2024 Life Logs, Day 256: Activity Fair, Ice Bucket Challenge, and a Secret
Date: Thursday, September 12, 2024
Weather: Beautiful, Sunny Day; High Temp 72, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview, Falmouth, MA
This morning was the annual Activity Fair sponsored by Newcomers showcasing the more than 70 activities open to Newcomers and Encore members. I find it phenomenal that we have so many wonderful choices. I was there as co-leader of the Field Trip group and the Exploring Public Policy group. I was seated at a table beside Jon Kaufman who has volunteered to be the co-leader for the public policy group. But today he was representing a new photography activity he will lead. I definitely joined that one today, as well as another new one called Exploring Cultural Diversity in Falmouth. I am going to need a real camera, not just my phone, to be in the photography group, but I do need a camera, so now I have the incentive to buy one.
After the fair, I came home to can a load of tomato sauce and was then off to an Ice Bucket Challenge for my friend Art Gilbert. Art has always helped me and so many others with our technology issues, and now Art needs our help. He has been diagnosed with ALS. Today’s challenge was raising money for an ALS research fund at Mass General Hospital. I chose to donate rather than get wet, but plenty of others took the plunge. Art’s son Brian and his wife Nadia were there, along with a surprise visit by Art’s daughter who lives in Connecticut. Brian and Nadia have stayed with Shadow for me a couple of times, so I consider them part of my extended family.
I left the challenge at Bristol Beach to pick up Ollie and Simon after soccer practice and then I headed home to can another load of tomatoes. I am now done with tomatoes for this year. Hurray! I also talked to Karen Baranowski. She and Peter just returned from a two week trip from here through Maine to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
In between these activities, I spent more time dealing with some of my sister ‘s issues. Today I had to talk to an administrator at Autumn Care to find out why Patsy is being dressed and out of bed until mid-afternoon, and then only if one of her companions insists it be done. I made some progress, but we’ll see if what I was told is really put into action. Tomorrow, I am taking part of the day off to go to the beach. I know this beautiful weather cannot continue much longer, so I am going to enjoy it fully tomorrow, with sand between my toes. And now I have something to tell you that I have been keeping a secret. Shhhhhh! In the wee hours of Saturday morning, I am getting myself to the airport in Boston for an early morning flight to Fort Myers, Florida. Mark’s baby brother, Steve, turns 80 on Saturday and his daughters are having a surprise birthday party for him. They let me know about this last weekend and I decided that I just had to go. My friends Jane and Bruce Woodin said they would keep Shadow (Heather and family are going sailing) and I found a really reasonably priced flight. I will arrive in Fort Myers at 11:30 am, getting me there in plenty of time for the 3 pm party. I will stay the night at Steve’s daughter’s home and then return home on Sunday afternoon. At first, it seemed like a truly crazy thing to do, but I really haven’t seen any of Mark’s family for far too many years. Saturday is also Justin’s birthday and my ‘adopted’ son, Kevin Russel’s birthday. I will celebrate for all three of them!
