Is Summer Over?

August Miscellany

We have survived what should be the hottest and most humid days of summer. I think we got off pretty easy this year. We had about a week where the girls slept on the floor in our room every night so we could all share our single window air conditioner (we don't have more than that on principle). Four days ago the temps dropped in to the 70s as the remnants of tropical storm Danny came through. Today it was warmer but very pleasant. I bet we'll still get some sticky weather before summer is over, though.

Carol and the girls have been having lots of fun together. They've done several things with the neighbors. Karen invited Carol and the girls to their pool club; another day they all went together in their minivan to the naval museum at the former Boston Navy Yard; and last week they all went to Nahant Beach together.

Photos by Audrey (8/09)

Audrey has taken a sudden interest in the camera and wants to take lots of photos. What the heck, "film" is pretty cheap these days. She's pretty good at it! It's interesting to see what she thinks is worthy of recording. I think perhaps it's time to get her a camera of her own.

My work had a event of sorts at Great Brook Farm today. It had been planned since June for August 29th, but since Danny was passing through and it was forecast to rain the entire day (it did) they rescheduled it at the last minute to today. It wasn't very organized. The only details we got were a parking pass and tickets for ice cream and information that there would be a milking tour at 3:30. I'm not sure if not many people went or if the place is just too big, but we only saw one coworker the entire visit.

Great Brook Farm

Great Brook Farm has been a working dairy farm since the 1940s but was purchased by the state in the 1970s. The working part of the farm is leased to a family who run it as a normal business, but that uses only 90 of the 950 acres of land in the park. It's a pretty old school dairy operation. No free range here. It was cool to let the girls see a little bit of where food comes from. One thing I learned: when you hear about cattle eating corn, it doesn't mean just the kernels (at least not for dairy cows). The entire plant is chopped up to produce silage; cobs, stalks and all. I also learned why vertical silos you see on farms are mostly in disrepair these days. They are too complicated and costly to maintain, so most farmers have switched to silage bunkers.

Audrey starts Kindergarten on Thursday and Charlotte starts preschool the following Tuesday. We went to a Kindergarten open house and met Audrey's teachers Mrs. Pietropaulo ("Mrs. P") and Mrs. Woods. Mrs. P attended Kindergarten in the room she has now taught in for 12 years. Both girls are very excited to start school. They got new backpacks and lunchboxes: Audrey chose Star Wars Clone Wars and Charlotte chose "Ni Hau, Kai Lan".

One final piece of transition: I've been meaning to choose new doctors and dentists for us but it hasn't been a high priority. Yesterday I broke a tooth - the corner of my molar with the only amalgam filling left in my mouth broke off. It's not painful or anything, but it is sharp and needs to get fixed pronto. So I guess I'll be choosing a dentist tomorrow.