2024 Life Logs, Day 271: Quashnet River Walk, Step-up Night, and In Between
Date: Friday, September 27, 2024
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High Temp 68, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

Today started with a walk and ended at the high school football game, but in between there was a lot of other activity. My friend Olga Mitchell, Shadow, and I love to walk the Quashnet River Trail. It has been months since we did it, so this morning we got back out there. We didn’t do the whole trail, but we enjoyed what we did do. After taking Olga home, Shadow and I drove to the Cape Cod Package Store in Centerville to check out their German beers and wines for the Octoberfest I am hosting tomorrow night. There will only be seven of us as the Sullivans are in New York City helping their daughter’s family move north of the city and Kim Caverly is in Greece. But the seven of us that are here will make sure to have enough fun for all. The afternoon was spent making German chocolate brownies and prepping the ingredients for sauerkraut balls for tomorrow night. Then in the early evening I headed to Falmouth High School for a Friday night football game where the middle school band would be participating. Ollie plays his saxophone in the band, so I wanted to go enjoy the fun. The middle school band sat in the bleachers and played along with the high school band during the game. This is called Step Up Night as it gives the 8th graders a glimpse of what it will be like when they move on to the high school. Ollie has another year after this one before he will be moving the high school, but the 7th graders were included as well.

2024 Life Logs, Day 270: You Win Some, You Lose Some
Date: Thursday, September 26, 2024
Weather: Cloudy with Sprinkles, Felt Warmer; High Temp 68, Low 60 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

When I walked out the door this morning with Shadow, it felt noticeably warmer than yesterday. The remained cloudy with a little rain in the afternoon, so the fact that I ended up having to spend most of the day inside wasn’t such a bummer. The outside just didn’t beckon today.

I spent my morning in a Newcomers/Encore annual Field Trip group planning meeting. Christina Brodie and I co-lead this group that is my favorite activity. I love the way we come together in a brainstorming session every September and walk out the door with a year’s worth of wonderful trips to be planned. Different members offer to plan the trips and Christina and I just facilitate. But the two of us do always organize at least one of the trips because we enjoy doing it. It was almost noon when I got home. The first thing I did was check on the appeal I submitted yesterday to try and keep my sister’s Medicare Advantage co-paying her stay in the rehabilitation center. I have won every appeal up to now, but when I checked the website, I saw that I had lost this one. I called to find out why and was told they would have a nurse call me to read the report to me. I was also told I could submit a Reconsideration Appeal. What a process this has become. While waiting for the nurse to call, I talked to Brian, my sister’s Durable POA, to inform him, and then I got a call from the rehab facility explaining some of what was happening in more detail. And for whatever reason, during all of these calls I had really spotty cell service. When I called to make the Reconsideration Appeal, I got to the very end and was then disconnected. I had to call back and start all over with a new person. And even though I could only hear about half of what was being said, I think the determination is that my sister will be going back to her assisted living facility sooner than I was expecting. So, I am going into high gear to start making those arrangements.

While all of this was happening, I was also trying to do some prep for the wine group Octoberfest we are having at my house on Saturday evening. I did a little more shopping and a little more cleaning. On my way back from my shopping trip, I stopped by the Goldstones to pick up a baking pan of mine. Jed was furiously getting dinner for the boys as he had to leave in 5 minutes to get to Meet the Teacher Night at the high school. He was going to have to meet with both Sam’s teachers and Jonah’s teachers since Heather was still not home from Climate Week in New York City. He was feeling very much like a single parent. I heard from Heather last night as she wanted me to know that she saw the elephants (the ones I saw in Newport) in the Meat Packing District yesterday. I think Heather get home late tonight. I’ll look forward to hearing more about the elephants.

When I got home and started fixing dinner all of a sudden the electricity went off. I looked online and saw that a sliver of Falmouth had no power. The cause was unknown. I texted the Goldpebbles to see if they had also lost power, but they were fine. And I was fine as I have a whole house generator. But after awhile, the generator went off, everything went black for a moment and the lights came back on. Then it went black again, the generator came back on, and with a little lag time, the lights and tv returned. This continued on and off craziness continued for the next hour and then it was steady generator. Just as I started writing this log at 10:40, the electricity seems to be back on for good.

I am thinking of the people in northern Florida tonight. Hurricane Helene is making landfall in the next hour and the forecast for damage sounds devastating. It makes the inconvenience of on and off power seem very, very trivial.

2024 Life Logs, Day 269: Full Day
Date: Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Weather: Partly Sunny; High Temp 65, Low 57 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

My day began with my walk with Shadow and lodging another appeal for my sister. Then I was off the a meeting that lasted into to afternoon. Once home, I worked on house cleaning and organization as I am hosting my wine group on Saturday night. I picked Ollie up from his after-school meeting and we headed to the high school to watch part of Sam and Jonah’s soccer game. Then Ollie came over with the leaf blower to do a little yard clean-up for me. That is as much as I could pack into this day! Tomorrow is more of the same. I have another all morning meeting and then it is back to the house cleaning which is really just getting rid of or organizing the clutter that seems to build up over time.

