by Judy Handley | Nov 18, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 322: Headed to Florida Tomorrow
Date: Saturday, November 18, 2017
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Warmer, Rain Late; High 59, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
You know it’s bad when you are writing about today and it is already tomorrow! Where did my day go? Zumba this morning, to Heather’s to see if there was anything I could do to help her get ready for the Florida Trip, to the town dump Swap Shop to unload some things from the back of my car, to the high school to watch Jonah run in an annual track meet, home to bake a pie for tonight’s Dining In group dinner, back to Heather’s to watch boys while she went on a run, and then to dinner. It was about 9:30 when I got home and since then I have been doing those last minute things one does before a trip. I’m taking one suitcase for my clothes and personal items and another huge suitcase that Justin will take back to Puerto Rico with him. I thought I could fit my personal suitcase inside the bigger one, but with all the food items I am taking with me for the week, I needed the second suitcase to fit it all in. The last couple of hours have been spent repacking. Now I think I am ready and I can focus on the upcoming week. Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco are flying into Fort Lauderdale on Florida’s east coast tomorrow evening and then have to drive the two hours across to the west coast. Tickets directly to Fort Myers were just too expensive from San Juan and last summer when we booked the tickets, this arrangement seemed okay. But now I hate that we must wait even three more hours to see them. I arrive in Fort Myers, along with the Goldstones, around 6:30 pm. Sam, Jonah, and Ollie will be asleep before Ziggy and Coco arrive, so the little cousins will have their reunion early Monday morning. But no matter how late they arrive, I’ll be waiting for that group hug. Hopefully that will help all the worry about their situation in Puerto Rico over the past two months to melt away.
The Dining In group I had dinner with tonight are all friends, names you will probably recognize as I have written about them often—Olivia and Terry White, Jane and Bruce Woodin, Peter (the clam man) and Karen Baranowski, and Midge and Bill Frieswyk. It is a wonderful group of friends and the monthly dinners are something I have recently joined and enjoy. Tonight’s dinner was at the Frieswyk’s and it was Thanksgiving dinner a few days early. The food was delicious and being together gave us all a chance to catch up on what has been happening since I had the group at my house for a paella dinner in late September. Since then the Whites have been to England, the Woodins have been to London and Paris, the Baranowskis have been to Brooklyn to spend a long weekend with their children and their families, and Midge spent some of the time in Dubai. She is a consultant who goes into international schools to evaluate them and help them make plans for improvement. Lots of interesting things to discuss. Thanks to the Frieswyks for hosting such a wonderful evening.
by Judy Handley | Nov 17, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 321: Getting Ready for Thanksgiving Week
Date: Friday, November 17, 2017
Weather: Partly Sunny, Windy, and Chilly; High 47, Low 28 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
On Sunday, the members of the Handley family that don’t live in Florida, fly there to spend four days together. Heather and family, Justin and family, and I are the only members of the family that don’t live in Florida, so we are the ones converging on the Sunshine State. I sure hope it lives up to its name next week. I’m looking forward to visiting with family while enjoying some sunshine and warmth. Unfortunately, at this point it looks like there will be thunderstorms on Thanksgiving Day on Fort Myers Beach. Since we are planning to have dinner on the beach, the weather might present a bit of a challenge. For now, we’ll just hope the forecast changes. And if it doesn’t, I’m sure we’ll figure something out. And it is also on Thanksgiving Day that the whole family will celebrate Mark’s life. I do believe the last time we were all together was over 20 years ago. Mark and I were in Florida for gatherings in 2013 and 2015, but Heather and Justin and families weren’t there. So this is going to be a very special week with family. And it is going to be so wonderful to be with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco. I am so thankful that they are going to be able to come.
