by Judy Handley | Jan 30, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 30: Keeping Busy on a Cold Winter Day
Date: Saturday, January 30, 2021
Weather: Sunny, Still Very Cold; High 21, Low 8 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
By noon today it was 18 degrees F outside, but it felt like 6 degrees F with the wind chill. The good news is it was bright and sunny and there was only half the wind we had yesterday. So that is an improvement. I put Shadow’s sweater on him and we did our normal morning walk. The only problem was that my eyes kept watering, causing my cheeks to feel like they were freezing. Still, it was great to be outside in the sunshine. And I loved walking down by the dock and seeing the beauty of the ice.
I spent the rest of the day alternating working on my new puzzle with editing and writing. My writing project is going slowly, but I am so excited to be back at it again. My puzzle working is also going slowly, and today I got sidetracked. I described the puzzle in a previous log–food and flowers arranged beautifully around my favorite food, artichokes. Today I was working on the apricots. As I was working I thought, are they apricots or peaches? The puzzle box has no information on it other than a sticker noting that it is a Galison 500 Piece Puzzle named Artichoke Floral. I Googled that and found out the puzzle is from a photo by foody photographer Sarah Phillips. I Googled her name and found out that she is on a mission to save ugly food. About that time, my weekly Misfits delivery of ‘ugly’ fruits and vegetables arrived. I should have taken a picture of the contents of the box before storing the items away because the food looked beautiful when I opening the box. I didn’t think of that until just now as I am writing this log, so maybe next week I will remember and share the photo with you. Like Sarah Phillips, Misfits is on a mission to save imperfect organic produce by buying it and selling it at a reduced price rather than letting it end up as food waste. I am so happy to be the recipient of all that ‘ugly’ produce while working a puzzle by a woman dedicating her life to saving ‘ugly’ food.
by Judy Handley | Jan 29, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 29: COLD
Date: Friday, January 29, 2021
Weather: Sunny, Windy, and COLD; High 20, Low 11 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The high temperature for today was at midnight and it got progressively colder from there. It did get up to 16 degrees during the afternoon, but with the 18-20 mile per hour winds, it felt much colder. The high for tomorrow is forecast to be 21 degrees, and at least that will be in the afternoon. But the bottom line is that today was simply COLD. When Shadow and I walked this morning at 10 am, the temperature was 11 but with the wind chill it was -7. So we didn’t walk as far as usual. By Sunday, this cold snap should move on. But here is what I don’t get. I keep my thermostat set at 68 during the day and right now the thermostat registers that. But it definitely feels colder than usual. In fact, my nose and my hands are cold to the touch. Why is that? If anyone can explain that to me, please let me know.
I did spend my late morning and early afternoon working on my Voyage of Windbird writing project. When it was time to go get Ollie, I changed gears. I took Ollie home and put a laundry load in. I then came home and took Shadow for a second walk and then headed back to put my clothes in the dryer. I went to the grocery store while the clothes were drying and then went back to get my clothes and head home for dinner. Heather has been so busy the past couple of days that I haven’t seen her when I take Ollie home. But she did emerge from her bedroom/office just before I left. She was all dressed up, so I asked where she was going. She was making a Zoom presentation for the Peabody Essex Museum at 7 pm. That was only 45 minutes away, but I asked if I could still sign up. She hadn’t told anyone about the presentation because she wasn’t sure she was pleased with it. But I hurried home, signed up, and tuned in at 7 pm. The presentation was entitled The Tale of Two Crises—Climate Change and the Coronavirus Pandemic. She addressed the lessons learned from Covid-19 crisis that also apply to the climate crisis. I jotted down some quick notes, so hopefully my outline of her presentation is accurate. According to my notes, the lessons learned from the two crises are:
• Words Matter
• Flattening the Curve is Key
• Listen to the Science–We can’t embrace something we don’t understand.
• Federal Leadership is Critical, but . . .
• Individual Action is Necessary and Worthwhile.
• Data are Personal
• Our Current Systems Perpetuate Injustices
• Crises Offer Opportunities for Positive Change
• It’s Never Too Late . . . “The next best time is NOW.”
