by Judy Handley | May 9, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Days 129: Stuck Behind My Computer Screen
Date: Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 53 degrees F, Low 43
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
I didn’t even stick my head out the front door today. I was completely stuck behind my computer screen for the entire day—except for running to the oven to deal with the granola I was baking. On the computer, I was searching for possible homes to buy and working on the gathering of my family in West Virginia in June. And that just about sums up my day. The only thing I can add that is Windbird left Fort Pierce yesterday headed for Little River in South Carolina. They are making great time and should arrive there by Thursday morning if the weather holds.
by Judy Handley | May 8, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Days 128: Taking Care of Business
Date: Monday, May 8, 2017
Weather: Partly Cloudy, Windy; High 59 degrees F, Low 43
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Out of the last 97 days, since the first of February, I have actually been away from home one more day than I’ve been home—48 home and 49 away. And two of the weeks that I was home in March I was down and out with a terrible cold/sinus infection. So, it’s no wonder that I returned home from the Bahamas to a pile of papers that had piled up and needed to be gone through, filed, or thrown out. So that was my day today. I spent my time taking care of business. Going through the pile of papers and files reminded me that I still have lots of organizing to do for the Martin family gathering in June. In preparation for that gathering, I spent a great deal of time on family history research in March and April and I need to get back to that. Before leaving for the Bahamas, I was also trying to decide whether to stay in my present apartment for the next year or buy a home. It didn’t help that today the landlord payed me a visit and wanted me to sign a lease for the next year a month and a half early. He said everyone else in the complex is on a May 1 to May 1 contract and it would make him easier on him if I were on the same cycle. I told him I’d think about it and he left the papers to be signed. So now I have move quickly on that front. And then there are the eight days of Food Revolution interviews that I missed while I was gone. This is an internet-based annual ‘conference’ of sorts where experts on eating right to stay healthy speak for three hours each day. I listened to the Day 9 summary today, but now I need to find time to listen to the other 24 hours of interviews. The pile of papers is gone, but there’s still plenty to do. But I am taking time to get back into my classes at the gym. Today the class was 20-20-20. It was the instructor’s 40th birthday and she was bemoaning the fact that she is half way to 80. She has four decades to go while I have only one. Ouch!
by Judy Handley | May 7, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Days 127: Sunday is a Friends and Family Day
Date: Sunday, May 7, 2017
Weather: Sunny AM, Mostly Cloudy PM with Sprinkles; High 57 degrees F, Low 43
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
After spending my morning at home trying to get my life in order after being gone for two and half weeks, I headed out to Sam’s soccer game at noon. Sam got home this morning from his two-night Scout camping experience and then had to turn right around and get ready for the soccer game. It was a good game that ended with neither team scoring, but both teams played well. Jed co-coaches the team with a good friend, but Jed was on his own today and at the end of the game he was so proud of how well the boys played. I spent part of the time watching the game and part of the time shooting goals with Ollie. And then we headed back to Heather and Jed’s to attend a celebration next door. Mollie, “the girl next door” who is Jonah’s age, had her First Communion this morning and good friends and family were invited to the Keefe’s this afternoon. Mollie was a very proud eight year-old wearing a modified version of her mother’s First Communion dress. Mollie’s grandmother added a new skirt to the dress since Mollie is taller than her mother was at this age. Heather and Jed had to eat and run as they were headed to Hyannis to buy a new kitchen stove at Sears. They have had issues with their stove for the last couple of years, but this past week their oven just completely stopped working. So, it was an absolutely necessary and successful trip. A new stove will be delivered on Tuesday. But while they went shopping, I stayed at the Keefe’s with the Ollie, Jonah, and Sam. All of the boys in attendance interchanged playing baseball in the backyard with watching a Red Sox’s game in the livingroom. Ollie was the youngest and eventually he talked me into going next door to his backyard to be pitcher for him without the competition of the older boys. Then Sam and Jonah continued to stay at the Keefe’s while I went with Ollie to a nearby side street where he likes to ride his bike. Eventually Mollie joined us for biking and announced that the boys had gone to Heather and Jed’s to play and that her mom had put Sam in charge. At that point, I decided that we needed to go home to check on things, but all was well and we returned to biking for just a bit longer. It was a delightful afternoon. After Heather and Jed got home, I headed back to my place for the evening. Right now I’m getting ready to listen to President Obama’s acceptance speech of the John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award. He is at this moment accepting the award, so I’ll sign off and listen.
