Day 204 - July 31: Leaving Chatham

Today we begin our trip to the land of Bucky Badger - Wisconsin, where we'll take in a Brewers game, visit Green Bay and Madison, spend time with cousins at Sugar Camp, and attend the wedding of our nephew, Matthew to Megan. Let the adventure begin.

Day 203 - July 30: Sharks

So apparently there are Great Whites in the Chatham waters.  When my brother, Pete sees it on the evening news in San Fransisco, I guess it's a big deal.  However, those of us who live here spend very little time thinking about them.  That is, until we go for donuts at the Chatham Bakery. 

Day 202 - July 29: Fifty Shades

Finished the third book - guilty as charged. 

Day 201 - July 28: Luau

Today our yacht club held its annual Luau, a gathering of families at the beach complete with music, races, balloons, food, and good company.  The fog rolled in and out but didn't spoil the fun. 

Day 200 - July 27: Mother's Helper

Lane has always loved babies. When she was a toddler, she earned applause from fellow passengers when she was able to quiet a baby during a long flight.  In Chatham, she loves nothing more than playing with four year old twins, William and Nicholas.  And they love playing with her. 

Day 199 - July 26: Cabaret

We returned to the Monomoy Theater tonight for a fantastic production of "Cabaret". 

Day 198 - July 25: Sue's Day

The sailing genes in our family come directly from the Corning clan.  Douglas' mother, Sue (pictured here with her father) was Long Island Sound Junior Champion and before that, her father and grandfather sailed big boats with the Vanderbilts and founded Stamford Yacht Club.  Today Sue is 85.  I'm delighted that our kids are carrying on in her sailing footsteps.

Day 197 - July 24: Double Blue

Lane was awarded two blue pennants for contests at sailing school today, one in her Old Mates class (traditional sailing/racing) and one in her Open Bic class (good time sailing).  I get to brag because clearly the sailing gene didn't come from me.  And I get to be really proud. 

Day 196 - July 23: Freedom

Remember that amazing feeling of freedom when you took the car for the first time after getting your driver's license?  Stuart felt that way today.  Now that he's a licensed boat operator, he can take his friends out, all by themselves.  Today he and his friend, Andrew went for a spin while I made dinner.  They arrived home with wide grins.

Day 195 - July 22: Blue Ribbon Winner

Today the Beach Club held its annual Pet Show.  Rufus took a blue ribbon in "Best Underwater Swimmer" after the kids wowed the judges with tales of his antics.  Well deserved. 

Day 194 - July 21: Homecoming

Today I picked up Stuart after his week at Boy Scout camp.  We both cried.  When we pulled into the driveway, he jumped out of the car and tackled Rufus with a smothering hug.  A boy and his dog, together again.  Welcome home, Stuart. 

Day 193 - July 20: Harvest

It's happened.  We've done it.  I can't believe it.  Today we plucked our first juicy red tomato off our very own tomato plant.  First ever vegetable that didn't arrive here by way of the grocery store.  Very cool. 

Day 192 - July 19: Baby Ru

On our way out of town, Rufus and I stopped to grab a sandwich and met this adorable puppy.  Ru has met his Mini Me. 

Day 191 - July 18: Ten Rows Behind Home Plate

During a long day of work, there's nothing better than a text from a friend offering Red Sox tickets.  Douglas and I took our friend, Walt to the game against the White Sox.  A beautiful summer night in Boston, and the home team won, 10-1.

Day 190 - July 17: Work Day

Rufus and I knew the day was coming.  How long could we play in Chatham before we'd get called back to the office?  This week Douglas has three bids due so Rufus and I returned to Medfield to help out.  

Day 189 - July 16: Bequia Skiff

Bequia is the largest of the islands in the Grenadines at 7 square miles.  A Bequian friend of a friend showed up on the beach today, towing a Bequia Skiff and immediately, Stuart said, "Dad, I want to sail that boat".  The owner obliged and Douglas and Stuart set off.  With no center board, it's tricky to sail, but those two made it look easy.

Day 188 - July 15: Sand Castle

Today Walt and Garland took us by boat to secluded North Beach, where Lane, Mark, Sarah, Clayton, and Paige built a fantastic sand estate.  I dropped Stuart off at Boy Scout camp this morning and we'll all do our best to muddle through until his return. 