I am so glad I decided to do a laundry today and found about the presentation. I had never really thought about the lessons learned from these two major crises we are facing. It was a great presentation, very thought provoking.
by Judy Handley | Jan 28, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 28: The Writing Process
Date: Thursday, January 28, 2021
Weather: Overcast with Periods of Wintry Mix; High 33, Low 10 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The Writing Process . . . brainstorming, preparing, drafting, revising, proofreading. At least that is what I taught first graders to do. Now I am having to practice that process over and over with each chapter of my proposed book about the Voyage of Windbird. I find it was easier to teach the process than to do it myself! I was on a roll last winter and spring, but going by the dates on my revisions, April 20th was the last time I have touched my writing. With the nudge from Justin yesterday, I did dive in today. But it took all day to go back over the introduction and two chapters that I have already written. I still need to revise Chapter 2 and will start tomorrow with that. Chapter 3 is about preparing to sail around the world. I have outlined that chapter and will hopefully come up with a first draft tomorrow as well.
It is really cold outside and will remain that way until Monday. Tonight’s low will be 10 degrees F and it is only supposed to get up to 20 degrees tomorrow with 22 mile per hour winds from the north. Shadow and I walked today while a wintry mix was falling—ice, snow, and rain all at once—and we will walk tomorrow, cold or no cold. I will bundle up and wrangle him into his sweater even though he does not seem to be affected by the cold. Just the reverse. He loves it!
I have started a new jigsaw puzzle. Because of Shadow, I have had to go down to 500-piece puzzles that can fit on my dining room table along with my computer and a space left to eat. I used to work 1500-piece puzzles that fit on my large coffee table in the living room with extra pieces in a huge metal tray that sat beside me on the sofa. But Shadow eats the puzzle pieces unless they are up high. Anyway, the new puzzle was a Christmas gift from the Goldstones and is an artichoke floral on a black background. There are spinach leaves, arugula, kiwis, apricots, cherry tomatoes, pink alstroemeria (Peruvian lilies), and of course, artichokes. I get hungry when I spend time working on this puzzle. But I promise not to eat the pieces like my little furry friend!
by Judy Handley | Jan 27, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 27: A Good Day for the Environment
Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2021
Weather: Snow Overnight, Cloudy Day; High 37, Low 29 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today was a good day for the environment. President Biden declared the climate a national security priority and his executive order clearly establishes climate consideration as an essential element of U.S. foreign policy. He has ordered the establishment of a Civilian Climate Corp, he will host a Leaders’ Climate Summit this April on Earth Day, the order has set a date by which all federal vehicles will be electric, the order formally establishes the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy led by the first-ever National Climate Advisor and Deputy Advisor, and so much more. The National Climate Advisor is a Boston native Gina McCarthy—born in Dorchester and raised in Canton. I heard her for the first time in an interview tonight. She said so many things that made so much sense, but I most liked this comment: “And for crying out loud, respect the science.” That seems to be the theme throughout all of the Biden-Harris agenda. They have only been in office for one week, but things are changing quickly. There is a lot of ‘dark’ news as well, but I am choosing to focus on the bright spots tonight.
Late last night when I went outside with Shadow, I was overcome by the beauty of the new fallen snow. Tree limbs were heavy with snow and it looked like a winter wonderland. If I didn’t have Shadow, I would never had been outside at midnight to enjoy that beauty. So thank you, Shadow. It snowed a little more overnight, but the temp was warm enough that the melting started early. We probably got about three inches of snow, and only a little is left. But COLD weather is coming that might preserve a bit of the white stuff. Tonight, the low will be 20 degrees F and tomorrow night the low will be 11 degrees . . . and the same for the next two nights. The daytime temps will be in the upper teens and twenties, and that is cold for me. I can remember when Mark and I lived in northern Minnesota there was always a celebration when the temp got above zero. I’m glad that is just a memory. I don’t need to experience that again. Nights in the 20’s and days in the 30’s with sunshine and little wind are fine with me. But anything colder is just not fun anymore.
Justin called this evening to catch up on what’s happening here and there. They are doing fine and thinking about letting Ziggy and Coco go back to school one day a week. The private school they were attending prior to Covid has special outdoors activities on Friday, so they are thinking that sounds like a safe re-entry. He also pushed me a bit on my writing project. I haven’t written anything since last April, so I promised to put that at the top of my To Do list. Therefore, tomorrow is writing day!
by Judy Handley | Jan 26, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 26: Lack of Focus
Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2021
Weather: Sunny AM, Snow PM; High 38, Low 31 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It is snowing outside and the world is white and beautiful. It started snowing at about 3 pm, so after I picked up Ollie and took him home, Shadow and I came home and played ball in the snow. Shadow really loves the snow. He puts his nose down and uses it like a snowplow, eating the snow as he plows. And when the snowflakes are big enough, he jumps in the air to catch individual snowflakes in his mouth. We had an audience as we played in the falling snow. Two swans watched us the whole time. WeatherUnderground forecasts 3 inches by morning. Shadow will love that. But then the temp is supposed to rise to 40 degrees and most of the snow will melt. So, I will build in time in the morning to make sure he gets plenty of snow time.
