Day 328, Year 9: Happy Birthday, Justin
Date: Sunday, September 14, 2014
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Daytime Temp in the mid-60’s F
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, Massachusetts

Our baby boy turned 37 today. Happy Birthday, Justin! We talked to him late this afternoon and are looking forward to a Skype video call soon. And two other very important people in our lives also had birthdays today. Mark’s brother Steve turned 70 and our good friend Kevin Russell turned 40. Oh Lordy, where does the time go?

Mark worked at West Marine today while I went to Heather and Jed’s and chopped veggies to make marinara sauce. The sauce needs to burble on the stove for a few hours, so while that was happening I helped watch the boys at play. Well, the boys, meaning Sam, Jonah, and Ollie plus neighbors kids Molly, Joey, Zach, Asa, and Cassidy. We had quite a crew for most of the day and at some point, the kids got the idea of setting up a lemonade stand. We had no lemonade, so Heather suggested they sell cheesy popcorn and sun tea. I think the idea was Sam’s so he put himself in charge and off they went—some making signs to advertise their stand, others posting the signs around the neighborhood, while others set up the stand. They used their Radio Flyer wagon as the stand and rolled it out near the street. They were in business. Well, they didn’t really get much business but the activity kept all the kids in the neighborhood engaged in a productive activity for over an hour and they all enjoyed eating the popcorn and drinking the tea. It was fun to watch them in action. And the cheesy popcorn (with freshly grated Parmesan) was really tasty.

140914 Day 328a Cape Cod, USA–Young Entrepreneurs

Meanwhile the marinara sauce was still burbling away on the stove and Heather and Jed were deep into projects. Jed worked all day on installing the new shelves in the living room and getting the swinging arm for their new flat screen TV set up. Heather worked all day on cleaning out the den. It is getting a complete makeover and everything needs to come out so the painting can begin. So they could use as much child care help as they could get and I tried my best to help in this area.

Mark got off work today at 4 pm, so I picked him up and we changed gears . . . and clothes . . . and headed off the Cape to Marion. This is a little town across Buzzards Bay so to get their by car you have to drive north across the Bourne Bridge which spans the Cape Cod Canal and around the top of the bay. Mark’s brother Steve knows Jack and Nancy Braitmayer and has encouraged us to get together. It finally happened tonight and what delightful people they are. Jack and Nancy used to spend their winters in Florida at the same marina where Steve lives, so that’s the connection. They did this in a trawler, but they have had a number of sailboats. Jack spent a number of years determined to place in the Marion-Bermuda Race and had four different sailboats built to reach his goal. He finally placed 6th which was good enough to get a trophy, so he retired from that venture. He and Nancy live in an absolutely beautiful home on the water in Marion and we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset from the comfort of their living room. Jack and Nancy are also great fans of public radio and television and are enjoying Heather’s science reporting. We had so much in common that we could have talked all night. But we tore ourselves away and will look forward to seeing them again next summer.

140914 Day 328b Cape Cod, USA–Dinner in Marion