Day 260, Year 8: The Joy of Grandkids
Date: Sunday, July 21, 2013
Weather: Mix of Clouds, Sun, and Rain
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
What a joy it was to have Sam and Jonah spend the night on Windbird. I had to get up with Jonah once during the night for a bathroom and drink of water call, but other than that, both boys slept like little angels all night. Sam is an early riser and he quietly came to the aft cabin to get me up around 7:30 am (an hour later than usual). Mark and Jonah slept until just after 8 am, and once they were up we started formulating our plans for the day. It rained overnight and was still raining when we were doing our planning, but we didn’t let a little weather get in the way of having some fun beach time. The decision was to go Stoney Beach in Woods Hole during the morning, go back to Windbird for lunch and nap for Jonah, and then go back to Stoney Beach for the late afternoon. Both boys were happy about that decision, so off we went. We snorkeled, rode on the boogie boards, and loved every minute at the beach. During the morning, a couple of teenage girls gave Sam and Jonah two sea stars they had found. Sam gave them a ride on the boogie board and then we returned them to the rock jetty where we thought they must have come from originally. Both boys wanted to know the function of the orange dot on the top of the sea star. I wasn’t sure, but after checking on the internet I found out it is called the madreporite. See the note below.
We didn’t have much time in the afternoon, but Jonah got braver as the day progressed. He is a little timid about putting his head underwater, but ever so slowly, he is progressing. At 5 pm, we had to hurry to the car and go to West Marine to pick up Granddad. Mark and I took the boys home, spent a little time playing with Oliver, and then headed back to Windbird. Windbird was a little quieter without the boys and we look forward to the next overnight.
Note: According to ‘Answers’ on the internet, “The bright orange dot in the center of the body is called the madreporite. This organ pumps water into the sea star’s body. This pumping action creates suction at the end of hundreds of tube feet, located in paired rows on the underside of the arms.”
 |
| 130721 Day 260 Cape Cod, USA–Sea Stars at Stoney Beach |
