2024 Life Logs, Day 284: Work, Play, Music, and a Coyote Chase
Date: Friday October 11, 2024
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 61, Low 56 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
With all of the excitement of the northern lights last night, today seemed quite calm. Kevin and Claire did some of the tasks on my to do list for me and I managed to once again spend much of day dealing with Encore business and dealing with more issues for my sister. The issues are small, but the time taken to deal with them just keeps piling up.
Kevin woke up this morning with an allergic reaction, possibly to all of the falling leaves. By afternoon he needed a nap, and while he slept, Claire and I continued to work. She was putting the finishing touches on a playlist that she and Kevin will use to lead a sing-along one evening at a friend’s wedding they are attending next weekend. The wedding takes place in a remote AMC center in the Kittatinny Mountains where the Appalachian Trail winds northward through western New Jersey. Evenings will probably be spent outside around a campfire, so Claire thought that putting this playlist together and leading the singalong would make a special gift for their friends. They spent this evening practicing around the dining room table while I was puttering about in the kitchen.
But when they were singing ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love with You’, it stopped me in my tracks. It was so beautiful it made me cry. They both have beautiful voices and in combination with Claire’s flute accompaniment and Kevin on the ukelele their rendition of that song was just so special. They finally got me to sing along when they played ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’. Claire explained that playing the flute and ukelele are newly learned skills for them. A few years ago, they were aboard their sailboat Merganser spending the night tied to a dock on Smith Island in Chesapeake Bay. The couple on the only other boat on the dock were playing the mandolin and singing. They decided then and there that they would someday do that. I have known Kevin and Claire for over 20 years, but I didn’t know until tonight what an amazing musical talent Kevin possesses. He can listen to a song a few times and come away knowing the lyrics and can then play the song on the ukelele without ever having seen the music. Claire has been making a list of the songs he knows by heart. That list is nearing 400 songs, and she knows there are many more. Amazing.
In the late afternoon, I was outside playing ball with Shadow. While we were in the backyard, a coyote started walking into our yard from the empty lot behind us. Shadow took off like a streak of lightning to chase the coyote away, and I took off running after Shadow trying desperately to stop him. I knew if the coyote turn on Shadow, there would be nothing I could do. Then the chase became a stare down. When the coyote would stop and turn to stare at Shadow, Shadow would stop. But as soon as the coyote took off again, Shadow was after him. Finally, on one of the stops, I finally got hold of Shadow’s collar and practically had to drag him back to the house. I am going to have to start putting Shadow’s electronic training collar on him when we go outside to play. He does stop and come when I use that, but I have never had to use it for a coyote chase.
