More on Cape Cod Erosion

Back on March 9^th, I posted “Cape Cod Becoming Four Islands.” If you care to go back and read that (see the left column for an easy way to get to that article), you will see that the latest news from the Marconi Site was predicted. Not just by me…(that’s a little egotistical for me to think that), but by environmentalists and Cape Codologists for some time now.

In this morning’s Cape Cod Times online there is an article about the “Seashore tears down Marconi exhibit.”  In the past eight months the amount of erosion…40 to 50 feet of land…has been chewed away by recent storms.

I will be on the Cape in mid-September to see the damage for myself. I expect I will have pictures. I have so many pictures from past years that I might be able to post before and after.

Until then, I would like to get in touch with the retired science teacher living in Chatham who emailed me after the March article. I have had a computer meltdown since, and lost all my email addresses. I hope you still read my journal and will get in touch. I would love to meet you while I’m on the Cape in September. I'll only be there for 3 days, and will be visiting family and friends while I'm there, so I'll be very busy.

Bike Riding Between Heat Waves

The last time I was out on my bike was three weeks ago.

On Friday of last week it finally was cool enough in the morning to consider a bike ride. It turned out to be a perfect cool morning. However, I had an eye doctor appointment at 10:30, so riding was not going to happen.

And along came Saturday. Cool morning with cloudy skies. That I like. I can’t take much sun or heat. I was going to ride the Canal pathway, but, decided instead to do errands…mostly go buy a birthday card for my oldest son who turns 50 on Monday (that’s tomorrow as I write this).

After a 3.5-mile ride I arrive at the card store in a fine mist. That’s ok. The card is bought and signed and I head on over to my son’s house to deliver it. I know he’s not home. He’s at the Rhode Island shore the weekend. I let my self into his house and put the card on the table.

While I’m there, I water some of his plants on the porch; use the bathroom; and turn on the TV to the Weather Channel to catch the weather radar. Well, that didn’t look promising. The mist I had been feeling was going to turn into light to moderate rain in about five minutes and last about an hour or so. I decided I wasn’t going to hang around for an hour.

I had not gone far when it started to rain…as I knew it would. When it started coming down a little harder I had a flashback to the time my daughter, Kathy, and I rode the Erie Canal Pathway in 2008 when I was 72. The day we rode from Rome, NY to Little Falls (50 miles) we rode in torrential rain for the last 30 miles. Soaked to the skin. But this was not the Erie Canal trip and my time in the rain would only be 20 minutes or so…so suck it up!

Even with the rain it felt good to be out on the road.

And now, today, we will be starting another heat wave. This one looks like it will last all week. How long will it be this time before I get to ride again? Hopefully I won’t have any appointments scheduled when that day finally does arrive.

NOTE: Should you have an interest in reading all about the Erie Canal adventure, you can go to my on-line journal at: http://eriecanaladventure.blogspot.com.

Hot and Humid

Here we are again…another heat wave. In the northeast, it takes three days of 90° or more to constitute a heat wave. Today is day four and should be the last for several days. The humidity is expected to continue. As grateful as I am for the portable air conditioner I have in my bedroom, I really look forward to being able to sleep with my windows open.

You might have heard the saying, “it’s not the heat it’s the humidity!” That is the truth. When the dew point is in the 70s day and night after day and night one’s store of good humor begins to get shabby around the edges.

If I need to go out, I make sure it’s early in the morning before things get too hot. This morning, I went out in the little garden at the back of my condo to weed as much as I could before the heat set in. First I put on a long sleeved shirt that I had treated with bug spray, then sprayed my shorts and legs. Having done that I set about to try to figure out what was a weed and what was not. There are a couple of things growing out there that I know are weeds, but it looks like they will flower. I’m not picky about where my flowers come from. If that weed wants to flower, I’ll be the first one out there admiring it!

It doesn’t look like my morning glories will blossom. Maybe it’s because I planted them on the back side of the condo where they don’t get sun until 11 o’clock or so. Next year I will plant them out front and plant from seeds…not wait until the plants are ready in the garden shop.

I have 15 tomatoes of varying sizes. When they first appeared, they grew quite rapidly and then they seemed to stop. I’m just hoping they will ripen. Right now the biggest one is about the size of a plum and they go down to grape size from there. I was hoping to have so many ripen at one time I would have to freeze what I couldn’t use right away. Not sure that is going to be a concern.

But it is July after all. And this July is so very different from last July and I’m sure next July will be different, too. It is quite possible that the jet stream will do something different in the next few days and the northeast could be switched to a cool and comfortable rest-of-the-summer. Please, God!

