by Judy Handley | Sep 22, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 265: Fall Has Arrived
Date: Thursday, September 22, 2022
Weather: Overcast, then Rain; High 74, Low 48 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Today was the first official day of fall. So, welcome fall. The weather is changing with cooler days and much cooler nights. But it bounces back and forth between warm and a tad chilly . . . definitely a sign of fall on Cape Cod.
Day two of Covid for me was better in some ways and worse in others. Regardless, I have decided not to take Paxlovid. I did get a bit of a scare this afternoon. I laid down on the sofa and took a nap. After about an hour and a half, I woke up with uncontrollable coughing that shook my whole body. It took an hour of sitting up and walking around to calm down the coughing and it left me with some shortness of breath. And now when I cough, I have to hold my diaphragm because it hurts. I certainly won’t lay down tonight. I will find someway to prop myself upright and still sleep. I no longer have a fever, but the coughing and breathing issues lead me to believe my case of Covid is not as mild as I thought. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.
Friends and family are taking good care of me. Olivia brought over two different kinds of soup, and the Baranowskis contributed a third kind. I was so grateful as I really didn’t feel like cooking today. And Jed picked up my grocery order from Stop and Shop that Heather had to order for me this morning because I couldn’t get the app to work for me. Jed brought the groceries to me along with Shadow’s frozen food that was delivered yesterday from Farmer’s Dog. I only have room in my freezer for half of it at one time, so I have it delivered to Heather and Jed’s. And I heard from other dear friends checking up on me. Thank you, thank you, to all.
Tonight, I watched ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’. The setting is in a marsh, much more extensive and remote than the marsh here at the end of the Eel River, but much of the wildlife is the same. I loved the book, and I loved seeing the book come alive in the movie. It made me think of Shirley who loved this marsh so much. Her funeral is tomorrow. I am sad I will not be able to attend, but I was definitely communing with her tonight as I watched the movie.
by Judy Handley | Sep 21, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 264: Covid Strikes Again
Date: Wednesday, September 21, 2022
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High 66, Low 61 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Covid strikes in the family again, and this time it is me. Last night I went to bed early because I felt very tired and was starting to feel chilled. I didn’t have a temperature, but it was a restless night with severe muscle aches. This morning, I did have a slight temp of 100.6, so I tested and indeed found I was positive for Covid.
I felt better during the day, but I am starting to fade. So, again, I will head to bed early and hope it is a better night than last night. I did have a telemed Zoom appointment today with a nurse practitioner. According to my symptoms, so far this is a mild case. But the NP did order Paxlovid in case I decide to take it. If I feel better tomorrow, I think I will skip taking it.
The good news today is that Jed tested negative, so he was able to drive Sam to rowing. As Jed said, it will be a miracle if Sam doesn’t come down with Covid next. He was exposed to Jonah on Saturday and Sunday and then me on the two days before I tested positive. I was masked the whole time while in the car with him yesterday and Monday and kept the windows open for ventilation as we have been doing every day. I guess we’ll see if that was enough.
Tonight I watched a live stream of a Climate Week session sponsored by Woodwell Climate Research Center. Heather moderated.
She looked great and facilitated brilliantly. And the two scientists on the panel were very informative.
by Judy Handley | Sep 20, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 263: Phone Calls and Rowing
Date: Tuesday, September 20, 2022
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High 69, Low 57 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, Falmouth, MA
My day was spent receiving and making phone calls concerning my sister’s health care. Now that I am her Medical POA, there is much to do. Many things went by the wayside since my niece, who was in charge of her care until recently, was battling her personal fight against cancer, and still is. I was literally on the phone for almost six hours. Ouch! Then I left to drive Sam to rowing. Looks like tomorrow might be more of the same.
by Judy Handley | Sep 19, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 262: Good News from PR, Not So Good News Here
Date: Monday, September 19, 2022
Weather: Overcast; High 72, Low 64 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, Falmouth, MA
What a wonderful surprise to hear from Justin first thing this morning via text. Things are a bit of mess at Finca Maravilla.
