2022 Life Logs, Day 302: Sailboats, Soccer, and Democracy
Date: Saturday, October 29, 2022
Weather: Beautiful Sunny Day; High 59, Low 39 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The weather gods were good to us today. This morning Heather, Jed, Sam, and Ollie motored Eider, their sailboat, from its mooring in Marion to a temporary mooring in Mattapoisett where it will be hauled out of the water for the winter on Thursday.
It was sunny, not too much wind, with calm waters, so they could work on taking down all the sails while underway. I met them in Mattapoisett just after noon as they came up to the town dock to empty the holding tank and off load the sail bags.
Then Heather and Jed headed out to the mooring to secure the boat and came back to shore in the dinghy to meet us on the dinghy dock.
I drove every one back to Marion to pick up their car so that Heather and Sam could head home while Jed, Ollie, and I drove on to Fall River for an afternoon soccer game. Jonah stayed home today to clean house as the Goldstones were hosting a dinner party tonight. Jed, Ollie, and I arrived at the soccer field in Fall River just after 2 pm. It was a beautiful afternoon for a soccer game.
Unfortunately, Ollie’s team was overwhelmed by the Fall River team. But Ollie, number 18 in his Falmouth crimson red uniform, played a good game and somehow managed to keep his composure after a big loss.
So that explains the sailboats and soccer part of the title of this log. Now on to democracy. It was almost 5:30 pm when I got home, so I headed outside to play with Shadow. When we came in, I got dinner ready for both of us and sat down in front of the TV to eat. I thought I’d catch up on the news while eating, but what was on was a live campaign speech by Barack Obama for candidates in Wisconsin. As I listened to him, my eyes filled with tears as he so skillfully described an America from another time—the time when you could disagree with someone without it leading to violence, when Democrats and Republications could find some common ground. But no more. The point of his speech was to convince the audience that it is the Democrats who have their backs in terms of the economy and personal rights. He was agreeing that those things are of huge importance to people’s lives, but he was also saying that without a democratic form of government, none of that will make any difference. His plea was for people to use their vote to take a stand. I voted early, yesterday, by mail. However, you vote, make your voice heard.