2024 Life Logs, Day 268: Early Release Day
Date: Tuesday, September 24, 2024
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High Temp 64, Low 53 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

On Early Release days the Goldpebbles only have a half day of school. They have the afternoon off so teachers can engage in professional development activities. I have always loved helping out on Early Release days as it has given me a way to be a part of Sam, Jonah, and Ollie’s lives during the busy school year. It is different now that they are older, but today I was there’ just in case’ and so that they could have friends over. Heather headed to New York City today and Jed and a full day of work, so starting at noon I was at their house as boys came and went. Sam and Jonah had soccer practice until 1:30 and Ollie was hanging out with Simon, who lives in the neighborhood, and Seton who was invited to Simon’s for the afternoon. But since I was there, the three of them came in and played on the Xbox until Sam and Jonah, and two of Jonah’s friends, came home from soccer practice. Then the younger boys got back on their bicycles and the big boys got on the Xbox for a bit before going outside to play soccer and just hang out. While they did that, I got dinner in the oven for Jed and the boys, and then late afternoon took Ollie to his sax lesson. He was excited about this lesson as it was his first on his new tenor sax. A couple of weeks ago, his band teacher asked if any of the sax players would like to go from alto to tenor and Ollie volunteered. It is so much bigger than the alto, but after his lesson today, he was even more excited.

2024 Life Logs, Day 266: Fall Has Arrived
Date: Sunday, September 22, 2024
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, but No Rain; High Temp 66, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

The autumnal equinox was at 8:43 am this morning EDT and when I opened the door to take Shadow out for his morning walk, it certainly looked like fall in my yard. Yesterday and through the night, the wind had blown enough leaves off the trees to cover the ground. The leaves are not yet changing their colors here but leaves on the ground surely make it look like fall. And the temperature has fallen enough that I needed a jacket for my walk this morning. I am still hoping for the return of warm weather and sunshine, but I can no longer say it feels like summer.

Today I spent much of my time in the kitchen cooking. And this evening I took chicken soup with matzah balls over to the Goldstones to have dinner with the Goldpebbles. Heather and Jed were going to a Falmouth Farming dinner, and I volunteered to cook dinner for the boys. Heather is headed to NYC for Climate Week, making Jed a single parent for most of this week. So, I also made some chili that Ollie and Sam can take in their lunches. I am going to continue my work in the kitchen tomorrow. I was so busy over the summer that I didn’t have time spend my Sundays making healthy things to eat to carry me through the week. Tomorrow I will focus on making healthy things for me to eat!

2024 Life Logs, Day 265: Happy 5th Birthday to My Shadow
Date: Saturday, September 21, 2024
Weather: Overcast with Rain All Day; High Temp 60, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

Shadow actually turned 5 years old yesterday, but Ollie and I have an agreement that we will always celebrate his birthday on the 21st. Ollie’s birthday is on the 21st of March and Sam’s is on the 21st of January, so we agreed to fudge Shadow’s birthday to the 21st as well. Today was a truly dreary day and it rained from morning to night. Shadow and I put on our raincoats for our morning walk, but by the time we had walked around the block, we were both soaked. I decided a longer walk would have to wait until the rain stopped. It didn’t stop, but it did slow down enough that late this afternoon we walked around the block again. But it was miserable, so that was it for our walking day.

I managed to spend my entire day on my computer. I was doing things that needed to be done, but I had no idea it would take me all day. I did go to the store to buy some food, but that was it. I gave Shadow a stuffed hedgehog for his birthday. He looked at it for quite a long time before attacking, but once he had taken a chunk out of the hedgehog, he set him aside.

I find it hard to believe that I have had Shadow for five years, but he was indeed born in September of 2019, and I brought him home with me in mid-November. A medium-sized labradoodle in good health can live 12-15 years. Since Shadow still looks and acts like a puppy, I’m hoping he still has at least 10 more birthdays. Happy birthday, Shadow!