I spent today figuring out the best way to pack. I don’t need many clothes, but I am hoping to fit in a lot of food items that we will need. I can buy most things there, but there are a few gluten-free items that it will be easier to take and not have to search for once there. Ziggy really cannot have dairy or gluten and that makes a traditional Thanksgiving dinner a bit of a challenge—gluten-free stuffing, gluten-free gravy, mashed potatoes without cow’s milk, pumpkin pie with no gluten and no dairy. But I think I have found a way to make room for everything I want to take to make all of this possible. I am taking a very large suitcase that Justin and Jo will take home with them, packed with the new chainsaw we will be purchasing in Florida. I am hoping to fit my suitcase inside the big one for the trip down, but if it weights too much, I’ll just have to check two bags. In that case, everything will fit just fine.
Other than getting ready for the trip, I ran a few errands, went to the gym, and spent my evening doing some experimental baking. I tried a new recipe for a dairy-free, gluten-free pumpkin pie. I will taste it in the morning, and if it gets a thumbs-up, I’ll bake another one for a Newcomers Dining-In group dinner tomorrow night. And I will take the ingredients with me to make another one for Thanksgiving Day in Florida. It requires a powerful blender like my VitaMix to grind all the nuts for the crust, so I did all that blending tonight and have it packaged up and ready to go.
I made a couple of corrections to last night’s log, but I will also mention them here. I got a WhatsApp message from Jo this morning explaining that I had given her too much credit for her participation in tomorrow’s Day of Happiness in the community of Añasco. It is a much bigger affair than I realized, and Jo reports that her art workshop is only one station among many. There is a group of people headed by a social worker who have been working with the people in Añasco since it was devastated by Maria. They are organizers of tomorrow’s festival.
by Judy Handley | Nov 16, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 320: Touching Base with Friends and Family
Date: Thursday, November 16, 2017
Weather: Overcast and Stormy; High 51, Low 35 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
I had a much needed slow start to my day, but then things speeded up a bit. I had lunch with Jane and Bruce Woodin. This was the first time I have seen them since their European tour and Jane’s subsequent Afib Ablation. Jane looks great and is feeling stronger every day. After lunch, I ran a few errands and then it was time to go pick up Sam at the bus stop. This was his first day back at school this week due to cold or flu like symptoms and it was cool and raining cats and dogs. So, I sent a text to Heather asking if it would be okay if I picked up Sam so he wouldn’t have to walk the half mile home in the rain. She gave me the thumbs up, so I picked him up and stayed at home with him until Heather arrived with the Jonah and Ollie. Then I got a call from Justin and we were on the phone for quite a while.
A lot is happening in Puerto Rico. Electricity is returning to areas near Justin’s house, running water returned on Sunday, and most of the packages of donated items have arrived. On Sunday Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco will be headed to Florida for the Handley family gathering.
But before they leave, they have a busy two days. Tomorrow Jo has her weekly Friday ‘school’ gathering at Finca Maravilla (the name of Justin and Jo’s property). On Saturday, she is running an art workshop for children as part of A Day of Happiness festival in the nearby community of Añasco. This community lost so much to Maria, so a community group headed by a social worker has been working with the community since the storm. Here’s today’s text message to me from Jo: “Assembling supplies for this Saturday’s ‘Day of Happiness’ in Añasco. I’m going to do a workshop with the kids in the neighborhood, ‘Color, Aroma, & Being in the Body: Moving Past Maria Together’… donated paints, sketch pads, coloring books and pens, modeling beeswax, many organic seeds to distribute, priority mailer box flaps that will be painted white tonight for canvases, bag of essential oils… thanks to you and Art for Hope for so many of these supplies… thanks also to many of your friends and contacts we will have solar lights, powdered milk, batteries, beef jerky, dried fruits and nuts also to have for people to take what they need… I thought you might like to see…
I will try to take a few pics from the day too…”
Moving beyond Maria is going to take quite a while. Today was a stormy day, very dark and windy, and Ziggy and Coco really freaked out. They ran to their bedroom to hide away saying that they really don’t want another hurricane. And this is from children who really didn’t lose their home. There are so many who lost everything and they are going to need support for a long time to come. So many of you have contributed so much. Justin and Jo have worked diligently to make sure that donations have been distributed to those most in need. And we just want you to know that your generosity has been overwhelming in such a positive way. On behalf of Justin and Jo and all of the people with whom they have shared the donations, a huge thank you to all of you who have given so generously.
