2024 Life Logs, Day 230: Quiet Saturday, Sushi Dinner with Goldstones
Date: Saturday, August 17, 2024
Weather: Cloudy and Cool; High Temp 69, Low 64 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview, Falmouth, MA

Today was a slow and quiet Saturday. Shadow and I started our day with our daily walk which takes us through the entrance and parking lot of Lawrence Middle School before heading home. That has been a busy place this week. Last Sunday well over 200 porta potties were brought there to be stored for tomorrow’s 52nd Falmouth Road Race. The number of runners who run this race varies from year to year, but it is usually more than 12,000. The race starts in Woods Hole where there is no parking, so early tomorrow morning the runners will gather at Lawrence Middle School, the high school, and another site or two and be taken from there by bus to Woods Hole. Yesterday those 200 plus porta potties were still at Lawrence, but this morning there were only 20. The remainder had been taken to other places where they will be needed tomorrow morning. The parking lot was full of trucks loaded with orange temporary fencing which is put up in various places around town. By the time Shadow and I walk at 8:30 am tomorrow morning, all the runners will have been transported to Woods Hole. Heather, Jed, and Ollie are volunteering at the finish line at Falmouth Heights Beach tomorrow morning. It is a seven-mile race. It is going to be in the low 70’s tomorrow morning, cloudy, and not too windy. Good conditions for running.

Tonight the Goldstones invited me over for home-made sushi. Sam was on Martha’s Vineyard tonight with his friends attending the fair, but I did get to see him earlier in the afternoon when I stopped by to say hello since I had not seen the boys since they returned from Maine yesterday. Jed cut the salmon and Heather made the rolls and sushi. Ollie made what I call an inside out roll tonight that was delicious. He put Saran Wrap on the rolling matt to keep the rice from sticking, covered it with rice, then salmon and cucumber, then Nori, and rolled it, sprinkling it with sesame seeds. It makes a beautiful and delicious roll with the rice on the outside. Fun evening.

2024 Life Logs, Day 229: Illuminating Encore Trip to Martha’s Vineyard
Date: Friday, August 16, 2024
Weather: Some Sun, Some Clouds; High Temp 75, Low 61 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview, Falmouth, MA

In Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard sits an open-air tabernacle surrounded by gingerbread cottages that ‘evolved’ in the 1800’s. It all started in 1835 when Jeremiah Pease and six other Methodist men secured land to hold a religious camp meeting. It began as a simple preacher’s stand with plank seating. Eventually a canvas tent was erected. As the years progressed, more and more people came, staying in tents put up around the tabernacle. Then platforms were built to put the tents on. And eventually, small cottages were built on those platforms. Some say the gingerbread cottage village on Martha’s Vineyard is one of the quaintest places on earth. Grand Illumination Night on the third Wednesday of August has been happening in this quaint little gingerbread village since 1869. Lanterns of all kinds light up the cottages. Then more recently on the third Friday of August, they added fireworks to mark the end of the summer season.

This evening, I got aboard The Patriot in Falmouth Harbor, to travel with fellow Encore members to watch the fireworks.

Some went out to dinner in one of the many restaurants and others of us took our dinner with us and found a quiet corner to eat and then walk the main street on our way to the park to wait for the fireworks. The wait was a bit long as the fireworks didn’t start until 9:15 pm. Our boat was supposed to leave at 9:30, but the captain delayed for about 15 minutes and then we watched the end of the fireworks display on our way out of the harbor. It was a fun trip!

2024 Life Logs, Day 228: A Day of Accomplishment
Date: Thursday, August 15, 2024
Weather: Partly Sunny AM, Thunderstorms Late PM; High Temp 77, Low 61 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview, Falmouth, MA

Somedays it takes all day to get nothing done. Then there are days like today when you spend the whole day getting things done you have been putting off for weeks. The huge pile of Encore paperwork that needed to be filled in the correct notebooks got done today. Then the call to Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina about my sister’s Medicare Advantage insurance finally happened. It took over an hour, but I got all my questions answered. I had sent them a copy of the legal paperwork naming me as Patsy’s Healthcare POA, but today I learned that does not give them permission to talk to me. So, I had to scan in the 17-page Durable POA paperwork so that at least someone can talk to them. And the agent helped me file other forms that will allow me to see Patsy’s account online. Just as I was finishing all of that, the rolling thunder started and eventually we got a whopper of a thunderstorm followed by an entire evening of rain. Heather came over for dinner and we talked the night away. Jed and the boys return from Maine early tomorrow to try and avoid the worst of the traffic headed to the Cape for Falmouth Road Race weekend.

2024 Life Logs, Day 227: Encore Board Meeting, Hurricane Ernesto
Date: Wednesday, August 14, 2024
Weather: Partly Sunny; High Temp 77, Low 62 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview, Falmouth, MA

I saw a quote on my Facebook feed today that said, “Somedays it takes me all day to get nothing done.” I can’t believe how many days this summer I have felt that way. Today, my morning was spent at an Encore board meeting, but then I amazingly spent the rest of the day getting nothing done, at least nothing of consequence. I did a little bit of this and a little bit of that, a little food shopping, a little Encore work, a little communicating with people about my sister, and a little playing outside with Shadow.
This morning, I received a couple of inquiries asking if Justin and family were okay. I honestly didn’t know that hurricane/ tropical storm Ernesto hit the western coast of Puerto Rico and moved on leaving at least half of Puerto Rico without power and with lots of flooding. Justin said he had heard that the bridges are flooded between Rincon and Mayaguez where the kids go to school, and they have no power at home except for their solar back-up. They do have water which surprises them as it is usually the first thing to go. A neighbor’s big tree came crashing across their fence, so they have some clean-up to do, but were otherwise unscathed. Thank you to all of you who inquired.

