by Judy Handley | Aug 28, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 240: Recovery Day
Date: Friday, August 28, 2020
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds; High 78, Low 68 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
After four nights of watching the Republican National Convention, I needed a recovery day. I’ve seen and heard way too many negative things this week. My goal for today was to experience only positive things. Lucky for me, I live where I am surrounded by beauty. I started my day as I always do, taking Shadow for a walk down by the water. This morning, we just walked down to the dock to soak in the beauty of the marsh. We saw an egret and small green herons flying in and out of the marsh grass. Shadow helped me (just kidding) get the two-man inflatable kayak off the dock and up to the concrete pad where it is normally stored. I have been meaning to do this for weeks, so it felt really good to get that done. I then continued doing only things I wanted to do. Number one on my list was to finish canning the last of the 90 pounds of tomatoes and I got that done. Second on my list was to nap outside in the sunshine for at least 30 minutes, and I did that. The last thing I wanted to do was to experiment with making tomato basil pizza sauce with the six pounds of sauce tomatoes I picked earlier in the week from my garden. I got the sauce made and will get it canned it tomorrow. I picked more tomatoes and beans and then late in the afternoon Midge Frieswyk’s daughter, Alyse, arrived with her friend David. They had asked if they could come over to launch their kayaks for a paddle out to Washburn Island. Shadow and I were outside in the garden when they arrived and Shadow fell in love with both of them. It was great to take a break and talk to them. During the day, I made a couple of trips into town to Heather and Jed’s to feed the guinea pigs and to put in another load of laundry. Today’s load was polar fleece jackets. And that was it for my day. It was totally positive, with just enough sunshine peeking through the clouds to make me very happy. At the end of the day, I have only one question. Where in the world is the lid to the pot I have been using to blanch tomatoes all week? It is not small and my kitchen is not big. But I can’t find it anywhere.
by Judy Handley | Aug 28, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 239: RNC, Night 4
Date: Thursday, August 27, 2020
Weather: Overcast with Mid-Day Sunshine; High 72, Low 62 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
If you can’t say something nice, then say nothing at all. So, I will say very little about the last night of the RNC which shamefully used the White House as a backdrop with a crowd of 1500 people not using social distancing and almost no one wearing a mask. And just one more thing. Rudi Giuliani was a disgrace. Thankfully, the conventions are over. Now we can get to work on making sure everyone gets to vote this fall.
Our weather here today was mixed. It was mostly overcast with a bit of rain early and a few more sprinkles in the afternoon. Actually, there was very little much needed rain, just gloom. So, the drought continues here. But things are different further south where they are getting lots of rain. Thankfully for those in Louisiana and Texas, the highest projections for the Hurricane Laura storm surge were not realized. Yet the devastation was massive and the wind and the rain continue moving inland. My heart is with all affected by this storm.
I had invited Jane Woodin over for lunch, but things looked iffy because of the clouds and morning sprinkles. We communicated via text and I voted to go ahead and hope for clearing weather. Magically, just as Jane arrived, the sun came out, allowing us to have lunch down by the dock overlooking the water. I have only seen Jane a couple of times since March, so it was great to have a break in the weather allowing us an hour and a half to visit before the clouds and sprinkles returned.
I headed to Heather and Jed’s when Jane left to feed the guinea pigs and water the plants on the deck. Despite a few sprinkles, they were in desperate need of water. I have done most of the work to get an automatic watering system going and hope to get that completed in the next few days, but in the meantime, watering is necessary. It was late afternoon when I got home and time for me to call my friend Leslie Kole. We had arranged to talk this afternoon and the time had come. Both of us are coming up on the anniversary of losing our beloveds. Leslie lost Rich last September 4th and I lost Mark four years ago on September 11th. We commiserated about living alone without the loves of our lives . . . not the happiest time in our lives. But we also reflected on how lucky we are to both live near children and grandchildren and to be healthy and active. I haven’t seen Leslie for months, so I am hoping to get together with her in the next few weeks. I ended my day by letting the last of the tomato sauce burble down as I watched the RNC spectacle.
