connector and it just keeps going off and on. I went with him just to keep him company and just after I got in the truck, it started pouring rain. As we traveled south to Mayaguez, the rain lessened making it a much nicer drive. We were not successful in finding the part, but Justin was told about a place that might have what he is looking for. Unfortunately, it was already closed, so he’ll have to check on it later.

Jo had been preparing dinner while we were gone. We had a traditional Puerto Rican dish called mofongo. This is made with green plantains that are boiled until they are soft and then mixed with some garlic and cilantro and mashed. She served it with vegetables stir fried using the same combination of garlic and cilantro and slices from a filet mignon roast.

It was really delicious. And after dinner we watched the third Maze Runner movie.

Today Heather sent a selfie of her with Jed and boys from the tallest church tower in Groningen. She said the weather is mild with today’s temp in the 60’s. Before they left, the weather forecast was for highs in the 40’s, so the unexpected mild weather is a bonus. Sam loved his visit at the University of Groningen and tomorrow they move on to Rotterdam. So things are going great here in Puerto Rico and in the Netherlands. The only little problem is that back in Falmouth, Shadow is refusing to eat. This often happens when I leave him with others. He did eat some dinner last night, but not much again today. Hopefully by tomorrow he will start eating again. Now to bed as it is really late and we have another big day planned for tomorrow.

2024 Life Logs, Day 329: Settling In
Date: Monday, November 25, 2024
Weather: Mostly Sunny; 88 High Temp, Low 77 degrees F
Location: At Home with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco in Aguada, Puerto Rico

We called today our settling in day. Ziggy and Coco have this week off school, Justin is taking this week off work, and it was my first day here, so we spent today just settling in. First off, we talked about our meal plan for the week and Jo made a shopping list. Justin and I then went shopping at three different grocery stores, came home with four big boxes of food, and got the food stored away. We then had lunch and mid-afternoon we headed down to Marina Beach in Rincon to get in the water and bask in the sun. That was fabulous! For dinner we had pasteles that I will write more about later in this blog, and tonight we watched the second in a series of movies Coco wanted to watch. The Maze Runner film series is an action-packed and very scary American science-fiction film series. They had already watched the first in the series, The Maze Runner, so they just told me about that so that we could move on to the second film in the series, The Scorch Trials. Scary or not, we will probably move on the final film in the series, The Death Cure, tomorrow night.

Christmas celebrations begin early in Puerto Rico. I read today that there are three things you must have on the table for a Puerto Rican Christmas—pernil which we had on Thanksgiving Day last year, arroz con gandules (rice and beans), and pasteles. We started our Christmas celebrations today with pasteles which are a delicious treat wrapped in a banana leaf and then wrapped in paper and tied up like a little package.

They are delicious but a little hard to describe, so I borrowed these photos from the internet. There are two types and tonight we had pasteles de yucca with chicken in the filling. “Some people compare them to tamales except that they are nothing like tamales except that they are labor-intensive and wrapped.”

Another Christmas tradition we started on today was the making of those lists for Santa. Heather has suggested that this Christmas we limit our giving to something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read. So, I asked everyone to make of list of three things in each category. Coco and Jo got their lists written, but Justin and Ziggy need a bit more time.

I love being able to visit here at this time of year. I not only get to celebrate Thanksgiving with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco, but I also get to share some of their joy in getting ready for Christmas. In the next couple of days, we will turn our focus to the cooking preparations for Thanksgiving. Then on Sunday, the first day of December, we can go get the Christmas tree and I can help decorate. There is new kitty in the family and Justin is more than a little worried that Christmas ornaments will be too great of temptation for kitty. We shall see.

2024 Life Logs, Day 328: Arrival in Puerto Rico
Date: Sunday, November 24, 2024
Weather: Hot and Steamy, Light Rain Late; 86 High Temp, 75 Low, 86 degrees F
Location: At Home with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco in Aguada, Puerto Rico

Up at 6 am and to bed at 11 pm EST, but midnight here in Puerto Rico. Woohoo! Everyone here is great, and I survived a long day. I was up at 6 am, got dressed, took Shadow for a walk, packed my bags in the car, and was off to the Sagamore Park and Ride by 7 am. Then it was on the bus to head to Boston Logan. By 10 am I was at my gate eating a breakfast sandwich I picked up on the way, waiting for my flight to leave. We were on the plane by noon, but takeoff was delayed about half an hour while the air conditioning system was resetting itself. It is a four-hour flight, but with the time change, we arrived here sometime after 5 pm. By the time I got my checked bag and connected with Justin it was 6:30 pm. Jet Blue arrives in a different part of the airport than where I usually arrive, and it took us a while to find each other. On the two plus hour drive to Aguada, we stopped to get a bite to eat and arrived here around 9:30 pm. Ziggy, Coco, Jo, and the cats and dogs all came out to greet me and then spent awhile bringing me up to date on what is happening in their lives these days. I’ll bring you up to date on the gang here tomorrow. Right now, I am definitely ready for some sleep. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night and couldn’t sleep on the plane. Instead, I watched a movie, The Boys on the Boat. I read the book years ago but had never seen the movie. What a great story.