2024 Life Logs, Day 226: Best Wine Group Ever
Date: Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 77, Low 62 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview, Falmouth, MA

Today was Shadow’s day to get groomed at Pampered Paws. This happens once every 7 weeks and costs a small fortune. But because Shadow has hair instead of fur, it grows and grows and gets matted and nasty. I am not sure how I am going to do it, but I have decided that going forward I am going to do the grooming. It is just too expensive for me to continue having it done.

After dropping Shadow off to be groomed this morning, I spent most of my day dealing with Encore issues and dealing with my sister’s care. I had a 2:20 telephone meeting with the staff at Autumn Care. They feel like she is making progress and I am pleased with what they are doing. Once that meeting was over, I went to pick Shadow up and then get ready to go to my wine group gathering. Tonight’s theme was ‘wines from unusual places’. I took a ginger wine I had bought in St. Lucia in the Caribbean. It was a dessert wine, so my ‘unusual’ appetizer was ginger ice cream from Smitty’s. Everyone loved it. It is the best wine group ever.

2024 Life Logs, Day 225: A Day Trip to Boston
Date: Monday, August 12, 2024
Weather: Sunny, Turning Cloudy Late, Then Rain; High Temp 76, Low 60 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview, Falmouth, MA

Heather was returning home from Maine today via bus and I had a couple of things I needed to do in the Boston area, so I offered to pick her up at South Station. I did my shopping at Costco and I checked out the Adams National Historical Park in Quincy for a future Newcomers-Encore field trip. It was almost 4:30 when we got home. Heather was off to a Select Board meeting, and I had some food shopping to do. By the time that was done and I played ball with Shadow, the first sprinkles of rain came down. The only other things of importance that happened today were getting a first day of school photo of Coco and Ziggy and getting a call from Kevin and Claire. They are hoping to come visit the first week or so in October before they head back to Mexico for the winter. I will certainly look forward to their visit.

2024 Life Logs, Day 224: Lovely Afternoon with Friends
Date: Sunday, August 11, 2024
Weather: Partly Sunny; High Temp 78, Low 63 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview, Falmouth, MA

Sandwiched between the US women’s basketball team’s battle for the Gold this morning and the women’s Olympic marathon early afternoon, and then the Olympic closing ceremonies tonight, I spent a lovely afternoon with friends at the beach and then at an impromptu Happy Hour gathering. Lovely afternoon.

I heard from Heather. They did get the power back yesterday afternoon in Boothbay. The family had lots of quality time together and a sail on the Eastwind Schooner out of Boothbay Harbor in John Reed’s memory. Heather returns home tomorrow, but Jed and the boys will be there for a few more days. I think they will return in time for the Falmouth Road Race next Sunday.

And tomorrow is the first day of school for Ziggy and Coco in Puerto Rico. I hope they have a great beginning to their year.

2024 Life Logs, Day 222: From Cool to Hot and Steamy
Date: Friday, August 9, 2024
Weather: Sunny, Hot and Humid; High Temp 83, Low 74 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview, Falmouth, MA

The high temperature today was almost 20 degrees warmer than yesterday making it a hot and steamy day. Shadow and I walked a mile this morning and then just after noon, I met Karen Baranowski for lunch at the Flying Bridge. After lunch, Karen went with me to Heather and Jed’s to try and help me catch one of their cats, Mel, to put medication on his ear. Unfortunately, Mel was nowhere to be found. I returned later and heard him meowing upstairs, but I never did find him. I’ll try again tomorrow. Then Shadow and I ended the afternoon playing outside, with me doing a little weeding along the edges of the yard. I never did get to that pile of mail. I’ll try again tomorrow.

I heard from Lynne Kirwin tonight. She finally made it home from Nyack, NY to Michigan today. I will can’t believe she drove all that way and we had only one day together. But as I’ve said before, I will be forever grateful that she was here to take care of Shadow while I stayed in North Carolina to be with my sister in the hospital and then on to rehab. Thank you, Lynne, and glad you made it home safely.

2024 Life Logs, Day 221: Another Cloudy, Cool, Lazy Day
Date: Thursday, August 8, 2024
Weather: Cloudy, Sprinkles, Cool; High Temp 68, Low 65 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview, Falmouth, MA

Between my need to rest up after the trip to North Carolina and this very uninspiring weather, I had another lazy day. I got through some of the mail, had a car appointment to determine why my front tires were leaking air, watched some Olympics, and played with Shadow. The problem with the deflating tires was the valves which were replaced. The problem with me is simply exhaustion. I am hoping to have a little more energy tomorrow.

I heard from Heather that the boys are having a wonderfully, laid-back time in Maine.

And this evening I heard from my sister’s Home Helpers with wonderful news. I have been worried all week that Patsy had a bowel blockage like she did after her last surgery about 10 years ago. I have been in daily contact with the nurses at Autumn Care and tonight I learned that things are finally moving. I am so relieved. And I called the hairdresser to have Patsy’s hair done today as I knew that would make her feel better. Katie, the hairdresser, is from a small town near Lowell, Massachusetts.