I ended my day with a dinner with the Newcomers WIN (Women in Newcomers) dinner group at a nearby Mexican restaurant. I enjoyed the comradery of other women and the networking that can happen during a dinner. When I returned home, I got a text from Lynne of Ed and Lynne in Nyack, NY, asking if it was a good time for a phone call. It was, and we had a nice, long conversation. Life is good.
by Judy Handley | Nov 15, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 319: On Oma Duty
Date: Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Weather: Partly Cloudy and Cool; High 43, Low 32 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
I got a text from Heather early this morning asking if she could bring Sam over to spend the day with me. He has had terrible congestion and what has felt like an ear infection and strep throat. But when we met Heather at the doctor’s office for a mid-day appointment, the doctor declared that he has no ear infection or strep. Something is wrong because his throat is swollen affecting the way he talks and because he gets slight fever every afternoon. But whatever, I loved his comment when he came out of the doctor’s office. He told me the doctor said he didn’t need an antibiotic and he questioned why she didn’t ‘prescribe’ other things that might get him back to a healthy place. I ask this question all the time. Doctors just don’t have the training to prescribe anything but medications, but there are a whole lot of things other than meds that can be done for almost all health issues.
Jed left early this morning to fly to England and Heather had PTO duties from 3 to 8 pm, so I was on Oma duty with all three boys for the afternoon and evening. Sam was taking a nap when it was time to go pick Jonah and Ollie up from school. I had anticipated this and told Sam that if he woke up and I wasn’t here, I’d be back with his brothers shortly. When I got home with Ollie and Jonah, they played together beautifully while I worked with Sam acquainting him with my old computer that I am giving to him. He has to work online through his Google account to do his monthly book reports and having his own computer to use will be very helpful. I haven’t used my Toshiba since I had email problems last fall, so now it is his to try out. And speaking of computers, I have been having the same email problems with my current computer that I had with the old one last fall. Jane Woodin suggested a fellow Newcomer that makes computer house calls, and she came this morning and found the problem. Thank you, Jane, for that referral. But back to the afternoon with boys . . . while Sam and I worked on the computer, Ollie and Jonah got out my dive bag and traveled to the Arctic to get into the water to tag sharks. Then they played some made-up marble games. While they were doing this, I was furiously getting dinner ready. I overheard their play, but never even had to go check on them. When I called down the hall to tell them to clean up and come to dinner, they did that without so much as a reminder. They came to the dinner table and then we left immediately to get to the school book fair. I didn’t have time to check on their clean-up job. But when I got home from taking them to the school book fair and then home for the night, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they really did completely clean up everything. Not one thing was out of place. Now, if they would just do that at home. Anyone who has been a parent knows that children will do things for others that they will never do at home. But their compliance with my request, with no follow-up, shows that they have had the right training at home whether they practice it or not. I had a great afternoon with the boys and was so proud of their cooperative behavior. Sam even wrote the next section of his book report without a single complaint. Well done, Goldpebbles (and mom and dad).
by Judy Handley | Nov 14, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 318: Trip to the Harvard Museums
Date: Tuesday, November 14, 2017
Weather: Overcast and Cool; High 47, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Today I led a field trip to the Harvard Museums in Cambridge for a few members of the Falmouth Newcomers Teachers’ Group. I had never toured the museums, but I do have lots of experience in traveling to and from Boston. That came in handy today as I was able to accurately plan the timing of the trip. I knew it would take at least an hour to drive from our meeting place on the Cape to the Quincy Adams T-station parking garage. I knew it would then take at least 15 minutes to park, get down to the lobby to buy tickets, and catch the T. Once on the T, I knew it would be a 45-minute ride to Harvard Square and a 10 to 15-minute walk through Harvard Yard to either the Harvard Museum of Natural History or the Harvard Art Museums. So off we went. I was about 4 minutes off as we arrived in Harvard Square at 10:49 am instead of my projected 10:45 am. But I consider that a win as we had made it that far without a hitch. I led the group going to the Natural History Museum and another group member who is a retired art teacher led the group going to the Art Museums. After our morning tours, we met for lunch in a Harvard student cafeteria in a delightfully modern, all glass front science building. Some people then headed home, some of us who had toured the Museum of Natural History in the morning went to the Art Museums in the afternoon, and some people chose to spend the afternoon shopping in Harvard Square. Then at 4 pm, we met near the T-stop and started our return trip. It was a full, but informative and fun day.
