A May Day in the Life

The alarm jarred me awake at 7:00. I drank my coffee in front of the computer, then prepared breakfast for our Green Room guests, who told me about their trip to Provincetown yesterday and a fabulous Lobster Pot dessert, called “The Tower of Chocolate.” I filed the information away, as an experience not to be missed. (I love it when guests teach me something new about Cape Cod!) These guests have been very fortunate with the weather. Apparently friends had predicted “not ideal conditions.” Ha-ha. Best weather we’ve had in years. I heard the wife say into her cell phone, “I’ll talk to you when we come back. IF we ever come back ….”

My plan for the day was to plant the annuals I had bought in Orleans, but once our Web site began functioning again, requests for accommodation started pouring in. I booked three different summer periods, and then the three-night weekend of Mother’s Day. Woo-hoo! Only problem: Sven repainted half the kitchen yesterday and intended to finish up this morning. As soon as he had finished breakfast, I sent him off in search of his paintbrush.

Meanwhile, a blog reader/non-resident contacted me about meeting with the health agent downtown at 10:30. Off I went. I was very pleased to learn this non-resident happens to be a professional activist in her home state of New Jersey. (She is one of the power lines abutters, whom I had contacted over the winter, and will make a great addition to our local activist team.)

Once back home, I gobbled up an early lunch in front of the television, where a reporter was discussing the horrible flood in Nashville and how to help through the Red Cross. I headed over to clean Seagull Cottage, wondering what it would feel like if Wellfleet had a major disaster on the same scale. Strangely enough, I think about this often, a hurricane, mighty as Katrina, with Route 6 as the only evacuation route .... Sven was finishing up the kitchen cabinets. After making the beds and vacuuming, I checked the cottage fridge and drove down to Wellfleet Marketplace in search of a few staples. Strawberries are one thing I wanted to provide, organic strawberries, because so much better for health and these guests are coming with two small children.

The Marketplace selection was confusing and Hatch’s does not open until May 27th. I knew which strawberries I did not want, the ones without “organic” on the box. There were two boxes of fresh picked farm berries, not in ideal condition, however. Hmmm … So, I pointed this out to the cashier, who suggested creating one box of good berries and one box of rejects. Well, when you get permission to do something like that, don’t hesitate. I quickly gave each berry the once-over and paid for my purchase.

Once back home, Sven reminded me that our stock of Trillium Organics liquid soap is low, so I placed an order.

I did a quick walk around the garden to see what babies had come up overnight. This is my way of chilling out during an otherwise busy day. Two nasturtiums had poked heads out of the earth beside the outdoor shower. I made a mental note to remind Sven that we have to get the shower going, which involves descent into the bean pot cellar, a job neither he nor I relish. Then it was on to the wisteria, already in bloom. And, the smell of daphne is to die for. Even the lily of the valley is out. Everything is so incredibly early this year. While waiting for the guests to arrive, I finally planted the annuals: impatiens, cosmos, snap-dragon. Ah, bliss to be in my garden!

After the guests were settled in the cottage, I got a call from a local blog reader, who said, “I love your blog!” She’s a friend of a friend, someone I had met at a party, but blog writers do love to hear those words. Tomorrow we will meet at “Outer Most Community Acupuncture …”

When I checked the Chez Sven Web site, I had a sinking feeling that the hackers have been at it again with their back-door mischief. How fortunate that I made four bookings during the brief window that was open today! Even hackers could not ruin my good spirits. I’ve been doing a happy dance all afternoon due to news of the government panel speaking the truth on chemicals and cancer, reported in my blog yesterday. In case you missed it, here's a quick summary from Environmental Health News:

"The true burden of environmentally induced cancers has been grossly underestimated," says the President's Cancer Panel in a strongly reported report that urges action to reduce people's widespread exposure to carcinogens. The panel today advised President Obama "to use the power of your office to remove the carcinogens and other toxins from our food, water, and air that needlessly increase health care costs, cripple our nation's productivity, and devastate American lives."