2024 Life Logs, Day 129: Lazy, Rainy Day
Date: Wednesday, May 8, 2024
Weather: Sun, Rain, Clouds, Fog, Thunderstorm Storm; High Temp 58, Low 51 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

When I went for a walk with Shadow at 7:30 this morning, the sun was shining. When I left the Encore Board meeting at 11:30 am, it was pouring rain. I don’t remember what time the rain stopped, but by mid-afternoon it was just overcast. As the evening progressed, it was foggy. And then we got a whopper of a thunderstorm with hail. While the hail was falling, I actually thought the skylights in the living room might break. It was very loud, but I was so busy trying to calm Shadow, that I didn’t even get a look at the size of the hail.

Before the storm hit, Shadow started acting very strangely. He was hiding under the table where I keep my computer, and when I sat down to check my email, he crawled under my legs. He is always my little shadow, but this was more like he wanted to hide from something very scary. I couldn’t figure out the problem. Then I heard the first thunder. The thunder caused him to start shaking, almost violently. We have had lots of storms, but I have never noticed him reacting like this before. He does shake when he is in the car and when there is thunder and lightning, but not violently like he did tonight. I tried to hold him, but that didn’t help. It was actually a bit scary. I started thinking he knew something about the coming storm that I didn’t know. However, when the storm passed, he was immediately fine, and I was relieved. I’ll never know what caused him to be so afraid, but I’m hoping we don’t have any more storms like that for a while. Other than the Encore Board meeting, exercising, and starting to get the house ready for my upcoming knee surgery on Monday, I had a very quiet, lazy day watching the crazy weather.

2024 Life Logs, Day 128: Pampered Paws, Wrentham Outlet, Costco, Wine Group
Date: Tuesday, May 7, 2024
Weather: Beautiful, Sunny Day; High Temp 67, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

It was a busy day. Once ever seven weeks, I have to get Shadow up to the bridge to Pampered Pets to be groomed. So we were there by 9 am. And as I often do, as long as am that far, I cross the bridge to go to Costco, or IKEA, or the Wrentham Outlet to do much needed shopping. This morning I headed to the Wrentham Outlet as yesterday the podiatrist suggested I get another pair of shoes, just like the ones I was wearing, so I would have an indoor and an outdoor pair. I also need a few other items, so by 10 am I was there for the opening of the shops. I was successful at New Balance, Columbia, and Jockey in getting everything I needed. I then headed to Costco to get a few food items that I desperately needed, again successful. By the time I got back across the bridge and on Cape Cod it was 2 pm and I got the text to pick up Shadow. Perfect timing.

Once home, I went out to play with Shadow, took my grandson Ollie to his saxophone lesson, baked spanakopita to take as the appetizer to wine group, and then headed to meet up with the ‘Best Wine Group Ever’.

I signed up to be in a Newcomers Wine Explorers group in September of 2018, but it wasn’t until August of 2019 that I first met with the group. That night I wrote in my log, “Last September I signed up for a Newcomers Wine Explorer group. I couldn’t attend the first event last October and then there was an email problem, and I didn’t receive notices for a couple of months. So, first one thing and then another kept me from attending a gathering until tonight. My reason for joining this group was to learn more about wine and my education began tonight. The other members of the group are pretty serious about their wine choices, so I look forward to learning from them.”

Actually, I was quite intimidated at that first meeting and thought that would be my first and last getting together with the group. But before we left that night, I was ‘elected’ to host the meeting the next month. I didn’t know how to refuse, so I did host in September of 2019, and I am so glad that I did. I have been with this group ever since. I love this eclectic group of friends. I don’t see them much other than our monthly wine group meetings, but they have my back and I have theirs.

Tonight’s theme was to bring a wine that has been an historic favorite. And instead of focusing on the qualities of the wine, we were to tell the story of why this wine was special. Rich and Marian Morrison hosted, and as always there was more food than we could eat, and great stories to go with the wine we drank.

We had such a good time, we forgot to set our next meeting date. But sometime in June we will gather again.

2024 Life Logs, Day 127: Podiatry Appointment, Walk, Canning Bone Broth
Date: Monday, May 6, 2024
Weather: Rainy Morning, Clearing in the Afternoon; High Temp 61, Low 52 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

Feet! When I was young, I read that the weakest part of the body for most Pisces is feet. And that has certainly been true for this Pisces. My problems got worse after I broke my leg while sailing in the Pacific. When I got home, I went to see a podiatrist at Mass General and he told me there was nothing to be done except to wear really supportive shoes. But things have gotten worse, and I decided to try another podiatrist. This time I was fitted for new liners for my shoes and orthotics for arch support. I will return after I have completed the PT post-knee surgery to see if these things have helped.

The appointment took almost an hour and a half. I had not planned for that, so I had to rush home to get Shadow as we had a 2 pm date to meet a friend’s dog and take a walk together. The other dog’s name is Millie, and she is an old lady, not enthusiastic like Shadow. They got along just fine, but basically ignored each other. But it was a delightful walk on the Salt Pond nature trails close to the Shining Sea Bikeway.

