“”Listen! The wind is rising and
The air is wild with leaves.
We’ve had our summer eves.
Now for October eves.”
“Autumn” by Humbert Wolfe

Last Friday evening, Oct. 2, Hubby was moving all around the house, closing open windows. The temp was just 50 degrees and the house was getting chilly. I went into a big plastic bag and took out our comforter with the galloping stallion on it. It is wider than the beige puffy comforter that was already on our bed for temps in the 60s. We can tell, from our outdoor cat “Louie,” that the weather has turned cold. Usually, Louie sits on our porch, waiting for Hubby to get up and feed him. Now, with the cold, we have to call him to come out of his night hideout.

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About 15 of us senior citizens could hardly wait for last week. We were going “down the Cape” to spend five days at the Irish Village. Unusual for Hubby and me, we began to pack on Friday. Usually we are packing on Sunday evening. This year, we seemed to pack from Friday afternoon all the way through Sunday midnight. Last May, The zipper on my old suitcase jammed so it would not close all the way, and be shut tightly. I had my niece Cheryl’s suitcase in the attic. It was old but sturdy. It has one bad feature: It was expandable so it had twice as many zippers. I never could figure out which layer of zippers opened the top of the case. I would ask Hubby for help in opening the bag and he would explain, once again, that the one he was pointing to was the one that opened the top. After returning home from our Cape visit last May, I took out my little bag of toiletries and put it in a safe place for our next trip to the Irish Village. It was in such a safe place that I couldn’t remember where it was. Hubby told me to grab a zip-lock bag and put in the things I needed. Thank goodness I found the toiletry bag before I left. Where was my bag but in with Hubby’s winter clothes.

I worked Monday morning and then went to my podiatrist before we headed for South Yarmouth. Christina, the doctor’s No. One assistant, said that my feet would be ready for dancing after my visit. We were on the road to the Cape by 2 p.m. We had not eaten lunch so we left Route 3 in Rockland to Route 139 where we found our favorite restaurant Friendly’s. There was hardly anyone in the place because of the time. We asked for two cheeseburgers on sourdough toast (sometimes their rolls are too big to eat comfortably). The meat was done as we asked and the fries were nice and hot. Everything was scrumptious and the meal was big enough to sustain us ‘til breakfast at the Irish Village the next day.

I only wanted to stop at one store before we went to check in. I had two pair of capris that were too big. I wanted to return them to Kmart, which is in Hyannis. Hubby went to buy some cat food while I went to the service desk. I told the clerk that I wanted to return two items. She said, “We could take them but we are not Walmart’s.” She checked them on her computer and it said,”Walmart.” I felt so dumb, especially since the capris were in a Walmart bag. “It happens all the time,” said the clerk. We both laughed.

It was only a few minutes to the Irish Village. One of the owners, Tom MacCormack, greeted us with, “Hello, McDonoughs!” We found our room, but this time, it was on the opposite side of the building. I am the worst one for directions. It took me three days to figure out which way down the hall I should proceed to get to the dining room. Hubby found the coordinator of our group, Eileen Collins, and discovered that we should be in the dining room by 7 p.m. to hear Fintan Stanley. We have often heard him at our monthly Irish luncheon in Canton. We read, in a news clipping on the wall at the Village, that Fintan had won one of the all-Ireland music competitions at the grand old age of 14 years.
The next morning, there were so many people eating at the Village that Tom asked if our group could change our no-breakfast morning to Tuesday. We had no problem. When we did not have breakfast at the Village, we would go to Hyannis and eat at Friendly’s. Off we went about 8:30 a.m. There was very little traffic that morning. We would eat quickly and then shop our way back to the Village. When we arrived a Friendly’s, the place was in darkness. A note on the door explained that there would be construction work done on the building on Tuesday but the restaurant would be open early on Wednesday. We had passed a McDonald’s on the road so we returned to “Mickey D’s.” Their coffee is always good so we were happy

We returned to the Cape Cod Mall. We first went to CVS and bought the Cape Cod newspaper. Daughter Sue was buying the Globe and the Ledger at home for us each day. We then went to the next shopping area, which had a big Christmas Tree Shop. They always have such nice holiday decorations and paper plates and plastic silver to make the holiday chores much easier. Almost next to the Christmas Tree Shop is a great store, Trader Joe’s. We were looking for Sue’s favorite cereal, Banana Nut Crunch. We got Sue three boxes to thank her for taking care of our outdoor cat “Louie” while we were away.

Next we went Joann Fabrics. I had lost a button on a favorite pink blouse and have to replace all six because I couldn’t find the lost one. I still haven’t found out if I purchased the right-sized buttons. I am afraid to look.

Then we decided that we would have an easy lunch. We like the little tea sandwiches at Stop & Shop so we went there. Hubby ran in and got a package of two egg-salad sandwiches for himself and two tuna sandwiches for me. We already had two bottles of Diet Coke from the Dollar Tree Store. We drove back to the Village and said we’d go swimming. We sat under our favorite tree in the parking area and I began to read, once again, “The Girl in the Red Coat. Although it’s an interesting book, I fell asleep, once again. I woke in time to get ready for the McTeggarts.

The reason that we were at the Village for that week was because the McTeggarts were playing for us. As I went into the dining room, I noticed that one of the McTeggarts was missing and there was another man taking his place. Jim Byrne told us, early in the evening, that his usual partner Mick was recovering from quadruple-bypass. The man sitting in for him was Jim’s brother Tommy. (Boy, the brothers sound alike.) Our group knows the McTeggarts’ repertoire very well. By the way, those forming our Keystone group were Eileen Collins, Peggy Gorman, Marilyn Ferrara, Jean Buonopane, Evie Dunne, Phyllis Hartford, Barbara Sullivan, Mary Bavis, Eileen Peterson, Beth Runksl Jean Grande, Irene Duff, Hubby, and me. Jim often referred to his Dorchester crew as doing a good job, singing along. We all wished Michael “Mick” O’Brien a quick return to good health after his surgery. (By the way, Mary Bavis gave us the name of a book called “Originals from Dorchester: A Memoire” by Gerard Healy. Daughter Sue will order it for us on the internet.

Usually, daughter Sue joins us one evening down the Cape. She came home Tuesday evening because we were to eat out that evening. At Sue’s urging, we ate at Giardino’s next to the Asian Buffet on Route 28. She told us that the pizza was awesome. She knew how to order: two “pub” pizzas would be enough for the three of us. She was correct: She had pizza to take home for the following evening.

There will be more about our restful trip to the Irish Village in next week’s paper.

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I laughed at this by poet Robert Frost: “In three words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.”