I realized the other day that I never shared my August 1SE with you! Since my time for blogging this week seems to be limited I’m going to cheat a bit today and share it now and hope you’ll enjoy it enough that you’ll forgive me for not writing more words!

It sure was a great month!

I’m about to type something that I can’t even make be true. Ready?

My little grandson Jackie will be ONE in two weeks and two days.

Say whaaaaat?

The good news is that he’s just as cute as ever and each new stage brings so much fun! Now that he’s older we can take him to restaurants easily. He had a blast with us last Wednesday night at our local 99. He colored, ate two bags of oyster crackers, had some of my chicken, some of Dale’s baked macaroni & cheese, and some of his mother’s fish. He was admired by many and he shot incredulous looks at the people who walked by him who didn’t stop to tell him he’s cute. You think I’m kidding but I’m not. I swear he’s just so used to being smiled at by . . . everyone . . . that he really does notice when someone doesn’t give him a grin and say he’s adorable.

He also loves going grocery shopping with me. He smiles at everyone and loves looking at all of the things on the shelves. I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s pretty flattering when people think he’s my baby and not my grandbaby – and that happens at least once on every trip! Last Friday he had his first piece of cheese from the deli and he inhaled it. Seriously, if you’re in this family you have to love cheese.

He’s not walking yet but he’s starting to stand on his own and he crawls with great skill.

Jack has brought us so much joy and it just keeps getting better!

I haven’t done a weekending post for a couple of weeks but this weekend is definitely worthy of being recapped. It started with my usual Friday stuff – some reading, some knitting, some time with Jack and some errands.

The evening found us on the deck with our typical Friday Night Snacks – cheese & crackers, some olives, a bit of salami, and some pickled eggs along with fresh vegetables from our garden. A martini for me and a beer for Dale, my favorite cocktail napkins, and a real sense of savoring being outside because we know our nights on the deck are numbered.

Saturday was a very full day! Our first commitment was to our town’s annual Business Expo on the common. In a very Starr’s Hollow way we rode our bikes up there and we were judges in the apple pie contest – Dale because he’s Chairman of the Historical Commission and me because of my selectman gig. You may recall that last year I won second place in the pie contest, getting bested by my friend Sean. This year it was all about eating pie rather than making pie and that was way more fun!

We left the Common at 1pm, rode our bikes home and did a quick change because we had to be at a wedding in the next town over at 2pm. We got there with time to spare but imagine our surprise when we went into the venue and the groom and best man (my cousin Len’s two sons) were in jeans and t-shirts. My first reaction was, hmmm I thought this might be a casual wedding but I didn’t expect it to be this casual. And then Dan (the groom) says, wow, you guys are early. Yep. Turns out the wedding wasn’t until 3. It didn’t make sense to go back home so we went for a little scenic ride around town and headed back at 3 to enjoy a very lovely event.

I even made sure we took a selfie for you! It was a small wedding and that was very refreshing, the bride and groom were beaming and everyone was joyful and happy to be celebrating their special day. We ended the evening at a neighbor’s house for a fire and some good conversation. Did you know you can disagree about politics and still get along and be friends? Yep. It works if you’re respectful.

Anyway.

Sunday morning was warm and we had breakfast under the pergola, read the paper, and hung out for a bit before the football game. I eventually headed inside and made buffalo chicken dip (the best football snack ever) and quahog chowder to have for dinner later this week.

We watched the Pats game with Jo-Ann and Sean. The company was good but the game was, errrr, disappointing. And we finished the evening up by watching the last two episodes of 11.22.63. As always the book was better but still, this is a good series and I’d recommend it.

How was your weekend?

 

I am a proud American and I have a lot of loyalty to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts but I also have a lot of feelings about patriotism and how we show it. My ways of showing patriotism are pretty simple, actually. I sing (badly) the National Anthem and I still get goosebumps when it comes to the line oh say does that start spangled banner yet wave. I place my hand over my heart with pride when I pledge allegiance to our flag. I place flags in my window boxes and buntings on my house on Memorial Day and leave them up until the 4th of July. I vote in every election.

On the other hand, you’ll never find me driving a pick up truck with an American flag flying from the back. I’m a local politician but I don’t wear a flag pin on my lapel every time I go out in public and I don’t think it’s mandatory to say “God Bless America” at the end of every speech. That’s what works for me. And, to use one of my favorite but probably overused expressions, you do you. Meaning, you show your patriotism your way and I’ll show it my way.

Today, of all days, let’s allow our patriotism to bring us together and not divide us. Let’s remember that clear blue sky of 17 years ago before our world was changed . . . before we were afraid to fly in a plane, before the start of the war on terror, before almost 3000 people were killed because of hatred, before the collective trauma of that day altered our lives in a permanent way.

Let’s not let those attacks, attacks designed to create fear and terror, define us as a nation. Instead, let’s remember how we acted in the days after the attack. We were scared but we were grateful. We hugged our kids and told them things that would make them feel safe. We told our partners we loved them. We reached out to our families and we called our friends. We turned off the televisions and we stood on the side of the road and we held candles and we stood tall.

We acted as one. Let’s do that again. Okay?