Day 187 - July 14: Doubles Champions

Today Stuart and his friend, Ben won the Juniors Doubles Championship in a very close and well played match.  Time for a trophy case in Chatham, too, I guess.  The gracious runners up poised for the photo as well.

Day 186 - July 13: American Girls

Sarah (age 13) and Lane (age 11) are at a wonderful age - teetering on the cusp of preteen insanity but still fascinated by the dolls in the American Girl catalogue. 

Day 185 - July 12: Relative Crew

This week our two nephews, Alex and Mark, have been painting the new building Douglas bought this spring.  This has meant a lot of great cousin togetherness, earning some spending money and getting a little work done, too. 

Day 184 - A Vist from Friends

Today Stuart's friend, Graham and his mother, Susan came to visit.  After depositing all the girls on the beach, Stuart took Graham on a Nantucket Sleigh Ride of sorts - flying full throttle through the Chatham waters in the Whaler.  Just the two of them, two boys making the most of their summer vacation. 

Day 183 - July 10: Sarah's Day

Our niece, Sarah spends several weeks with us each summer.  Because her birthday is just two days after mine, we often share the celebration and the cake.  She's very accommodating.  Years ago, it occurred to me that if I was to continue celebrating my birthday with Zing Lemon Cake, as I have done since birth, I would have to get Sarah on board.  Success - she claims to love it as much as I do.  Today my mother and Sarah did the baking - and it was delicious. 

Day 182 - July 9: Fresh Water

Golder Retrievers like to swim and Rufus is no exception.  He also likes to dive underwater with his eyes wide open, coming up with live crabs clinched in his jaws, their appendages flailing.  And through it all he drinks.  Constantly.  Salt water.  Every time he goes to the beach, he pays a heavy price for the next two days.  Yet he never learns.  Like a few guys I knew in college, his hangovers are interrupted only by bouts of drinking.  I actually asked my vet if there was maybe a pill he could take to make him stop?  Hey, it was worth a try.  The only remedy we've found so far is to prevent the long salt water exposure from happening in the first place.  Keeping him from the beach is heartbreaking but effective.  In order to provide him with exercise, and ease my guilt, we often take him to White's Pond, a fresh water pond with warm, clean water and no people - often our end-of-day, rinse-off fun spot.  We load the car with a multitude of toys and towels and kids, as well as Ru.  He plays and drinks to his heart's content.  Dog Heaven.

Day 181 - July 8: My Day

I really do feel pretty darn special on my birthday.  I have a little extra skip in my step and I'm not afraid to tell people it's my day.  I also really don't worry too much about being a year older.  Today was no different.  Our friends, Garland and Walt took us to lunch at their golf club (lobster salad al fresco, overlooking the bay - what's not to love?).  Then, Douglas and I went sailing on Whisper, the Haven 12-1/2 that his brother, Stuart built.  My crew took this picture to capture this absolutely perfect day.  To quote Bill Murray in "What About Bob", "I'm SAILING!".

Day 180 - July 7: Yesterday's Catch

Tonight we hosted a dinner party and served the biggest fish my husband's ever caught.  Very cool - and delicious. 

Day 179 - July 6: First Regatta

Today Stuart (Sail # 5459) and Lane (Sail #2) participated in their first regatta, along with their friends, Paige and Clayton.  The four parents, along with our friend Andy, watched from our boat.  Over 100 boats were registered for the event, with a third of them racing against our kids.  Our kids love sailing more than they do racing, but they did well and, most importantly, ended the day with smiles on their faces.

Day 178 - July 5: Safety Sam

Our yacht club sits at the edge of a narrow harborside road.  The only traffic comes at the start and end of sailing school classes, when the parents line up to pick up their kids.  In an effort to keep the process safe for the kids and manageable for the neighbors, parents volunteer to don orange vests and walkie talkies to move the cars along in a somewhat orderly fashion.  Today was my lucky day. 

Day 177 - July 4: Maritime Hero

In February 1952, an all-volunteer crew of four ventured out of Chatham in a 36' wooden motorized lifeboat in the middle of the night, in 60-foot seas, in a 70-knot wind to rescue 33 crewmen from the stricken tank vessel Pendleton. It's considered one of the most daring and successful rescues in maritime history - only one crewman was lost.  Today in Chatham's parade, the last remaining member of the rescue team rode in that lifeboat.  A hero indeed.

(You can read more about the rescue at http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/Pendleton_Webster.asp).

