Day 307, Year 7: Time for Polar Fleece
Date: Monday, September 10, 2012
Weather: Sunny Day, Daytime Temp Low 70’s
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Sometime over the past few days the weather has slowly changed and all of a sudden it is time to get out the polar fleece. The low temperature for tonight is supposed to be 57 degrees F and that means we need a polar fleece blanket. And even though the daytime temps are in the low 70’s, it is breezy and a polar fleece jacket feels good in the early morning and evening. By Wednesday we are supposed to be back to 77 degrees F for the daily highs with lows in the lower 60’s, but as we inch closer to the first day of fall, polar fleece will become the norm. And that gets us to thinking about sailing south. I have a REALLY hard time thinking about it as I am going to miss my three little Goldpebbles so much. But I just have to keep my eye on those warm tropical waters in the Bahamas and keep reminding myself that it’s not like we are leaving for a long time. We will be right back here in Eel Pond in late April or May and I can once again get my daily ‘Oma’ time with Sam, Jonah, and Oliver.
Oliver has been spiking a temperature of 101 over the past couple of days so once the Monday morning madness was over, Heather took him to the doctor. The doctor says his ears and lungs are clear, so there is no explanation for the temp. He has been congested for a week or so now and he is teething, so some combination of this is causing the temperature. But he was just not feeling good today. He needed to be held, mostly my momma, but I was able to give Heather a little relief. Mark worked at West Marine while I assisted Heather with Oliver and tried to eek in a little garden work. The cabbage worms are destroying the kale, so I picked off all the mature leaves and on Wednesday I will go through and pick off any worms I can see and then spray the plants with water. Supposedly, if you then apply white flour to the wet leaves, the worms will eat the flour and explode! Stay tuned to see if that works.
Tomorrow we head back to Boston for pre-op testing for Mark’s upcoming parathyroid surgery. And hopefully tomorrow morning we will find out the results of Friday’s scan. We are doing our best to keep Mass General in business.
I’ll end with a happy birthday greeting for my Aunt Ethel. She was 97 today and is as spry and alert as most 75 year olds. I truly don’t think the woman has been sick a day in her life. She was the wife of my mother’s oldest brother, Guy. She and Guy did not have children, but after my uncle died, she remarried a man who did have children and they now take care of her as if she were their own mother. She lives alone, still cuts the grass on her quarter acre lot, and maintains a large garden and cans and freezes the produce. When we bought a new dinghy motor in Malaysia, we named it Aunt Ethel hoping that it, too, will live forever. Happy birthday, Aunt Ethel. We love you.
