by Judy Handley | Sep 2, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 245: Extreme Weather, Extreme People, Extreme Stress
Date: Thursday, September 2, 2021
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Heavy Rain Overnight; High Temp 74, Low Temp 55 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
In the mid-1950’s MAD magazine invented Alfred E. Neuman and his motto, “What me worry?” Recently that motto pops up in my mind often because there are so many things to worry about. Extreme and unprecedented are words that are to describe what seems to be the new norm. Extreme weather, people with extreme views, and parents under extreme stress seem to be everywhere, all the time. As I was sending last night’s log, my phone came to life with the emergency signal warning of a tornado. I stayed up long enough to get another tornado warning. I listened carefully to the towns that might be affected, and Falmouth was one of them. But the pattern of the towns listed made me think the tornado was headed slightly west of East Falmouth. I made the decision to not go to the basement to sleep, but to be on high alert in case I needed to head that way. After I fell asleep, I was awakened with yet another alert. The tornado touched down north and east of here, so my assumptions were wrong. It could just as well have been here. Next time Shadow and I will sleep in the basement. The fact that this kind of weather has become something that seems to happen often is really scary. As near neighbor Lara Dearman said this morning, “The extreme weather events seem almost Biblical.” The summer home they have spent the last year remodeling was partially flooded last night and friends in their New York hometown of Larchmont had completely flooded homes, no electricity, and some could not find their cars as they had floated away. Things were fine here at the cottage, but the lines of debris in the driveway that looked like waves were an indication that a lot of water had flowed through last night.
Heather, Jed, and boys spent the night on camp cots in their basement and only Ollie slept through the whole thing. He was already asleep when they decided to head to the basement, so Sam carried him down. This morning Ollie was quite confused when he woke up in the basement asking how in the world he got there and why. But the things that happened to us here were just an aggravation or something that can easily be repaired. Others in the path of Hurricane Ida and her aftermath lost their homes and everything they owned. Some lost their lives. Then there are the fires raging in the West. Extreme weather is a reality to be dealt with.
I won’t even get started writing about the extreme beliefs of more and more people in this country. But it is certainly a worry. And then there are all the parents of children in this country who are stretched and stressed to the max in figuring out how to help their kids negotiate a Covid world as safely as possible. With school starting next week here, that stress level is rising. So it was truly a breath of fresh air to see something Jo posted on Facebook. It was a beautiful landscape painting that exudes peace and serenity. Jo had stumbled upon the painting online and was immediately entranced.
Then she read the caption. It was of the exact location where she and Justin were married atop Eagle Rock in Topanga Canyon in southern California. Taking time to embrace the beauty in this world can give a little relief to all the other stresses. Thanks, Jo, for sharing this with us at a time when thoughts of peace and serenity are so needed and at a time when we all need to be reminded of just why we must push harder for climate change legislation. We have to do what we can to protect this beautiful world.
This afternoon I took the Goldpebbles to Staples to do some school supply shopping and tomorrow we will celebrate the last day of Camp Oma Summer 2021. We have had a wonderful, laid-back summer but it is now time to transition to school and fall soccer season. Heather, Jed, and boys are headed Fitchburg up near the New Hampshire border for the weekend for Jonah’s first two-day soccer tournament of the season. I will drive up for one of the games, probably on Sunday. They plan to come home on Monday just in time for Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New Year, and the first day of school on Wednesday.
by Judy Handley | Sep 1, 2021 | Cape Cod, USA |
2021 Life Logs, Day 244: Happy Anniversary to Good Friends
Date: Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Weather: Overcast with Rain; High Temp 72, Low Temp 65 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
This first day of September was overcast with periods of light rain until 10 pm tonight when it started raining with a vengeance. There is even thunder and lightening to make it more dramatic. But at least the worst of the rain held off until after a gathering of my dining-in group here at the cottage.
I had hoped for a sunny afternoon and had asked everyone to come at 4:30 so we could enjoy an outside summer dinner cooked on the grill. I’ve known for days that it was supposed to rain today, but I kept watching the weather and believed the heavy rain would begin after our dinner. But when it started drizzling this morning, I decided to grill the food before people arrived and eat inside. When they arrived, however, it was not raining and everyone decided to sit outside to have drinks and the special appetizers contributed by Peter and Karen Baranowski. It was fresh tomatoes and mozzarella cheese on slices of baguette from the French bakery. Yum! The rain kept holding off, so we stayed outside for the delicious and beautiful salad brought by Bruce and Jane Woodin. Another yum. I figured we were pushing it, but the weather kept holding, so I served the marinated and grilled veggies, beef, and chicken on rice pilaf and the tasty corn casserole brought by Terry and Olivia outside as well. As we were finishing the dinner, it was starting to rain just a little and I saw a mosquito, so it was time to go inside for dessert.
