by Judy Handley | Mar 27, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 87: Another Computer Day
Date: Friday, March 27, 2020
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High 62 degrees, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Ahh . . . I love it when the wind switches from the north to the south. Yesterday the high temp was 53, but with winds blowing from the north, you could feel the icy cold in the breeze. Today it was 10 degrees warmer and what little bit of wind there was came from the south. It felt like summer and you didn’t even need a jacket when outside. Unfortunately, I didn’t allow myself to be outside enjoying the beautiful weather. I am on a mission to complete the photo organization project on my computer, so I worked on that all day. Every couple of hours I did take time to go on a walk with Shadow and late in the afternoon, I went out and cleared the leaves out of my raised beds. Tomorrow I hope to add new garden soil and plant the first seeds which will be peas. It is too early to plant arugula outside, but I might try it anyway. But definitely, I will plant some inside. The tomato seeds I planted inside last week are already coming up. Fantastic. I ended the day with a Zoom meeting with my Newcomers wine group. I was so much fun to just enjoy the company of other adults and not worry for a bit of time about the coronavirus.
by Judy Handley | Mar 26, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 86: Congratulations, Goldstones
Date: Thursday, March 26, 2020
Weather: Sunny with a Chill in the Wind; High 53 degrees, Low 39 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Congratulations to the Goldstones! Despite the statewide ban preventing all non-essential businesses from conducting in-person operations, they were able to close on their new home today. Evidently banks, the registry of deeds, and lawyers are considered essential services, so the sale was finalized today. The new home is only 3.4 miles from their current residence, just a little closer to downtown. It is a beautiful home in a wonderful neighborhood and now that it is theirs, they are anxious to make the move. The plan had been to wait until the school April vacation to move, but since there will be no school until at least May 4th, there will be no vacation week. The move can begin now. They spent the afternoon in their new home doing some cleaning and planning. Getting any work done right now is tricky. For one thing, you don’t want anyone coming into your home, so Heather and Jed are going to have to do most of the work themselves. The problem being that now that they are working and schooling kids at home, there is no time for anything else. But they will figure it out. For this moment, I just hope that they are celebrating tonight and dreaming of how wonderful it will be once they are moved into the new home. Once they returned home, I delivered a bottle of bubbly to Heather in the front yard as a celebration gift. They had just gotten home and it was past time to fix dinner, so we really didn’t get to talk. Hopefully we can talk this weekend so she can fill me on their moving plan.
Shelter-in-Place, Stay-at-Home, Lockdown, Quarantine . . . the policies that guide our lives in the time of Covid-19. It was a busy day and I thought I was following all of the ‘rules’ of physical distancing. But tonight as I reflected back on the day, I think I overstepped the bounds of safe confinement. This morning I delivered a couple of books to my friend Midge Frieswyk. We had planned to meet in her driveway, but before I got there, another friend stopped by and they were sitting in the open garage when I arrived. There was another chair for me, as well as a cup of tea, so I sat down and visited for a bit. It was wonderful to visit face-to-face, but probably not the best idea. Then I drove on to the Woodin’s to deliver a package, a hardcopy of a ‘How to Use Zoom’ PowerPoint, and some potting soil for Jane so she can start growing microgreens inside. We met outside the front door and certainly kept more than 6 feet between us as we tried out our abilities to connect via Zoom. It was great to see them for the first time in two months, but again, we’ll try to stick to Zoom in the coming weeks. When I got home it was time to take Shadow for a walk and get ready for my Memoir Writing class on Zoom. 
Today we reviewed my book introduction and first chapter in what I hope to develop into a complete book about the Voyage of Windbird. It was a small group of 4 and the input was very helpful and encouraging. We enjoyed the class on Zoom so much that we plan to meet again next week.
by Judy Handley | Mar 25, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 85: Breakthrough Day . . . Finally
Date: Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Weather: Overcast; High 42 degrees, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I had a productive day. It felt like I broke through the fog and was productive for the first day in quite a while. I didn’t finish the photo editing/organizing project I have been working on for months, but I will finish it tomorrow. Hurray! Hurray! And as is happening more and more as each day of face-to-face isolation continues, I spent a bit of time on the phone with family and friends. I talked with my niece in Charlotte, with friend Jane Woodin who returned yesterday from Florida, with friend Midge Frieswyk about home schooling issues, and then tonight Justin and I talked for over an hour. Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco have been self-isolating and working and schooling from home. They are feeling healthy, the kids have three hours of on-line instruction each day which helps to facilitate the working at home with kids at home, and last night their horse Hopi had a male foal that Ziggy named Barnaby. Business is slow, not yet at a complete standstill, but slow enough that Justin has had to cut back on staff. He is still paying off the business loan from Hurricane Maria and is having to anticipate another one to get through these times. But the really interesting part of the conversation was about Ziggy’s productiveness on various fronts. Ziggy has a game called Farm House Fortress that is available to download on Apple tablets and computers. Justin thinks he used Hyper Pad that he learned about at a science camp last summer to create the game. In addition, Ziggy is creating comic books and stop motion animated shorts under the name of Zitron Productions. And he is producing Zitron music sets. Justin said he really can’t keep up with all of Ziggy’s various projects. He is certainly a busy little guy these days. He will turn eleven in two weeks, so I am trying to figure out what to give him to support his creative ventures. What he wants is a quail, but I’m not sure I get that to him. You can order 100 quails to be shipped, but not just one. Justin also talked about the frustration of completing the paperwork for Jo’s US citizenship. Certain documents are due on April 8, but all of the government business offices are now closed due to Covid-19 and they can’t get the documents needed. Heather and Jed are running into the same issue with their house closing. That was supposed to happen tomorrow but when I talked to Heather about it yesterday, she wasn’t sure they were going to be able to go forward with the Governor’s new order that keeps all non-essential workers at home. What unprecedented times we are living through.
