Sylvia's Journal

Today was a 10+ weather day at Lobster Cove – like a grand finale of my two wonderful weeks at home. I am spending my last two days here doing everything I cannot do in Kabul.

First of all I make sure I am with Axel all the time. We go out for walks and dress in summer clothes. We went for a long walk across the swamp trail in Ravenswood taking the two dogs along for a good run and some mud baths along the way. We went to Gloucester to get seafood, and we drive wherever we want to go. Oh such a luxury!

For lunch we set the picnic table overlooking Lobster Cove and treated ourselves to shrimp and smoked salmon in the company of Woody. We had asked him to join us to thank him for lending us his late mom’s (rather elderly) car. It makes scary noises when you brake or go around the corner but it will do when there are no other cars available. Tessa had taken one to work and then to Vermont to pick up Steve and Steve’s car is in the shop.

After lunch we headed for the mall to buy me a small computer for private use and during long plane ride in cramped quarters. The new office computer I was given upon my arrival is not made for this sort of use. Although I was tempted by the iPad and nearly convinced myself that it was worth the expense, I bought, for much less money, the top of the line netbook even though the salesperson kept saying that the netbooks were out. For now it will do for me.

Alison, who we hadn’t seen for 9 months, and Pia who we usually see only in Kabul joined us for dinner en plein air until the mosquitoes chased us inside. We had invited five others and cooked lobsters and corn for 9 but they didn’t show up, leaving us with an abundance of food, washed down with a wonderful vinho verde.