by Judy Handley | Mar 7, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 66: Stand Up for Science
Date: Friday, March 7, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Very Windy, Winds 25-30 NW; High Temp 42, Low 32 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
A few hundred people gathered in Marina Park in Woods Hole this afternoon to Stand Up for Science. The Cape Cod Times reported 600 were in attendance, but I have no idea if that number is accurate. All I know is that there was a seat of scientists and people who support science in attendance.
And we were not alone. As President and CEO of Woods Hole Research Center, Max Holmes, reminded us in his remarks, there were Stand Up for Science rallies all over the US and around the world today. Hundreds gathered in the Boston Commons, with smaller gatherings in Philadelphia, in Chicago, in Atlanta, and on and on. But the largest gathering of thousands was in Washington, DC. Obviously, many people in this country believe in the absolute necessity of keeping science alive.
Heather spoke to the gathering in Woods Hole representing the Falmouth Select Board and her 28 years as a student and employee in Woods Hole. It was certainly another ‘proud mama’ moment
!
The keynote speaker was John Holdren, former President of Woods Hole Research Center and Senior Science Advisor to President Obama. There were other scientists who spoke, plus a sprinkling of politicians. US Representative Bill Keating and Thomas Moakley, who is our newest and youngest State Representative, both spoke to the group. I don’t remember who said that those of us in Woods Hole might have the windiest conditions for any of the rallies today, but whoever said that, I think they might have been right. Starting around 11 am, the wind ramped up to 25-30 miles an hour with higher gusts. Thankfully the temperature was in the 40’s, so it was cold, but not freezing.
The scientific institutions in Woods Hole have 2,000 employees. One of those institutions is NOAA. I know specifics the weather today thanks to NOAA. I learned tonight that a week or so ago there were not enough NOAA employees to send up weather balloons in Alaska. The data gathered by these weather balloons is needed to forecast the weather accurately. Today in Albany, New York, and in Gray, Maine, again, there were not enough NOAA employees to send up those balloons. That is just one little, but very essential task being affected by the DOGE reduction in staffing. And I read that on Monday, more cuts are expected to NOAA nationwide. What kind of disaster is going to have to happen to make it clear that these indiscriminate government cuts have got to stop? My sign today said, SCIENCE—Defend not Defund. Defend is what we all need to do.
Midge Frieswyk and I went to the rally together, and Christina Brodie joined us. We all came back to my house afterwards, where we had planned to just have tea. But when I realized none of us had eaten lunch, I served dinner leftovers as an impromptu lunch. It was easy and stress free, and I think all three of us appreciated the time together to decompress and process together what is happening in our world these days.
I can’t end without relaying one more little tidbit of information. Today the AP released a list 26,000 documents and photos that the Defense department is going to delete from websites due to their connection to DEI in some way. But one of the items is a photo of the Enola Gay, the first plane to drop an atomic bomb. What does that have to do with DEI? They searched for the word ‘gay’ and that is why it is being deleted. A famous plane named for the pilot’s mother is being deleted from a website because of its name. This seems unbelievable, but it is true. What is next?
by Judy Handley | Mar 6, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 65: Wonderful Visit with Friends
Date: Thursday, March 6, 2025
Weather: Sun, Clouds, Fog, Rain, Winds10 S to 20 WNW; High Temp 52, Low 29 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
The weather threw a little bit of everything at us today. I spent much of my day in Dedham, near Boston, where it is sometimes cloudy, sometimes party sunny. But when I left the Cape this morning and returned late this afternoon, it was overcast and foggy, with rain was sprinkled in here and there.
I was in Dedham visiting with good friends, Helaine and Alan Kanegsberg, this afternoon. Alan and I have back-to-back birthdays that we sometimes celebrated together, so I made a surprise visit to deliver a birthday cake to Alan. We had a long overdue visit, making it even more special.
And tonight, Heather, Jed, and boys took me out to a birthday dinner at Shipwrecked. I tried an Asian avocado salad that was really good along with sushi. Thank you, Goldstones!
by Judy Handley | Mar 5, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 64: Birthday Surprises
Date: Wednesday, March 5, 2025
Weather: Partly Cloudy, Rain Late, Winds 20 SSW; High Temp 52, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
It’s my birthday and it started off with a wonderful surprise. Justin called early to wish me a happy birthday. As we were finishing up, he told me to make sure I check my email for a little surprise. I love surprises, so we hung up and I checked. There was an email from Ticketmaster announcing that I have 2 tickets to a Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan Outlaw concert on September 7 in Mansfield, near Boston. The only item I have on my bucket list is a Willie Nelson concert, so you can only imagine how excited I was. I felt like a teenager because I actually squealed in delight and called Justin right back to thank him. He knows I love Willie Nelson, and I only hope he can make it to September! Thank you, Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco.
Getting the ticket that included Bob Dylan, I decided I would give myself a birthday treat and go see the movie about him, A Complete Unknown starring Timothée Chalamet. I am familiar with him as Paul Atreides in Dune, so seeing him in such a different role was interesting. He was so convincing in this role that I totally thought I was watching Bob Dylan, not an actor. Plus, I loved the music. I was talking on the phone with Christina Brodie about Encore business this afternoon when I mentioned I was going to the movie tonight. She said she and Warren would love to go with me and even invited me to dinner before the movie. Warren even went out and got little chocolate decadent individual cakes so I would have a birthday cake with a candle. Thank you, Christina and Warren.
As I announced last night, Heather had an emergency Select Board meeting tonight, so we are doing a birthday dinner tomorrow night. But I stopped by on my way home from the movie just to say hello. I was greeted by the Goldstone’s singing Happy Birthday and presenting me with another birthday cake. It was a great day.
by Judy Handley | Mar 4, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 63: You won’t even believe … Like never before …
Date: Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Warmer Winds 20 SW; High Temp 42, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
No, I won’t believe, like never before. Watching Trump’s speech tonight, I found it hard to believe that a President of the United States of America would ever openly say everything he could possibly think of to cause even further division in his country. But on that point, Trump was successful. I fear more rhetoric like tonight’s speech is going to cause more problems than “you ever thought possible before.”
by Judy Handley | Mar 3, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 62: Another Project Day
Date: Monday, March 3, 2025
Weather: Still Sunny and Cold; High Temp 29, Low 24 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
This morning when I went out for my walk with Shadow it was 19 degrees F but felt like 6 degrees according to WeatherUnderground. I was dressed for the cold, but after less than a half mile of walking, my face and gloved fingers were freezing. So, we cut our walk short and headed home. I spent the remainder of my day inside on my computer. Every winter, I try to spend a few days working on photo organization. Saturday, I spent the day working on 2022 photos. Prior to 2022, from 2005 to 2021, I have every photo named and placed in folders by date. With a few exceptions. The photos I took when we came home in 2006, 2007, and in 2009 are not named or in any order. So, I have photos taken by me, by Mark, and by Heather and Jed and they are all a jumble. It took all day, but I did get the 2006 and early 2007 photos organized today when we came home for Sam’s birth. Hopefully tomorrow I can attack the next trip home in late 2007 going into 2008. It is slow, tedious work, but I enjoy doing it. I estimate I need five more days to complete the whole job, including getting 2023 and 2024 organized. But since I always seem to underestimate the time needed for a job, that probably means double that many days. However many days it takes, I am hopeful that I can get this done before the weather turns warm.
