2025 Life Logs, Day 116: The Penguin Lessons
Date: Saturday, April 26, 2025
Weather: Rain, Rain All Day and Evening; High Temp 57, Low 46 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

These days in Falmouth, if it’s Saturday, it’s ‘Standout on the Village Green Day’. People come with their signs and American flags and stand on the village Green in protest of the Trump regime. So, for the hour between noon to 1 pm today, I stood in the rain with a few other hardy souls holding our signs to protest the arrest of a judge, the abduction of students on college campuses, the deep cuts to, and in some cases, total elimination of, science, health, education institutions, the disappearing of people to El Salvador with no due process, the financial chaos in this country, and the world, caused by unnecessary tariffs, a proposed budget that could mean drastic changes to Medicare and Social Security, and the elimination of Medicaid. And the list goes on and on and on and on. Even in the rain, it felt good to be taking a stand in the hope that more and more people will eventually join us. We have to remember Cory Booker’s words during his recent marathon stand on the Senate floor, “The power of the people is always greater than the people in power. We must use our voices to demand a government that works for and by the people.”

Then, tonight, I went to the Cape Cinema to see “The Penguin Lessons.” I really knew nothing about the movie. I went just because I love penguins and a friend asked me to go with her. But I got a lot more than a “feelgood” movie about a penguin. The basic story is centered around a disillusioned Englishman (played by Steve Coogan) who goes to work at an exclusive boys’ school in Argentina in 1976. Transport yourself to Buenos Aires on the eve of a political revolution, just as Isabel Perón is being ousted in a military coup. People on the streets were being killed or disappeared for no apparent reason. In the film, you see this happening at the same time an orphaned penguin rescued from an oil spill is transforming the lives of a teacher and his students at the boy’s school. It was the kind of film that had me on the verge of tears thinking about some of the similarities to tactics being used in this country right now, and then the next minute I found myself smiling at that adorable penguin. The overall message of the film was that the actions of one person can make a difference. It was definitely worth the drive to the Cape Cinema.

2025 Life Logs, Day 115: I Led Three Lives
Date: Friday, April 25, 2025
Weather: Beautiful Day; High Temp 62, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

I remember a television program called “I Led Three Lives” from when I was in early elementary school. I only remember that it was about a spy, but when I looked up the program, I found the spy’s name was Herbert Philbrick and that he infiltrated communist groups for the FBI. This led to his triple life as a normal US citizen, a communist, and a counterspy.

Well, I am not a spy, nor a communist or a counterspy, but today I led three distinct lives … a student, a leader, a mother. I started out as a student by attending my weekly class focusing on what seven US Presidents did when they left the White House. Today we focused on Grover Cleveland from Chapter 3 of Jared Cohen’s book, “Life After Power.”

After class, I turned on my phone and was instantly transported to my role as a Newcomers-Encore activity leader. Early this morning, notice of a field trip that I am organizing was sent out. It is a trolley tour of Provincetown in early June. By noon, there were 15 people who had responded that they would like to go. So, I needed to pause for a bit to send individual email acknowledgements to everyone that had responded. I was using my phone to do this, so it was a bit slower than if I had been at home.

Now for the third life of the day. I drove from Mashpee across the bridge to Wareham, Mattapoisett, and Marion, to do more boat work research for Heather. This put me in my role as a mother. I was not asked to do this, but when you hear the frustration in your child’s voice, no matter how old the child, you just want to help. The visits today were follow-ups to visits I made on Tuesday. I had fun doing this on Tuesday and even more fun today. Plus, I was much more successful than I had anticipated, so I returned home a happy momma.

Tonight, I am back to just being me (Life #4) which seems to require spending an enormous amount time figuring out how to become an effective political activist (Life #5). This is getting too complicated, too many lives, so I am just going to go to bed!

2025 Life Logs, Day 114: Lovely Day
Date: Thursday, April 24, 2025
Weather: Sunny, Very Little Wind; High Temp 58, Low 50 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

The temperature today was a couple of degrees less than yesterday, but it felt much warmer because there was very little wind. I attended a delightful Encore Lunch-In which took a chunk out of my day, spent a lot of time outside with Shadow, and tonight tuned into a Divest Public Money from Elon Musk Campaign Kickoff Zoom call sponsored by the Stop the Money Pipeline Coalition. The protests against Tesla have been very successful in plummeting the value of Tesla, but this group has only just begun. They are young, intelligent, enthusiastic, and incredibly organized. The information they shared was invaluable for any who wants to organize to fight for anything. The more I learn, the more I realize how much more I need to know.

2025 Life Logs, Day 113: Political Calendar a Bit Overwhelming
Date: Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 60, Low 45 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

The high temperature today was 60 degrees which indicates to me that I should have felt warm in the sunshine, but it still feels chilly to me. I did do a little yard work, but it is going to have to feel a bit warmer before I spend a lot of time outside gardening.