Day 176 - July 3: The Family Farm

I've never grown anything edible in my life but that's about to change.  Our friends Erik and Melissa brought us a tomato plant and I'm determined to see it through to salad.  I've even now added herbs to keep it company. Fingers crossed.

Day 175 - July 2 - Not Where Boats Belong

I'm always sad to see boats sitting on dry land on gorgeous summer days.

Day 174 - July 1: Bait Shop

I grew up spending summer vacations at my grandmother's lakefront cottage in northern Wisconsin.  There isn't a whole lot about Cape Cod that reminds me of that place, but sometimes something does, like the sign for this bait shop down the street from our house.   

Day 173 - June 30: Beach Games

Put a bunch of kids and a ball on the beach - then sit back and watch the magic unfold.  For kids who play structured games all year long, with coaches and uniforms and play offs and pressure, time on the beach for unstructured fun with friends of all ages is really great.

Day 172 - June 29: Quotable Material

Maps of Antiquity is a great little store in our Chatham neighborhood.  An extremely knowledgeable and equally flamboyant fellow runs the place.  He scours the world for beautiful antique maps and nautical charts and people come from miles around to buy and sell, recognizing that he is the expert.  A few years ago, the four of us stopped in on a rainy day to browse.  While we were there, a woman came in and asked for a very specific map.  She described exactly what she was looking for, including the area depicted in the map, the dimensions, the colors, the age and the condition.  The proprietor was stumped - in all his travels, he had not come across such a map.  After giving it all a great deal of consideration, he asked with all seriousness, "Is this something you've seen, or seen in your head?".  I can't even remember her response - all I know is that the four Whitlas began to giggle, and we've used that line many times since that day.

Day 171 - June 28: All Tied Up

In Medfield, we have an invisible fence that keeps Rufus contained.  We've resisted getting the same in Chatham, I guess because we think Rufus should enjoy, as we do, the loosened rules and relaxed lifestyle that comes with summer vacation.  However, there are times when we all need to get reigned in, and today was that kind of day for Ru.

Day 170 - June 27: 1776

The Monomoy Theater is the summer home for theater majors from Ohio University and the Hartt School of Music.  Together with professional actors brought in from time to time, they present eight shows throughout the summer.  Just one more treasured Chatham jewels.  Tonight my friend, Garland and I took the kids to the Monomoy's production of "1776".  Fantastic.

Day 169 - June 26: Birthday Cruise

Today I took Mom and Dad on a river cruise in the Whaler.  As we approached the harbor (the furthest point from home), the black cloud we'd been mildly aware of opened up.  I can only hope that on the day I turn 88, I will be as adventurous and good natured as my dad, who simply chuckled as we made our way home in the drenching rain.

Day 168 - June 25: Live from Milwaukee

At the start of the summer, Stuart spent a significant amount of allowance money buying an app that allows him to watch any MLB game, live or archived, anytime, without commercials, from our Ipad.  To be honest, I was resistant - it was a lot of money and it meant the potential for a lot more screen time this summer.  However, when I found my dad and Stuart enjoying the Brewers game together tonight, I reconsidered my opposition.

Day 167 - June 24: A New Boat

Douglas and I have long expressed our belief that the goal of our yacht club's sailing school should be to help kids develop a lifelong love of sailing, not simply to win regattas.  There are many kids who love to race, but even more for whom sailing (in general) and racing (in particular) is stressful and scary, or just plain boring.  We lose a lot of these kids by age 14 and they never come back to sailing.  It's been an uphill battle but last winter, when the club introduced a new fleet of Open Bics, we came a whole lot closer to achieving our goal.  Today we took delivery of our new Open Bic.  The kids love these fast little boats - and the class will emphasize exploring and goofing around and having fun, all while learning to become better, more confident sailers.

Day 166 - June 23: The Birthday Girl

Lane has recently taken quite an interest in the hot new boy band, One Direction and particularly in Louis Tomlinson who's in the band.  This is a first for us.  For her birthday, she asked for his life-sized cutout and Stuart obliged, after I located one on UK Ebay and had it shipped across the ocean in time for her big day.

Day 165 - June 22: Arriving in Chatham

At long last we've arrived.  Chatham's Jam & Jelly Shop is a welcome site, sitting on the corner of our road and Main Street.  It often reminds me of Saturday Night Live's Scotch Tape Store.  Every conceivable jam or jelly is made and sold from this little house - lots of jam and jelly, and only jam and jelly.