2025 Life Logs, Day 168: Stepping into Summer
Date: Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Weather: Cloudy, Foggy Near the Water; High Temp 67, Low 64 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

It was not a beautiful sunny day, but many things that happened today are signs that we are stepping into summer. Today was the last day of school, so for me that means the beginning of year 14 of Camp Oma. It is now really only for Ollie, and he is a teenager, but hopefully we will still have days at the beach and some Cape Cod ‘explores’. Today was also the Installation Luncheon for Encore, which means turning over the reins of leadership. That really has nothing to do with summer, but it is a time of change. Then there was the Dress in All White party this afternoon at Cape Cod Winery. Seeing a lot of people all dressed om white is a definite sign of summer. So, through clouds and fog, summer is almost here. Officially summer begins on Friday night at 10:42 pm ET. Friday is the summer solstice and the longest day of the year. But for me, today was the beginning.

For the past 3 summers, the Encore Installation Luncheon has been on this third Wednesday of June at the Poppy Tent on the water’s edge in Mashpee. For two of those years, there was sunshine with a beautiful blue sky. Not today. There was fog on the water with a complete cloud cover. Still, it is a beautiful location, and it was a delightful luncheon. Christina Brodie and I handed the gavel to a new Encore President, and we instantly became Past Presidents. It has been a good two years, but now it is time to move on. I am continuing on the Board as Vice President of Programs for one year, so all responsibilities are not relinquished, but not quite the demands of running the organization. I have to admit, I look forward to that.

Now on to Juneteenth.

2025 Life Logs, Day 167: Meeting, Meeting, Meeting, Soccer
Date: Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Weather: Cloudy; High Temp 67, Low 62 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

My day was a series of informal but very important meetings. I started at 8:30 am at Coffee O meeting with two other Library Board trustees to get some guidance on my position as Treasurer. That meeting had not really ended when my next meeting started. The woman who was meeting me sat at the next table, so all I had to do was turn around. This meeting was just the two of us that make-up the entirety of a sub-committee of the Immigration Rights Coalition. I am working on a film series on non-violent resistance films, and the other woman is working on an art exhibit of art depicting what is happening on the border with Mexico. It was fortuitous for her that the chair of the Library Board overheard our conversation about her difficulties finding a space for the art show. It turns out the library has just the spot for that. So, after our meeting, we went to the library to check it out. If the artist in charge of this display agrees, the show will be there.

It was after 1 pm when I got home, answered some emails, ate lunch, and left for the last Exploring Public Policy meeting of the year. And before that ended, I left to take Jonah and another teammate, Jean Luc, to Sandwich for the first summer soccer game. Jonah (number 14)just got the go ahead from the doctor that he can resume normal activity. This was his first time on the field since last fall. I know he has missed playing soccer so much and was really happy to be out there. Pre-game warm up started at 5:30 pm.

Heather was able to join me at the game after her final meeting of the day as she wanted to be there to support Jonah. But he had to be there for the pre-game warm up earlier than Heather could get him there. That’s why I took him. That, and the fact that I wanted to see the game as well.

I got home from the soccer game around 8 pm. Whew! What a long day.

2025 Life Logs, Day 166: One Million Rising
Date: Monday, June 16, 2025
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 66, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

As I said in yesterday’s log, today was going to begin and end with a Zoom meeting, but in between I said I was going to get outside and do some gardening. That didn’t happen, but I did get a lot done today. This morning’s meeting was the Falmouth Immigration Coalition. Shh. Don’t tell anyone that I volunteered to work on another project. Then, instead of heading outside, I worked on trying to get my act together as the Board of Library Trustee treasurer position I somehow managed to elected to. I had nightmares about that last night, so for my sanity I needed to work on that. Then, I did take a break to go over and check in on Ollie and Jonah. They are still in school, but due to finals, neither had school this afternoon. Ollie wanted to go to Smitty’s. so I made my first Smitty’s ice cream run of the summer.
But there was a bribe involved. I told him I would take him to get ice cream if he would contact his friend Simon and arrange to biking when we got home. I didn’t get outside this afternoon, but at least I got Ollie outside. Then it was back home to finish getting the library board books completed that I had started earlier.

Tonight, I attended a Zoom meeting sponsored by Indivisible. It was advertised as No Kings – What’s Next? – a follow up to the very successful “No Kings” mass mobilization. On Saturday, there were over 5 million people participating in 2,169 events worldwide. A lot of time was spent showing how very successful the day was. To be a successful movement, we need 3.5% of the US population. That would be 11.89 million people. We are almost half-way there! But what comes next to grow the movement? There were many ideas presented, but the bottom line is that you and I and what we choose to do to be involved is what’s next. What action, no matter how small, are you going to take today? Tomorrow?

