Aw, shit.

Seriously, man.

went to bed stunned, woke up gutted.

Cancer really doesn't give a shit about how talented, beautiful, or beloved you are. It really is the worst.

Life in Otter Lake continues to be daily. Between nursing the dog's injuries and dealing with cats and mice much of my days are devoted to animal life.

DH leaves tomorrow morning, bringing the boat with him. His sister and 2 of her friends from NYC arrive Monday and are staying until Friday. SIL is MTA and her friend is EMS from when she drove ambulance before she got the bus driver job. They are both cautious and have been tested multiple times because of their work so I am not worried about exposure from them. So I will have 7 people and 3 animals (plus mice). Making my shopping list now for a weeks of meals for 7.

To reward my self from dealing with Too Many People and animals for a week I booked myself a mini-vaca. Two nights, starting Labor Day on the coast of Maine here - [link]

So just me and DH, lobster rolls and sea breezes. It is a 7-8 hour drive each way, but we enjoy rides together anyway, and it is a pretty route. I figure to drive over a more northern route via Vermont, then go back the NY thruway route. Both pretty. I just have to check out the charging station options for the car.

I am really ready for a break. Just a couple days will do us a world of good.

I spent my summers growing up in Boothbay Harbor, Laura, and still have an Aunt there in the summertime. I will ask her if the best lobster roll place is still the best lobster roll place, with all the distruption of Paul Coulombe and the pandemic.

Oh, thanks Sparky1!! Any suggestions are appreciated. Yes, we see the aquarium is closed, but other things are open.

Lobster rolls! How lovely. Get some steamers while you're there, Laura; you just can't get good ones outside of New England.

I am so sad about Chadwick Boseman, and astonished how much work he was doing while in chemo.

I have the house to myself for a few hours, which is pleasant; the rest of the family is out to watch the ten-year-old's soccer game. (Possibly masked, possibly not; the rules seem to depend on what town the game is in?) So I made a batch of vegan pastry for Smitten Kitchen poptarts, and I'm blasting music by the Mountain Goats and similar folks.

I should probably start thinking about going home at some point, but there is no rush: my niece got my mail and is watering my plants, and work doesn't seem to care where I am...

I am really ready for a break. Just a couple days will do us a world of good.

Yeah, my couple of days at the beach in July was fantastic, and I feel like I'll need to do it again in September.

(Possibly masked, possibly not; the rules seem to depend on what town the game is in?)

You're in Colorado, right? They just got added to Massachusetts's good list. Unlike Rhode Island, which stays on the naughty list, preventing our annual pilgrimage.

yeah, I'm in Boulder. The parents were told they couldn't watch the game from the sidelines, and so my brother brought a set of binoculars to see if they could watch from the car.

Frankly, I think banning parents is actually a good idea for a lot of sports: they often behave terribly and it's hard on the coaches & managers to control the parents as well as the kids.

Frankly, I think banning parents is actually a good idea for a lot of sports: they often behave terribly and it's hard on the coaches & managers to control the parents as well as the kids.

The refs would like that a bunch too.