by Judy Handley | Jun 6, 2018 | 2018 Life Logs |
2018 Life Logs, Day 157—Exonerated
Date: Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 62, Low 49 F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Finally, I got the raised beds planted, so I feel exonerated for my long delay. I still have to plant tomatoes tomorrow, plus a few herbs, but I am almost there. What is not exonerated is the weather. Why does it still feel like early spring when the first day of summer is only two weeks away? When the sun is shining and there is no wind, temps in the 50’s and 60’s can feel very warm, but when the sun is not shining, it feels chilly. And nights in the 40’s are cold. Luckily for me, today was one of the days with mostly sunny skies and very little wind. It was a great day for gardening. I went to the gym for a class early this morning and then headed the 20 minutes to the chiropractor. He is a little perplexed about the pain in the hip area. He’s giving it another week before he sends me back to the orthopedist who can order an MRI. Sure hope I can get this under control. My back is fine now, but the pain in the hip area is severe at times. After that appointment I had to drive back to Falmouth to go to a music shop. For Jonah’s upcoming birthday, I am buying him an electric guitar and Grammy Marti is going to pay for the lessons. Shhhh! Don’t tell him. Now that Sam has a drum set in the basement, Jonah wants to play an electric guitar so they can have a ‘garage’ rock band. Then I went to Heather’s to plant a few things in her garden. It was almost 1 pm by the time I got home, but I fixed a quick salad for lunch and launched into a frenzy of planting. Once I get the tomatoes planted tomorrow morning, I will take photos to share. The beds look really nice, but I feel like I have to fence them in to keep the rabbit population at bay. I’m still debating just how to do that . . . tomorrow’s job.
I got a text from Sam Weigel today (Windbird’s current owner) saying that an article he wrote about the first time he saw Windbird will be published in Cruising World. When Mark and I were in the Bahamas aboard Windbird in 2015, Sam and Dawn flew over Hawksbill Cay when we were anchored there. We were anchored there with Lee and Lynda Kaufman on Sea Turtle. When they looked down on the boats at anchor, they wondered why they were not onboard one of those boats. A year and a few months later, they became the owners of one of those boats. Sam read every log I have ever written before purchasing the boat, and when he got to my entry about Hawksbill Cay, he realized it was Windbird he saw at anchor. Can’t wait to read the article. I also heard from Jane Woodin today. I mentioned in last night’s log that she was released from the hospital late yesterday. I sent a text today to see how she is doing and she got back saying it is wonderful to be home. Hopefully recuperating will go much faster now that she is at home sleeping in her own bed.
by Judy Handley | Jun 5, 2018 | 2018 Life Logs |
2018 Life Logs, Day 156—Magician
Date: Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Weather: Mix of Sun, Clouds, and Sprinkles; High 65, Low 53 F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I think I have become a magician. I have magically made yet another day dissolve right before my eyes without getting my raised beds planted. I’m going to put the blame on my struggle with what I want planted where and the fact that I’m not sure how I want to fence the areas. I did walk next door today to introduce myself and tell my next door neighbors that I will have ‘visiting’ goats next Tuesday to eat the poison ivy in the wooded area between our two lots. Unfortunately, I only met the adult son who lives there with his parents as he was the only one home. But he assured me there would be no issue with the goats. While I was out and about, I walked on to the next house. I have been admiring the garden in their backyard since moving in. Again, the home owners were not there. They actually live north of Boston and mostly spend just the summer here, but the young man’s mother was home. She lives with her son and daughter-in-law in Waltham and here, and just happens to be here this week. She confirmed my fears of hungry rabbits eating everything planted if gardens in this neighborhood are not fenced, so fencing will definitely be necessary. I did get a few more things planted today, but I have lots more to do. Maybe tomorrow.
My day started with a little glitch. When I got out of bed I could hardly walk due to the pain in my hips. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I got down on the floor and did the exercises prescribed by my physical therapist. I had to do the set three times before it worked, but it did work. So, time and the chiropractor have fixed my back, but the pain has moved into the hips. I had a morning appointment with the physical therapist and he wants me to talk to my chiropractor when I see him tomorrow morning to get his take on this. Both the physical therapist and the chiropractor believe that the problem is not in the joints in my hips, but rather in the muscles. The physical therapist worked out all the muscle pain, but when I got home and attempted gardening, I managed to get the pain to return. So, on this saga goes.