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I have a deep love of fiddle heads, and they lined the path of the trail we took. Soon these fiddle heads turn into beautiful, tall ferns. I will certainly return to this trail to watch the development of the ferns.

My task tonight was canning the chicken bone broth I made yesterday. I have been buying vegetable broth, but with surgery coming up, I wanted the extra protein. A cup of vegetable broth has about 2 grams of protein versus chicken bone broth at 10 grams. After my left knee replacement, the visiting nurse explained to me that after surgery of any sort, your body needs at least 70 grams of protein a day to assist with the healing. If you don’t ingest that much, your body ‘borrows’ it from other parts of your body which can cause all sorts of problems, but feeling like you have no energy is one issue. I followed her advice and found that the extra protein gave me a true energy burst. It is really difficult to get that much protein per day, so I will once again add Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and boiled eggs to my diet for a few weeks post-surgery, and I will drink a cup of hot bone broth each morning.

2024 Life Logs, Day 126: Day of Rest and Family Dinner
Date: Sunday, May 5, 2024
Weather: Overcast, Rain Late; High Temp 50, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

There are some days when you just need to go slow and today was one of those days for me. I did some Sunday morning house cleaning, slowly, did my back exercises, slowly, and otherwise managed to do nothing. Heather invited me over for an artichoke dinner, so I spent my evening with family. As we went around saying what we are thankful for, I said I was thankful that the days are very slowly getting a bit warmer. But I am not sure that is really happening. I just want that to happen. What I should have said was that I am thankful that I live close enough to loving family that we can have family dinners on Sunday evenings. It is a wonderful way to start the new week.

2024 Life Logs, Day 125: Campaign Day
Date: Saturday, May 4, 2024
Weather: Partly Sunny, Turning Cloudy; High Temp 54, Low 42 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

My day began and ended with campaign-related activities. This morning, I spent more than three hours standing on the street corner holding a campaign sign and waving at every car, truck, bus, and motorbike that passed by. There were four of us today, just enough for the four corners. Then at 4 pm, I picked up Heather to take her to a Meet the Candidates evening hosted by friends of hers. Many of the guests were good friends and the conversations were still lively at 9 pm.

Between the two events, I made chicken bone broth so it could burble for the entire evening. And Heather attended yet another event. She had her first Smitty’s Ice Cream of the year at the East Falmouth Village Association festival. After living in East Falmouth for 12+ years, East Falmouth holds a very special place in her heart, as does Oreo ice cream!.

Jed and all three boys are on Nantucket this weekend at the Scout Highland Games. The photo they sent Heather shows Jed wearing his kilt, but Sam, Jonah, and Ollie are wearing their kilts around their shoulders to keep them warm.

2024 Life Logs, Day 124: Mystic Seaport Museum Field Trip
Date: Friday, May 3, 2024
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 59 (Mystic, RI), Low 43 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

The Mystic Seaport Museum is located on 19 acres along the Mystic River in Mystic, Connecticut. It purports to be the leading maritime museum in the United States. Its mission is to “inspire an enduring connection to the American maritime experience” and it does that through a recreated New England coastal village with a working shipyard and formal exhibit halls. “The Museum is home to more than 500 historic watercraft, including four National Historic Landmark vessels, most notably the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan, America’s oldest commercial ship still in existence.”

A few members of our Newcomers/Encore Field Trip group ventured to the museum today. It was a challenge for my knee, but I survived and truly enjoyed the day. This was my third visit, and I could go again and again. There is so much there to see and experience. Mark was with me on my two previous visits where we spent much of our time in the working shipyard. The first time we visited was more than ten years ago when the Charles W. Morgan whaling ship was being renovated and we were given a very detailed guided tour of the entire ship and the whaling process. “She is the world’s oldest surviving (non-wrecked) merchant vessel, the only surviving wooden whaling ship from the 19th century American merchant fleet (of an estimated 2,700 built), and second to the USS Constitution, the oldest seaworthy vessel in the world. The Morgan was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966. Today the renovated Morgan is on a dock in the village next to a small exhibit building where there is a whaling boat like the one deployed by the Morgan to go out to kill the whale and tow it back to the ship. There was a very informative thirty-minute lecture today about the whaling process.

The highlight of my day, however, was in a tiny exhibit hall containing the Blaschka brothers’ glass reproductions of marine invertebrates. The exhibit was appropriately named Spineless: A Glass Menagerie of Blaschka Marine Invertebrates. These reproductions were originally used as teaching tools in science labs, but today they are displayed as works of art. The display of glass flowers and other plants that are on display in the Harvard Museum of Natural History were also done by the Blaschka brothers. I love the glass flowers, and today I fell in love with the spineless invertebrates, the octopuses being my greatest loves. They are so realistic that you think you are looking at the actual specimens.