2024 Life Logs, Day 327: Ready or Not
Date: Saturday, November 23, 2024
Weather: Cloudy with Rain; High Temp 46, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA

My bags are in the car and the house is as good as it is going to get before I leave here before 7 am in the morning to catch the bus to Boston Logan. The house is not perfect, but it will have to do. I will get up at 6 am and take Shadow for his morning walk before leaving. Then Brian and Nadia will arrive around noon to stay here with Shadow while I am in Puerto Rico. I am sleeping on the sofa tonight because there is no way I would have time to change the bed sheets in the morning. So, I will make this short and get to bed.

Heather and Sam got on the bus at noon today and headed to Boston Logan. They arrived early so had to hang out in the airport for a delayed flight to Toronto. Then at 9:41 tonight the text came saying they were on the tarmac in Toronto headed to Amsterdam. Jonah and Ollie both had things they had to do today, so they and Jed will have the same flights as Heather and Sam did today starting late tomorrow. When Heather and Sam arrive in Amsterdam in a few hours, they will then take a train to Groningen where Sam will attend a prospective student day on Monday. Monday afternoon Jed, Ollie, and Jonah will arrive in Groningen. Then as a family, they will have Tuesday to explore that city before moving on to stop number two which is Rotterdam. Here’s hoping they have a wonderful ‘explore’ in Holland and that Sam has successful visits to the universities.

If things go as scheduled, I will arrive in San Juan at 5 pm tomorrow. Justin will pick me up and we will head to Rincon. It will probably be after 10 pm their time (an hour later than here) when we arrive at Finca Maravilla, so you might not hear from me until Monday morning.

2024 Life Logs, Day 326: Running Behind Schedule
Date: Friday, November 22, 2024
Weather: Partly Sunny, Turning Cloudy with Rain; High Temp 51, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA

This was one of those days when I just couldn’t keep my focus centered on the tasks that needed to be done. But ready or not, I leave here by 7 am on Sunday morning. My goal was to be fully packed by the end of today so that I could focus on getting the house ready for the Shadow sitters tomorrow. I have random clothes in the suitcase, but I am far from being done. Maybe I’ll be a little more clear headed tomorrow and can give you a glowing report of being totally ready to go in tomorrow night’s log.

2024 Life Logs, Day 325: Lunch with Friends, Back to My Computer
Date: Thursday, November 21, 2024
Weather: Rainy Day; High Temp 49, Low 45 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA

If my logs are correct, it has been more than a month, 36 days to be exact, since we have had any rain. That was Monday, October 14. During those dry days, we have often had high winds resulting in many Red Flag Alerts. The risk of wildfires has been high. Hopefully the rain today, and maybe more tomorrow and Saturday, will help bring down that risk.

My Vegan Lunch Bunch met today at my house. There were only three of us, but we still enjoyed good food and good conversation. And after that, I spent the rest of my day on the computer. I had to deal with an Encore issue and then I had to write another long email to the administrative staff at my sister’s assisted living facility. I went down there to get answers to a number of questions but left not knowing much more that I knew when I got there. I have needed to deal with this since I got home over a week ago, but I have had many other issues to deal with that ranked higher on my TO DO list. I still have a few more items on that list that I hope to get to before leaving for Puerto Rico on Sunday morning. But tomorrow I am going focus on packing for the trip and on Saturday I have to get the house ready for house guests who will take care of Shadow while I am away. So, I might just have to deal with the TO DO list after I get home from PR. I am hoping to have the whole week to just focus on Ziggy and Coco and not even think about things I need to do back home.

2024 Life Logs, Day 324: Encore Program, More Shopping, Food Prep
Date: Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 53, Low 44 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA

The morning was spent at an Encore general meeting. The program today was a Cape Cod historian and writer, Jim Coogan. Once a classroom teacher, he that decided to write books in his retirement years. He is a good story teller and shared some very interesting Cape Cod stories that he has included in the books he has published.