On August 28, Olivia and Terry White celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary. Then on August 29, Peter and Karen Baranowski celebrated their 50th. Midge Frieswyk volunteered to bring a special cake for dessert to honor the special occasion. Whole Foods makes a Chantilly cake that is really delicious, so Midge brought that to celebrate the anniversaries. It was a wonderful evening with friends.
by Judy Handley | Aug 31, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 243: Boat Trip to Chappaquiddick
Date: Tuesday, August 31, 2021
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds; High Temp 83, Low Temp 65 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Neighbors Andrew and Lara invited the Goldpebbles and me for a boat adventure across the Sound today.
We went to Chappaquiddick and beached the boat so the kids could play on the beach and in the water. If squeals of joy are any indication that they were having a good time, I would definitely say they did. We ate a picnic lunch on the boat, up anchored, did a boat tour of the Edgartown Harbor, and then ‘flew’ back across the Sound to the Eel River and beached the boat on Washburn Island. Just as we came in, the ice cream boat appeared, so the kids had ice cream and did some exploration on the island. When they got back in the water to get onboard the boat, they spotted a big red-striped jellyfish with red stripes radiating from the center. We Googled it and think it was a type of sea-nettle (Chrysaora melanaster) whose sting can be quite painful.
If anyone reading this knows for sure what it was, let me know. Then it was home and time to get Jonah home for soccer practice. Sam sprained his ankle yesterday and did not go to practice today. Hopefully he will be back at it tomorrow.
Rainy weather is headed our way tomorrow. I have my dining-in group coming late tomorrow afternoon and am hoping the rain will hold off. But there is a 100 percent chance of rain midnight and on into Thursday. Then the weather improves again. Hopefully we will have a nice Labor Day Weekend.
by Judy Handley | Aug 30, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 242: Sandwich Glass Factory AM; Fun at 43 Grasmere PM
Date: Monday, August 30, 2021
Weather: Partly Sunny; High Temp 82, Low Temp 68 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The Goldpebbles requested that we visit the Sandwich Glass Museum before the end of summer vacation, so we did that this morning. There were previous summers where I felt I was almost forcing them to go there, but now they have become very interested in the art of glass blowing. We arrived just in time for the first glass blowing demonstration of the day. Two years ago when we visited, we saw the same glass blower, but all he could do was blow round glass balls. He has improved and can now make all sorts of things. First, he made a cat and then he moved on to make a fancy little vase. The whole demonstration kept the attention of all of us.
Then we visited a special exhibit of what I would call a psychedelic lighted glass sculptures with names like Magic Garden, Sea Horse, and People. Then we toured the various rooms with glass displays. Ollie was mesmerized by the blown glass marble run and all the boys loved a display of big bowls. One of them looked like it was made of sea weed instead of glass.
We returned to my house to have lunch and pick up Charlie and Lena from next door. The boys had invited them to their house for the afternoon to play soccer in the backyard and have fun on the trampoline. Lena gave a real chuckle a few times during the afternoon when she would come to sit with me because “the boys are being wild as boys just do.”
A great big thank you to Peter and Karen Baranowski for loaning me a car for the next day or two while my car is in the shop to have the brakes checked. When I drove home from Heather and Jed’s at the end of the day, Karen met me at Sullivan Tire where I dropped off my car. Lena, Charlie, and I transferred to her car, took her home, and then returned my house. It is wonderful to have good friends who have your back.
by Judy Handley | Aug 29, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 241: Sunday Fun
Date: Sunday, August 29, 2021
Weather: Overcast; High Temp 73, Low Temp 69 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
My new summer ‘almost’ next door neighbors are Andrew and Lara. They have three children. Lena is Ollie’s age, Charlie is Jonah’s age, and Lily is just a few months older than Sam. The kids love to play together, so this afternoon Ollie and Jonah came over to play with Lena and Charlie while Lara and Lily went to Woods Hole to meet with Jed while he fed the fish they use for research purposes. He then gave them an overview of the research done by his lab. Lily hopes to become a scientist some day and really appreciated the time Jed spent with her. Then while I was out taking Shadow for a late day walk and wondering what I was going to fix for dinner, Andrew called and invited me to dinner at their house. We ended up talking way too long but what a fun way to begin this last week of summer vacation.
Heather, Jed, and boys spent the night on camp cots in their basement and only Ollie slept through the whole thing. He was already asleep when they decided to head to the basement, so Sam carried him down. This morning Ollie was quite confused when he woke up in the basement asking how in the world he got there and why. But the things that happened to us here were just an aggravation or something that can easily be repaired. Others in the path of Hurricane Ida and her aftermath lost their homes and everything they owned. Some lost their lives. Then there are the fires raging in the West. Extreme weather is a reality to be dealt with. 
Then she read the caption. It was of the exact location where she and Justin were married atop Eagle Rock in Topanga Canyon in southern California. Taking time to embrace the beauty in this world can give a little relief to all the other stresses. Thanks, Jo, for sharing this with us at a time when thoughts of peace and serenity are so needed and at a time when we all need to be reminded of just why we must push harder for climate change legislation. We have to do what we can to protect this beautiful world.
