by Judy Handley | Feb 24, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 55: Bracing for More Snow
Date: Thursday, February 24, 2022
Weather: Overcast, Cold North Wind; High 34, Low 28 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Parts of New England are bracing for snow overnight and into tomorrow. Here on the Cape, the forecast is for the snow to turn to rain at some point tomorrow morning. But closer to Boston, they could get 10 to 12 inches. I heard from Heather late today that they are extending their stay in Maine until Saturday so they can get in one more day of skiing and snowboarding. That means they won’t have to drive around Boston tomorrow afternoon when things could be a bit nasty. Good decision.
I spent part of today reflecting on Ukraine’s situation. It brought back memories of sitting at table in an iconic Boston food establishment in 2005 having clam chowder with five young people visiting from Ukraine. They had all been part of the Orange Revolution in 2004 that was successful in keeping President Yushchenko in office after an attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to rig Yushchenko’s re-election to install a more Russian leaning leader. History does repeat itself. But there they were in Boston, just a few months later, visiting from Kyiv (Kiev) to learn about the public radio system in this country. They were hoping to establish something similar in Ukraine. This visit was close to the time Mark and I were leaving on our sailing trip around the world. The young people from Ukraine so enthusiastically tried to convince us to sail to Ukraine. They had to draw a map on a paper napkin showing me how we could sail from the Mediterranean into the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey, on through a tiny opening into the Sea of Marmara to Istanbul, and finally through a canal connecting the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea and on to the southern coast of Ukraine. They were so enthusiastic about the future of their country. As I thought of them today, it saddened me even more as I watched what was happening in Kyiv today. Same Vladimir Putin, same story, just a different method. Tomorrow I must find the flag of the Orange Revolution they gave us, and that map drawn on a paper napkin. I am sure both are somewhere in my basement.
I finished my jigsaw puzzle featuring a scene from Ancient Greece and have started on another. This new one features a scene from Sweden. I completed editing half of the chapter of The Voyage of Windbird about our passage from the Galapagos to the Marquesas in French Polynesia. I should have been able to finish that chapter today, but somehow life got in the way. Hopefully I will complete it tomorrow morning in between trips outside to play in the snow with Shadow.
by Judy Handley | Feb 23, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 54: Catch-up Day
Date: Wednesday, February 23, 2022
Weather: Overcast and Windy; High 67, Low 24 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today was spent running to and fro and catching up on planning and communication. No writing and no editing. Every six to eight weeks, Shadow has to go to the groomer to get his hair cut and today was that day. The groomer is 25 minutes away, so one hour of my day was spent taking him and going back to pick him up. And then I drove into Falmouth twice today to feed Mel, Leo, and Zuzu—the Goldstone menagerie of pets. I haven’t heard from Heather since Monday, so hopefully no news is good news, and they are continuing to have a great time. They are supposed to return on Friday, but we are expecting snow Thursday night and Friday morning. It turns to rain here on the Cape by Friday afternoon, but not so in the Boston area. They are expected to get 8 inches of snow. Hopefully the roads will be cleared by the afternoon so they can have a safe trip home.
I have been working on planning a field trip for the Newcomers Teacher Group. It is usually not such a difficult task, but this one turned out to be harder than expected. But I got it done today and can now look forward to going to tour the State House in Boston and the Museum of African American History which is just down the street from the State House. Things are loosening up with Covid, but masks and a Covid vaccination card are still required by the city of Boston. And many restaurants are not open. Some have closed permanently. I found what looks like a nice little French restaurant for lunch that is close-by. Since we will taking public transportation into the city, we will be walking and needed everything to be close together. The trip is not until the third week of March. Hopefully Covid issues will continue to lessen and the weather will feel more springlike so we can have a good trip.
The high was supposedly in the 60’s today, but it was very windy and did not feel that warm to me. But it gets cold again tonight and stays that way for a while. I keep looking for signs of spring, but I am not seeing them!
by Judy Handley | Feb 22, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 53: A Day Trip to the Galapagos Islands
Date: Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Weather: Overcast with Rain, Warmer; High 51, Low 48 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today my editing took me on a day trip to the Galapagos islands. I wrote in that chapter that the Voyage of Windward was originally Mark’s dream. And that is true. But it was my dream to go to the Galapagos. The fact that we were able to get a permit to stay there for six weeks was surely a dream come true for me. We could only sail to five islands, but we actually spent most of our time on only two of them. We did take a five-day trip aboard a tourist sailing vessel that took us to another few islands. We saw so many plants and animals that were endemic to the Galapagos (found there and only there), that after three weeks I wrote that I had started feeling like I was endemic! On one snorkeling outing, I saw more varieties of fish than in any other place around the world. Our time there was truly extraordinary and made doubly so because Heather and Jed joined us for three of those weeks. I did complete the first quick edit of the chapter today. But I only reduced its size by 2,000 words. I have to go back and delete more, but I have to say it is painful. Everything we experienced there seemed important that it is very hard to choose what to leave out.