Good news today . . . Jane Woodin was released from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and is home tonight. The ablation seems to have been a success as the afib is under control for now, but dealing with the aftermath of the internal bleeding caused when the catheter that was removed at the end of surgery nicked an artery (at least that’s the official speculation) has caused all sorts of problems. She has miles to go, but hopefully being at home will speed up the recovery process. Go, Jane!
by Judy Handley | Jun 4, 2018 | 2018 Life Logs |
2018 Life Logs, Day 155—Rainy Monday
Date: Monday, June 4, 2018
Weather: Rain All Day; High 53, Low 50 F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Days really can dissolve right before your very eyes. That happened to me today. The day is over and I never even got to the first thing on my To Do list. That number one thing was to kick back and relax a bit. Didn’t happen. Some things never change! Instead, I went to a chiropractor appointment at 8:30 am, made it to the gym for a class at 9:15, went to the grocery store, and came home. I did take time to take a shower, but then I packed up laundry and headed to Heather’s. I am trying to avoid buying a washer and a dryer, but as today taught me, it takes precious time to do laundry elsewhere. I decided to do sheets and mattress pad and realized that it would take all day to do all of this in Heather’s machine as it would take at least two loads because of the bulk. So, I did one small load of clothes at her house and took the sheets and mattress pad to the laundromat. All the while, the rain kept coming down. After the laundry was done, I headed home to make my weekly soup. I decided to make a double batch so I could take some to Bruce and Jane’s. At the time, we thought Jane was coming home today, but that has been delayed until some of the swelling in her legs comes down. Bruce is home, so in the late afternoon I delivered the soup. He knew I was coming and had the garage door open for me, but he didn’t answer my knock on the door. I figured he was busy, so I put the soup in the refrigerator in the garage and headed home. On the way, I got a call from Bruce. He had been on the phone and just didn’t hear my knock. But in our conversation, it came up that due to Jane’s delay in getting released from the hospital, he will not going on a field trip to the beach with his grandkids on Wednesday. He was going to share his science expertise with other parents and was trying to figure out to send helpful information in his absence. I mentioned that I have a couple of guides from Odiorne Point in New Hampshire about visiting the beaches north of Boston. We discussed various ways of getting the info to him. I was heading to a band and chorus concert at Sam’s school, so Bruce invited me to drop by with the materials on my way home. He promised a glass of wine, so a deal was struck. I drove by home, picked up the materials, and headed to Sam’s concert. The concert was great. Sam plays drums and it was fun to see so many of his soccer team friends in a different role as band and chorus members. And I really enjoyed stopping by to see Bruce on the way home and getting a face-to-face update on how things are going for Jane. It would be wonderful if she gets to come home tomorrow, but at the same time, staying in the hospital until her different issues are under control seems like the prudent choice.
by Judy Handley | Jun 3, 2018 | 2018 Life Logs |
2018 Life Logs, Day 154—June Jog and Last Spring Soccer Games
Date: Sunday, June 3, 2018
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Breezy, and Cool; High 67, Low 47 F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
East Falmouth Elementary School’s biggest fund raiser of the year is the June Jog. Runners pay a fee to enter either the 4-mile race or the 10k (a little more than 6 miles). As co-president of the PTO, Heather had to be up early to set and get things organized for the morning. She didn’t run the race this year, but Sam did and he came in 3rd in the 14 and under age group.
Way to go, Sam. Jed manned one of the water stops and Heather, Jonah, and Ollie manned the other. Then when most of the runners had finished, the three of them ran the last two miles of the race for fun. Jonah came in first and then I saw Heather and Ollie headed for the finish line.
Ollie ran the entire 2 miles. I think we have another runner coming along.
The weather was sunny and cool for the race which was good for the runners, but I forgot to bring a jacket and I was freezing. I hung out with Sam until Heather and Jed arrived and then I headed to their house to get a polar fleece and doing a little more planting in Heather’s garden. I should have finished all planting this past weekend, but it just didn’t happen. I only have a few more things to plant in Heather’s garden, but my raised beds are just sitting there waiting for me to fill them with plants and seeds. At the end of the day, I honestly tried, but it was just too cold. Rain is forecast for tomorrow, as well as even cooler weather, so I think I’ll hibernate tomorrow and continue gardening on Tuesday.
Jonah had his last soccer game at noon and we all went to watch. His legs were a little tired from the morning 2-mile run, so he volunteered to be goalie for the first half. His team won easily and Jonah contributed one of the goals.
We had an hour between Jonah’s game and Sam’s, so Heather and I left the boys at the field with Jed and went to Walmart to buy a few things. I needed a small yoga ball and lacrosse balls for my physical therapy exercises. Unfortunately, Walmart did not have any lacrosse balls, but I bought a big bag of tennis balls to give to the kids and took a couple of those for myself. They will do until I can find lacrosse balls. Then it was back to the field for Sam’s final game.
They experienced a miserable loss yesterday, but they came back today and won despite an aggressive opposing team. In all of the soccer games I have watched over the years, I have seen very few injuries. But we were winning this game and a couple of players from the opposing team got a little physical. We ended up with some injuries, but our guys played like champs and were euphoric at the end of the game.
Sam did a repeat of yesterday and blocked one goal and near the end of the game, our goalie made an amazing save. Great way to end the season.
