All's well in Wellfleet

Hello from beautiful Wellfleet.

Katie and I got here around 3 on Wednesday and did a lot. We went swimming in Great Pond, which we have nicknamed "the pond with the stairs" because of the long descent. There is no beach at the bottom of the stairs, so you have to just jump in. Once in, I was careful to stay where I could stand because I still don't totally trust my strenght, but as I floated on my back and looked up at the clear blue sky, I couldn't have been happier.

I made it up and down with no mishaps. Going up was actually easier then going down. Then we went out to dinner downtown at a fun place called The Juice, and from there to the harbor for ice cream at Mac's.

Ben and Meghan arrived late, and then Joe got here Thursday morning. Poor guy was stuck in traffic for an hour on Route 6 about 10 miles from here.

I've been doing my morning thing, going to the Wellfleet Market for bagels and the paper, then on to the Flying Fish for muffins and croissants. Yesterday I had to go down near the dock to get the sticker for our car, and since it was early I stayed down there watching the boats, reading the paper and having a croissant and a coffee. It was so pleasant.

Yesterday we all piled in and went to the bay beach for a while and then on to one of our favorite places, The Beachcomber, for dinner. The parking lot is smaller due to the damage from Hurricane Sandy, but the wait was no longer than usual, about an hour. It doesn't matter because it's fun to look down at the beach. You can see a lot of seals, which is not great because the seals are coming closer and closer to the beach, bringing sharks. All the beaches have "beware of sharks" signs, and one (Marconi) was even closed for a while. I went for a long walk with a tiny bit of jogging but only got my feet wet.

Helping hands are all around. Not only my kids', but also other people who notice me looking tentative. For example, today I was just about all the way up the path from the beach to the top of the dunes when I paused to consider the easiest last step to the parking lot. A man reached down and pulling me up the rest of the way.

The spot on my lip is still painful. Actually, it's not just one spot anymore but rather my whole mouth that is burning. It's hard for me to eat; last night, when I would usually order a hamburger or fish and chips, I considered a grilled American cheese from the kids' menu. Then I saw cheese quesadillas, so I had those, chased down by a strong Planter's Punch.

Dr. Lin wants to do a biopsy, so after I drop Katie off at Brandeis Monday, I'm going to spend the night in Newton and then go to Brigham and Women's for my appointment at 10 on Tuesday.

As much as try avoid worrying about something before you even know what it is (and for that matter worrying about it afterwards), it's hard to do. Plus there's just the hassle of having another biopsy.

When Dr. Alyea looked at it last week, he said he was unimpressed. I have to assume that if he thought it was serious, he wouldn't have joked about it. In any case, I hope they figure it out soon so that I can eat without pain.