If you are interested in ideas, go to https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/803953
This will take you to a site where you can sign up for 3 training sessions this summer offered on Zoom called “one Million Rising.”. There were thousands of people on tonight’s call and there will be thousands taking the Zoom training on leadership. I signed up and hope you will consider doing the same. We have to build power for the long haul and that is going to take leadership. The first class is July 16. Hope to see you there.

2025 Life Logs, Day 165: A Quiet Sunday
Date: Sunday, June 15, 2025
Weather: Partly Sunny; High Temp 65, Low 56 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Since the first of June, I have been crazy busy. Things started slowing down on Friday, and by today, there was absolutely nothing on my calendar. It took me an hour or so this morning to get going, but all of the things that needed to be done during the past two weeks and just got ignored started to slowly come back to me. I have been on this computer for the entire day, and I have gotten a huge amount done. I am still buried in things to do, but at least I have time to do them. I start and end my day tomorrow with Zoom meetings, but there is time in between to continue ticking things off the ’to do’ list. But no more 10-hour days on this computer tomorrow. I need to get outside and get some gardening done.

2025 Life Logs, Day 164: No Kings Day
Date: Saturday, June 14, 2025
Weather: Overcast with Rain; High Temp 64, Low 53 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

We don’t yet have an estimate of the number of Americans who came out in every state in the nation today to celebrate Flag Day and the 250th anniversary of the US Army in protest of the dictator-style military parade in Washington.
But we know the numbers were huge. Here in Massachusetts, we did not have the weather on our side. Despite that, the village Green in Falmouth was full of people. I heard one estimate of over 1500 people. Whatever, it was fantastic.

I came home a drippy, cold mess. I had planned to change into dry clothes and go back downtown to have a lobster roll and strawberry sundae at the annual Saint Barnabus event, but instead I changed clothes, laid down to take a short nap, and woke up after 5 pm. I needed that nap as whatever this sinus/respiratory issue I have been having since Tuesday is lingering on. My body is telling me that I need rest and when my friend Lynne left this morning, she also told me to get some rest. For once in my life, I am listening.

2025 Life Logs, Day 163: Hand in Hand, Boat Launch, PRIDE Party
Date: Friday the Thirteenth, June, 2025
Weather: Partly Sunny Turning Cloudy Mid-Afternoon; High Temp 71, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Lynne and I started our day with a walk through downtown with Shadow and then a trip to Hand in Hand, Falmouth Service Center’s thrift shop. Lynne works in a thrift shop in New Zealand and wanted to see what Falmouth had to offer. Hand in Hand in run by volunteers and Lynne and I both agreed that is a well laid-out and organized shop with so much to offer.

Then we switched gears. Today was Ardenna’s launch day.
Heather and Jed both took the day off work to meet Brownell, the transport company, who would haul the boat back across the bridge to Mattapoisett where it would be put in the water. Last night, Ollie asked if he could go along on this adventure, and by this morning we had decided that since Ollie had a half day of school today due to final exams, Heather and Jed would drive to Mattapoisett behind the boat transport truck, and Lynne and I would pick Ollie up and deliver him to Mattapoisett. He was then going to get onboard and motor the boat back to Woods Hole while Heather drove their car home and Lynne and I returned home in my car.

With those logistics in place, we went into action. When Lynne, Ollie, and I got to Mattapoisett, the boat was still not in the water. With Heather and Jed aboard the boat, we watched the launch. The launch went flawlessly, but then Heather had to back the boat out of a very long, narrow space between two rock jetties with boats tied off on both sides. That is no easy trick with a sailboat and no wind, but today there was backing into a strong wind. Lynne and a man from Brownell fending off from land and Jed fended off from the boat. Then we had to get Ollie aboard for the trip down the harbor to the marina to get water and gas. Lynne drove Heather’s car and I drove in my car about a mile down the road to Mattapoisett Boat Yard to meet them. Lynne helped along with another man on the dock to catch lines. The water tanks were then filled, the fuel tank filled, and the dinghy was readied for the trip across Buzzards Bay and through The Hole to Great Harbor in Woods Hole. There were a few glitches in the plan, but overall, everything went amazingly smoothly, especially considering today is Friday the Thirteenth!

The Falmouth PRIDE Party began today at 5 pm at the Gus Canty Rec Center. Heather was reading the Select Board Proclamation at 5:15 pm, so after Lynne and I got home, we took a little break before heading to the PRIDE Party. It was a well-attended celebration with food, games, music, and joy.