2024 Life Logs, Day 264: Day Trip to Springfield to Visit with Lynne Kirwin
Date: Friday, September 20, 2024
Weather: Overcast with Rain, Gale Warning; High Temp 65, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

My friend Lynne Kirwin, along with two of her sisters, flew into Hartford, Connecticut from Michigan yesterday and made their way to Pittsfield, Massachusetts. They came to visit for a few days with the fourth sister. Her name is Hope and she has a summer place in Pittsfield in the Berkshires. Since Lynne was here for 10 days at the end of July into August but I only got to see her for a day and a half, I told her I would drive out to see her if she had time. When she arrived yesterday, her sister seemed to have every minute of their visit planned, but this morning Lynne sent a text saying the others were going to the Norman Rockwell Museum. She had visited on another trip to see her sister and said she would skip it if I could come. She wanted to meet halfway, but since I had about 2 minutes to figure out where we could meet, I suggested Springfield and gave her the name of a restaurant that came up when I Googled ‘vegetarian lunch restaurants in Springfield’. It was a 2 ½ hour drive for me with traffic around Worcester and an hour for her. That seemed fair to me since she spent all of her time here dog sitting Shadow while I went to visit with my sister. She arrived at the restaurant first and called to tell me the door was locked. I was about 5 minutes away, so we agreed for me to continue on and once I got there, we could figure something else out. Actually, the restaurant was open, but for take-out only. We both had to go to the bathroom, so we both got in my car and traveled on to the next restaurant on my list. It was in town and there were no parking spots available. But we found a couple of friendly guys doing valet parking, so we left my car with them and walked to the restaurant. The street it was on was under construction, but with the help of a women we asked for directions, we found our way around the construction site and had a delightful lunch in a little hole in the wall restaurant called Noche Café and Restaurant in The Marketplace in Springfield. It had great food and was also a bookstore. I had falafels wrapped in phyllo dough and Lynne had a black bean burger, also wrapped in phyllo dough and served between focaccia bread

Both were delicious and the setting was perfect. We ate and talked for two hours and then we were both back on the road. The visit was far too short, but it was great to see Lynne. She heads back to New Zealand in October, so I won’t see her again until she returns to Michigan for her summer visit next year.
The drive home took an hour longer than the morning drive to Springfield. The weather in Springfield was overcast with no rain, but as I drove back to the east, the rain started. It got heavier and heavier and was raining so hard it was difficult to see the last 50 miles. But it was worth it. In addition to spending time with Lynne, I got to see the first colors of fall. Leaves are falling here in Falmouth, but there are no fall colors showing. But the closer you get to Boston and as you drive to the west, the leaves are beginning to turn. Last week it still felt like summer, but this week it is evident that fall is coming. Sunday is the autumnal equinox, but when this rain ends and the sunshine returns, I will hold on to summer as long as I can.

2024 Life Logs, Day 263: New Photography Activity; Dining-in at the Woodin’s
Date: Thursday, September 19, 2024
Weather: Overcast with Rain; High Temp 69, Low 62 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

This morning, I attended a new Newcomers/Encore activity, Photography. I have taken thousands of photos, but I have always just had a point and click camera. Prior to taking photos with my Google Pixel phone, I had a Canon Powershot camera. It took wonderful photos and I am sure if I had read the manual, the photos would have been even better. I had to replace it twice, once while sailing around the world and once when I got home. But each time I bought a refurbished version of the same thing. But sometime in the last four years, I started using my phone as my camera. It does a great job for things up close, but not for wildlife. My decision now is whether to invest in a new camera and join this photography group, or just keep using my phone.

Tonight, Bruce and Jane Woodin hosted our Dining-in Group gathering. We had appetizers followed by a four-course meal with soup, salad, main entrée and dessert. The food was delicious, and after the first three courses, we were all stuffed. But we were not too full to have peach galette with ice cream for dessert. It was delicious.

2024 Life Logs, Day 262: Meetings, Meetings, and Sister Update
Date: Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Weather: Overcast; High Temp 70, Low 58 degrees F
Location: Back Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

My sister, Patsy, had her seven-week appointment with her orthopedic surgeon and we got good news. Her femur is mostly healed, and she can once again stand on that leg. She still has a hard struggle ahead, but I was jubilant that she can start, albeit very slowly, to walk again.

After getting the good news, I was off to the Encore Welcome Back Luncheon at The Flying Bridge. We had about 70 people in attendance and the food was fabulous. It was a great way to start the Encore year.

I ended the day leading my Exploring Public Policy group through a brainstorming session to choose topics for this year’s meetings. I am so excited to have a new co-leader and we had a great meeting. We started with 11 major public policy areas, brainstormed specific topics under each category, and then voted on what we will focus on this year. Water quality and local government were by far the two topics that got the most votes. Members want to know more about the current state of our estuaries and ponds and what the town of Falmouth’s plans are to maintain and improve water quality. In Falmouth we still have a Town Meeting form of government. Members what to understand the structure of our local government and how to get involved. They also want to focus on the school district’s long-term plan for dealing with population fluctuations and the town’s strategic plan (if there is one) for dealing with the lack of affordable/attainable housing. And if we have time, we will move on to healthcare issues and the role of the public library in today’s world. It should be an interesting year.