by Judy Handley | Oct 31, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 304: Happy Halloween
Date: Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Weather: Sunny, Still Windy; High 61, Low 38 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Happy Halloween! I just got home from Heather and Jed’s where, dressed as witch,
I handed out treats and kept the fog machine in the front yard going via remote control.
As soon as I heard a someone coming, I would hit the button to make fog that drifted through a strobe light. “Very cool” was the comment I heard from many trick-or-treaters. Tonight Sam dressed as his soccer hero, Messi, and Ollie and Jonah were the Kratt brothers, Chris and Martin, from their favorite nature-based television program, Wild Kratts.
It was a fun Halloween evening with the Goldstones.
I started my day with a walk to Starbucks for coffee with Jane Woodin, combining exercise with pleasure. Bruce and Jane just returned from a three-week vacation in Europe. They spent a week in London, a week in Paris, and a week on a river cruise on the Seine. They had a wonderful time and Jane summed it up by saying that it was the trip of a lifetime. She especially loved Paris—beautiful city, lovely people, wonderful food. Sounds like a great combination. When I got home, I entered a two-hour battle with Comcast, the only cable and internet provider here on the Cape. The problem was that they insisted that I no longer had an outage, when it was very obvious that I did. And not just me. I know my next door neighbor was having the same battle with them. But since their workmen reported that they had fixed things here, when in reality they had not, we now have to wait another day or two to get our connection back. I am using my phone as an internet hotspot tonight to post this log, but it sure will be nice when things are back up and running. I feel so guilty complaining when I think of what Justin and Jo are going through, but it is because of them that I want my connection back. Now that communications are a little better, I sometimes get a call from Justin. But other times, he contacts me through Skype messaging on the computer. And I need internet for that. But then other people here are still without electricity. The remnants of tropical storm Phillipe that hit us on Sunday night into Monday morning wrecked a lot of havoc in New England and many are still without power.
I got a text from my good friend Detta Porat this afternoon. Matthew, her son, lives in Greenwich Village in New York City and rides his bike to work on the bike path where another awful attack on innocent people happened this afternoon. Thankfully, Matthew was still at work. I’m reading Ken Follett’s new book, A Column of Fire, which takes place in England in 1558. Mary Tudor is the queen of England, but in last night’s reading, it became clear that she is expected to die soon. There is a fierce debate about who should succeed her, Mary Stuart or Elizabeth Tutor. Those who favor Elizabeth do so because they know she will stop the burning at the stake of Protestants for their beliefs. In 1558, many people were wondering when the slaughter of people based on their religious beliefs would end. And now, almost 460 years later, we are still asking the same question. Such a sad commentary on the progress of civilization, or rather, the lack thereof.
by Judy Handley | Oct 30, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 303: Solar Power for Justin and Jo
Date: Monday, October 30, 2017
Weather: WINDY; High 62, Low 50 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
My day started with a rude awakening. I walked out the door at 7:30 am to head to Hyannis to report for jury duty. It was very WINDY, but things on my deck looked fine except for one plant that was blown over. But as I walked toward the parking area, I saw plastic buckets where they shouldn’t be and then I saw that about three panels of the tall wooden fencing that runs the border between The Studio and the condos next door were blown over. And there were leaves and small branches everywhere. Then as I drove out of the parking area, I saw neighbors out on the street staring at the very large tree that had uprooted and fallen over and was blocking one lane of the street. I turned right to go down by the water and had to drive around another fallen tree. The road along the ocean was a mess with standing water in some places and in other spots sand had been washed across the road by ocean waves. It was mounded so you couldn’t see the road and the ocean waves were not too far from my passenger door. Things got better once I headed inland from the shore road and although I saw a lot of fallen branches on the way to Hyannis, Falmouth Heights Road and the road along the ocean was the worst I saw. I got to the court house just in time and delivered the mandatory questionnaire to the proper authority. She looked at me and said, “You do know you don’t have to be here.” Well, no, if I had known that I wouldn’t have driven all this way. She explained that if you are over 70 you don’t have to serve as a juror, so I declined the kind offer of serving and headed out the court house doors. I was so relieved as I was expecting a call or text from Justin when he got to Maximo Solar today. So, I headed straight home to wait for his call. Fallen tree clean-up was well under way when I got home, but then I discovered that cable TV and internet were down. One day without internet couldn’t be too bad, right?
