by Judy Handley | Oct 5, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 278: Holding It Together . . . Sort of
Date: Thursday, October 5, 2017
Weather: Partly Sunny and Windy; High 77, Low 61 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
I’ve lost track of the days since we have heard anything from Justin or Jo in Puerto Rico. I got can email on Saturday, Jo’s mother got a WhatsApp message on Sunday, and I heard from Justin via Skype messaging on Monday. And that was it. No more communications. Obviously, the source of wifi comes and goes like everything else in Puerto Rico right now. The US Post Office tracking system keeps saying packages I sent are on their way to Rincon, but they have been saying the same thing since Monday. The postman here thinks it is possible that the packages I sent have arrived but there is no way for the Rinco PO to get that information into the system. He encourages me to keep sending packages, so I sent batteries today. Maybe Justin has received the money I sent tucked in between water filter and snacks, or maybe he has not. The only source of local information I can find is on Rincon Facebook pages. Supposedly one person received packages sent since the storm, but the package was opened and the super expensive water filters were not in the box. This is one time that I hope the information I read is Fake News! A day or two ago I read that there was a way to send money to Rincon via Western Union, but today the posts indicate that the nearest pick-up is 15 miles south of Rincon in Mayaguez. And evidently even the local bank, which is not Justin’s bank, does not have enough money to let people have more than $100 here and there, and other banks are not open. So, no communication and no way to get money to Justin and Jo. I just hope, hope, hope that the package I sent with water filters and money arrived intact and that they received it. For now, Facebook is the only way I can feel connected. I have never really been a Facebook user, and now just as they are under such intense scrutiny, I have become a believer. At least for now, I am so grateful Facebook is there to keep us all connected. With the little bit of Rincon information I get on Facebook, I am holding it together . . . sort of. I just can’t imagine what it must be like for Justin and Jo who have no source of information and challenges greater than they have ever had to face. Hopefully they, too, are holding it together.
Now on a happier note. Happy birthday (a few days early) to my good friend Jane Woodin. Bruce and Jane are headed to Europe on Saturday, so Olivia and I took Jane to lunch today to celebrate. When I looked at the photos we took, I decided we look like ‘The Three Amigos’!
Safe and wonderful travels to Bruce and Jane.
by Judy Handley | Oct 4, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 277: Trip to the Aptucxet Trading Post
Date: Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Weather: Sunny and Windy; High 72, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Today I went on my first field trip with the Newcomers Teacher Group.
This group plans one field trip per month during the year, and I can only hope that each month’s trip will be as fascinating as today’s. When I told Heather we were visiting the Aptucxet Trading Post here on the Cape, she said she had never heard of it. Neither had I. But it is definitely a hidden gem right here in our own backyard. When the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth in 1620, they brought with them debt owed to support their travel across the ocean. We all know the story of how they struggled for survival once they arrived, and as they struggled for life, they also had to deal with the reality that they owed a huge debt to the Plymouth Company. This was the English joint-stock company founded for the purpose of establishing colonies in North America. Those first settlers had to find a way to repay their funders and in order to do this, they started trading with the local Native Americans—the Wampanoag tribe. This trade spread from Maine to Connecticut to New Amsterdam in what is now New York. And the first physical trading post was right her on Cape Cod. It was a simple structure to hold goods for trading. What stands today is a replica of what once existed. The current building was constructed from as many materials from the 1600’s as could be acquired. I was especially impressed by the hand-made bricks in the fireplace.
They were excavated on-site, so were a part of the original building. The traders had to come up with a form of money and much to the consternation of the Native Americans, that ended up to be wampum. Wampum is made-up of white and purple beads made from quahog clam shells that the Native Americans had in abundance.
Once it was used as the monetary system for trading, each white bead was worth so much and each purple bead was worth twice a white one. A six-foot long string of beads was the main measure. The Dutch from New Amsterdam had sugar from the Caribbean, spices, and pottery to trade. The Native Americans in Maine had fur pelts. Salt was made here on the Cape. And the English had pewter and various metal tools that were most desirable. All of these things were brought to the Trading Post for the exchanges.
The docent at the Trading Post made history come alive for us. We sat at a table where traders would have gathered for meals and discussion. We held the metal spoons they would have used as their only eating utensils and saw the cone of sugar that would have been sitting on the table.
