Day 271, Year 7: Glorious Day
Date: Sunday, August 5, 2012
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Temp in the 80’s, Windy
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
What a glorious day. We woke up to a mostly clear morning in a beautiful
cove with three of our five grandchildren. And we ended the day back in Eel
Pond on a Skype video call with our other two grandchildren. Life couldn’t
be better, that is, unless we could be together with all five at once. But
too many miles separate us and reunions with all of us are too seldom. So
in the meantime, we’ll have to settle for Skype. And for that piece of
technology, we are very grateful. And Mark is so funny. Just now I was
saying how much our newest, little Coco Annabelle, looks like Jo. Mark
commented that she is such a pretty little baby. And then he added, “She
looks like a girl.” I’m afraid I just think she looks like a baby and they
are all beautiful to me. But we do love the little opportunities we have to
see her. Heather, Jed, and boys were still here when Justin called, so
everyone got to see Coco and get into the action. Jonah sang the entire
Star-bangled Banner for Justin, Jo, Ziggy, Coco, and Jo’s parents and Oliver
amazed everyone with his size. Then Ziggy turned on his CD player and did a
special dance for us going around, around, and around with flare. And
somehow Coco slept like a little angel through all of us.
Our morning was so much fun. After a breakfast of bagels, cream cheese, and
smoked salmon, we headed to shore. Mark and Sam paddled in the kayak while
the rest of us followed in the dinghy. We brought a chair for the
grandpoobah, Sam’s sometime name for Granddad, and a beach blanket for the
rest of us. Jed, Sam, and Jonah built a very intricate fort, Oliver cooed
and entertained us, we all went in the water and enjoyed it’s coolness on a
hot day, and then we walked to the lighthouse. We thought we were not
allowed to do that, but there was a sign announcing the path to the
lighthouse and no signs saying not to trespass, so we headed up the hill.
Blackberry bushes lined both sides of the path, so it took us a very long
time to make the short climb as the blackberries were ripe! The lighthouse
was built in 1759 and it was the perfect setting for eating those
blackberries. Jed, Sam, and Jonah took a different route back down the hill
and Heather ended up having to go get them in the kayak as they ended up on
the other side of a wall of rocks. Mark and I encouraged Heather and Jed to
take the kayak back to Windbird so they could enjoy a little time sans kids
and we brought the three boys back. The wind was picking up and Windbird
was doing a bit of a hobbyhorse dance, but we were able to get back onboard
safely and enjoy a beautiful sail back to Woods Hole. It is only six miles
to Tarpaulin Cove, but with 15-20 knots of wind behind us and the current
with us, we easily made the trip in an hour. Mark did not even raise the
main. It was enough to just have the headsail out. We are realizing that
summer will be over before we know it, so we made plans for doing the same
thing next weekend.