I did not attend the weekly Indivisible meeting last night, but when I got the follow-up email today, it was a bit overwhelming.
Thursday, April 24 What’s the Plan? Weekly National Indivisible Zoom, 3-4 pm
Thursday, April 24 Divest Public Money from Elon Musk Campaign Kickoff Call, 8:30 pm
Saturday, April 26 Weekly Rally on the Falmouth Green, Noon to 2 pm
Sunday, April 27 Show Up for Democracy Rally, Mashpee Rotary, 12 Noon
Tuesday, April 29 Weekly Upper Cape Indivisible In-Person Meeting
Wednesday, April 30 Falmouth Meet the Candidates Night (local election), 6:30-9:00 pm
Thursday, May 1 What’s the Plan? Weekly National Indivisible Zoom, 3-4 pm
Thursday, May 1 Mayday, Stand Up for Working People Rally, Bourne Rotary, 5-6 pm
Saturday, May 3 Weekly Rally on the Falmouth Green, Noon to 2 pm
Sunday, May 4 The Resistance Lab 2.1, Organize for Justice, 2:00-3:30 pm
Tuesday, May 6 Weekly Upper Cape Indivisible In-Person Meeting
Thursday, May What’s the Plan? Weekly National Indivisible Zoom, 3-4 pm
Friday, May 9 Online Event with Heather Cox Richardson, Jamie Raskin, Mass AG
Saturday, May 10 Weekly Rally on the Falmouth Green, Noon to 2 pm

And this might not be everything. Add some of these to your normal calendar, and like I said, it is a big overwhelming. But these are not normal times, and we all have to do what we can.

While I am writing this, I am listening to Rachel Maddow list all of the things Trump has done, and then reversed, in his first 93 days in office. The number of flip-flops is unbelievable. That could be funny except for the enormous irreversible damage that has been done. That is no laughing matter and overwhelming as well.

2025 Life Logs, Day 112: Earth Day 2025
Date: Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 51, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

I took the day off yesterday, but the rest of the world didn’t. Early, early yesterday morning, Heather drove Jed and Ollie to Providence to the train station for their trip to Washington, DC. Ollie will spend the week in DC with his Scout Troop, and Jed will help chaperone a couple of the Scout events and spend time with his mother doing ‘spring chores’ at her home. My sister was released from the hospital yesterday and is adjusting nicely back at her assisted living facility. And I attended the wake of a fellow Encore Board member

I spent my day today doing something I love … trying to solve a sailboat problem. I learned yesterday that Heather and Jed have not had any luck getting people to return their calls about a boom refit or replacement for Ardenna. (Their boom was destroyed in the brush fire that got out of control.) So I asked Heather if I could do a little research and she agreed. This morning, I called the guy in Chatham who is repairing their dodger to see if he had any suggestions. He has a best friend who he thought would know and he offered to call him for us. Half an hour later, he called with suggestions, and I spent the rest of my day traveling to Mattapoisett, Marion, and Wareham (all across the bridge) going from boat yard to boat yard checking things out. I have more checking to do in the morning and am waiting for a return call from Cape Cod Shipbuilding, but I learned so much and think we have a few options. The problem, of course, is time and money. They also need to replace their dinghy and dinghy motor due to the fire and that will be my next project. I am going to Rhode Island on a field trip on Friday morning and will visit boat yards there in search of a dinghy replacement. Boat yards are unbelievable busy this time of year. I went from office to office, but no one was in. I had to walk through the boat yards, the fun part for me, looking for people. All the while, I am sure their phones in those empty offices were ringing off the hook. Going in person is about the only way to get answers.

I celebrated Earth Day #55 by going to the first of three readings of the Cape Cod Climate Action Plan sponsored by the Falmouth Climate Action Network (FalCAN). Earth Day was first observed on April 22, 1970, and has been celebrated each year since on that same date. It is a time for people to come together to celebrate with environmental education and action, so I chose to spend my evening focused on environmental education. In an article in the NYT this morning, climate experts were asked what the single most important thing each of us can do to for the planet. “First, it’s important to understand that climate change is a symptom of a larger issue: ecological overshoot, or the fact that humans are consuming resources faster than they can regenerate and producing more waste and pollution than nature can absorb.” It went on to say that one of the most effective ways to avoid consumption, and an obvious way to do that is to have smaller families. Or if you do have children, make sure they are aware of their responsibility to help reduce consumption. Reducing consumption requires a whole new mindset about how we live. Another thing you can do according to the expert interviewed if change your diet to being more plant-based. “If the average person in a high-income country skips meat just one day a week for a year, for example, they can save the carbon equivalent of driving 850 miles in a gas-powered car, and enough water to take a shower for 38 hours straight.” What an easy thing to do for the health of our earth.

