Day 29, Year 7: The Wars Continue
Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Weather: Steady Rainy with Wind, High Temp in the 50’s F
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, Massachusetts
Hopefully we are not fighting a losing battle with these birds, but the measures we took yesterday were not enough to deter our fine-feathered friends. This morning when I looked out hoping to see a clean deck, all I saw was bird poo everywhere. Once again, I had to hose down the deck. I think there is no way to win this war but we can at least minimize the damage. Yesterday we thought we needed to add more of the Bird-B-Gone spikes on the spreaders; now we know that to be true. Today was just not the day to do it. We had steady rain all day and it is still going. The boat didn’t get covered today because of the rain and it probably won’t get covered tomorrow due to the gusty winds that are predicted. So maybe on Friday. Hopefully this will give us a chance to get Mark back up the mast to put on more Bird-B-Gone spikes before we are covered. I’m thinking this rain was a gift as it has hopefully washed the bird poo off the spreaders. Mark can then apply the ‘spiky things’ to clean spreaders which is much more inviting than applying them over poo-encrusted surfaces. After tomorrow, we will have the mast and spreaders well protected from the birds, but they will still be able to perch on the stays (the wires that come down from the mast to the deck). There is nothing we can do about that, so if they are persistent they will probably win this war. But at least we will go down trying.
We also made some progress with our war on Mark’s health issues. We called the Tropical Diseases unit at Mass General and had the cardiologist here on the Cape, who ordered the recent blood tests and stool samples, FAX the results to this division of Mass General. Hopefully we will hear back from the Tropical Diseases office tomorrow or Friday with an appointment time. We have no idea if parasites picked up in the tropics could be Mark’s problem, but it is certainly worth checking out.
Just before starting to write this log, we got an email from eBay and Toys R Us regarding 2011’s Top Toys. I was appalled. Everything was made of plastic and was either a toy encouraging violence or was princess pink. Looking at that ad, I became a very a proud parent. Heather is trying desperately to reduce the amount of plastic in their home and has requested that Christmas be down-sized tremendously. Justin and Jo have requested that we buy no new plastic toys of any sort and that we avoid toys and clothes that are made in countries where young children are used as the labor. We have brought used Duplo Legos and Fisher-Price toys on eBay for Ziggy and have tried to abide by “less is more” for everyone. There will be no toys that require batteries and very little new plastic added to the world through our purchases. The insistence of our adult children that their children learn to appreciate the natural resources of this planet Earth is the best Christmas gift we as grandparents could every hope to receive.
And while I am on the topic of being proud of people I love, I want to add my sister-in-law Conda to the list. She is having a battle with cancer and I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone in this situation with such a positive outlook. She isn’t worried about herself, only how her situation is affecting the lives of her children and grandchildren. She has a deep faith that she says has always served her well and she is relying on that to carry her through this. Conda, our thoughts are with you and we are inspired by your faith and your attitude.
