by Judy Handley | Mar 16, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 75: Delightful Belated Birthday Luncheon
Date: Thursday, March 16, 2023
Weather: Mix of Clouds and Some Sun,, N Wind; High 50, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The temperature actually got up to 50 degrees F today with a little sunshine here and there. But that north wind continued to blow and it did not feel like 50 degrees to me. Tomorrow the high temp is forecast to be the same but the wind will be coming from a southerly direction. Hopefully that means it will actually feel warmer. Monday is the first day of spring, so even though we had a mild winter, I am ready for sunshine and warmth.
Bruce and Jane Woodin returned from a winter in warmer climates yesterday. The Baranowskis returned from a couple of weeks in the Caribbean on Sunday. And Midge Frieswyk returned from her travels. So the three women in our Dining In group that had birthdays during the past three weeks finally got together to celebrate our birthdays. We are the seventy somethings with one eighty something and it was great to be together again.
We had lunch at the Dunbar Tea Room in Sandwich, and it was a great choice. I am not a tea lover, but I do like Rooibos tea (red leaf) from South Africa. The Tea Room had Cape Cod Rooibos advertised as Cranberry red leaf tea with a few other leaves added to the mix. It was fantastic as was the lobster quiche. It was a great belated birthday celebration for Midge, Christina Brodie, and me.
I talked with friend Lynne Kirwin in New Zealand this evening. We always enjoy our ‘catch up’ phone calls, but she will be returning to the US to visit this summer and I can’t wait to visit in person.
by Judy Handley | Mar 15, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 74: Falmouth All Bands Night
Date: Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Weather: Cloudy, A Little Windy; High 43, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Kudos to the music program in the Falmouth Public Schools. Each year on All Bands Night, the talent they have nurtured is showcased … from the fifth and sixth grade bands to the Lawrence Middle School band to the Falmouth High School band.
After the full bands at each level play, the jazz bands from each group performs. Ollie plays saxophone in the fifth grade jazz band and surprised us by getting to stand up and show off his talent.
Jonah plays bass guitar and trombone in the middle school jazz band and got to show off his talents on both instruments.
Congratulations to my grandsons, to all participating students, and to the band directors who do an amazing job.
by Judy Handley | Mar 14, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 73: Everything Everywhere All at Once
Date: Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Weather: Rainy, Some Wind; High 43, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The storm that much of New England got today didn’t really hit Cape Cod as expected. It rained overnight and much of today, with a break with blue skies and sunshine for a short period late afternoon. But with that came the wind and now it is back to light rain. We might get as much as a half inch of snow later tonight, but then just wind tomorrow.
After taking Shadow out to walk and play late afternoon, I decided to come in and watch the Oscar winning Picture of the Year–Everything Everywhere All at Once. Wow. I wouldn’t begin to know how to explain it, and at first I was a little doubtful that I would like it. But in the end, I loved it. You have to let go of the idea that movies should make sense and just go with it. Michele Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan certainly deserved their Oscars and I am not certain I would have given the Supporting Actress Oscar to Jamie Lee Curtis. Stephanie Hsu was also a nominee, and she was great as well. They were both great. In the end there is a main theme that becomes evident. So, if you haven’t seen it, do. And let me know what you think. Heather and Jed watched it over the weekend and they encouraged me to watch it, again saying they couldn’t describe it. Just watch it!
by Judy Handley | Mar 13, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 72: Catch Up Day
Date: Monday, March 13, 2023
Weather: Overcast with a Little Rain; High 43, Low 41 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
My friend Peppe left late this morning, headed back to New Hampshire, and I spent the afternoon just catching up on life. I had not written and posted a log for the two days Peppe was here, so I did that, made a trip into Heather and Jed’s to get a supply of Shadow’s Farmer’s Dog food out of the freezer, and that was about it. All of New England is awaiting a storm that is coming in tonight. We will get rain and high winds, and maybe some snow overnight tomorrow night into Wednesday morning. But we shall see.
by Judy Handley | Mar 12, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 71: Whole Cape Tour–Woods Hole to Provincetown
Date: Sunday, March 12, 2023
Weather: Cloudy turning Partly Sunny Late PM; High 38, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
What a whirlwind of a day. Peppe, Shadow, and I headed out around 9 am for a driving tour of Falmouth and a driving and walking tour in Woods Hole. Peppe and I had both forgotten that the time sprang forward one hour during the night, but we quickly adjusted once we got us and looked at our cell phones. I guess there is a reason they are called smart phones. They do keep us on track.
