It has been a busy and often stressful last few weeks, but Kelly and I had the chance to get away for a few days with the dogs. We boarded Scratch, and hopefully he will get all sorts of attention from the vet techs while we are gone.
Much like the first family, who is also on the island this week, Kelly and I have spent the last few days on Martha’s Vineyard. It is the first time I have been on the island in over 30 years. Continue reading “Martha’s Vineyard: a much needed vacation (Part One)”
It has been kind of strange that we had such a dry, warm September, and there have been some warm days in October too. But I think you can’t deny that fall has finally arrived in Greater Boston.
I want to offer an apology to all the people I should be calling, or hanging out with, or otherwise spending time interacting with, because I have not done those things much lately.
For a few weeks now, most of what I have been concerned with is trying to get some rest.
Wow, it’s already August 1st.
We have been fortunate this year. There have been few days over 90 degrees and none of those brutal heat waves of 100 degree temperatures like we had last year.
Still, I can’t wait for fall.
Two gorgeous old historic ships are in the news this week. Both of them were built here in Massachusetts (although more than 40 years apart), both of them are among the last surviving examples of classic American wooden shipbuilding, and both of them are ships I have visited more than once over the years. One is the oldest vessel in the United States Navy, and the other is the last surviving wooden whaling ship in the world.
Or at least dolphins. Cetaceans of some kind for sure.
Yeah, I love me some whales. Cetaceans of any kind, really, because porpoises and dolphins are also pretty cool. On the rare occasions that I get out on the water, especially someplace like the Stellwagen Bank, I usually see at least a few. Nothing spectacular, but still pretty cool to see stuff in the wild. But I have never in my life seen anything like this mega-pod of dolphins spotted near San Diego. It stretched across seven miles of ocean. They think there may have been as many as 100,000 altogether. Can you imagine?
Makes me want to go whale watching. Or fishing. Or both. Just to be out on the water.
-Geoff
And it has nothing to do whatsoever with the storm.
Every summer one of the rituals we go through here in the Greater Boston area is the appearance of everyone’s favorite apex predator, carcharadon carcharius, or the Great White shark, off Cape Cod. I was just a kid when they filmed Jaws on Martha’s Vineyard but I do remember seeing all the references to the movie the next time my family went to the island. And apparently there are a lot of people (besides me) who still think about the movie and its relationship to the island, including the author of this new book that I very much would like to acquire.
A guy that Kelly and I know from church has a friend who owns a charter fishing boat. I had been thinking that I would much rather do some deep-sea fishing for my bachelor party event than the usual debauchery of some combination of gambling and strippers. That is just not my thing, and so I thought getting out on the water (in November, no less) might be more adventurous and yet less likely to get any of us in trouble with family and/or the law. So I finally had a chance to talk to the captain in question, and he has a magnificent new (2009) 37 foot boat that can handle up to six people fishing at the same time. Feel free to check out his website and see what you think. I am thinking that for the time of year (and the captain agrees with me) that our best bet would be cod and/or haddock, but at that time of year tuna are also in season. So it would sort of depend. Anyway, if we do this it will be on Thursday, November 10 (that’s the Marine Corps birthday for any jarheads out there) so we will have plenty of time to recover before the rehearsal dinner Friday.
-Geoff
The Rapture didn’t happen, so I did not get to assume ownership of any gorgeous new Boston Whaler cuddy cruisers that previously belonged to wealthy Raptured fishermen. Oh, well.
One interesting side note: around the time that the Rapture was supposed to have taken place, I couldn’t find Scratch. In fact, I could not find him for a while. Later on he appeared in the hallway, meowing to be let back inside. My theory is that he was the only being raptured, but then after he spent a few hours running amok in Heaven breaking things, God changed His mind and sent him back.
-Geoff
The Books are Taking Over... 