2024 Life Logs, Day 123: Vegan Lunch Bunch, Soccer Practice, Meet the Candidate
Date: Thursday, May 2, 2024
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Rain Late; High Temp 53, Low 45 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

Today was the third gathering of the Vegan Lunch Bunch. There are two couples, plus myself, that have formed this informal group to share healthy food ideas. None of us are die-hard vegans. We are just trying to move toward a healthy, vegetarian diet, so we decided to start monthly luncheons to share ideas. Today the entrée was Parmesan tempeh, an adaptation of Ina Garten’s Parmesan chicken, with chickpea noodles and homemade marinara sauce. It was yummy. Added to that was an arugula and spring mix salad and for dessert, a chocolate beetroot cake with raspberries drizzled with a vegan dark chocolate fondue sauce. The Parmesan was a homemade vegan cheese and the only sweetening in the dessert was maple syrup. So, no processed sugar, no dairy, and no gluten except for the sourdough bread. And, of course, no meat. All delicious.

Walking the dog, doing my exercises, and getting the dessert ready for the luncheon took my whole morning. The three gatherings of the Vegan Lunch Bunch have each lasted three to four hours because we find so many things to talk about. I had to leave a little early today as I had to get home to play ball with Shadow before taking Ollie to his soccer practice. And then on the way home, Ollie and I stopped by Bad Martha’s to attend Heather’s Meet the Candidate night and have some pizza. It was a full, but fun day. Early tomorrow morning, I head to the Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut with the Newcomers/Encore Field Trip group. So, I need to stop writing and get myself to bed so I will be ready for a big day.

2024 Life Logs, Day 122: Happy First Day of May
Date: Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Weather: Rain Early, Mostly Cloudy; High Temp 53, Low 45 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

May 1st is almost over, so I have started the countdown to May 13 when I have my right knee replacement surgery. I can’t say I look forward to the surgery, but I honestly can’t wait. For the past two weeks, my right knee has gotten progressively more painful with each day. If I didn’t have a good brace, I would be walking very little. But with the help of the brace, I am still getting around. It just comes at the cost of pain, especially in the evenings when I am tired. Eleven days to go!

When I wrote the title of this log, I asked myself, “What is May Day?” I have visions of children dancing around a maypole, but I realized I had no idea why. So, I Googled May Day and here is what I found.

“In the United States, the holiday was first celebrated in 1886, as part of the struggle for the eight-hour workday. On May 1st of that year, hundreds of thousands of workers across the country went on strike, demanding better working conditions and shorter working hours.” Hmmm. Some things never change.
“In other parts of the world, the holiday has a different history. In Europe, for example, it finds its roots in pagan traditions, particularly the celebration of Beltane, a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of summer. In Germany, the day is known as Maifeiertag and is celebrated with dancing, singing and the raising of maypoles. In Finland and Sweden, May Day is celebrated with picnics and outdoor activities, while in the United Kingdom, the celebration includes Morris dancing and other traditional folk customs.”
So happy first day of May, whatever it might mean to you.

2024 Life Logs, Day 121: Dental Cleaning Appointment and Granola
Date: Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Weather: Overcast; High Temp 53, Low 45 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

I honestly don’t know where the time goes, but the hours in a day pass by quickly. By the time I got up, took Shadow for a walk, had breakfast and checked my email, it was time for my 10 am dental cleaning. When I got home from that, I made granola and put that in the oven to bake, did my exercises, and answered some emails. Somehow, I didn’t get to eat lunch until almost 2:30 pm and then it was time to go pick up Ollie and take him to his 4 pm saxophone lesson, then later on to soccer practice. I had an hour between those two activities, and I spent that outside playing ball with Shadow. All I can figure is that I must move at the pace of a turtle. It seems like I should be able pack in way more in a day, but that was it for today.

2024 Life Logs, Day 120: Pre-Op Appointments, Final Back PT Session
Date: Monday, April 29, 2024
Weather: Beautiful Day; High Temp 68, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

This day was all about closing the chapter on my back surgery rehabilitation and moving on to the knee replacement chapter. I had my final physical therapy session this afternoon for my back. Of course, my back rehab should continue on for the rest of my life, but I have been trained in what I need to do. I just need to make sure I do my exercises, walk, and ride my exercise bike every day and be ever aware of the proper way to lift and bend (from the knees, not the waist).

Now the knee replacement preparation has begun. I had my pre-op appointment with Cape Cod Orthopedics in Hyannis and then went to the Cape Cod Hospital for the required testing. I did find out that the plan is to release me to go home right after the surgery. I won’t be staying in the hospital if things go as planned.

The traffic in Hyannis was insane today. It took me 35 minutes to drive from the hospital to Whole Foods. That normally would have taken 5 minutes, 10 minutes max. I did some food shopping and then headed back to Falmouth for my PT session. I stopped to visit with a neighbor before finally getting home. I ended my afternoon playing outside with Shadow. It was a warm, sunny day. Too bad I spent most of it inside or driving.