The plan for today was to experience the beauty of the Cape and that we did. We drove the beach route to Woods Hole, stopping Nobska Light House,
driving into Woods Hole past the Martha’s Vineyard Ferry Terminal, the Woods Hole Oceanographic buildings, and on to the Marine Biological buildings.
We visited Marina Park and communed with the Rachel Carson sculpture,
drove past the the NOAA US Fisheries building and Woods Hole Aquarium, and into the parking lot of Stony Beach to survey the views of Buzzards Bay.
Next was a stop at Quissett Harbor, the Woodwell Climate Research Center,
a drive down Main Street Falmouth, and back home to drop off Shadow and continue on to the Outer Cape.
Once we were in Truro, we stopped for lunch at Boxed Lunch and then on to High Head Beach to see the gray seals. It is a trek through deep sand and up a steep dune to get to the beach,
but the effort has been worth it as there are always lots of seals in the water. Just not today. There was not a seal in sight.
We reluctantly headed back to the car,
very disappointed that there were no seals, but that was soon overcome with our explorations in Provincetown … a drive out to Race Point Beach
… a stop at the visitor center to enjoy the views from atop a hill overlooking the ocean
… and then a leisurely walk down Commercial Street in Provincetown having the street almost to ourselves.
It is so different at this time of year without the tourists and we enjoyed every minute of it. Peppe loved the art filled walls of one of the alley ways.
We stopped by The Wired Puppy for some hot chocolate and then headed back to the car to travel on. I heard from Heather while we were walking in P-town and she suggested that we might find the seals in Chatham at Chatham Light Beach.
So, on we went. Unfortunately, the seals were not there either, but we certainly soaked in the beauty of Cape Cod in our search of seals.
We changed gears tonight and watched the Oscars. We both now have a list of movies on our ‘must watch’ list, with Everything, Everywhere, All at Once at the top of the list. We will sleep in a bit in the morning and then Peppe will drive back to her sister’s home in New Hampshire and start packing for her flight back home in Washington state. We discovered this weekend that Sam and Dawn, also past owners of Windbird, live on the same peninsula near Seattle as Peppe and Bob. I am hoping they can meet once Peppe is back home. She hopes to fly on Wednesday, but the Northeast is expecting some nasty weather coming in tomorrow evening through Wednesday morning. Fingers crossed, Peppe’s flight is not cancelled.
by Judy Handley | Mar 11, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 70: Science Fair and Kennedy Exploration in Hyannis
Date: Saturday, March 11, 2023
Weather: Rainy and Overcast; High 39, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Science Fair … friend Peppe Christianson arrived … tour of JFK Museum in Hyannis … exploration in Hyannis Port searching for the Kennedy Compound. This last activity involved walking the beach in the rain and wind. Then it was home for dinner and a night of talking about so many different things.
All three grandsons had projects on display at the Science Fair. Ollie’s project was experimenting to see what liquid would be most corrosive to aluminum foil. His hypothesis was that salty vinegar would be most corrosive and it was.
Jonah worked with two friends testing the temperature of different public restroom hand dryers trying to determine the best temperature to keep bacteria from growing.
And Sam worked with friend Robert to try and determine if Cape Cod oysters have more or less microplastics in them than the national average.
It is always so exciting to see so many students involved in scientific exploration.
Peppe arrived at 11:30 am. We had lunch and then headed to Hyannis to tour the JFK Museum.
It was cold and rainy, so an indoor activity was desirable. Plus, neither of us had ever been to the museum. We thought it would be interesting and it was. The focus of this museum is JFK’s deep connection to Cape Cod. He loved sailing Victura (Latin for “about to conquer”), a 25-foot Wianno sloop designed and built in Oysterville near Hyannis.
I loved seeing his drawings of sailboats intermixed with his Presidential notes that he wrote during meetings.
And, being sailors, Peppe and I really enjoyed the photos and sailing stories.
We left the museum around 4 pm and decided to use Google Maps to find the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port. I had read that the best way to see the original Joe Kennedy home was by walking down the beach. So, we braved the wind and the rain and were successful in our search.
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We spent the evening talking about has been happening in our lives since we last saw each other in South Africa in 2010 and making plans for our tour of Cape Cod tomorrow.
We had lunch at the Dunbar Tea Room in Sandwich, and it was a great choice. I am not a tea lover, but I do like Rooibos tea (red leaf) from South Africa. The Tea Room had Cape Cod Rooibos advertised as Cranberry red leaf tea with a few other leaves added to the mix. It was fantastic as was the lobster quiche. It was a great belated birthday celebration for Midge, Christina Brodie, and me.
