by Judy Handley | Mar 31, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 90: Lost Day or Lost Way
Date: Monday March 31, 2025
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Rain PM; High Temp 56, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Today was a lost day, or maybe I just lost my way. I had so many things I needed to get done and at the end of the day I think I accomplished only one to two things on my list. But I did a lot of thinking, and that is always dangerous. Last night when I had dinner with friends Jane and Bruce Woodin, I heard myself saying that we are not protesting to save our democracy. I feel Trump and Musk, in just 71 days, have literally put in motion all of the things that crumble democracies, even the most successful democracy in the history of the world. Last night, I was expressing that we are in the fight to take our democracy back. And just saying that shook me to the core.
At this point in writing this log, I stopped to watch The Rachel Maddow Show where I learned that I am not the only one in panic mode. Tonight, Senator Cory Booker is making “some good trouble” on the floor of the Senate tonight by disrupting business as usual. He says he will stand and talk for as long as he can physically do so. He is doing this to bring attention to the crisis we are in. There are too many people who do not understand the seriousness of the situation.
Then Rachel interviewed Pramila Jayapal, a representative from the state of Washington, who has started offering Resistance Labs. The first one was held in person with 500 people. Many more registered, but there was limited space. So, this past weekend they did one online with 1,500 people. I immediately emailed to find out how to sign up for the next one that is planned in two weeks. Then I got an email from Ezra Levin with Indivisible that the number of local events registered for this Saturday has gone from 600 to 1,000 with more sympathetic protests planned across the world. People power has gone into action. That gives me hope.
My daughter-in-law in Puerto Rico has been protesting, almost daily for the past two weeks, to try and prevent their town from starting construction on a concrete bicycle path the city is planning right along the coastline. A bike path is a great idea, just in another location. This one would be in the maritime zone and will take out many native trees. They have been successful in getting a stay until a hearing this week. It seems the need for public activism is in the air. Jo posted the following that I want to share with you.
“Resistance is NOT a one lane highway.
Maybe your lane is protesting.
Maybe your lane is organizing.
Maybe your lane is counseling.
Maybe your lane is art activism.
Maybe your lane is surviving the day.
Do NOT feel guilty for not occupying every lane.
We need all of them.”
Dr. Jordan Fields, Clinical Psychologist
I just want to add that I hope you will find your lane, whatever it may be, and get involved.
by Judy Handley | Mar 30, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 89: La Résistance
Date: Sunday March 30, 2025
Weather: Mostly Cloudy and Cool; High Temp 43, Low 41 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
This afternoon I met friend Jane Woodin at an Upper Cape Indivisible sign making workshop. Jane sent me a text around noon asking if I knew where we could buy signs for the upcoming nationwide protest day. I had already checked online and could not find a sign source that could get a sign here in time, so I told her about the workshop and said I would meet her there. After the hour-long workshop, Jane invited me over for pizza and salad for dinner. This gave us a nice to time catch up after the six weeks the Woodins spent in Mexico. Thank you, Bruce and Jane.
So why are we making signs? As of Thursday of last week, national Indivisible had 600 event sites registered for the April 5 Hands Off! rallies that will be taking place nationwide. There will even be a rally in London. Indivisible, 50501, MoveOn, and a few other organizations are sponsoring these events to make sure our voices are heard loud and clear in every state in this country and beyond. When I first heard about the rally plans, I decided I wanted to attend in Washington, DC. But for various reasons, one of them being that I want to be counted in my home state, I have decided I will be in the Boston Common near the state capital. If you have not made plans to attend a Hands Off! rally on Saturday, make those plans now. Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible at the national level, says to go to DC if you can. And if not, go to your state capital. Or if that doesn’t work for you, go to any rally location close to home. But please take the time to show up somewhere if you possibly can. If you live in Falmouth, you can go to the Hyannis traffic circle or attend the local event at the Falmouth Village Green from noon to 1 pm. I have copied the message from Indivisible that gives you more details about why this day of nationwide protest is being organized.
MESSAGE FROM INDIVISIBLE:
“We know that nothing stops authoritarians in their tracks like organized people power – and next Saturday, April 5, we’re organizing it in communities throughout the country. In the face of an administration that’s hell bent on dismantling our rights and our democracy, it’s up to us to declare that we will not go quietly. This is the moment where we say NO: No more looting, no more stealing, no more billionaires raiding our government while working people struggle to survive.
That’s why we’re hitting the streets on Saturday, April 5, to send a clear message: this country belongs to the people –, not to Trump, Musk or their other cronies. We’re going to show them what real people power looks like.
April 5 isn’t just a protest — it’s a recruitment drive. There are millions of people watching this crisis unfold, waiting for a reason to jump in. We need to show them the resistance is real.
We’re not just showing up for ourselves — we’re showing up for:
? The judges afraid for their safety
? The journalists getting threats
? The federal staffers and university leaders under pressure
? And yes … the Democrats who’ve lost their nerve
We’re proving they won’t be alone if they choose to fight. That courage is contagious — and public, peaceful resistance is how it spreads.”
by Judy Handley | Mar 29, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 88: PT, Costco, Job Fair
Date: Saturday March 29, 2025
Weather: Mostly Cloudy and Cool Rain Tonight; High Temp 46, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
My day started with an early physical therapy appointment, the last one for the pain in my neck. The problem is not solved, but it is better. I really didn’t enjoy traveling so far for the appointments, so I am glad the sessions are over. If there is a next time, I am going to make sure I request being referred to the therapy center at Falmouth Hospital.