And now for a bit of a rant . . . 4,645. That is the number of people that died in Puerto Rico as a result of Hurricane Maria according to a recent Harvard report. For months, the official government toll has been reported as 64. Anyone who was in Puerto Rico at the time knew that number was not realistic, but the Puerto Rican government has remained silent. I think they have upped their numbers a bit recently, but to nowhere near the number the Harvard study found. Today I talked to Justin and even his positive attitude is eroding as they still do not have water. It comes and goes, but it has been nonexistent for the past week. It has been more than eight months since Hurricane Maria and my grandchildren still do not have running water consistently. I agree with the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz, who calls this an abuse of human rights. There is an entire island of Americans being treated as second-class citizens. This is just totally unacceptable.
by Judy Handley | Jun 2, 2018 | 2018 Life Logs |
2018 Life Logs, Day 153—Back Home
Date: Saturday, June 2, 2018
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High 80, Low 52 F
Location: Back Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Short, but great trip to New Hampshire. It was so wonderful to see Orsi after so many years, and to see some of the other people that graduated with Heather at St. Paul’s. Orsi is a very successful business woman in Hungary who also has two beautiful children and a loving, successful husband. Hearing all about her life made me so happy. Heather really enjoyed the 25th Anniversary reception and I really enjoyed my dinner with Detta. So, it was a successful trip.
Heather and I got up this morning, headed to a nearby Whole Foods for breakfast, and then made our way home. I don’t even want to admit that I caused an hour-long delay in our trip home by leaving my purse at Whole Foods and not realizing it until we were about 20 minutes down the road. We had to turn around to go back and get it (luckily it was there) and then Heather decided to do some grocery shopping. This is the second time in three days that I have left my pocketbook at a store. I am either losing my mind or just moving too fast. But, in either case, I have instituted a new procedure. Anytime I leave a store, before I walk out the door, I have to stop and check to make sure I have my pocketbook or wallet. Hopefully this doesn’t happen again.
This afternoon I went to Sam’s next-to-the-last soccer game for this year. The final game is tomorrow, but because they lost today, they will not be in the finals next weekend. Sam made one great save near the end of the game when he ran into the net area and kicked the ball out. I didn’t get a photo of that, but I did get a couple of good photos of him in action.
Tomorrow Sam and Jonah will play their last games of the season. Then we kick into summer gear. The weather yesterday and today helped to put us in the summer mode, but tomorrow the temperature drops again. It is obvious that we are having a long, cool spring, but we’ll hope for a warmer summer.
by Judy Handley | Jun 1, 2018 | 2018 Life Logs |
2018 Life Logs, Day 152—Overnight Trip to New Hampshire
Date: Friday, June 1, 2018
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Some Sprinkles, Hot and Humid; High 84, Low 67 F
Location: Courtyard Marriott, Nashua, NH
Today I traveled to New Hampshire via Boston. Heather and I were going to drive to Boston together to pick up Orsi Gorgenyi as I explained in last night’s log. But after posting the log, I realized that I could take the bus to Boston and get there in time to take Orsi out to lunch. That would give me a little more time to visit, so that I what I did. It was wonderful to see Orsi after so many years. Just before she left Hungary, her mother gave her all the letters she had sent home during her year as a student at St. Paul’s. They included many details that both of us had forgotten and it was fun to reminisce. Heather arrived at 3 pm and we headed immediately for Concord, New Hampshire. The two of them were to be at a 25th Anniversary reception at St. Paul’s School at 6 pm. There was a ton of traffic, but we made it to Concord in time for Orsi to check into her hotel and meet up with a number of friends who were staying in the same place. We had hoped to get to St. Paul’s School (SPS) in time to walk around the campus together, but we got there with just a couple of minutes to spare, so we took some quick photos on the Chapel lawn
before they had to go to the reception and I had to scurry south of Concord to Manchester where I was having dinner with my Detta Porat. I took time for a quick drive around SPS before heading to Manchester and was reminded of what a beautiful campus it is. The sun was always in the wrong place for me to take quick photos out the car window, but I did get a shot of my very favorite building on campus.
Then I was off for Manchester. I had called Detta at the last minute in hopes that she might be available for dinner and I was delighted that she was. She gave me a couple of suggestions for restaurants and I chose the Mint Bistro. It did not disappoint, and Detta and I had a fun evening together just catching up. Then I drove further south to Nashua, New Hampshire, where I had reserved a room at the Courtyard Marriott. Friends were bringing Heather, so I got settled in the room and checked my email for the first time today. When I saw a Facebook reminder that today was Detta’s birthday, I felt so awful that I didn’t know that. There is no real way to apologize for such an oversight. Detta is so thoughtful and always remembers birthdays and all special events. Apologies, apologies, apologies, Detta. I now have your birthday imprinted in my brain and will never forget again. But lucky me for getting to spend the evening with Detta. That is always a gift. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