I spent all afternoon returning pants I bought for Sam yesterday and finding the right size of one pair he particularly liked. I returned pants to stores in Mashpee, came home to have a late lunch, pick Ollie up after school, and then I headed to a store off Cape to get the right size of one pair of pants Sam particularly liked. For his birthday in January, I told him I would buy parts he needed for his car. However, that car is still in the garage, still in need of parts, so I decided to buy pants for him instead. This required heading to a store off Cape and that took the rest of the afternoon. But now Sam has his very belated birthday gift from me.

Tonight, I did some food prep for my Vegan Lunch Bunch that meets here tomorrow. Normally there are five of us, but tomorrow there will just be three. Unfortunately, it takes as much time to cook for three and it does for five. I will have to hustle in the morning to finish the food preparation and get this house cleaned up and presentable for guests.

2024 Life Logs, Day 323: Tuesday Shopping Day
Date: Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 56, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA

Today’s was Shadow’s day to go to the doggy beauty shop to be groomed. I delivered him to Pampered Paws at 9 am, drove back to Waquoit to meet with Christina Brodie re Encore business, and then headed to Mashpee and Hyannis. I needed to go to Whole Foods in Hyannis to get wild rice as I couldn’t find any here in Falmouth. I wouldn’t have driven all the way there just for the rice, but last night Sam mentioned to me that he needs a pair of jeans or some pants other than sweatpants for his college trip tours in the Netherlands. He and Heather fly out on Saturday, so I decided to some shopping for him today. I bought a couple of different styles of jean/pants at four different stores and tonight I had him try them on. He said this was like DoorDash for clothes! I think I have found my new calling. One pair was perfect and two more just need to be exchanged for a different size.

2024 Life Logs, Day 322: Monday Workday
Date: Monday, November 18, 2024
Weather: Sunny and Warmer; High Temp 60, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA

It was a ‘no jacket needed’ weather day which was nice. But until I went to pick Ollie up at 2:45, I spent the whole day on my computer trying to catch up on things. I got a lot done, but I need another day. Then after I picked up Ollie, I spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen. I am still at Heather and Jed’s as they are at Town Meeting. Sam had a class in Hyannis tonight that is just now ending, so when I know he is home safely I will go home. Town Meeting could go until midnight, so once everyone is bed, I’ll head home.

We had an early dinner as Ollie had to be at a School Committee meeting at 5:45 pm to be part of a presentation with other members of the 7th grade engineering class. There were about 12 students who made short presentations. The students each made car bodies to hold the exact same motor and then competed to see what designs were fastest. Ollie’s part of the presentation was to explain which of the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) Massachusetts standards they addressed in this project. I was very proud of him for speaking loudly enough for everyone to hear and appearing to be so self-assured. But he told me afterwards that although he likes making presentations, he still gets nervous. I assured him that we all do.

Yesterday at our early Thanksgiving dinner I said that I was thankful for grandchildren. Today I am thankful for historians like Heather Cox Richardson. I read her daily blog and learn something new from her every day. Last night’s blog was about the year 1883 when the new system of five standardized time zones across the United States came into being. Fifty years earlier, prior to the 1830s, most people lived by the rhythms of the sun. But as factories developed in New England, people needed to get to work at a certain time, so there was some standardization. But it was the railroads that forced the time zones because of the need to regularize train schedules. But this was very controversial. Telling time by a sundial was the custom and it was understood to be following God’s time. The idea of standardizing because of the needs of a modern world seemed sacrilegious to many. Before I read that blog this morning, I had honestly never thought about time standardization. I just accepted that it has always been this way. But it was only 64 years before I was born that the time zones came into being.

2024 Life Logs, Day 321: An Early Thanksgiving Dinner
Date: Sunday, November 17, 2024
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 59, Low 39 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA

Since I will be leaving next Sunday to spend the Thanksgiving week in Puerto Rico with Justin and family and Heather and family will be leaving next weekend to spend the Thanksgiving week in the Netherlands, we had our Thanksgiving dinner together late this afternoon. I made the pies and stuffing, and the Goldstones smoked a turkey breast and added the mashed potatoes and gravy and Brussels sprouts. The smoked turkey was delicious and so very moist. Turkey can be so dry, but not this Thanksgiving turkey breast.

Tomorrow night, both Heather and Jed have Town Meeting, so I have offered to be on Oma duty. Town Meeting happens twice a year and can take one or two nights. So, I might be on Oma duty on Tuesday evening as well. But beginning on Wednesday all of us will have to turn our attention to getting ready for our Thanksgiving travels. We all arrive back in Falmouth on Monday, the second day of December 2, just in time to get ready for the holiday season.