We got to hold the deer, otter, beaver, and raccoon pelts. I’ll definitely be visiting The Trading Post with the Goldpebbles as I think they will love it. After the tour, the group went to lunch together. And at the end of the luncheon, I was called upon to describe the November field trip to the Harvard Museums that I will be leading. I’m really looking forward to that trip and I think I am definitely going to enjoy this group. Learning new things is what retired teachers do.
I picked Ollie and Jonah up from school today while Heather picked-up Sam. Sam was returning from a three-day school field trip to the Cape Cod National Seashore. All of Falmouth’s fifth grade students went on this field trip. What a wonderful opportunity for them. After school, Ollie and I played word games and giggled for almost an hour at our silly made-up words. Then I took Jonah to soccer practice and headed home. Falmouth schools have a four-day weekend coming up, so Heather and family are headed to Maine after school tomorrow. They are going to attend the Damarascotta Pumpkinfest & Regatta where huge pumpkins will be hollowed out and raced as boats while others are dropped from cranes onto trucks. It is one of the top five New England pumpkin festivals and it sounds like something little boys will love.
No news from Justin today. And what news I did hear from Puerto Rico was not good. The damn to the west of San Juan is still in jeopardy and there was a major sewage breech to the east of San Juan. That breech could taint the only sources of water for the people on that side of the island. I still have no confirmation that the first packages sent to Justin and Jo have arrived. And I don’t know if we didn’t hear from them yesterday or today because they don’t have the gas to drive to town or whether the wifi spot in town is no longer working. Worry. Worry.
by Judy Handley | Oct 2, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 275: Too Much
Date: Monday, October 2, 2017
Weather: Still Cool and Sunny; High 64, Low 48 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Near the end of August, Hurricane Harvey hit the east coast of Texas hard. Tuesday, September 5th was the first day of school here, but it was the day before Hurricane Irma stormed past Puerto Rico. Then on Sunday, September 10th, Irma ripped through Florida. During this time, the worry about Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco in Puerto Rico and Mark’s family in Florida was intense. Then two weeks after Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Maria blasted Puerto Rico with her fury. It has now been twelve days since Maria hit Puerto Rico and I’m having a very hard time seeing that much has been done to help the people there. They are shell-shocked with the devastation—no running water, no electricity, no easy way to communicate. And now today we wake up to learn about the tragic 59 deaths and 527 people injured in Las Vegas in the biggest mass shooting in the history of our country. This catastrophe was man-made, not an extreme weather event, and that makes it even worse. This one is something we could have tried to prevent. I simply don’t believe the citizens of any country need automatic/semi-automatic rifles for any reason. I don’t believe this is our right as Americans. The right for individual citizens to bear arms as written in our Second Amendment doesn’t say we have the right to possess guns that can kill the masses. This is just too much and we need to have an honest, really honest conversation about gun control without the NRA officiating.
My heart goes out to the families of the victims in Las Vegas and to all of the people of Las Vegas who have to live in the wake of this traumatic event. But I am a mother and a grandmother and my focus is still on Puerto Rico. There was nothing in the news today due to the focus on Las Vegas, but I’m sure we’ll hear news tomorrow of all the wonderful support Puerto Rica has been given when our President visits the island. In my communications with Justin, he has never mentioned anything about food or water arriving in Rincon, but I do believe the community has recently received fuel. Communications are getting a bit easier. Today Justin found that the Rincon Brewery has internet and they are allowing people to come use it for limited communications. I’m assuming Rincon must have gotten a fuel delivery that has enabled the Brewery and the townhall to have limited internet. But Justin mentioned today that he might not be able to come back to town to check for mail until later in the week as he has to conserve fuel. The packages we have sent through the US Postal System still say they are in transit to Rincon. I am basically going to hold my breath until I see those packages delivered to the Post Office. Right now, the US mail looks to be the only possibility of getting needed supplies to Justin and family. I can put money in his bank account, but he has no way to get the money out. And he is running out of cash. Worry, worry. But the good news is that Justin can now text via Skype and WhatsApp when he can get to town to that Brewery. At least for now, there is some communication.
