by Judy Handley | Oct 18, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 291: In Tribute to Zuzu
Date: Tuesday, October 18, 2022
Weather: Mix of Clouds, Sun, and Little Rain; High 66, Low 42 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, Falmouth, MA
I was playing Mah Jong this afternoon when I saw a text message from Heather saying Ollie’s beloved guinea pig, Zuzu, was dying. Heather was supposed to drive Sam to rowing practice this afternoon, but naturally, she didn’t want to leave Ollie and Zuzu. I immediately left the Mah Jong game and headed to the Goldstones. Ollie and Heather were sitting with Zuzu on the back deck. It was heartbreaking to see Zuzu listlessly lying there but looking toward Ollie every time Ollie petted him. Zuzu held on until 7 pm tonight. Ollie is such a compassionate kid. He is sad but knows it was Zuzu’s time to go.
by Judy Handley | Oct 17, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 290: Errand Day
Date: Monday, October 17, 2022
Weather: Overcast with Periods of Drizzle; High 64, Low 59 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Mondays are one of my ‘short’ days that basically end at 3 pm when I drive into town to pick up Sam and take him to rowing practice. On the hour drive to Harwich and on the drive home, Sam and I have the most interesting conversations. I really cherish that time with him. But I don’t get back home until 8 pm when I fix a quick dinner, watch a little cable news on MSNBC, write my log, and then head to bed to read. Today in the hours that I had prior to 3 pm, I walked with Shadow, spent some time making doctor appointments related to my back and my knees, spent some time on the phone dealing with some issues for my sister, did some deep cleaning in the kitchen, and then headed to town to do some food shopping and run a couple of other errands. By the time I got home, fixed lunch, and then ate, it was time to go. So went this Monday.
by Judy Handley | Oct 16, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 289: NH Rowing Championship Regatta
Date: Sunday, October 16, 2022
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High 69, Low 47 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, Falmouth, MA
When I stepped out the front door this morning with Shadow, the sunshine and warm air felt sooooo good. I decided with that first step outside that I was going to reverse my decision to NOT drive to New Hampshire today to see Sam row in a regatta.
I instantly decided to drive the two and a half hours to see Sam for about five minutes total and then drive home. It sounded crazy, but I was going. I drove to Heather and Jed’s to check on Ollie who had chosen to stay home alone this morning. I was still there when Jed got home from Harwich with Jonah. Jonah’s soccer game did not go well, but he still seemed in good spirits. I said farewell and off I went.
I arrived at the race site about 40 minutes before Sam’s race was to begin. His coxless quad was given start slot number 8 out of 9 boats in that division, but when Heather and I spotted the boats rounding the curve in the Merrimack River, it looked like Sam’s boat was in fifth position.
They ended up getting fourth place which I am sure did not make the ‘boys in the boat’ happy, but the coach and parents were elated with their performance. The girls quad also came in fourth.
After Heather and I watched Sam’s boat pass by our location, we walked as fast as we could to the finish line and watched as the boats came out of the water and were carried on team shoulders back to the trailer to be transported back to the Cape.
Two hours after I arrived, I was back in the car and headed home. Jed was fixing dinner for all of us upon our return home. I stopped by the cottage to take Shadow for a walk and ended my day back at the Goldstones. The drive to New Hampshire was long, but it was beautiful. It gave me a chance to soak in the beauty of the autumn leaves.
While we were gone, Ollie and Jonah watched the Liverpool versus Manchester City soccer game and then Ollie pulled his wagon load of Scout popcorn around the neighborhood, going door to door to sell his share of popcorn for the Scout fundraiser.
All in all, it was a lovely day and all of us were grateful for such beautiful fall weather.
by Judy Handley | Oct 15, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 288: Ollie’s Soccer Game
Date: Saturday, October 15, 2022
Weather: Overcast AM, Sunny PM; High 67, Low 51 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, Falmouth, MA
For the past few years, Saturday Falmouth Soccer Club games have been a staple. On some Saturdays, both Sam and Jonah would have an FSC game and Ollie a Falmouth Rec game. But this year, only Ollie is playing in the Falmouth league and today was the first game of his I have been able to attend.
