Hi all. I’m having a hard time picking out something for my smile this week. It’s not because it was such a terrible week or anything. Most of it was routine, though there was, of course, the 9/11 remembrance. There was just nothing that really jumps out.

This weekend was beautiful. Well, Saturday was beautiful. Sunday was a bit humid and very hazy, but it was still nice to get out into it. And that I did. I didn’t go for a great hike, but I was outside a lot. A few things stand out, like seeing a tiny tree frog in some weeds. It was odd – I don’t think I’ve noticed one like this before. Or going through a field of waste high grass/hay/weeds with Fiyero, with him finding the animal paths to make walking easier. Or scurrying up hill on a fallen log to stay up with Alexander (the cat). I did my typical run a few times, which has fabulous views of the surrounding country side (it starts at a low point, but reaches the highest point for several miles around. There were several walks, including into lightly wooded areas. All of the animals needed walk and outdoor play time. I “stopped to smell the flowers”, just spending time exploring my surroundings with all of my senses. Anyway, it was just great to spend time outside, even if I didn’t do a lot with that time except “just be”, living 100% in the moment.

Hi all. Some of you may have noticed that I was pretty much missing from the blog over the last week and half or so. Actually, for most of August, but that is another story… Anyway, I spent a good portion of August on Cape Cod. i told you earlier about having a nephew and a niece visit us there. Well, last week my parents were able to make a visit.

A couple of quick comments. We have been sharing a week with my parents on Cape Cod for almost 15 years. From 2014 – 2018 they were able to stay at our cute cottage on Swan Pond. In early 2019 we bought a real house, but they were unable to visit that year, and then 2020 was the year of no travel due to Covid. So this is the first time they have visited since 2018 and the first time they saw our house!

We didn’t do a whole lot. OK, in ways we did. We puttered around the house, reading, talking and relaxing. I did quite a bit of work on the house and yard with my dad giving pointers and helping out at times. He is a child of the Depression, so seems to know how to do anything and everything… Well, until we get to computers, but that’s another story.

Now this week’s smile is an odd one in that I wasn’t really expecting it, but… OK, I know, it has been a tough week. Floods, like the one in Tennessee, hurricanes and tropical storms, fires, countries falling to extremists, etc. , but let’s try to find to smile about.

On Saturday afternoon I was only thinking of animals in takign care of Grace and Alexander 9the two cats) and the puppies, Fiyero and Idina, who were going to be home soon. When I called to see where they were, I heard the word “kitten”.

It was pouring rain on Sunday morning. Henri had made landfall. We drove almost an hour to a humane society located in Swanzey, NH. It was a very nice facility. There we looked at a little kitten named “James”. He was a tiny thing, most likely the runt of the litter. He had come up from Georgia.

Hi All! Last week was a very busy week, but mostly busy in a good way. I did work for most of the week (well, a little over half), and it was super busy at work. I also did a lot of work around my Cape Cod house. But I also had some fun :) I had a nephew and a niece visit.

Many of the things I did were pretty close to “normal”, such as long walks in the woods or on the beach and kayaking. But there was also stuff with the kids. I went to the beach and swam on my own, which was fine, but it was different swimming with the kids. I kayaked by myself, which is always at an almost racing pace, and also kayaked while my niece was on the stand up paddle board. that is much, much slower, but it is sometimes nice to just enjoy the water, the views, etc. and not paddle like a maniac ;)

i did have a lot of time alone since the kids had surfing lessons at a beach 45 minutes away. They did a lot with my wife (they are actual her family). But that is fine.