Cape Cod

Blueberries are on the bushes, finally, in Truro. It seems like we are the last ones to change seasons.

They’re still green overall, but yesterday and today I went on a couple of short runs and saw them changing color.

It’s been a long time since I did any running. I finally got interested in knowing more about the different trails behind our house. I did some searching and mapping on Google Maps, and found some trails off the beaten path/road.

My first day out, yesterday June 30, 2008, I came up alongside a fellow doing some walking. I asked if he knew about a trail off the main road that would circle back to where I started. He did, and we chatted for a bit as we walked. It turned out to be pretty easy to find and follow, and interesting.

Today I went a different route that he suggested, along the fire road and out toward the air force base. That was interesting too, with several offshoots that kept my interest going in a way that running on a treadmill can’t.

Shocking–I even didn’t bring along anything to listen to–and survived.

So the exploration keeps the interest going, and although I didn’t make it all the way to the cliff overlooking the shore, I discovered new stuff and had some ripe blueberries along the way. Wouldn’t Bear Grylls approve?

Tags: capecod, 2008, national seashore, truro, outer cape, outer cape cod, cape cod trails

You Know You’re from Cape Cod when… — A list of funny stuff from a group on Facebook.

With over 50 items on the list—here’s the first thing on it:

• …you know where Truro is

I actually get most of it!

Let’s see…what broke today?

The storm really wasn’t that bad. A large tree branch did break off one of the pine trees next to the clothesline, but it didn’t hurt anything. It was still suspended from where it attached to the tree, up about 15 feet. I spent a little while this morning climbing up and sawing it off then chopping it up with the machete.

Also during the storm I discovered a leak by the back door in the basement–the one to the outside from my office. It was coming in pretty steadily, but I just put some towels and a bucket, and although they were all soaked, there’s been no permanent damage so far. I don’t really know what’s wrong, some kind of seal I guess. It only happens during heavy rains, so maybe it will go away by itself if I ignore it.

Our power hasn’t gone out, but there is some unnerving power “flickering” going on. Yesterday the new cable modem I had installed just went dead. I got this enhanced service because a client needs me to have an IP address that doesn’t change, and it just got installed Monday. So I plugged it back in and still no go. Tech support said plug into another outlet, and it’s fine. Today I plugged it back into the original socket and it’s still fine. The guy couldn’t explain but apparently the modem and the socket won’t talk to each other after a surge, but it gets better after a while. Who knows. I hope this flickering stops, I’d hate to lose something computer-related.

Oh and the dishwasher electronics stopped working again. At least the dishes were washed. And we got a one-year full-service plan which says if the repairs cost more than a new machine, Sears gives you that money toward a new machine. Back to hand-washing for a little while…

(Dec. 13, 2006 - Age 8 1/2 months)

We’re hearing some fa fa fa and ba ba ba coming from Sophia…

And she started playing actual Peek-A-Boo! She covers her eyes with a cloth/blanket, then looks out. When you react, she clearly laughs. Then she does it again, and you can tell she gets it because I also saw her close her eyes even when the cloth wasn’t covering her eyes.

Finally a child that actually plays peekaboo–Nathaniel never did and I thought they all did. The next step is to get Sophia to say the “peekaboo.”

Papa Razzi Restaurant
What a great place. I keep getting more and more impressed with Papa Razzi and its sibling restaurants such as American Joe’s. The basics are that the one in Hanover, MA as well as the one off Newbury St in Boston have interesting food, but not pretentious or dull. Plus, it’s food that Maggie can eat, with her limited food choices. Even better, prices are pretty low–especially when you consider some of the overpriced junk out there.
The restaurants themselves are classy but not stuffy. They’re kid-friendly but not in the overt way that say Olive Garden and other big chains are. Those places are dumbed-down for children who couldn’t function in a regular restaurant. But Papa Razzi manages to have an environment that has those kid features (like crayons, coloring pages) but still have an adult feel to it.

But these things are not why I’m writing this. What’s amazed me is the quality of the people who work there. How do they get such great people? Every time I go I’m perplexed. In any workplace it would be hard to staff well, but I’d think a restaurant would be especially challenging. I bet they have incredible training and hiring.

* Every single person has been friendly, every time we’ve been. And friendly in a down-to-earth way.

* There’s often a senior-level hostess or maitre’d, but there are also quite young people also greeting people, and it shows that the younger ones are being mentored or groomed for leadership.

* Now that we have young kids, it can get crazy at the table, as hard as we try to stay normal. But they’re always accommodating and never seem to flinch at things flying, food spills, or the disaster area we leave behind.

* They have a rewards program where you pay $25 or so to start, but you accumulate credits as you spend. They were great when they even mailed in the forms for us because I said I just never get around to signing up. They even credited me for a previous meal since I had the receipt.

And finally, I just got a hand-written thank you card in the mail today.

“Mr. James Prickitt,

Thank you for choosing Papa Razzi’s for your dining ‘on the road.’ I hope your trip home to Truro went well. Please, join us again.

Thank you, Julie. “

How’s that for personal attention? I doubt they outsource that overseas…

I wish I could buy stock in Back Bay Restaurant Group!

We woke up to a coating of snow Sunday morning. Nathaniel wanted to make a snowball. Funny he should come up with that because no one mentioned snowballs and it has been 5 months since he’s seen snow. More snow coming–3-7 inches expected after midnight and tomorrow. Also hard to get used to sunset at 4:09 pm. Yesterday it was gloomy and seemed like even earlier than that.

The results from Truro are in:

• Badnarik (Lib.) 10
• Bush (Rep.) 392
• Cobb (Grn.) 5
• Kerry (Dem.) 1,043

Funny to think one of those Libertarian votes is mine. I am pretty sure another one is Maggie’s. Whose are the other 8? .7% of the vote. Hey, at least we beat those Greens, by 2 to 1! And Provincetown only had 9 Lib. votes. Provincetown went 87% Kerry, no surprise there. I couldn’t find any nearby towns that went for Bush, although rich-y Chatham was close with 50.5% Kerry, 48.8 Bush.

Seems like there’s always something stirring up the pot… This morning the very kind and friendly neighbors called to say they may have their house available for a family to house-sit on the off-season, just pay utilities and get out of the house if they visit, and she knew there are 3 families living here. Only thing is, there’s another couple (with two children) who did it last year who would be coming over in a few hours to discuss it. The other couple was fine, but they thought of giving us preference.

So we spent a few edgy hours hashing and re-hashing what-ifs, and who might go over there, and what kind of upheaval it would cause. In the end, they gave the house to the couple because they were counting on it more than the homeowners realized.

Sometimes it’s easier not to have too many choices. Maybe next year.

Liz just got a new job with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) in Yarmouth Port, MA (MAP). They even agreed to a part-time/ flexible schedule when Liz proposed it. This way she can be around to take kids to CCD and soccer practice and other activities in the afternoons.

My cable modem went kaput this morning. At least that’s what Comcast rep. and I determined after an hour on the phone. Very helpful though. Then they scheduled a tech to fix it that same day. It was 9:30 and they had an 11-2 slot open, and the guy showed up at 10:50! Knowledgeable about networks, too, which isn’t always the case. He was ex-military since 1995, and had actually been “in the Sinai” where Mark is going to be. His main comment was, “Great scuba diving! He’s got to do it. The water is clear all the way down to 70, 80 feet deep.”

Anyway, got a new modem, set up Andrzej on my wireless network so he can stop paying for a separate cable modem, and the guy even added extra cable TV capacity while he was here. I guess the Comcast commercials about reps who say “Yes” all the time are true.