by Judy Handley | Sep 3, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 246: Rainy Day Shopping
Date: Sunday, September 3, 2017
Weather: Rainy Day; High 68, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Rainy days are perfect for going shopping, so that’s what I did today. I needed some things from Costco which is a little more than an hour away, so just before noon I headed there. My timing was perfect as I got to listen to Living Lab’s first airing on WGBH, Boston public radio. WGBH is the mother station for WCAI, the Cape and Islands public radio station, where Heather’s science program, Living Lab, airs weekly. And as of today, it also airs in Boston at noon on Sundays. As I drove toward Boston today listening to Living Lab, I couldn’t help but be very, very, very proud of my daughter. She describes herself as a public radio “baby” growing up in a home with a radio in every room of the house tuned to public radio. So, when she made the decision to move from doing science to writing about science, public radio became her outlet. When you listen to her interviewing scientists and helping listeners interpret what they are saying, you know she made the right decision.
I’ve spent my evening watching the WVU-Virginia Tech football game, a Patriot’s pre-season game, while also watching Masterpiece Theater. First time in my life I’ve been a TV channel surfer. Neither game went my way, but with football, there’s always next week. I also checked in with Sam and Dawn on Windbird. Sam is removing Windbird’s transmission and will be taking it to Mack Boring in New Jersey on Tuesday for an overhaul. Then Sam, Dawn, and Dawn’s mother will continue on to tour New York City. They won’t be sailing into New York City this year, but at least the transmission problem reared its ugly head before they were out to sea. And hopefully everything will be ship-shape in time for them to sail south for the winter.
by Judy Handley | Sep 2, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 245: Canning Marinara Sauce
Date: Saturday, September 2, 2017
Weather: Most Cloudy and Still on the Chilly Side; High 66, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
It was a good day. After Zumba class, most of the rest of the day was spent canning 22 pints of marinara sauce, but the best part of the day came at the beginning. I mentioned in my log last night that I was sending an email to David Laux to see if he could in some way once again come to Windbird’s aid. I got an email from him bright and early telling me had already called Sam. Then I got text messages from Sam thanking me for helping to make the contact and updating me on the transmission issue. It is not good news that Windbird has transmission issues, but it is very good news that Dave is available and willing to help in any way that he can. Unfortunately, Windbird is on the New Jersey side of the Delaware Bay and Dave is on the Delaware side making getting together a bit difficult. Sam and I brainstormed a few ideas, but I haven’t heard anything back since our flurry of texts this morning. I’m sure I’ll hear something tomorrow. So once again, stay tuned.
by Judy Handley | Sep 1, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 244: Last Day of Camp Oma 2017
Date: Friday, September 1, 2017
Weather: Beautiful Day with a Chill in the Air; High 69, Low 46 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Today was the last official day of Camp Oma 2017. It has been a wonderful summer and we celebrated with a quiet morning in the neighborhood and then one last trip to the Wood Neck marsh with friends. Jonah’s friend Luke came with his summer nanny, Kailee.
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All summer long, the boys have been begging to buy a treat from the ice cream truck that travels all day long from beach to beach playing its merry tune selling nothing that is really fit for human consumption. But when the truck arrived right at the end of our afternoon at Wood Neck, I finally gave in and ended up with happy boys, even if the ice cream did turn their tongues blue!
Tonight I got a text from Sam on Windbird. Sam and Dawn, and Dawn’s mother from South Dakota, sailed out of Annapolis yesterday headed this way. Their plan was to exit the Delaware Bay this afternoon and arrive in New York City by tomorrow night. But as they headed out of the Delaware Bay into the Atlantic, they experienced transmission difficulties. Deja vu. It was in 2005 that Windbird was headed toward the Delaware Bay that Mark and I encountered transmission problems. Sam was able to get Windbird into Cape May and will start the trouble shooting process in the morning. Because of their limited time, this probably means they won’t make it to Cape Cod next week, as right now they are just hoping to be able to limp back to some place where they can get work done on the transmission. Cape May is not really the place for that. When Mark and I had this problem in 2005, we met a fisherman named Dwayne on the town dock in Lewes, Delaware, who gave us the phone number for the person that became our engine guru. As we sailed around the world, I often thought of David Laux as our guardian angel. He fixed the old transmission, but advised us to sell the engine and install a new one. Best advice we ever got. Plus, we learned so much from him and he was always there via email to give us advice when needed. I sent him an email tonight in the hopes that he might be available to once again come to the aid of Windbird. Stay tuned for the continuing saga.