I just came in from taking Shadow out for a pee break and it is nasty outside tonight. It is raining and my phone tells me we have a gale warning until 7 am. At least it is a bit warmer.
by Judy Handley | Feb 21, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 52: Presidents’ Day
Date: Monday, February 21, 2022
Weather: Sunny and Warmer; High 47, Low 35 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
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My Presidents’ Day celebration was to take a Washington Post trivia quiz and I failed miserably. Here are some of the
1. Which president’s name appears twice on the roll call of presidents because his two terms were not back-to-back?
2. Abraham Lincoln was born in a humble log cabin. Who was the first president born in a hospital?
3. This president liked to skinny-dip in the Potomac River early in the morning. While that may seem shocking to us, it wasn’t uncommon in his day. Which president was this?
4. Which president banned broccoli from his dinner plate?
5. When the king and queen of Great Britain visited the White House, which president served them hot dogs?
It went on and my total score was ZERO. The answers to these questions are at the end of this log.
I made it to the Galapagos in my editing today, but tomorrow’s work will be slow going. I loved the Galapagos and the number of words in that chapter show it. But if anyone is going to read it, I need to cut about two-thirds of what I wrote. That is going to be a very hard job for me. Wish me luck.
I received a text from Heather today saying she was going to be the slope photographer today. I hope she got some good pics. She also said it was so warm that they would probably have a shorter day. They went full out all weekend and probably needed that shorter day to power up for the remainder of the week.
Otherwise, things were unremarkable here today. It was much warmer which I enjoyed immensely. It made walking so much more enjoyable.
Answers to the Presidents’ Trivia Quiz:
1. Grover Cleveland was our 22nd and 24th president.
2. Jimmy Carter. His mother was a nurse in the hospital.
3. John Quincy Adams. If it was too cold for a swim, he’d go for a two-mile hike instead.
4. George W. Bush hated broccoli.
5. Franklin Roosevelt introduced the queen to hot dogs.
by Judy Handley | Feb 20, 2022 | Cape Cod, USA |
2022 Life Logs, Day 51: Back to Editing, Editing
Date: Sunday, February 20, 2022
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Cold, Windy; High 34, Low 20 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
In yesterday’s log, I totally forgot to mention that just as I finished getting my seed starting shelves in place, the feeling of spring vanished. I looked out the window and it was snowing. I took Shadow out for our second half mile walk of the day and by the time we got home, there was a covering of snow on the ground. The snow flurries had turned into a snow squall while we were walking, and it continued until we had about a half of an inch of snow. So much for thoughts of spring! The high today was 34, but with the wind it felt more like 20. Chilly.
I spent my day editing and tonight I am watching the Olympics Closing Ceremony. Who couldn’t love the winter jackets of the Italians and the face that Nathan Chen is using a real camera to take photos of the ceremony instead of his phone camera. I have enjoyed watching all of the events, too many favorites to list. I must admit, however, that my favorite winter Olympic sport throughout my lifetime, figure skating, has changed. My grandsons have had a little influence over my new favorite, snowboarding. And then here have been the commercials. I had never heard of a Toyota Tundra before these Olympics and I loved the Toyota “Start Your Impossible” ads. Then there was the VISA ad with hordes of people coming down a slope in every sort of manner with the words, “When more of us play, more of us win.” And the Salesforce ad with Matthew McConaughey saying, “It’s not time to escape. It’s time to engage.” Whether you agree with the tone of that ad, I think we can all agree on those words. Now it’s time to get ready for the Paralympic Games starting in two weeks.
I’ll close with the words of the IOC head Thomas Bach addressing the athletes at the closing ceremonies: “We were deeply touched how you were wishing and cheering for your competitors to achieve their best as well. You not only respected each other. You supported each other. You embraced each other, even if your countries are divided by conflict. You overcame these divisions demonstrating that in this Olympic community we are all equal—regardless of what we look like, where we come from, or what we believe in. This unifying power of the Olympic Games is stronger than the forces that want to divide us—you give peace a chance. May the political leaders around the world be inspired by your example of solidarity and peace.”