I was so glad the sun came out in the afternoon so we could enjoy a sunny, late afternoon game.
After the game, Heather and Sam headed to New Hampshire for Sam’s regatta tomorrow. Early in the morning, Jed and Jonah will drive to Harwich for Jonah’s 8 am game. I will not go to either of those—too far and too early—but I will be with them in spirit.
by Judy Handley | Oct 14, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 287: Mah Jong and Teeny, Tiny Ticks
Date: Friday, October 14, 2022
Weather: Rain and Windy, Clearing Late PM; High 66, Low 63 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, Falmouth, MA
No. Mah Jong and ticks have nothing in common as the title to this log might indicate. I just experienced both today. During the night, I kept waking up when I rolled onto my left side. There were two places just under my rib cage that really hurt when touched. I assumed I had somehow bruised my side. Once I got up, I forgot about it. But when I was getting ready to go play Mah Jong, I put on a different top. In doing so, I once again felt the pain and decided to take a look. What I found were two very red spots with a teeny, tiny tick dug into my skin in the middle of each red spot. I quickly removed the ticks, rubbed the spots with alcohol, and took off for my 1 pm Mah Jong game. I had to set the ticks aside for a couple of hours.
In the fall of 2019, I joined a Newcomers group to learn how to play Mah Jong. I was just getting the hang of it when Covid came along, and I stopped playing for the next two years. This spring I joined another learning group. Again, I was getting the hang of it when summer came along and ended my playing again. Today was my first Mah Jong game since the spring. I am still learning, but the group I played with today was very tolerant. I will continue to play once a week and hope the other players can be patient with me while I continue developing my skills.
I must admit that I was a bit distracted today knowing I needed to talk to my doctor about the tick bites. As soon as we ended our games for this afternoon, I headed to a walk-in clinic to deal with the tick situation. Since I had a whole-body scan at the dermatologist’s office yesterday morning and no ticks were seen, I’m virtually positive that I picked up the little critters during my walk at Bourne Farm yesterday. The doctor agreed and prescribed one megadose of Doxycycline that I was directed to take at bedtime tonight. Then all I can do is watch for symptoms over the next six weeks. Sure hope the Doxy does the trick.
by Judy Handley | Oct 13, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 286: Bourne Farm AM, Sam to Rowing PM
Date: Thursday, October 13, 2022
Weather: Overcast, Windy, Rain Late Afternoon; High 66, Low 63 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, Falmouth, MA
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the American chestnut tree was one of the largest, tallest, and fastest-growing trees in the forests in the eastern United States. Then they were taken from us by blight. This morning I had an 8 am annual dermatology check-up in North Falmouth and afterwards, I arranged to meet friend Kate Eldred at the Bourne Farm in West Falmouth for a long overdue walk. Shadow and I arrived early and parked facing the fields of the farm. Directly in front of me were three trees with people picking up something on the ground under the trees. I watched more carefully and realized these were young chestnut trees that were full of nuts, many of which had fallen to the ground and were being scooped up. Beyond the chestnut trees, people were picking pumpkins. And fields were filled with people walking their dogs. The farm, founded in 1775, was abuzz on this morning. It was overcast, but we still had a nice walk. We had to do a bit of back-tracking as more than once we came to dead ends on the trail, but we still had a nice walk with beautiful fall views.
About halfway through the walk, I looked down and saw red Indian pipe growing. I have always thought there is only white Indian pipe, but I Googled it and sure enough there is a red variety.
That was an exciting find.
By the time I got home, had lunch, and watched a bit of the Congressional Hearing, it was time to go pick up Sam and head to Harwich for rowing practice. We knew it was going to start raining at some point in the late afternoon. Sure enough, as soon as the boats got out on the water, the sky opened, and we had pouring rain for a bit. Then it calmed down and become more of a constant drizzle. Sam said no one minded the rain. They actually thought rowing in the rain was fun.