After the session, I drove further north to Costco to buy a few needed items. By the time I got back to the Cape it was 12:30 pm, so I headed directly to a one-day job fair at Mahoney’s Garden Center. I love living where I am, but the rent is really more than I can afford. So, I thought I would apply for a seasonal job where I would be surrounded by plants that I love. I have no idea if they will hire someone my age, especially since lifting heavy trays of plants and carting them around the huge greenhouse is part of the job. After the initial interview, I was interviewed by the young woman in charge of the indoor greenhouse. After that interview, I was told I would be called by the woman in charge of the perennial plants sold outside. After that interview, a hiring decision will be made. I have not interviewed for a job since 1989. It didn’t seem like a big deal until I walked through the doors. I almost turned around and walked right back out. But in the end, it was a positive experience. We’ll find out in a week or so if the positive experience turns into positive results.
by Judy Handley | Mar 28, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 87: Kayaking (Ollie, not me), Sign Making, and a Protest
Date: Friday March 28, 2025
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Windy; High Temp 52, Low 43 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
“This is What Democracy Looks Like. We Won’t Give Up!”
“In a Free Land, Legal Views Aren’t Crimes” “Democracy Demands the Freedom to Speak” “Free the Kidnapped Students” “Stop Arresting Peaceful Protesters” “Stop ICE Abductions” “Hands Off! Stop the Kidnapping” “Respect Existence or Expect Resistance” “And Then They Came For … Thee”
Chilling to read these signs, while holding one of them, in the United States of America I know and love. But if making my voice heard in this way might help get my country back, I will stand in every protest until we get the job done.
So, I ended my day standing out on Main Street in protest of the kidnapping of students in our universities. I started my day reading a post by Jerry Lanson on Substack. In between, I tried to live life, ignoring what the Trump regime is doing to tear down our democracy. The highlight of my day was picking Ollie up from school and helping him launch a kayak for the first time this spring. We carried and slid the kayak down the hill between the two houses across the street from 43 Grasmere. The trick was to get it into the water without getting our feet wet. We were successful and Ollie really enjoyed exploring Jones Pond.
by Judy Handley | Mar 27, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 86: Dr. Strangelove
Date: Thursday March 27, 2025
Weather: Partly Sunny; High Temp 47, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Late this morning, I headed to the Cape Cinema in Dennis with friend Judy Fenwick to see National Theater Live’s filmed production of Dr. Strangelove. If I saw Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove film in the 1970’s, I don’t remember it. And somehow, today, what has been billed as “an explosively funny satire, about a rogue U.S General who triggers a nuclear attack” didn’t seem so funny to me. The bumbling US President and inept Generals were too close to what we are witnessing in Washington., DC, in real time to be the least bit funny.
It was late afternoon when we returned to Falmouth. I checked in with the Goldpebbles to see how things were going there. Jonah went to school yesterday and today and seems to be doing okay with that. Sam was waiting for his mom to get home to take him shoe shopping and I made sure Ollie had something to eat as I had to take him to soccer practice at 6:15 pm. Then I headed to a Meet the Candidate affair for Colin Reed who is running for Select Board and then came back and picked up Ollie and took him to his soccer practice. Whatever he did to his side at rib-cage level at the trampoline park last Friday is still really bothering him, so he mostly watched practice tonight. Unfortunately, he didn’t wear a sweatshirt thinking he would be too hot while running. But since he was mostly standing still, he was freezing by the end of the practice. If I had realized, I would have gone home to get him a coat. Bad Oma!
by Judy Handley | Mar 26, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 85: Back to the Computer Photo Project
Date: Wednesday March 26, 2025
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Some Precipitation; High Temp 47, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Today I was back on the computer working on the photo project that I started weeks ago. I am getting there but not done yet.
Thankfully, I got a little break when I picked Ollie up after school today. I took him home, but as he started to get out of the car, he asked if we could go to my house to get a kayak. There is a pond the boys can access from a neighbor’s backyard that Ollie wants to kayak in. The kayaks have been stored under the adjoining studio apartment since I moved here. I have two, but we decided to clean and move one today. We’ll get the second one if someone else would like to kayaking with Ollie.
Tonight I am back on the photo project, but stopping for the night. It is time to watch the Rachel Maddow Show while getting in my exercise bike time for tonight.
Here’s a little list you might be interested in. It was posted today by Robert Reich.
20 SIGNS OF IMPENDING TYRANNY
As tyrants take control of democracies, they typically:
1. Demand personal loyalty from all appointees.
2. Organize military parades and other choreographed shows of force.
3. Threaten to fire independent prosecutors who get too close to the truth.
4. Spread conspiracy theories about “deep state” forces seeking to oust the tyrant.
5. Refer to top-ranking military leaders as “my” generals.
6. Threaten to jail political opponents.
7. Claim to have won an election by a landslide even after losing the popular vote.
8. Stoke tensions abroad, even the specter of nuclear war, to distract from the tyrant’s efforts to consolidate power at home.
9. Circumvent the independent press and communicate directly with followers.
10. Vilify legislators and judges who are critical of the regime.
11. Repeatedly claim massive voter fraud in the absence of any evidence, in order to restrict voting in subsequent elections.
12. Turn the public against journalists or media outlets that criticize the regime, calling them “deceitful” and “scum.”
13. Repeatedly tell big lies, causing the public to doubt the truth and to believe fictions that support the tyrants’ goals
14. Blame economic stresses on immigrants or racial or religious minorities, and foment public bias and hatred against them.
15. Threaten mass deportations, registries of religious minorities, and the banning of refugees.
16. Attribute acts of domestic violence to “enemies within,” and use such events as excuses to beef up internal security and limit civil liberties.
17. Appoint family members to high positions of authority.
18. Draw no distinction between personal property and public property, profiteering from public office.
19. Make personal alliances with foreign dictators, but express indifference if not defiance toward leaders of democracies.
20. Maintain a powerful propaganda arm that claims to be “fair and balanced” but only amplifies the tyrant’s lies and accusations.