by Judy Handley | May 6, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Days 126: Hanging Out with Ollie and Jonah
Date: Saturday, May 6, 2017
Weather: Rainy Morning, Some Sunshine Late Afternoon; High 65 degrees F, Low 50
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
My afternoon was spent with Ollie and Jonah. Just after noon, Heather headed to Boston to the Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair and Jed was still at the Scout camp-out with Sam. We spent the rainy part of the early afternoon playing indoors, but mid-afternoon it cleared and the sun came out. At that point, everyone wanted to be outside, so we spent the next hour riding bikes around the neighborhood with friends. I’m exhausted tonight because I don’t have a bike, so I was walking as fast as I could to make sure Ollie was safe riding with the older kids. The walking is good for me, but I think I need to buy a bike for the summer. Ollie can ride as fast as the big kids now, and I just can’t keep up. When we got close to the neighborhood ice cream shop, Smitty’s, Jonah suggested we all go get ice cream. Everyone agreed, but that meant I had to walk home to get money. Ollie rode along with me and when we returned I went to Smitty’s with five kids. After we all enjoyed an ice cream cone, the kids headed across the street to the library lawn which is on a pond. I sat and talked with a friend of Heather’s and the mother of two of the bike riders while the kids played. There were trees in blossom on the library lawn which made it look very much like spring even though the weather has not seemed much like that.
But signs of spring always make a smile. All too soon, it was time to head back to Heather and Jed’s to get the car and drive to my house. Jed and I had been texting back and forth and had decided to meet at my place for dinner. Jed actually got home (Sam returns in the morning) just as we were leaving. We had raided the refrigerator for pizza toppings and Jed was going to stop to pick up pizza dough on the way. We watched the Kentucky Derby and ate homemade pizza. While we were eating, Heather joined us as she had just returned from Boston. After dinner while the adults talked, Jonah and Ollie found my snorkel gear that has not been put away and came swimming down the hallway floor on their bellies in full snorkel gear.
I loved it! But I must admit it made me nostalgic for the warm, turquoise water of the Bahamas.
by Judy Handley | May 5, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Days 125: Back Home on Cape Cod
Date: Friday, May 5, 2017
Weather: Ouch! Overcast, Heavy Rain, and Cool, Temp in the 50’s F
Location: Back Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Yes, I’m definitely aware that I’m back home on the Cape and no longer in the Bahamas. I got off the plane in Boston wearing my summer slip-on shoes, light weight Columbia capris and a tank top with a short sleeve top over it. These were the warmest clothes I had with me, so thankfully I had also taken a polar fleece jacket because the temp in Boston when we landed was 47 degrees F. Ouch, ouch, ouch! Today went much smoother than yesterday. Brad and Sue got up with me at 5 am and they both took me to the West Palm Beach Airport. They were a real life saver for me yesterday. Brad and Sue, thank you, thank you! My flight was at 7:15 am. I boarded the plane and sat back to relax . . . until we took off. It was the bumpiest take-off I’ve ever encountered, but the decent into Baltimore was even bumpier. In fact, it was the first time I have ever been just a tad scared on a flight. So I was very happy that the Baltimore to Boston leg of the trip was a bit smoother, but the weather in both Baltimore and Boston was overcast, cold, and rainy. Yuck! My bag had been sent to Boston on the Delta flight that I couldn’t get on yesterday, but as promised, it was waiting in the Baggage Storage Office. I had to wait 45 minutes for the bus to the Cape and was relieved when I arrived at the Park & Ride and saw my car. You never know when you leave your car in a lot for a couple of weeks if it will still all be in one piece, but it was fine. I stopped to see the Goldpebbles before returning home. I sure have missed those little guys, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to call them ‘little’ guys much longer. Sam and Jed were getting ready to leave for a Scout camping weekend and Sam was wearing Heather’s hiking boots. And they fit! He’s not so little anymore. I didn’t stay long as I was anxious to get home, turn the heat up, and just kick back for a bit. I will spend most of tomorrow with Jonah and Ollie as Heather has to go to Boston to moderate the State Science Fair, so I’ll be with them until Jed gets home from the camp-out.