by Judy Handley | Oct 1, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 274: Racial Justice for All
Date: Sunday, October 1, 2017
Weather: Cool and Partly Sunny; High 60, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
A local coalition of grassroots organizations, including No Place for Hate, Engage Falmouth, and the Falmouth Racial Justice League held a Racial Justice rally on the Falmouth Village Green late this afternoon. The Falmouth gathering was organized to shed light on the economic, racial, environmental, gender, and religious inequalities. I met up with friends Olivia and Terry White, and to my surprise, Sam and Jonah were there with neighbors. Heather and Jed were home fixing dinner for the whole crew while Jeanne Harper and Dan Hennen brought Sam, Jonah, and their sons Cole and Leo to the rally.
Representatives of different ethnic minority groups spoke about situations here on the Cape where they have been discriminated against. Yes, even here in liberal, forward-thinking Massachusetts, we have our fair share of people who still cannot accept people different from themselves. Evidently the representatives of the different groups are finding that the incidences of racial discrimination have increased since January of this year. No surprise there. I was especially touched by a young Woods Hole scientist from Puerto Rico. He was not speaking of local discrimination, but of a federal government that seems to display injustice in the way it responds to catastrophes in different locations depending on the make-up of the population.
His family lives on the south coast of Puerto Rico and his elderly grandmother has received only 7 bottles of water in the 11 days since the Hurricane Maria. This is something we might expect to happen in Bangladesh, not in a US territory that is only 1,000 miles away from Miami. The stories were hard to listen to, but they were good for us to hear.
I spent the rest of my day organizing the things I need to do starting tomorrow morning for Justin’s business—lots of contacts and inquiries to make. I also ordered more things to send to Puerto Rico. I was encouraged when I checked US Postal Service tracking this afternoon. It shows that the packages I have already sent have left New Jersey headed to San Juan. The tracking is showing that the packages will arrive in Rincon by 8 pm tomorrow night. There was a Red Alert message on the site listing the post offices in Puerto Rico that should be open for package pick-up this week and Rincon is one of them. Very good news. I don’t know how they are doing it, but it looks like even the greatest disaster has a hard time stopping the US mail. We’ll soon know if that is true.
by Judy Handley | Sep 30, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 273: Happy Birthday to Heather
Date: Saturday, September 30, 2017
Weather: Cool and Rainy; High 60, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Happy birthday to my beautiful and brilliant daughter, Heather Martin Handley Goldstone. Since I am her mother, I figure I have the right to brag! She had hoped to go camping with Jed and boys tonight for her birthday celebration, but the weather today was damp and cool. Smartly, they opted for an evening at home. I got a text from Jonah this afternoon saying I was ‘aloud’ to come over for homemade pizza and a family game night. He was in the car with Heather on the way to a soccer game off-Cape and Heather asked him to text me with the invitation. I loved the ‘aloud’ part added by Jonah. I graciously accepted the invitation and we had a nice evening together. Sam is playing drums in the school band this year and Ollie is interested in learning to play the violin, so they gave an after-dinner performance.
Sam is good on the drums, but I can see that we are going to have to fix up the basement so he can practice downstairs! And it was quite impressive the way Ollie kept the beat on the violin.
Jonah is in the chorus this year, but he didn’t get to showcase his musical talents as the music did not invite singing along. Jonah’s shining moment today was on the soccer field as he scored the only point of the game. It rained during the entire game, and at one point there was even thunder and the kids had to leave the field momentarily, but Heather said not one kid complained. Heather got one birthday surprise, a Facebook ‘Happy Birthday’ message from her brother. At some point before dinner, I checked my phone and saw that I had a couple of emails from Justin. How could this be? But when I read the first email I saw that Justin was in town today and found available internet. It is only a temporary source, but it gave him a chance to check his email, send some messages, and post a short message on his Facebook page. It was great to hear from him that things are still going along okay. I spent most of my day searching the internet for different items I want to purchase to send to Puerto Rico to help them keep things going along okay, and I was quite relieved to see that Facebook post confirming all is well for now.