2025 Life Logs, Day 111: Personal Day
Date: Monday, April 21, 2025
Weather: Partly Sunny, Windy with a Chilly Wind; High Temp 51, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

I took a ‘personal day’ today with nothing to report. Check back tomorrow.

2025 Life Logs, Day 109: Rally, Soccer, New Friends
Date: Saturday, April 19, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Windy; High Temp 54, Low 49 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

The first shots of the American Revolution were fired on this day 250 years ago. More than 60 years later Ralph Waldo Emerson memorialized the first shot of the Battles of Lexington and Concord with the words, “The shot heard round the world.” Those shots were fired to separate us from England and the King’s rule. Today people all around this country held ‘No King’ rallies. We got rid of one king, and we surely do not want another. People who attended today’s rally that were at the April 5 ‘Hands Off’ rally on the Green estimated that there were about 400 people protesting today, not quite as many as on April 5, but enough to make a difference. Representative Bill Keating came and led the crowd in a boisterous cry saying that Trump is bending and breaking the law, but “We will not bend a knee and we will not break.” As Trump defies the Supreme Court, “We will not break.” It went on, but I think you get the idea. He also thanked those in attendance by saying that if wasn’t for the people turning out at rallies in Falmouth and all around the country that we wouldn’t have a chance of fighting back against the Trump regime. We the people are making a difference.

After the rally, I rushed to watch Ollie (number 23) playing in a soccer game against Fall River. Falmouth lost by the only point scored in the game, but they held their own.

During all of this I was texting back and forth with my nephew and the woman who is a paid companion that was with my sister today to try and figure out why she was not being released from the hospital. I called the hospital early in the morning and again between the rally and the game, but no one was calling me back. We finally got an answer. The hospital cannot release her until a nurse from her assisted living facility comes to check her condition and give the okay for her to return. There is no nurse on duty on the weekends, so it will be Monday before we can hope someone will come to give the okay. So that saga continues.

Tonight, Heather invited me to go to dinner at the home of one of Jonah’s friends to meet the grandparents. They are transitioning from their home of 40 years in Connecticut to living with their daughter and her family here in Falmouth. We talked about everything from neurosurgeons to Newcomers, and I look forward to meeting with them again to help them settle into life in Falmouth. Their daughter has already introduced them to Falmouth’s Senior Center and they are finding that there are so many opportunities open to them.

2025 Life Logs, Day 108: Beyond the White House, Mingle and Mix, My Sister
Date: Friday, April 18, 2025
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 55, Low 49 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

It was another day of dealing with my sister’s hospitalization in North Carolina. I am finding out just how difficult this is to do long-distance. The good news is that the doctor has okayed her release from the hospital. The bad news is the physical therapist wants her to go to rehab and that is complicating matters. More on this tomorrow.

I attended my second ‘Beyond the White House’ class today. This week we focused on John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States, and son of John Adams, the second president. The truly fascinating thing about John Quincy is that he ran for a seat in the House of Representatives after his presidency and spent nearly three decades in the House truly making a difference.

Then last night I went to an Encore Mingle and Mix. These are small gatherings of people who all bring food and drink and then have two hours of conversation while eating and drinking. This one lasted way beyond the two hours, but that was fine with the hosts, and we all enjoyed the extended conversation. Thanks to Peter and Karen Baranowski for hosting this month.

2025 Life Logs, Day 107: Topsy Turvy
Date: Thursday, April 17, 2025
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 55, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

By 8:45 am this morning, I had done my morning back exercises and had taken Shadow for his morning walk. I took a deep breath and thought that I had a whole day before me with the only pressing thing I needed to do was to finish reading a few pages of the book for my Friday morning “Beyond the White House” course. This week’s chapter focused on John Quincy Adams, son of the second US President, US Senator, US Secretary of State, sixth US President, and then member of the US House of Representatives from Massachusetts 1831 until his death in 1848. At 8:45 am, I was imaging sitting down with a cup of tea and reading for a bit. But that is not what happened. The day with nothing to do went topsy turvy. I spent my entire morning texting, emailing, and talking on the phone about my sister who was hospitalized yesterday. By the end of the day today, she was doing fine and might go home tomorrow. But because I am my sister’s legally appointed health care proxy and literally oversee her daily life from afar (she is in North Carolina), there was an entire morning of texts, emails, and phone calls required in dealing with things. I did get to do my required reading in the afternoon, but that relaxed day just didn’t happen.

My day did end with a bit of fun. Heather invited me to join the family for dinner at Liam Maguire’s Iris Pub on Main Street where we listened to Thursday night live jazz as we ate. Ollie’s saxophone private teacher and Jonah’s high school band director were playing with the group tonight. Both are fabulous musicians and role models. So at least my day ended on a high note.