It wasn’t until I got the call from Justin and could not look up the answers to his questions about various solar components that I realized just how much I miss instant access to information when it is not available. Our three-hour marathon went something like this. Justin described to me three different systems. The connection was often garbled, but I took notes the best I could. If I had questions, he would hang up and go talk to the consultant. He might text those answers to me to see if I had more questions. Then he would call again and as we discussed the options, we always ended up with more questions and the process started over again. It finally got to a point where I needed advice. So, Justin went back to talk to the consultant to get more questions answered and I called Heather. I learned a new skill today. I had to constantly put either Heather on hold to check incoming text messages from Justin or visa versa. I have never been successful at putting one person on ‘hold’ while answering another in-coming call. But I got a lot of experience this afternoon! Heather could check things online for us and she is way faster at math than either Justin or me. There were three solar systems we were discussing today. One of them was a Tesla system, and the other two were conventional solar battery systems. One had a 4kW inverter with 9 panels for $12,000 and the other was a 6.5kW inverter with 12 panels for $19,000. We wrestled with pros and cons and ended up buying the $12,000 package. I had not previously researched any of these packages and I don’t know the specifics on what we bought. I do know it took about three hours to finalize the deal and it won’t be installed until December, maybe a little earlier. It is exhausting to figure things out without normal communication, but we did it. Just after 3 pm I got the call from Justin saying the sale was complete and that he was on to the next task . . . on his way to Home Depot to get fencing for the animals.
It is evening and I still have no internet, so I drove to Heather’s to send this. Ollie is doing Sudoku and Sam is working on a book report. My mind needs a rest, so I send this and hope I have internet so I can research/communicate normally tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Oct 29, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 302: Clams and Soccer . . . Again
Date: Sunday, October 29, 2017
Weather: Pouring Rain Tonight; High 65, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Today was a repeat of yesterday, of sorts. Instead of digging clams, this evening Heather and Jed invited me to dinner and we ate the clams I got yesterday. Earlier in the afternoon, I went to another soccer game. Today’s game was Sam’s last soccer game of the fall season, so now, no more soccer until spring. If I back up until morning, I watched some of the Cleveland Browns versus the Minnesota Vikings football game that was played in London, England. My good friend Olivia White is a die-hard Cleveland Browns football fan and flew to London for the game. I watched in her honor, but not surprisingly, the Browns lost.
That was pretty much my day. Tomorrow morning I have to drive to Hyannis to report for jury duty at 8:30 am. I have never been called to serve on jury duty before, so I have no way of knowing what it will be like. I am a bit nervous about it because it will mean that I can’t answer my phone if Justin calls and needs something. Tomorrow he had hoped to return to the Maximo Solar to discuss different options and I have so many things I want to convey to him about that. Hopefully either Barnstable County won’t really need me on jury duty or Justin will call when I am on a break. Somehow, we’ll figure it out.
by Judy Handley | Oct 28, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 301: Clams and Soccer
Date: Saturday, October 28, 2017
Weather: Cooler, but Sunny; High 59, Low 56 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Clams and soccer don’t necessarily go together, but I spent my day engaged with both. This morning, Peter Baranowski, whom I call the Clam King, took me and Margaret Souza for an introductory clamming lesson. This was an unofficial Newcomers outing. I stopped at Heather and Jed’s to pick up the clam rake and bucket and Jonah and Sam looked at me like I was crazy. “You’re going clamming . . . now?” They associate clamming with summer, not with late October. It was cool and a bit windy, but the sun dominated, and the water really wasn’t all that cool. I had on my dive skin, and I was perfectly warm the whole time. Margaret had been clamming once before, but I had never been, so we really were both novices. Not a problem for Peter. He took us to his favorite spot and we waded out into the water to the top of my thighs (Peter’s knees). He taught us how to use the rake, and instantly we started raking in the quahogs. Peter filled his bucket, but then he is about 6 feet 7 inches tall and handles the rake like it is a toothpick. Margaret and I are both in the 5-foot range and handling the long-handled rake is a bit more difficult for us. But I was delighted to fill my bucket to the half-way mark! But even more than that, I just truly enjoyed being out in the water and learning a new skill. I have been intimidated by the idea of clamming. But no more. Thank you, Peter!
We were clamming about two miles from Heather and Jed’s, so I stopped by their house on my way home to return to the rake and bucket and show off the clams. Before leaving, I planted a few garlic cloves in the garden and then I headed home to get dry clothes on and head back out to Jonah’s final soccer game of the fall season. Ollie had a birthday party to attend, so Heather went with him. But Jed and Sam were at Jonah’s game. Jonah’s team ended the season with 5 wins, no losses, and 2 tied games. Jonah didn’t score today, but he played like a champ. His good friend Luke made the only point of the game and Jonah was so happy for him.
He would have loved to score as well, but it was great to see his joy for Luke.
Tomorrow is Sam’s final game, and hopefully the heavy wind and rain we are expecting will hold off until after the game. At this point, it looks like the winds will build during the afternoon and then we will get slammed tomorrow evening into Monday.