by Judy Handley | Aug 31, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 243: Happy Little Fishermen
Date: Thursday, August 31, 2017
Weather: Beautiful Day; High 80, Low 52 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Little Boys + Fishing Rods + Rocks to Climb On = Perfect Day
The Goldpebbles decided they wanted to go fishing today. I’m certainly not a fisherman, but off we went. We needed some gear, so we had to make a couple of stops before heading to Quissett Harbor. Jonah decided the location—the rocky shore on the Buzzards Bay side of the Knob.A strong onshore wind made casting almost impossible, but the boys didn’t care. They were much more interested in climbing on the rocks than fishing. I suggested that we eat our picnic lunch which was a bit of a Mediterranean smorgasbord–salami, olives, cheese, crackers, carrots and celery, and watermelon—and then head across to the Quissett Bay side and fish off the rocks.
Sam spent a lot of time sitting on a big rock rigging his new fishing pole.
Ollie found a rock his size and was content with just dangling his new lure in the water.
And Jonah found the biggest rock and practiced casting until his new lure got caught in the rocks well off shore.
He pulled a little too hard and broke the line—sad to lose his new lure, but feeling good about fishing from the top of his big rock. There were no fish for us today, but we learned a lot and had a wonderful time doing it. We ended the day with a walk through the woods, some tree climbing along the way, and then jumping in the water before heading home.
Oh, I should mention that we also spent a good deal of time untangling fishing line. When Jonah’s line broke, it got really tangled. I tried to help but he just looked at me and said, “Oma, I wish Granddad was here. I know he could get this untangled.” And all I could say is that I agreed with him. But we persisted and fixed the problem. Granddad would have been proud of us. And once we got home, I got the last 10 pounds of tomatoes processed. Successful day!
by Judy Handley | Aug 30, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 242: School Shopping and Processing Tomatoes
Date: Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Weather: Rainy Morning, Turning Sunny in Afternoon; High 68, Low 56 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Today I feel a bit like a squirrel getting ready for winter. After Sam and Jonah had early morning dentist appointments, we went shopping for new soccer cleats and school supplies. Jed joined us at Olympia Sports to help with soccer cleat choices. Then the boys and I went to Staples for the school supplies. There were lots of other kids shopping for school supplies and some items are already sold out. But the boys took everything in stride and were incredibly helpful in making all the choices. They seemed so very grown up. After Staples, we went to Peach Tree Farm to pick up 30 pounds of organic tomatoes and enough garlic to get me through the next few months. After we got home and had lunch, the boys played away their afternoon while I started processing tomatoes. To make marinara sauce to can for the winter months, you first have to blanch the tomatoes and remove the skin and seeds. I was only able to get through 20 pounds today, but I will hopefully have time to do the other 10 pounds tomorrow. When I got home this evening, I cut and sautéed the other veggies that go into the sauce—onions, garlic, carrots, and celery. When all is done, everything is put through the blender at high speed to make a smooth sauce—no tomato chunks for the Goldpebbles! Then we will simmer and pressure can to preserve the taste of summer. But tomorrow and Friday during the day, the boys and I will work in a little beach time. School starts on Tuesday, so we will do our best to continue making summer memories right up to the last minute.
by Judy Handley | Aug 29, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 241: Inside a Whale and Mud Flat Mania
Date: Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Weather: Overcast, Still Cool; High 69, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
We spent this overcast day at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History. And we took some of the neighborhood with us. Cole and Leo, and their mom Jeanne, met us there and the five boys had a great time exploring. We went in the butterfly house to see Monarchs and Red Admirals up close.
We solved puzzles, found the queen bee with the blue dot in the bee hive display, saw the underside of a skate that looks like a cartoon happy face,
turned ourselves in an octopus in the Museum shop,
sat inside an life-sized inflatable humpback whale,
had a picnic lunch, and then walked out to the mud flats where the boys ran wild in true ‘mud flat mania’ style in a setting on the Cape Cod Bay that is as beautiful as they get. Lucky us to live where sea shore beauty abounds.
There are only six more days until the first day of school, so we are trying to pack in as much fun with friends as we can. Tomorrow is totally unplanned except for early morning dentist appointments for Sam and Jonah. It will be interesting to see where the day leads us.