by Judy Handley | Aug 26, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 238: RNC, Night 3
Date: Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Weather: Sunny and Cooler; High 73, Low 55 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Today I had a great visit with my nieces, Lynn and Candi. It was a two hour drive north to Chelmsford, Massachusetts and a three hour drive during rush hour home, but it was worth it. Lynn looks amazing good despite what she has been through in the past few weeks. We had a picnic lunch in a gazebo on the grounds of Lynn’s apartment complex and then I took Lynn to a local AT&T store to get the data from her iPhone synched with her new iPad. She handled all of that just fine, but when she walks, she really needs to have her oxygen with her. However, the tank she has is so big and unwieldy.
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There are small, compact portable oxygen concentrators that weigh only 2 pounds and I think she deserves to have one of those. They are expensive and I’m not sure they are covered by insurance, but if it were me, I’d definitely want one of those. I will plan to visit her every week or so this fall if she is up to having visitors. I think the visits will depend on how she handles the chemotherapy. I did get to meet her new little kitty named Susie. What a cutie and such wonderful company for Lynn.
There is so much happening in this country tonight that it was hard for me to really pay attention President Pence did mention that all of us are thinking of the people in the path of Hurricane Laura and he did acknowledge the devastation to those who have lost family members to the coronavirus. But many of his claims about the national leadership during the virus were just not true. And I think his argument that Joe Biden presided over the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression was a weak one. When I see the graphs that show the steady, yes slow, but steady, rise in the economy over the 8 years that Obama-Biden were in office, and how that upward movement simply continued under Trump, I think that rise is quite amazing. The law and order part of Pence’s speech made me cringe. The situation in Kenosha, Wisconsin right now, the Milwaukee Bucks canceling their playoff game tonight in protest which caused a domino effect of other teams cancelling their games—none of this was mentioned. I think maybe the Republicans highlighted the wrong heroes.
After watching from afar as Hurricane Maria destroyed Puerto Rico in September of 2017, and then not knowing for four days if Justin family were okay, I’ll never be able to keep my heart from aching as I wait to hear how another hurricane has affected the lives of people. Hurricane Laura is due to make landfall on the Louisiana side of the Louisiana – Texas border between 1 and 2 am. The only good news is that this hurricane is making landfall in an area that is not highly populated. But for the people that do live there, it will be devastating. We can all only hope the storm surge does not live up to the projections. It all depends on exactly where it makes landfall. I’m hoping to wake up in the morning to hear a best case scenario. Even best case will be devastating, but better than the worst case.
by Judy Handley | Aug 25, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 237: RNC, Night 2
Date: Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 83, Low 59 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
I’m tired. Tired of tomatoes, tired of hearing people at the Republican National Convention drone on and on about how dangerous they perceive Joe Biden to be, tired of hearing them label anyone not supporting Donald Trump as a socialist, and tired of seeing a President abusing his power by using the White House, the People’s House, as a backdrop for political campaign. Never mind that the Hatch Act makes it illegal, it just seems wrong. And then there was the Secretary of State addressing us in a political speech from a rooftop in Jerusalem. No wonder I’m tired! At least Melania Trump acknowledged the deaths we have experienced in this country from the coronavirus pandemic. As far as I know, the President has never acknowledged this. But enough about that.
Sixty pounds of tomatoes have resulted in 25 pints of marinara sauce. The other the 30 pounds have been blanched, peeled, and deseeded, and await processing in the refrigerator. I’ll work a bit on that tomorrow, but I leave here around 10:30 in the morning to head north to Chelmsford to visit with my nieces, Candi and Lynn. I have not mentioned in my logs that Lynn has, just in the past few weeks, been diagnosed with advanced cancers. She actually has two different cancers which have metastasized. She had three weeks of chemo and then had to be hospitalized due to fluid in her left lung. She got home last week and will start chemo again on Thursday of this week. So, I really wanted to visit with her before that and tomorrow suited all of us best. I am picking up lunch and we will eat and visit outside her apartment building, keeping our social distance. It breaks my heart to think about Lynn’s situation. When Mark was going through his battle with cancer, I was always there to help him. I said at the time that I really didn’t know how people who live alone negotiate the whole cancer treatment regime. But Lynn insists on staying alone in her apartment. Her sister Candi and one brother, Brad, live close by and check on her constantly. It is wonderful that she has the support, but it is just not the same as having someone with you all the time to anticipate your needs. But Lynn is determined. I can only admire her determination.