I started my day in the Museum of Natural History. With the rest of the group, we started by marveling over the thousands of glass models of plants. This is world-famous collection is generally referred to as The Glass Flowers and I found it jaw-dropping–so realistic.
In the 1800’s, Harvard contracted with Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, a father and son team from Dresden, Germany, to create these glass replicas. Samples and detailed drawings were gathered from around the world and this obviously extremely talented father-son team produced such life-like glass models that is hard to tell they are not alive. And there is so much more to see in this museum—meteorites from outer space and minerals and gems from around the world;
a vertebrate paleontology exhibit with fossils from the days of the dinosaurs;
a new marine life gallery featuring sea creatures in glass and a replica of a New England oyster bed;
hundreds of animal replicas from around the world; and an Arthropod display with more insects than you can possibly imagine. Good friend Olivia White and I toured together, and we had fun taking photos of ourselves alongside a display of skeletons of species leading up to human life as we know it.
In the same facility, there is the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology with one whole floor dedicated to early life in the Americas, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceana. We covered the entire collection in an hour and half. But I consider this a preview. I will return, and each time I do, I will concentrate on just one area. Lunch at the café in the new science building was great and it gave us all a chance to recharge. Then after lunch, I headed to the Art Museums. There are actually three museums in one: The Fogg, the Busch-Reisinger, and the Arthur M. Sackler on three levels. I went to the top floor and worked my way down. I love the art of ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt, so I particularly enjoyed the Level 3 Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Art.
Level 2 featured Buddhist, East Asian, South Asian, Islamic Lands, Medieval art, early European art including art from the Renaissance, and European and American art from the 17th to 19th centuries. There was a lot to see in a very short period of time, but I still had the Level 1 to go. This included Early Chinese Art, Buddhist Sculpture, Modern and Contemporary Art,
and finally the Fogg Museum featuring European Art of the 19th and 20th centuries. Here I found names with which we are all familiar: 
Gauguin, van Gogh, Picasso, Matisse, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Toulouse Lautrec. My very favorites of the day were from the Natural History Museum—a fossilized extinct ammonite related to the living nautilus shell
and the leaves from my favorite tree, the ginkgo, done in glass.
After a day like this, these old fossil bones need a rest!
by Judy Handley | Nov 14, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 317: Errands and Preparations
Date: Monday, November 13, 2017
Weather: Overcast with Rain; High 52, Low 38 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
My day flew by. I went to the gym for a 9:15 am class, returned home to make a list of all the things I needed to accomplish this week, took off shortly after lunch, and didn’t get home until after 9 pm. I spent my evening at Heather and Jed’s with Sam and Ollie. Heather is in Boston until tomorrow night and Jed and Jonah had Scouts tonight. So did Sam, but he didn’t go to school today due to an ear infection. So he and Ollie stayed with me tonight. Early tomorrow morning I head out for a day-long field trip to the Harvard Museums in Cambridge. I am the trip coordinator, and part of today was spent preparing for that. The other part was spent preparing for the trip to Florida on Sunday. Heather gets home tomorrow night and early on Wednesday morning Jed leaves for England. He returns on Saturday. So I am trying to get the things I want to take to Justin and Jo, who will be meeting us in Florida, and get those things packed now so that I can help Heather with trip preparations this weekend. What a crazy life we lead around here!
