by Judy Handley | Nov 14, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 318: From We the People Class to a Birthday Dinner
Date: Friday, November 14, 2025
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 46, Low 31 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
This morning was the last ‘We the People’ class I have been attending once a week since September 19. I have not been a good student this fall as I have been too busy to always do the reading for each week, but I am still glad I went to class. For the spring, Jane Scarborough announced today that we will read the book, These Truths: A History of the United States, by Jill Lepore. Lepore is a Professor of American History at Harvard University and a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine. This book is not her newest, but it might be her longest at over 900 pages. I’ll put it on my Christmas list, and if I get it for Christmas, I will start the reading during the winter. Maybe by April, I will be ready for the first class.
The class was over at noon. At 1 pm, I had a meeting with the Indivisible Falmouth full steering committee on Zoom. We spent an hour solidifying plans for our next general meeting. Some of us met yesterday to come up with a plan and we worked out the kinks today with the larger group.
Next was a trip to FedEx to send medical forms to my sister’s assisted living facility. I almost fainted when the FedEx guy said the 4 pages would cost $100 to send overnight. The last time I sent something overnight, the cost was $20. That must have been in the Dark Ages!
I ended the day at a birthday dinner for a woman I first met in June. In fact, all the women at the dinner were friends I have met through Indivisible and the Falmouth Immigrant Rights Coalition in the past few months. We chose The Golden Swan, Falmouth’s Indian restaurant, for the affair. I had planned to stay only an hour and then head to Woods Hole for a Falmouth Forum presentation. But we were having so much fun, I just enjoyed the dinner and conversation with new friends.
by Judy Handley | Nov 13, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 317: Another Meetings, Meetings, Meetings Kind of Day
Date: Thursday, November 13, 2025
Weather: Overcast, Windy, Spitting Rain; High Temp 47, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
The meetings started at 10 am and continued straight through until 4 pm today. The 3-4 pm meeting was on Zoom and I ducked out of it to talk to Justin. So, I still need to watch the recording. Nothing exiting to report today.
I do have very sad news. A friend from Newcomers and Encore passed away late last night. Carol Ann Cronin had metastatic pancreatic cancer and fought bravely. I didn’t know her well, but she and her husband Bob were charter members of the Public Policy group, and they were two of the five of us in the very short-lived Vegan Lunch Bunch. But I knew her long enough to know that she was a kind and beautiful person who always had smile on her face. Her family wrote on Caring Bridge: “We aren’t certain where her soul and spirt are now, but that place is enriched with her presence. We will look for it in the beauty of nature, especially in beautiful Cape Cod sunsets over the ocean.”
by Judy Handley | Nov 12, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 316: From Ardenna to Nonviolence in Action Film Series
Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2025
Weather: Mostly Cloudy and Windy; High Temp 46, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I did it! And idea that was hatched last April became a reality and now is in the past. When Warren Brodie suggested a film series on nonviolence and handed that idea over to me, I had no clue in the world how to put together a film series. And I am embarrassed to say I had a very limited knowledge of nonviolence movements. I had the surface knowledge we all have, but very little beyond that. I thought about it all summer, and finally in August I got to work. I formed a small committee, we found a way to evaluate and choose the films we would feature, and I spent hours and hours and hours of watching films and reading about nonviolent civil resistance. As of tonight, it is over and I will have a chunk of time freed up to spend on other things. The problem is that I learned enough to know that we all need to learn more. I have a feeling there will be a continuation of the study in some form. It might not be another film series, but something. For now, however, I am going to enjoy the extra time.
I had an Encore Board meeting this morning and then an afternoon of getting ready for the final screening tonight. The film was Cesar Chavez (2014). I think most people my age know that he fought to unionize farm workers, but I didn’t know much about him personally. What I learned is that he was a truly completely principled and committed advocate of nonviolence. His knowledge of Gandhi, of Martin Luther King, Jr., and his deeply rooted belief in Catholicism all combined to give him amazing strength as a leader. You can watch the film for free on Amazon Prime Video, but you have to put up with the ads. Even with that, I think it is a film worth watching, more than once.
Working backwards to the beginning of my day, I was delighted to get a text from Heather saying that Ardenna was out of the water and safely on the trailer, mast on the crane truck, ready to head to its winter home here in Falmouth. Another sailing season comes to an end.
by Judy Handley | Nov 11, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 315: Cold and Blustery Veterans Day 2025
Date: Tuesday, November 11, 2025
Weather: Overcast, Blustery, Cold; High Temp 41, Low 35 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
While standing on the Falmouth Public Library lawn this morning for the Veterans Day program, we actually saw a few snowflakes fall. It was overcast, blustery, and cold, but Ollie, Heather, and Jed marched proudly in the parade. Jed marched with the Scouts, Heather with the Select Board, and Ollie was in the Honor Guard. So proud.
Otherwise, I spent my day getting the flowers from the deck moved indoors and took some summer things down to the basement. I also went to my book club meeting a little late due to the Veterans Day program. I missed the discussion of this month’s book, but I got there in time to choose books for next year. We each recommend 2-4 books and we chose one book from each member. It was a hard choice because all the suggestions sounded so interesting. But here’s our final list:
January—The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict
February—The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
March—Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
April—Becoming Madame Secretary by Stephanie Dray
May—The Lioness of Boston by Emily Franklin
June—The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
No meetings in July and August.
September—The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown
October—Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
November—Isola by Allegra Goodman
December–TBD
by Judy Handley | Nov 11, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 314: Temperature Dropping
Date: Monday, November 9, 2025
Weather: Overcast with Misty Rain; High Temp 58, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
It was a gloomy day and tonight the temperature is dropping quickly. Last night the low temperature was 52 degrees F. Tonight, it will come very close to freezing as it is forecast to be 33 degrees. Today I had hoped to transplant the flowers on my deck into a big pot and bring them inside for the winter. That didn’t happen and tomorrow morning it might be too late. They were so beautiful this summer. Oh well, I have the memories.
I had film series meeting and spent the entire morning getting ready for that. Wednesday is the last film and I have more work to do tomorrow. But I punted on that tonight and with to a FalCan (Falmouth Community Action Network) meeting tonight to be introduced to En-Roads, an online global interactive climate simulator that allows you to explore the impact various policies have on factors like energy prices, temperature, air quality, and sea level rise. Very impressive.
