Technical difficulties with my laptop prevented the posting of my weekly blog last week. But this is a new week, and a new blog, and I'm back at it. Here we go.

It's been a good summer, a really good summer, and while there are still a few days to go I'm pretty certain it will be hard to top the day I had this past Thursday. Here's how it went.

Arrived at my friend’s house in Bourne, Mass., on Cape Cod Wednesday afternoon. It was a quiet and early-to-bed night. We had a busy day ahead of us.

Up at 7:30, a leisurely walk to the Bourne Beach about a quarter-mile away, followed by a refreshing swim to clear the cobwebs and jolt the body awake. The air temperature was in the high 60s, the water temp a little warmer.

Back at the house we had a couple cups of coffee, read for a bit, and waited for another friend to arrive.  He arrived on time and about 30 seconds after he put down his travel bag and placed the beer in the fridge we were off for a round of golf.

We got off early, the course was in great shape and the weather was postcard perfect. Nothing extraordinary about our play, but what was exciting, at least to us, were the foxes we spotted on the first two holes. They were not in the least bit afraid of us, but had they received a report about our somewhat erratic play, they most likely would have shown a little more concern as we were teeing off.

After golf, we stopped for a few beers, then returned to Bourne where we changed into our suits and headed back to the beach. It was close to late afternoon, the tide was high, and puffy white clouds danced across the sky. We swam and talked, talked and swam, and then watched Leo caper about in the waves.

All of six weeks, Leo is a golden retriever. He loved the water and his two-legged parents. In fact, Leo appeared to love just about everything.  Had we spent the day on the beach just watching Leo it could not have gotten much better.

Then back to the house for a delicious steak (my friend is a true master of the grill when it comes to steak), roadstand-fresh corn and tomatoes, and wine. We conversed about religion and politics, taboo topics at Thanksgiving, but things friends can talk about – and disagree about – while still remaining friends whether they agree or not.

We eventually repaired to bed, not wanting the day to end but knowing it must. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the burgundy-winged dragonfly that road with us in the golf cart for about 30 seconds before taking to the air again. What a marvelous day!