I spent the rest of my day stewing about the situation in Puerto Rico. The mayor of San Juan is not the only person who is “mad as hell.” When I saw President Trump’s early morning tweets, my blood was boiling. I literally could not believe that anyone, especially not the President of the United States of America, would say that the people of Puerto Rico need to do more to help themselves. I just don’t know how any person that cares even one whit about human life could say such a thing. I know directly from Justin that since there has been absolutely no way to communicate, the people that live in his area know nothing about what is happening on the rest of the island. They are left in the dark without electricity and without information. Being totally cut off from any kind of communication is very scary. The people of Puerto Rico were just beginning to recover from Hurricane Irma when they were battered by Hurricane Maria, so naturally they are frightened. They are having to drink water out of streams and springs. They have no source of power and no way to communicate. They have very little cash and you can’t buy anything without it. The ATM’s aren’t working. There is only one bank open in Justin’s town and it allows only people with an account to withdraw only $100 a day because right now the bank has no way of getting additional cash. The people of Rincon spent full-time the first few days after Maria using machetes and anything that would cut to clear the trees from the roads. They are now working together to try and clean up their properties and Justin says that is resulting in many injuries. Right now, if you can get to town the drug stores do have some medical supplies, but there is the fear that infections will develop from the cuts and antibiotics won’t be available. The people have been doing this clean-up in the sweltering heat. Do more to help themselves? Let’s see President Trump and Melania put on waders and go house to house to see if people are safe, to see if they have water to drink, to see if they have food, to see if they need medical assistance. That is what the Mayor of San Juan did non-stop for days after the storm. The past couple of days she has been fighting the bureaucracy to try and get supplies that have just been sitting on the docks in San Juan distributed to the people across the island. I am frustrated beyond belief that our government has been dragging, dragging, dragging its feet in getting help to the people of Puerto Rico. And I am deeply ashamed that the President of the United States would berate the Mayor of San Juan and the people of Puerto Rico. So, Mr. President, take back your words. Beg for forgiveness and get things moving. When the Mayor of San Juan says that she cannot fathom that the greatest nation on earth cannot figure out how to get help out to the people on an island that is only 100 miles across and 35 miles wide, I have to agree with her. Our military is the best in the world at rebuilding nations. They know how to do this. But for whatever reason, in this case our government has not had the will to put its full force behind this effort. And who do you blame other than our leadership? I agree with Lin-Manuel Miranda, an American whose parents moved to New York City from Puerto Rico before their son was born. But they still have family in Puerto Rico. After Miranda read Trump’s early morning tweets, his message to Donald Trump was, “You’re going straight to hell.” Miranda is a wildly successful Pulitzer-Prize winning Broadway composer and lyricist who doesn’t mince words. Just wish I had thought to say it first.
by Judy Handley | Sep 30, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 272: Impromptu Trip to Boston
Date: Friday, September 29, 2017
Weather: Huge Change in Temperature; High 64, Low 51 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
An early morning email from Sam of Windbird said he was flying over Greenland on his way to Boston. Well, actually he was on break, not flying the plane at that moment. He said he would arrive in Boston at noon and be there until 7 pm tomorrow night when he flies to Paris. He wanted to know if I might be traveling to Boston for any reason today or tomorrow so we could get together for lunch or dinner. I emailed back that I had been contemplating a trip to Cambridge to check out details for a November trip to the Harvard Museum of Natural History and to Costco to buy batteries to send to Puerto Rico, and his email sealed the deal. I didn’t have that quiet day at home that I anticipated. I was off to Boston. I met Sam in Harvard Square, had lunch at the Maharaja Indian restaurant near the Square, walked through Ollie Harvard Yard, and had a beer on the outside deck of Grendel’s. It was a cool day, but the sky was blue and the sun shone brightly. Just perfect!
I always enjoy spending time with Sam. We both missed Dawn but I am hoping to see her in Chesapeake before they head to the islands for the winter. I picked Sam’s brain for suggestions for satellite-based communications equipment I could buy and send to Justin and Jo in Puerto Rico so we can be in touch with them. This not knowing what is happening from day to day is just so hard. Sam had some good ideas that I will check out this weekend. I’m going to be spending some time with Ollie tomorrow afternoon while Heather goes off in one direction with Jonah and Jed goes in another direction with Sam. I will be taking Ollie to a friend’s birthday party. But other than that, I hope to spend time catching up on correspondence and researching satellite communication ‘gizmos’.