When Lynne and I left the Rec Center, we headed out in search of sushi for dinner. I first drove to The Flying Bridge, but it was totally packed. Arts Alive was started this evening downtown on the library lawn live music, so my next best bet was to head downtown and hope everyone was on the lawn listening to music, leaving the restaurants not so crowded. It was a good bet as we were seated at Bluefins right away and had a beautifully presented and delicious sushi dinner.

Lynne leaves in the morning and I head out to Falmouth’s No Kings Day rally. The weather report is miserable with cooler temps and rain. But we shall persist.

2025 Life Logs, Day 162: Day Trip to Dedham
Date: Thursday, June 12, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High Temp 77, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Today was a traveling day. Lynne and I drove to Dedham to see Helaine Kanegsberg. It has not been quite a month since Alan’s passing, and I was very pleased to see Helaine adapting to life so well. She has always been in many activity groups at Newbridge where she lives, and she continues to be engaged. We took a long walk all about Newbridge, through the villas, to the raised bed gardening area, along the Charles River where it is still the size of a creek as it runs on to become a full-fledged river running through Boston, on through the woods, and back to the central building where there are restaurants, meeting rooms, a work out gym, a pool, and just about anything else that a resident might want. When we returned from the walk, Lynne and I put together the ingredients we brought with us to make an arugula, red pepper, and cucumber salad topped with pumpkin seeds and crumbled salmon paddy pieces. Yummy.

Before 2 pm, we said our farewells to head home and hopefully keep in front of the onslaught of rush hour drivers. We made it back to Stoughton where we did a quick shop at Costco and returned items we bought at IKEA last week. Lynne and I then had a quiet evening at home with Shadow.

2025 Life Logs, Day 161: A Woodwell Conversation with John Holdren
Date: Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High Temp 81, Low 61 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

It was another busy day. I had an all morning Encore Board meeting, my last as co-president, and then met Lynne at Devour near Main Street for lunch. I had eaten there once before and was impressed with their salads. Somehow this second time the salads didn’t seem quite as impressive, but I had one with tostados which was quite good.

Lynne worked with me in the yard and garden during the afternoon. Then, after a quick stop at Lawrence Middle School, to see Ollie’s art on display at the annual art show, Lynne and I went to Woodwell Climate Research Center. This spring, they started a new series of monthly conversations on various climate related topics. They focus on navigating science, politics, and resilience. The events are called ‘Conversations’ and today’s conversation was with Max Holmes, President and CEO of Woodwell, and Dr. John Holdren, former Chief Science and Technology Advisor to President Obama.

Prior to going to Washington, John Holdren was the President and CEO of Woodwell, while also having a position at Harvard. After Washington, he returned to Harvard and still does some work with Woodwell. The conversation this evening was focused on how a climate research center can adapt and survive amidst the current political turbulence. Lynee had seen John Holdren speak a few years ago when she was here, but as we walked back to the car this evening, she said she was overwhelmed by John’s breadth of knowledge and experience. The conversation was truly impactful, albeit a bit stressful to hear a summary of just how much damage has already been done to science and education. However, he did end with some steps we can take. Now, we just need to get to work!

2025 Life Logs, Day 160: Visit with Olga, Book Club, Library Board of Trustees Meeting
Date: Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Weather: Rainy Day; High Temp 63, Low 60 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

When I went to bed last night, I was completely healthy. But I woke up at 3:30 am with such a sore throat that I could hardly swallow. I tried to drink water, but that was painful. So, I made a mix of salt and apple cider vinegar and gargled with that. It helped a bit, so I went back to bed but couldn’t sleep. Not being able to swallow without a lot of pain kept me awake. I got up and gargled a second time. Again, it helped a little, but I tossed and turned until 6:30 am. After that, I actually slept for an hour and then got up. I went to the walk-in clinic this afternoon. After describing my symptoms, they tested me for Covid, for the flu, and for strep throat. All were negative, so the doctor declared it a sinus issue with a whole lot of postnasal drainage. The doctor wouldn’t prescribe an antibiotic at this time, but if it persists, I am to come back.

Back to the morning … I had arranged with my walking friend, Olga Mitchell, for Lynne and I to come walk with her. She fell just before Christmas and injured her hip and hasn’t been able to walk long distances since. She thought she was ready, but when we got there, she explained that her hip was just too painful to walk. Instead of walking, we sat and had tea and coffee and just visited. It was so no nice her after so many months.

Shadow waited in the car while Lynne and I chatted with Olga. Then we went to my book club. After a walk through Lori’s gardens,
Lynne came in to meet everyone and then she walked with Shadow while I ‘talked’ books. We then headed home and had lunch. After lunch, I took a short 25-minute nap and was then off to pick Ollie up from school. The visit to the doctor that I mentioned previously happened after that. Then, tonight I had a Library Board of Trustees Meeting. And now off to bed.