Weather (or not)

Northeast Heat Wave

The northeastern US is in the grips of a heat wave…three days or more of 90° heat. Today will be day three. It probably wouldn’t be that bad, except the dew point has been in the mid to upper 60° range which is quite humid. And, it seems we could head for downright uncomfortable 70° dewpoints.

Rain

I heard on this morning’s news that northern California farmers are scrambling to bring in their crops fearing the forecasted rains could encourage fungus growths that would destroy crops in the fields.

Fires

Seems like there are wild fires all over the west and southwest. They sure could use some of the rain other parts of the country had received.

Floods

And who would ever have thought that Calgary, Alberta, Canada would have severe flooding? Certainly not me. Maybe I’m the only one who would not have thought that. Perhaps is just that here on the east coast of the lower 48, we don’t get much news of Canada’s weather…unless it becomes extreme.

Fire and Water

Keep a good thought for all those folks who have been devastated by the brutal lack of rain or the brutal abundance of rain.

Mother Nature

We know Mother Nature is upset with us for not doing more to prevent global warming. Remember how murky the skies used to look before auto emissions laws. Now look at the clear blue skies we enjoy. It is not arguable that auto-emissions was the cause of the murky skies. Now we have a larger problem. We must reduce carbon emissions across the board world-wide. Can we do it? Of course we can. Will we do it? Ah, the answer to that question scares me. 

Catching Up

3 tiny tomatoes

Bee Balm

Creeping petunia

The right side of my garden

Mini Cocks Comb and Bleeding Heart

Phlox

From another angle

Saffron and Lobelia

I haven’t posted anything since the end of March. I’ve thought about it many times, but for some reason I keep getting caught up in LIFE. Now I feel pressed to go back and remember all the “stuff” that has been going on that kept me so busy.

April

The month of April was taken up with attending two “health fests” and several breakfasts and lunches with friends.

The highlight of the month was my trip to the shoreline to visit my granddaughter, Jessica. We went to a local state park with Mason (a pony sized bull mastiff). Not sure who had the most fun!

May

This was a month to remember!

First my good friend, Elizabeth, fell and broke her hip. Since she doesn’t have family close by, I became the “go to person,” and I became her other “her” for the duration. I gladly stepped in to make sure her mail was taken in and her finances kept up to date by going to the bank for her and mailing things for her. Also, I was able to be the other set of eyes and ears when she was dealing with whatever medical staff. I’m pleased to report she is doing very well.

And, on top of that, I had a computer hard drive problem. Maybe problem isn’t a strong enough word. Disaster. That’s closer. My fault…as many times as I reminded myself to back-up my files…I didn’t…for 6 months.

My computer now has a new hard drive and, since I can’t be trusted to back up on my own, I am using Time Machine software that does it for me on a regular basis.

I have managed to reconstruct most of my email address book. I’m at the point where I hope certain people email me so I can capture their address. Yes, I could phone them, but after spending my entire working career as a secretary/customer service rep, I prefer leaving the phone to others.

Luckily I didn’t lose any photos; or an old address book that I had copied to my hard drive…who knows when. Fortunately, most of the addresses I wanted were in that old file.

And while all that was going on, I still had a life to live…doing things with family and friends, and going to free movies and lectures at the library. I also planted a flower garden in front of my condo. See the pictures at the top of this posting.

June

So here we are in June. Things are quieter now. Elizabeth has just about graduated fully to using a cane; my computer is pretty much back to what it was. I’m using the lull to rest and relax.

This has been a pretty lousy spring weather-wise. I haven’t been able to go bike riding very often. It’s either been too hot, too cold, too windy, too wet. I was able to go today…only the fourth bike ride this season. Saturday I will be going again. This time on a trail that goes from Connecticut up into Massachusetts.

One circle of friends consists of high school classmates. We are now starting to work on our 60^th anniversary reunion. For this reunion the invite will go out by email to those who have it and snail mail to those who don’t or who keep their address a closely guarded secret.

Make sure you get out Saturday night to get a glimpse of the Super Moon. Go to EarthSky.org for more information. That’s a great website for anyone interested in atmospheric and environmental science.

I guess that’s about it…at least for now. I’ll try not to let so much time elapse between posts.

The “I Want a New Look for My Bedroom” Saga

I sure hope this saga has finally ended.

I have wanted a new look for my bedroom for a while now. What better time to finally do it than the onset of Spring?

Anne & Hope stores usually have a large array of spreads/quilts with shams. I found a set that was an 8-piece bed in a bag. Liked the color…sage. But the bag was open on the shelf. I brought it up to the desk and had the clerk take it apart to be sure all the pieces were there. Would you believe the shams were missing?!

Special order and they would call me next week if it came in.

