Sylvia's Journal

September is one of my favorite months. I arrived back in Boston under blue skies and a perfect temperature. When we arrived home I put on my bathing suit and went for a swim. After that we sat on the beach, Axel was experimenting with water color mixing and I finished the final row of the second sleeve of my Aran cardigan that I started  in Maine. Long airplane rides are perfect for knitting, especially when accompanied by a great book. The latter was Atul Gawande’s ‘Being Mortal.’ I finished both the book and the sweater. Now comes the blocking and assembly. I hope that I have just enough yarn to finish the neck.

I had a quick Skype call with a team in Brasilia that is starting a event that is similar to the one I just finished in Kinshasa. I passed on the lessons I had learned and wished them well. I returned to the beach which had gotten a lot bigger with the tide was going out. Since tonight is one of the highest high tides of the entire year (12.2 feet), we also witnessed one of the lowest low tides. The cove was nearly completely empty. We checked the mussel population (still disappointing) and scooped up several dozen large oysters. They have settled in well. Five years ago we marveled over the occasional tiny oyster and now there are hundreds of them, including some very large ones.

We had a dinner made entirely from things we caught or grew: a leek, squash and eggplant stir fry, home fries from our giant potatoes and oysters. Only the wine was imported. It was a blissful end of a trip and a blissful beginning of my next intermezzo at Lobster Cove before I head out again on dates unknown. Facetime with the kids and grandkids put the finishing touches on a wonderful homecoming.

I missed the lunar eclipse. After a trip that took about 30 hours door to door, eight o’clock was a sensible bed time for me.