I did not hear from Justin today, but I must report something I forgot to mention in last night’s log. Some of you have inquired about Ziggy, and Justin did tell me last night that Ziggy is recovering just fine from his fall. Evidently Jo has a photo of his swollen lips right after the fall that will get posted on Facebook at some point. Hopefully today’s no news, is good news.
by Judy Handley | Oct 27, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 300: My Best Friend
Date: Friday, October 27, 2017
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 62, Low 46 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Today was the 43rd anniversary of my marriage to Mark Handley. It was a day of reflection for me. Mark was not only my husband and the father of our children. He was my best friend. I miss him more than words can possibly describe, but I live on in his spirit—live every day to its fullest, reach out, explore, learn . . . never sit around and be sad. I met Mark at an educational television conference in Baltimore, Maryland, in September 1973. It was love at first sight, and two weeks later I drove to Bloomington, Indiana, to meet him for a second time. I was driving a little light blue Ford Pinto and he met me in his classy hunter green Fiat convertible. He had on his raggedy jeans and his signature white v-neck undershirt which was also raggedy. When we got to his house, he had a bottle of perfectly chilled Pouilly-Fuisse waiting to toast our new relationship. I was then, and always will be, a beer drinker, but on all of our anniversaries from that first meeting in Bloomington forward, we always celebrated with Pouilly-Fuisse. So, tonight I bought a bottle of this wine and made a toast to Mark to let him know how much I appreciate the world he opened up to me. Happy anniversary to my best friend!
I had lunch with friends today. Karen and Peter Baranowski are friends I have met through the Falmouth Newcomers Club. They invited me and another Newcomers member, Margaret Souza, for lunch. Peter is an avid clam digger and seems to be an endless source of fresh clams. We had his fresh clam chowder for lunch, which was delicious, as well as freshly backed Portuguese bread Margaret delivered from Fall River. There was also a wonderful arugula, walnut, and pomegranate seed salad provided by Karen. Yummy, yummy lunch and great conversation. After lunch I headed back to Solar Rising to seek more information for the solar project we are planning for Justin and Jo’s home in Puerto Rico, and then I went to the gym for a 20-20-20 class. I had planned a quiet evening at home, but the minute I walked through the door, I got a ding on my phone telling me Justin was trying to reach me via Skype messaging. Long story short, Walgreens is sending crew to PR to restore internet to their stores and Justin was trying to reach one of their agents to offer him and his crew a place to stay in return for the installation of internet service. Justin had no cell service today, so he was not able to contact the guy in charge of this effort directly. He was able to message me the phone number. I called the guy and arranged for them to ‘talk’ via Skype messaging or a phone,call later tonight. Evidently cell service is better later in the evening. I have heard nothing further, so hopefully they were able to connect. In between my messaging with Justin, I talked to Mark’s brother Steve. He had sent an email worried that Justin and family and neighbors didn’t have enough to eat and he wanted to know what he could to help. I assured him that Justin says everyone has food. It might not be the most nutritious, but they are eating. And they have water from springs and the rain. Not a perfect situation, but they are surviving quite well. But it was great to talk to Steve. I often feel like I am working in a vacuum and contact with someone who understands the situation was a wonderful relief for me.
by Judy Handley | Oct 26, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 299: Good Days, Bad Days
Date: Thursday, October 26, 2017
Weather: Overcast and Rainy; High 64, Low 45 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Yesterday there was good news from Puerto Rico. Justin felt like he was going to get back to work. Packages arrived. Everything was moving along just fine. Then I got a call from Justin around noon today with not so good news. Somehow Hopi, their horse, got through the fencing and was hit by a car up on the road. Justin went up to deal with the situation and found that the horse seemed to be okay, but there was damage to the car that hit the horse and the police made it clear that either Justin would pay for the damage or he would have to go to court. As they said, by law you have to keep your animals on your own property. Period. As Justin said, he has car insurance but not horse insurance, so he will have to pay immediately once there is an estimate of the damages. Not what they needed right now, but to add insult to injury, Ziggy also got injured during all of this. He’s okay, although Justin says he doesn’t look like it. Evidently the kids were told not to go up to the road where the accident happened, but Ziggy ran up the hill and tried to climb over the tall medal gate at the top of the drive way. He got to the top of the gate, about chest high on an adult, and then somehow fell over and right onto his face. His lips are terribly swollen and he has lots of scrapes, but Justin thinks he will be fine. Of course, Ziggy was devastated. He had done something he had been told not to do and gotten hurt. And the horse he loves was also injured. Ugh! My heart breaks for him, but as Justin said it was quite fortuitous that the package of Halloween fun sent from Team Handley/Hunt for Ziggy and Coco arrived yesterday. It helped Ziggy to be able to decorate the house and both he and Coco loved the wooden masks from Michael’s that you color with permanent markers. I’m so grateful that there was a little joy mixed with the sadness.
Today Justin went to Maximo Solar to check out the mini off-grid system they had advertised on their website. Somehow that kit is no longer available, but more expensive packages with the exact same equipment are available. I have asked my “technical team” to advise me, but when there is only one game in town, you have to play it. Justin won’t be able to go back tomorrow, but on Monday, maybe we can purchase a solar system that will give them lights and ceiling fans to move the air, refrigeration, the use of the washing machine (with water carried from the spring), and power to charge computers, phones, etc. Ziggy will be so excited about this as he has been maintaining his aquariums by adding fresh water every day in the absence of electricity to run the water pumps. Sure hope we can actually get the solar system and that Ziggy’s little creatures survive. I managed to get about half-way through my To Do list for the day and will continue tomorrow.