A few days ago I wrote this really comprehensive day by day overview of my Bahamas adventure on Windbird. But I have no idea where I saved it, if I did save it. So I’m going to post here a few photos that show the highlights of the seventeen days on Windbird in the Bahamas. We made tracks in that short period of time.
Arrival in Georgetown . . . Reuniting with Windbird . . . Meeting Piper the Sailing Dog . . . Happy Hour with Cruising Friends Rick and Robyn of Endangered Species . . . Dinner at the Chat ‘n Chill
Snorkeling Stocking Island . . . Monument Beach . . . Dawn’s Tacos in a Bag
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Warderick Wells South Anchorage with Isabelle and Dan on Epiic . . . Nassau Groupers . . . Hawksbill Turtle . . . Massive Lobster . . . Spotted Eagle Ray
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Beautiful Hog Cay Anchorage . . . Wild Dinghy Ride to Malabar Cays . . . Queen Angelfish and Triggerfish . . . Dawn’s No-Knead Bread
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Spinnaker Sail to Rock Sound, Eleuthera . . . Meeting Behan and Jamie on Totem . . . Dinner at Rose’s . . . Snorkeling The Ocean Hole . . . Glass Window Bridge . . . Queen’s Bath . . . Cave at Hatchett Bay . . . Governor’s Harbor . . . Searching for a Pink Sand Beach . . . Meeting the Kids on Totem
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Overnight Sail to Abaco . . . Great Guana Cay . . . Drinks at Grabber’s and Dinner at Nipper’s
Beautiful Hopetown . . . Candy-Striped Lighthouse . . . Quaint Village . . . Pink Sand Beach . . . Drinks at Reef Bar & Grill, Hope Town Harbor Lodge
More Spinnaker Sailing from Marsh Harbor to Allans-Pensacola Cay . . . Last Dose of Beautiful Water . . . Sunset on the Little Bahama Banks
Just Hanging Out on Windbird . . . Thank you, Sam and Dawn
by Judy Handley | May 4, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Days 123 & 124: Back in the USA
Date: Thursday, May 3 & 4, 2017
Weather: Partly Sunny
Location: At Home with Sue and Brad Cook, Boynton Beach, FL
I’m not where I am supposed to be tonight which would be back home on Cape Cod, but Windbird did arrive in Fort Pierce this morning after a successful Gulf Stream Crossing. This is going to be what I call a skeleton log–just the basics–with a promise to write more detail when I get home. Yesterday Windbird left Allans-Pensacola Cay at 6:30 am, crossed the Little Bahama Banks, and arrived at Memory Rock around 9 pm and headed across the Gulf Stream for the Florida Coast. We had to motor much of the trip home due to the fact that what wind there was just didn’t seem to stay where we needed it to be. But anytime you cross the Gulf Stream without issues, I call that a successful crossing. We arrived in Harbortown Marina in Fort Pierce at 10 am, hitched a ride to the Customs Office in an Uber car, checked into the country, and then then headed back to the marina via Uber. A minute or so after we arrived, I got a call from Brad and Sue saying they were in the marina and needed directions to find us. They drove up from Boynton Beach to pick me up and take me to the airport.
We had a delicious lunch at the marina and off we went. When Sam and I went to Windbird to get my bags, I got teary-eyed. Saying goodbye to Windbird has always been hard but Sam, Dawn, Piper the sailing dog, and myself certainly had a fun-filled two weeks of sailing.
I will write more tomorrow night about the Bahamas adventure, but tonight I am just plain tuckered out. For a day that started out so good, it surely ended up to be a frustrating one.
After lunch Sue and Brad took me to the West Palm Beach airport to catch a flight back to Boston. The problem was that I was flying stand-by on Delta and there was no room on the first flight, not on the second. By this time it was almost 6 pm and the next possibility for a Boston-bound flight was at 10:45 pm. I gave up and called Sue and Brad to come get me. As always, they were there for me, fed me dinner, and have offered me a place to sleep for the night. After failing the stand-by test, I won’t go into all of the details of problems I have had trying to book a flight home tomorrow–some airline website problems, some computer issues (I can’t send or receive email on my computer because I think it thinks I’m an alien!), and some money issues as next day flights were much more expensive tonight than they were this morning. But I finally found a 7:15 am flight. Brad will take me to the airport early in the morning and I will be flying Southwest home. This afternoon and evening were just one hassle right after another, so I’m hoping for smooth sailing tomorrow.
