2020 Life Logs, Day 111: Wetlands Walk and Kayaking
Date: Monday, April 20, 2020
Weather: Overcast; High 51 degrees, Low 32 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I did, in fact, kidnap the Goldpebbles today. We had a fun day and now they are fast asleep here in The Cottage. Heather and Jed joined us for dinner, but the boys really wanted to stay the night. Heather and Jed were very appreciative of the extra time they could put into their work without the interruptions of three boys and I really enjoyed exploring with Pebbles today. 
We started with a walk through the 30-acre wetland that begins in their backyard. I didn’t have my camera with me, but I did have my phone and I found myself talking photos of everything to document the area in early spring. It will look so different in another month. I insisted that the boys wear mud mucking boots, but it is I who should have had on the boots. I slid on a mud bank and landed sitting on a pokey root with one foot in the water. I’ll wear my Bogs on the next walk! I have a big bruise on my bum where I landed on that root, but otherwise, I was fine. And I probably enjoyed the exploration more than the boys. New plants to identify, ducks, turtles, and egg masses in the water to keep an eye on . . . these are a few of my favorite things. After the walk we headed to my house for lunch and to brainstorm ideas for activities this week. Basically, all three boys want more time to explore the conservation area in their back yard and they want to do a little marsh mucking here at The Cottage. They want to kayak, and on a rainy day, they want to do a binge movie day. I have seen Harry Potter 1, 2, and 3 with them, but now that I am reading the books, I want to see them again. And so do they. Friday looks like our rainy day with Harry Potter. The weather this week looks miserable, but we’ll do our best to enjoy our outdoor explorations as we can. Jonah and Ollie are also interested in learning more about Mah Jong. I tried to convince them that it is just too complicated, but I lost that argument. We set up the card table and dove right in. It is great for me as it has been more than a month since I last played. This gives me an opportunity to see what I remember. We will also spend time transplanting raspberries from Vidal to here and hacking out more paths in the woods surrounding The Cottage for Shadow and I to enjoy.
The 50th anniversary of Earth Day is on Wednesday, so we need to find a way to make that a special day for all of us. Heather will be moderating a conversation on Zoom at 12 noon about how climate scientists and climate activists can work together and learn from one another. That will definitely be on our ‘watch’ list for Wednesday. If you would like to join us, go to this address to register: https://whrc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Z4TtWLzTSkaio3KqmoYekA. If clicking on that link doesn’t work for you, just Google whrc.org/spring-series/ and you will get to the registration page. Not a part of Wednesday’s program is a selfie video Heather did today at Marina Park in Woods Hole. There is a bronze statue of Rachel Carson there, so Heather drove down to Woods Hole to sit beside Rachel and do a little Earth Day video. I can remember when Heather was a little younger than Sam and read her first Rachel Carson book. A beautiful memory.
Back to today. I wasn’t the only casualty of marsh mucking. Sam, Ollie, and I launched two of the kayaks for the first time this year and the two of them went out for the first exploration. They returned with treasures–plastic trash for disposal and half of a big egg that a baby swan has recently hatched out of. Then Sam went out with Jonah and they attempted to combine kayaking with marsh mucking by pulling their kayaks through a narrow and shallow path in the marsh. Both ended up with muddy foot and a very wet boot each. But there were no complaints and we didn’t lose any boots to the mucky marsh. So we announce that the kayaking season has officially begun.
