TheCapeBlog

The Children’s School of Science ends its 2008 summer term today, concluding its 95th year of operation.
Bonnie, Peter and I attended the open house with James last night, and they got to meet his teachers and bought him a very cool black jersey jacket with the school logo.
To round out the evening, we attended an ice cream social at the MBL Club, where James hooked up with one of his classmates and played various summer games, like water balloons and egg toss.
All in all, a great time and a fitting end to a terrific 3 weeks in “the Hole”.

James has attained the magical age, 8. I think he’s hit the peak of childhood, which in my opinion happens between 8 and 10.
People at that age are no longer babies, they are able to start thinking and articulating in a more mature way. They are not yet old enough to be cynical pre-teens; rather, they are immeasurably curious and delighted with the world around them.

Continue reading Magic Age

There are times when I want to avoid Stop & Shop for various reasons, not the least of which is that I don’t want them to become a monopoly in this region.
Roche Brothers has better meat, Shaw’s has a wider selection of groceries and the Windfall has a better deli.
Stop & Shop has the best customer service at the podium, though, and that goes a long, long way.
Recently, I complained about the auditing policy Stop & Shop imposes on customers who use their hand held scanners. They wrote an exceptionally gracious reply.
Then last evening, rushing to get Emme, James and I ready for the ball game, I managed to misplace a bag of groceries. It was like losing a five dollar bill, not a tragedy, but still, the equivalent of a gallon of gas and maybe a pack of gum.
Several hours later, after dropping the kids off, I went back to the Mashpee Stop & Shop, mostly out of curiosity to see if I could figure out what happened to the sack of groceries – left it at the checkout, left it in a cart, etc.
No one had turned it in, but the floor manager made me the following offer: if I could produce a receipt, I could take home replacements for the items lost.
And that’s exactly what happened. Rather than handing me, a customer of almost seven years, a “tough luck” or “we’re not responsible”, Stop & Shop took the high road.
Quite remarkable.

Inspired by our good luck the other night (James won the t-shirt toss at Fuller Field in Cotuit), I just got back from taking James, Emme and their friend Tyler to a Cape League baseball game between the Falmouth Commodores and the Orleans Cardinals.
For the first four innings, the kids ran between the bleachers and the snack bar. For the next three innings, they chased foul balls. They were loud and obnoxious. They ate too many sweets, got their hands dirty and will get to bed too late.
They complained when I told them it was time to go, and they are ready to do it all over again.

Mike Barnicle is quoted as saying that it takes a young person to understand how the under 30’s keep up with current events “from the Internet, from blogs, places that older people like me don’t get.”
Excuse me, Mike, but speak for yourself.

It’s August 1, and someone may be sorry to see the end of July, but that wouldn’t be anyone I know.

I had a dream last night about being on a business trip and realizing at the end that I’d lost or misplaced a bag with two laptops.
Per Dream Magic and Interpretations, “Luggage in a dream forecasts a long trip or voyage. If unable to locate lost luggage, an inheritance is coming to you or someone close to you.”

Everyone knows that the best way to improve the public schools is to provide vouchers and charter school opportunities, especially to kids in the inner city.
Of course, Obama and his NEA henchmen are actively opposed to both.
So, which public school do the Obama daughters attend? They don’t. They are enrolled at the private University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, where annual tuition ranges from $15,528 for kindergarten to $20,445 for high school.
Obama’s popularity is one of the best reasons to decry the state of public education in this country, its failure to create an informed citizenry. How else can one explain why it is taking so long for voters to figure out what a phoney this guy really is.

In the entry immediately before this one, I mentioned that we were going to check out the boat building workshop at the Woods Hole Historical Museum on Thursday, the 24th.
Funny thing happened to me on the way.
Without going into a lot of detail, I became in urgent need of medical attention. Both James and I were taken care of swiftly and with great care and kindness by the people at the museum.
I’m much better now, and the generosity continues. My next door neighbor, a landscaper/groundskeeper, just mowed my lawn, one of the few chores that I really can’t do for myself.
I truly believe that this brutal, hot, humid weather did me in. Few of us can remember a July as bad as this one has been.

The grandkids and I have been spending a lot of time in “The Hole” these days.
Robert and/or Emme have been keeping me company while James attends Children’s School of Science.
One day we went to the Aquarium, yesterday we took a tour of MBL and their Marine Resources Center.
We’ve made stops at Pie in the Sky and the Woods Hole Library.
Today, I’m planning to drop in to the Woods Hole Historical Museum for “Woods Hole Boatbuilding Demo Days”, during which volunteers will be constructing two flat-bottomed skiffs.
The kids seem to be having a good time, and besides the appeal of the area on its own, this is helping to heal my heart over the loss of my friend Carolyn. She loved Woods Hole, lived here as the significant other of a researcher and greatly enjoyed being part of the community.
I promised Carolyn before she died that I’d honor her memory by doing fun things with the kids in the places she treasured, so I think she’d have been pleased with our wanderings around the village she cherished so much.