July 2019 - Those lazy days of summer are here, bare feet, no coats, and dips in the salt water. I'm a sun child, a Leo, so hot temperatures don't seem to bother me. I do stay quiet, drink lots of water, and keep the fans going. And I hope everyone is heeding the weather warnings and being safe. With the heat wave comes indoor time so I am catching up on writing skills, via on-line classes while working on two books, "Arethusa" and "Watch for the Crow" (a third in the James Crowley series) I try to work everyday at writing but also reading and learning. Not a bad way to spend my time.  I get to do things with the grandkids as well. We've been to ponds, pools, ocean and bay.  The young ones are always fun. Trying to keep up with them keeps me growing. They teach me about our environment, about todays music, and they show me new ways to use my phone. Thanks to my thirteen year old granddaughter I'm taking Portuguese lessons from an app called Duolingo.

I'm still amazed at how much time computers can suck out of your day. I don't mean looking up interesting facts, ordering a pair of shoes, or even viewing photos on FB or Instagram. I mean trying to figure out how the thing works, like copy and paste, or preview, or add a label or what the heck is a hashtag anyway. I spent the entire morning trying to figure out how to send ten pages from my book-  out in an email. I looked it up on U-tube, then asked my own computer in the 'help' column, then found something on Google that led me to another page that gave me an answer. But when I tried, it didn't work. So back to the drawing board and guess what? I had the wrong email address, so now problem solved.

My son Bob brought me my first Fluke of the season. Wow is that fish just the best eating that's ever been. This past week has brought  suppers of seafood delight. Family and friends came for a visit and we ate: clams (steamers, quahogs, little necks) We ate oysters, shrimp, cod, and Fluke. Each meal has been exceptional, a gift from the sea. Bless those fishermen, clammers, and growers. I'll be looking forward to my next seafood meal. My sister arrived for a ten day visit. We haven't been together since I drove to Florida in 2017.  She hasn't been on the Cape since Dave's funeral, 2016. It's been a great visit, lots of good food, good friends, and good memories. We planned a dune ride for this evening, with beach fire and clam bake, but the fire and clambake on the beach has had to be cancelled because there is no access to the beach because of the nesting Piping Plovers. Bummer. Hopefully next year or maybe after all the birds have flown. I love the birds, love watching their skinny little legs scurry across the sand, love watching them skim the top of the water. I can wait.

So far it has been a supper summer. Lots of tourists, lots of heat and lots of sharks. I'm an avid ocean swimmer and this is the first year I'm not comfortable going to Head of the Meadow to ride the waves. I've only been in the ocean two times this year. I keep hearing the music from Jaws in my head and that doesn't make for a relaxing swim.  Evolution, change, global warming, it's the way of the world. The sharks have always been there, but now I'm very aware of them. And so we change with the changes. Adjust the set of our sails, swim in a pool instead of the ocean and leave the sharks to feed on the seals. Stay safe, warm and dry dear friends.  Fair Winds.