Trees fell, hordes of rain fell and is still falling, but in the end, all is well. Hurricane Fiona left them with no electricity or water, but Justin and Jo have learned to live with that. They now have a solar power back up and they drive about two miles to a roadside spring to get water. They have a Berkey water filter, so life is good. Branches and trees are everywhere, so clean up will take a bit, but they and their home are safe for now. I was so grateful to hear this first thing morning. Thanks and praises.
I drove Sam to rowing this afternoon. Sam and Ollie were in the driveway using the new forge when I arrived.
Sam and I took off and returned home just after 7:30.
So far, so good. Then the not so good news came in, At dinner time this evening, Jonah didn’t feel so good. Jed tested him for Covid, and sure enough, he was positive. Since Sam, Ollie, and I were in the car with Jonah yesterday for a couple of hours, and in the van with him on Saturday for a few hours, we have all been exposed. When Jed called me tonight with the news, he explained that he is doing his best to separate everyone in the house to keep further exposure down. Now we just have to wait and see what happens. In the meantime, I said I would continue to take Sam to rowing every afternoon and do what other things that might be helpful during the days. Heather won’t be home until Friday afternoon, so Jed will have to keep things going until then. I will certainly spend my day tomorrow cooking just in case I get Covid. I made soup today and will freeze some of that. I will make more soup and a few other things tomorrow. If I do get Covid, at least I will have something to ear. I know it is a big ask, but I hope that by some miracle none of the rest of us gets it.
by Judy Handley | Sep 18, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 261–Puerto Rico, Soccer, NYC, Forge in the Driveway
Date: Sunday, September 18, 2022
Weather: Beautiful, Sunny Day; High 76, Low 62 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, Falmouth, MA
I spent my entire morning nailing down flights to Puerto Rico and home in November. The flight to Puerto Rico I wanted was no longer available and all the flight costs have increased since I started looking into this earlier in the week. I basically had to start from scratch and be creative. I booked two one-way flights to get as close to what I wanted as possible. Just as I sent the email to Justin and Jo, the phone rang. It was Justin, but it was not about the email I had just sent. It was his attempt to convince me that I didn’t need to worry about them as Hurricane Fiona was descending upon the island. They lost electricity momentarily while we were talking, and our call abruptly ended. Justin did call back. He wanted me know that they might not be able to contact me for a few days, but that he will call as soon as he can. After we hung up, I found out Fiona had strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane, but it is the rain, not the wind, that looks like it will be the biggest problem. Hope with me that all will be okay. I know Justin said not to worry, but that is just not possible.
After getting off the phone with Justin, it was time to take Shadow out for a little exercise before leaving for the afternoon. We played ball in the driveway, then I drove into town to pick up the Goldpebbles. When I arrived, they had their new forge up and running in the driveway.
It is run on propane and works quite well. But it was time for us to head to drive the hour to the Monomoy High soccer fields for Jonah’s game. Jed promised they could continue when we got home, so off we went. We dropped off Jonah for pregame warm up and Sam, Ollie, and I walked across the street to the Harwich Harvest Festival. Right inside the gate, supporters of the Long Pond Rowing Club were selling shirts and had an erg on display. Sam couldn’t keep himself from getting on the erg and doing a bit of a workout. We walked around to see the arts and crafts on display and all three of us enjoyed the woodworking items the most. Then, it was off the to game which Jonah’s team won 3-1.
We stopped in Hyannis to get hamburgers at Five Guys for dinner and then headed back to 43 Grasmere where the forging continued.
And when I drove into my driveway, I got a text from Heather saying she was at Wicked on Broadway. Lucky one! The Climate Week activities start tomorrow, so she was enjoying a bit of New York City tonight. Thankfully she is still testing negative for Covid.