If I thought day one with nothing on my calendar was not very productive, day two was worse. I am finding it hard to focus. I have so many different things I need to do, that I just bounce from one thing to another, completing nothing. Tomorrow is a half day of school, so I’ll be picking up Ollie early. Maybe I’ll dedicate tomorrow to playing in the snow, making chicken bone broth from the chicken I roasted for dinner tonight, and write a To Do list. I know what I need to do without the list, but maybe that would help. 
Today I did finish the winter scene jigsaw puzzle I have been working on and I, more or less, got the mountain of paperwork that has accumulated filed. Unfortunatelty, it didn’t feel like much.
My favorite thought for the day: On the news tonight, I heard President Biden using the phrase, “a rising tide lifts all boats”. I had never heard that before, but evidently it was popularized by John Kennedy. Biden was using the phrase to promote the macro-economic theory that an improved general economy will benefit all of us. So, let’s all hope for a rising tide.
by Judy Handley | Jan 25, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 25: Days Are Just Too Short
Date: Monday, January 25, 2021
Weather: Sunny; High 37, Low 24 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
This was day one with nothing on my calendar, so I had high hopes that I would get a lot done. And I did. But I wanted to do more. The days are just too short. I stop every weekday at 3 pm to go pick Ollie up after school and on many days we do something together and I end up not getting home until around 5:30 pm. That, plus preparing healthy meals, exercising, and walking and playing Shadow all take a big hunk of every day. But that is okay because every one of those things are important to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. As I learned yesterday, when I don’t pick Ollie up after school, Shadow might be the only ‘person’ I see or talk to all day long. Dogs are great, but you need communication with humans here and there. Other things that fill my days are reading the New York Times ‘The Morning’ news round-up online every morning and working the NYT’s daily mini-crossword puzzle. And I work on my current jig saw puzzle here and there. And, and, and . . . but that still leaves about three hours to focus on projects. Today I split that time between filing end-of-the-year paperwork and researching information on something called a FODMAP diet for my sister. Isolation during Covid has been very hard on my sister and she has simply lost interest in doing the things necessary to keep her 87 year-old body healthy. I talk with her for an hour every other evening, sometimes every evening. But my tough love approach is not working. She has had gastrointestinal issues her entire life, but right now the problem is chronic. She wants the doctor to tell her what to eat to avoid this, but as you probably know, doctors don’t know a lot about nutrition. My primary care suggests eating a healthy diet, but it is up to me to figure out what that is for me. So, I suggested to my sister that she try a diet Mark’s oncologist suggested for him when he had bowel issues and was losing weight. I forgot to mention that my sister only weighs 80 pounds! It’s called a FODMAP diet. “FODMAP stands for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols, which are short-chain carbohydrates (sugars) that the small intestine absorbs poorly and some people have digestive distress after eating them.” Basically, you stop eating certain foods, those foods that are high FODMAP foods. After two to six-weeks you slowly reintroduce high Fodmap foods one at a time to try and identify which ones are troublesome for you. Once you know that, you limit those foods permanently. But trying to get my sister to understand this over the phone has not gone well. Today I talked to the woman who comes in three afternoons a week to help my sister. She does the food shopping and talking to her was a real breakthrough. The low FODMAP diet requires eliminating processed foods, gluten, dairy, most beans, and certain vegetables and fruits. The first three of these, processed foods, gluten, and dairy are dietary irritants that anyone with serious health issues needs to contemplate eliminating. I am constantly beating the drum for eating a healthy diet, but most people just don’t want to hear that drum beat. So if you are not interested in upgrading your diet, there are lots of other things you can do to just feel better. I got an email from Well.org that listed the following six tips for a healthy mind, body, and spirit. And they promise that doing any of these things will help fight the Winter Blues that many experience this time of year.
1. Get Enough Sleep
2. Move More and Exercise Regularly
3. Listen to Music
4. Keep Learning
5. Make a Gratitude a Habit
6. Engage with Your Community
This afternoon after school. Ollie came home with me and helped clear more brush and briars out of the wooded area where Shadow and I walk. Little by little, he is making my late night and early morning outings with Shadow so much easier. I am constantly running into a low lying limb or a briar that catches my coat. Today Ollie also helped me finally get my redwood picnic table disassembled and put in the basement. So nice to have a willing worker.