by Judy Handley | Mar 24, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 84: J.R.R. Tolkien Quotes
Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 50 degrees, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
My favorite Tolkien quote from The Fellowship of the Ring is, “Not all those who wander are lost.” Today, however, I happened across a little conversation between Frodo and my very favorite wizard, Gandalf, that is quite apt for these times.
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
So true. But on the lighter side, there is this quote from The Hobbit, or There and Back Again. “Do you wish me a good morning, or meant that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?” Think about that the next time you say good morning to someone!
There was a little sunshine today and I think that helped clear my head and get me back in focus. I spent most of my day working on organizing photos from the past year. Eventually I have to go all the way back to the fall of 2016 to finish this project, but I was very pleased with today’s progress. I will continue tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Mar 23, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 83: Out of Focus
Date: Monday, March 23, 2020
Weather: Cloudy with Some Rain; High 44 degrees, Low 38 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Shadow and I are doing fine during these ‘stay at home’ times, but I continue to struggle with focus. I continue to jump from one activity to another and simply feel out of focus. Surely I’ll get it together soon. Most of my day today was spent in follow-up activities.
I was supposed to receive my first delivery of Misfits organic veggies and fruits on Saturday. The FedEx tracking system said the box had been delivered to my doorstep, but it was not. I tried to reach both FedEx and Misfits on Saturday, but there was absolutely no way to talk to a person. I had to send emails. I still have not heard back from either with a return email, but today I called the FedEx office in Massachusetts that sent the delivery truck out. I did get an agent. She was very helpful and very surprised as she said the driver has been delivering packages to the Cape for years and should be very familiar with the area. Since the box of food is perishable, it seemed silly to try and track it down, but she helped me figure out how to make sure the driver gets detailed directions for this week’s delivery. Hopefully her suggestions work.
As a follow-up to other things I wrote about yesterday, I heard from Jo’s parents in England and they are doing fine, but like here, staying at home and not visiting with family. Margaret reported that she had a wonderful Zoom online gathering with all three of her children, but it was the first Mother’s Day she has ever spent without actually being with at least of one of the three. I also learned that Mike and Linda Stuart are going to stay in Spain. In order to be within the new rules being imposed there, they are going to have to stay in their current Airbnb, even though it more expensive, because they already have a contract. They have found a Facebook page where other Americans in Spain are sharing experiences and that is helping them feel more connected. And tonight I talked to Heather and they had a good day despite the rainy weather keeping boys inside during the afternoon. Sam is recovering from his skateboard fall on Sunday. And Heather and Jed are striking a balance between work and checking in on what the boys are doing. Heather and Jed are supposed to close on the purchase of their new home this Thursday, but Governor Baker’s announcement today that all non-essential workers in Massachusetts must now stay home might interfere with the closing. “Beginning Tuesday, March 24, 2020 at 12:00 PM, Massachusetts join a growing number of states in closing non-essential businesses and organizations to employees, customers, and the public.” This order applies to the “physical workplaces and facilities” until April 7. It is going to take a day or so to figure out exactly if and how this might impact a closing in a bank. But they are prepared for a delay. Even if they do close, they now are not sure that the work they wanted to have done before moving in can go ahead. What is essential? What is not? Such uncertain times, but we will get through this.
Last week Ollie discovered the Mo Willems noontime doodling website. Mo Willems is a children’s author. He, along with a whole lot of other children’s authors, are offering online activities for kids at home. https://www.weareteachers.com/virtual-author-activities/?utm_content=1584565321&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR30-cq5NJbAOJ9zPEvGZeI2gvALwKDwMwazDc4BIvidKG40qAtJ_lI7i9k
Tonight on the Rachel Maddow Show, Rachel did a piece on how the children of the people who are still working to produce her show are taking advantage of the Mo Willems offering. She showed a lot of their doodling art and highlighted what one child had written beside her doodle. “We’re all connected.” Even though we are currently physically distanced, we must all find ways to stay connected.