I went to Bed Bath & Beyond and saw thermal drapes in sage. Just the direction I was going in. My bedroom gets very hot in summer with the sun beating in all afternoon.

A pair of drapes for $39. That’s a deal. Only to find that there is only one drape per package. I went back for the other one.

Got a call from Anne & Hope that my bed in a bag was in and all the pieces were there. The shams were in with the bed skirt. They probably were in the first set all along…we just didn’t see them.

Another trip. My friend, Pat, was with me both times so it’s a lot of fun plus we usually have lunch. I pick up the special order and take it home…after Pat and I stopped for lunch.

We took everything out and opened everything up. I put the comforter on top of my bed and wanted to hurl. First the color wasn’t at all what I originally thought it was. My bed looked like a big blob of pea soup…which I hate. And, I suppose it is no surprise, the drapes didn’t even come close to matching the color of the BIAB. The comforter was not big enough to cover the bed to the extent I require and now that I had it all spread out…it was really cheesy. The directions said to wash before using. I was afraid that would totally ruin it. I could see the stuffing getting lumpy and bumpy and looking worse than it did now.

Pack it up. Call Pat…wanna to with me when I return this disaster? We are both had a good laugh.

This time I thought to bring one of the drapes with me. This time I will be able to match the color. We will look around A&H first then go to as many stores as I have to until I find what I want!!!

Almost found what I wanted in Anne & Hope, but, even though the picture showed a quilt and two shams, the label said 1 PIECE. No shams. I know better than to have A&H special order shams. I’ve done that before and didn’t want to do that again. Nope. Put it back.

Well, the closest “other” store was Big K-Mart. First lunch. The cheeseburger wasn’t bad. On to the bedding department.

Oooo! Look at this one. Yup, I do believe this might work.

Brought it home and spread it out on the bed…along with the one of the drapes. Yup. I do believe this is the one.

This morning I took the old look off the windows and bed. Up went the new look. Yup. I do believe this is the one…FINALLY. 

The Vacuum Cleaner Saga

My life is one laughable saga after another.

I had an Oreck upright vacuum cleaner for 20 years or more as well as a hand-held Oreck. It’s about time for new technology. My plan was to get rid of the upright and save the hand-held for doing the car. So far so good.

I Googled Oreck to see if they had a store nearby. Sure did. Considering where it is I should have known that…right between two stores I have visited recently.

I wanted a canister vac because I wanted the hoses as well as the floor attachment…one machine to all the work. Oreck has two canister models, but only one in the showroom.

I tried the showroom model and decided it would be more than adequate for my needs. My upstairs is all wall-to-wall Berber carpet and the upstairs bath is vinyl with scatter rugs.

The downstairs is a combo of area rugs and Pergo flooring including the kitchen and half bath. The family room downstairs has carpet tiles and vinyl.

The salesman told me he thought the larger of the two vacuums (which I was buying) might be too much machine for me. It was heavier than what I had been using and the motorized cleaning head was very powerful. Did I listen? No. I even traded in my upright.

So I took it home, put it together and started cleaning. The motorized beater bar (for lack of a better name) had a mind of its own and was indeed very powerful. But I know I’m stronger! Cleaned all three floors. It was like hauling a Mack truck around my condo.

Next morning, man oh man was I hurting!

Packed the thing up and took it back to the store acknowledging the salesman’s wisdom.

(Note: when I unplugged the vac from the upstairs bath receptacle, the plug was hot. Hmmm. The next morning the GFI had been tripped and I could not reset it. Checked the downstairs bath GFI, and after I tripped it on purpose, it would not reset. Cost me $25 for two new GFIs. Thank goodness my son, Paul, knows how to replace these things.)

Now I have no vacuum cleaner at all…but my house is clean so I have some wiggle room. The Oreck store is waiting for their smaller model to come in. I know that Target has that smaller Oreck model on sale.

I go to Target and never see the smaller Oreck. What to my wondering eyes should appear but a Dyson DC26. It’s a little thing. Canister. Bagless. Hoses. Floor beater bar. I originally wanted a Dyson, but didn’t want to pay upwards to six hundred dollars. This little guy was on sale and less than three hundred. SOLD!

I brought it home, put it together and cleaned my condo. Like it needed it again. I cleaned the entire upstairs before I realized the wand is extendable. I thought this model was for people 4’8” in height. What a relief to know I didn’t have to be bent over in order to clean.

Love this little machine! I have read many reviews on the Dyson vacuum cleaners and all of them said it didn’t have sufficient suction. I don’t know what they were talking about. My little Dyson DC26 has more than enough.

End of the Vacuum Cleaner Saga (I hope).