by Judy Handley | Aug 24, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 236: RNC, Night 1
Date: Monday, August 24, 2020
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High 81, Low 68 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
When the first speaker at tonight’s event said that President Trump is “the body guard of Western civilization” I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. But it really isn’t funny. He is anything but the body guard of Western civilization in my opinion. I heard that the Convention this week was going to be upbeat, but tonight the whole thing was very negative with too many lies, dangerous lies, to keep track of. I really don’t say this from a partisan point of view. Lies are lies, and they are painfully obvious. Tonight was just such a stark contrast from last week’s D20 that I had a hard time adjusting. Maybe it will get more positive in the next couple of days.
On the positive side, Heather, Jed, and boys arrived at Grammy Marti’s in Boothbay, Maine. They left here around 11:30 am and got there by 5:30 pm. They made great time. I do hope they have two weeks of relation and fun, but I will miss them so much. When I look at my calendar, however, it will be a busy two weeks for me and I think the time will fly by.
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by Judy Handley | Aug 23, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 235: Up to My Elbows in Tomatoes
Date: Sunday, August 23, 2020
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Breezy; High 81, Low 68 F Degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Last night when I wrote my log, I named it “Knee Deep in Tomatoes.” I named it that because the 5-gallon buckets of tomatoes came up to my knees. Today as I processed 60 of the 90 pounds, the resulting peeled and deseeded tomatoes filled a pot that is as tall as the length from my wrist to my elbow. Thus, “Up to My Elbows.” Tomorrow I will add the other ingredients, cook down the sauce, and start the canning process.
Then on Tuesday, I’ll attack the last 30 pounds plus the five and a half pounds I picked from my garden today. The organic sauce tomatoes that I am processing are San Marzanos and Alpacas and are shaped like Roma tomatoes that are common in grocery stores. Not big, but lots of them. When I’m finished, I know I will be happy with the harvest, but I probably won’t want to see another tomato for quite some time.
Late this afternoon a man came to my front door. He was wearing a Covid mask and had an official looking name tag on, but he really didn’t identify himself. I went to the door and Shadow went ballistic. That’s when I saw that he had a very large dog sitting out in the driveway. I tried to calm Shadow and the gentleman said he was looking for 35 Madeline Road. I assured him this was not it. But he continued saying that 27 Madeline is one side of me and the next house is 41 Madeline. He asked, “Where are the houses with numbers in between?” He asked my name and my phone number. That’s when I finally asked him who the hell he was. Was he from the Census Bureau? Yes, he was, but it would have been comforting if he had started with that identification. Anyway, when I assured him there were no houses in the woods that surround my cottage, he was satisfied and ready to move on. But then he invited Shadow out to meet his dog, Ashley—four times the size of Shadow. He assured me Ashley was very well trained and dog friendly. Since Shadow was VERY anxious to go out, I let him go. Ashley was a little too aggressive for Shadow and Shadow was a little too energetic for Ashley. But they got along okay until Shadow started chasing Ashley, causing Ashley to jump the four feet across one of my raised garden beds, knocking down the iron fence stake and the chicken wire fencing on one side of the bed. With all my strength, I could not right the iron stake. I will have use a sledge hammer tomorrow to straighten the stake. But thankfully, Ashley was okay. I have just never seen a dog jump that long and high. There are zinnias in the bed that are 2-3 feet high and she cleared them with no problem. More like a horse than a dog. Then she ran into the bike rack on the back of my car. I suggested to the gentleman that he should take his dog and leave while the dog was still alive! Interesting encounter.
