TheCapeBlog

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.

First morning glory, very late compared to other years. Numerous seeds have yielded only four plants. Same with the nasturtiums.

We’re close to the half-way mark for the Barnstable County Fair, which ends this Saturday.
The kids got to do rides (those who wanted rides) and games yesterday, good timing, since Peter was recovering from oral surgery and had at least a couple of hours of peace and quiet.
All of them won prizes, a break from prior years in which hard feelings about being outdone spoiled an otherwise good time.
We got to see the raptor show, which hasn’t been at the fair for the last two years.
The day was hot and humid, unpleasant. We must have walked 200 miles.
The boys and I didn’t leave the midway until after 10. I am hoping my legs will have recovered by tomorrow.

I don’t understand pet owners who think of their dogs as kids.
Some dog owners refer to themselves as “Mummy” and “Daddy”. They bring their dogs on “play dates”.
Worse, they expect other people to tolerate their dogs’ bad behavior as one might a neurotic child’s. “Bitsy was abused” is the favorite excuse for excessive barking, jumping on people, slobbering and even biting.
Given, it takes time and patience to be a responsible dog owner, especially if you’re raising a puppy. But that’s a far cry from bringing up a child; at least, it should be, IMHO.
I don’t think that cat owners are that irrational, but maybe it’s just that cats aren’t in-your-face kind of animals, especially the very big ones, who’d sooner eat you than beg for table scraps.