by Judy Handley | Jun 22, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 173: Afternoon with Detta and Leslie, Evening at NHPR
Date: Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Weather: Another Beautiful Day; High 67, Low 56 degrees F
Location: At Home with Tom and Detta Porat, Greenland, NH
What a wonderful afternoon I had in Rye, New Hampshire having lunch with my good friends Leslie Kole and Detta Porat.
Then later in the afternoon I drove to Concord, New Hampshire to for a celebration of New Hampshire Public Radio’s 40th anniversary.
Mark would be so proud of how his visions have been fulfilled. Then I drove back to the coast to Greenland, New Hampshire to spend the night with Tom and Detta. Shadow stayed with them while I went to Concord, and by the time I returned, he had bonded with their dog, Attie.
Tom and Detta are in the middle of a major renovation of their home. Right now it just looks like a major construction site, but the replacement of what was called the cottage attached to the main house is going to be a gorgeous addition. The basic structure is completed so I was able to get an idea of what it will be like. The huge windows looking out on the Great Bay will provide priceless views. It should be completed in the fall, and I can’t wait to return and see it completed.
by Judy Handley | Jun 21, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 172: Happy Birthday to Jo
Date: Tuesday, June 21, 2022
Weather: Beautiful Day, Still Coolish; High 67, Low 56 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
On this first day of summer, my daughter-in-law Jo celebrated her 45th birthday. Justin is still in Virginia, but I am certain that Ziggy and Coco helped her celebrate in style.
Happy birthday, Jo!
In April, I bought new tires for my little Honda Fit. In May, I had to have one of the new tires replaced as I had picked up a nail. On Saturday when I was downtown, a gentleman noticed that my right front tire looked almost flat. On my way home, I stopped by Sullivan Tire and, sure, the tire was almost flat, and I had driven on it enough to damage it. It had to be replaced. That happened this morning. So that was first step in getting ready for my road trip tomorrow to New Hampshire.
Tomorrow evening, I am going to the 40th anniversary party for New Hampshire Public Radio in Concord, New Hampshire. Mark led the way for 15 of those years and I know he would be so proud of the progress that has been made since 2005 when he retired so we could sail around the world. I am attending tomorrow night to celebrate for him. And as long as I am traveling to New Hampshire, I decided to go early and have an afternoon with good friends, Detta and Leslie. Shadow will go with me so he can visit with Leslie’s Quinn and Detta’s Addie. That means driving to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for the afternoon, and then driving the hour to Concord for the evening and then back to Portsmouth. Detta will dog sit while I attend the celebration. On the way home on Thursday, I plan to stop to see Alan and Helaine Kanegsberg in Dedham and then shop my way home from there. There is a lot of driving, but it will be worth it to spend time with friends. Then, at 4:00 pm on Thursday, I will meet with my wine group at the local winery for what has become an annual summer celebration. I think I’ll sleep in on Friday morning!
by Judy Handley | Jun 20, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 171: Dining-in at the Goldstones on Juneteenth
Date: Monday, June 20, 2022
Weather: Sunny, Still on the Cool Side; High 69, Low 57 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I had hoped to sneak out of the house at 8:30 am to drive to Yarmouth to pick up Sam, Jonah, and Jeremy, a fellow Scout who lives in their neighborhood. While I was still in bed, however, I heard Ollie start coughing, and soon after he was up. He was feeling okay but had decided that he would stay home alone for the couple of hours that I would be gone getting his brothers. I got him settled in and then off I went. I arrived at the camp at the appointed time of 9:30, but it was well after 10 am before they had finished cleaning up the camp. Then we packed up, got the three bikes on the bike rack, and took off for home. We went straight to my house to check on Ollie and Shadow. They were fine. And I left Sam there so he could cut my neighbor Andrew’s grass for Ollie. It was obvious that Ollie shouldn’t be doing that.
I took Jonah, Jeremy, and all the gear home, made a stop at the grocery store, and then returned to my house to pick up Sam and Ollie. We knew Heather and Jed would not be home until almost midnight and since it was a school night, the boys needed to be home. I knew all of this ahead of time, so I had arranged for my dining-in group to come to Heather and Jed’s for dinner. It was my turn to host and rather than cancel or change the date, I figured we could pull it off. We did it, but it did take all three boys and me. Ollie and Sam unpacked the van which had deck chairs, a table, and half my kitchen. Later Sam helped set up things on the deck. Since Ollie had a cold, he stayed out of the kitchen, but he could read recipes to me, step by step, from the living room. It was decided that I would be in charge of the salmon and Sam would be in charge of the grilled potatoes. People started arriving at 4 pm. I had not even had time to braid my hair in the morning and had planned to at least comb my hair and get on nicer clothes before everyone arrived. That didn’t happen. But I excused myself to get dressed and just twisted and banded yesterday’s braid, added a scrunchie, and I was ready.
The dinner was wonderful. We had prepared to eat outside, but as the sun sunk lower in the sky, the wind kicked up, and we decided to move inside. Bruce and Jane provided the appetizers–leek pizzas with mushrooms, artichokes, and pine nuts. Delicious. Alaskan Coho salmon was the entree and Sam’s marinated and grilled potatoes were a real hit. Midge added a tray of colorful roasted veggies, Terry and Olivia brought the salad, and Peter and Karen topped off the evening with Karen’s crunchy ice cream cake—vanilla ice cream mixed with chocolate coated Rice Krispies. Yummy and a special treat for the Goldpebbles as well as the grown-up kids in attendance!
It was almost 8:30 pm by the time everyone left and time for the boys to get ready for bed. Lights out for Jonah and Ollie is 9 pm and Sam stays up and reads for another hour or so. The boys talked to Heather and Jed before bedtime, and we found out their ETA was 11:15 pm. It took most of the that time for me to clean up the kitchen and finish the laundry loads I had started earlier. Then when Heather and Jed did get home, Jed drove me home in the van with all my gear. He brought me up-to-date on the results of the survey and sea trial and the news was not good. There are issues that need to be addressed, so there will not be a closing on Monday. The owner is in Ireland and will be home on Thursday. Heather and Jed will get the written survey by then and the negotiations will begin. Depending, Eider might or might not be the boat for Heather and Jed. We just must wait and see if the owner is willing to fix the issues or reduce the price of the boat enough to make it worth while for Heather and Jed to take on the fixes. Heather was very disappointed. But things might still work out. Fingers crossed.
by Judy Handley | Jun 19, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 170: Happy Father’s Day
Date: Sunday, June 19, 2022
Weather: Overcast with Intermittent Rain; High 58, Low 50 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Happy Father’s Day to all of you who are fathers, but most especially to my two favorite fathers, my son and my son-in-law. Neither got to be with their children today. Well, Jed got be with Ollie for half the day before he and Heather left for Maine, but Sam and Jonah are on a weekend biking trip. And Justin is still in Virginia. But I’m sure they both felt the love being sent their way.
The morning was dreary and rainy with the exception of about 15 minutes when the sun came out. It went away quickly, and the rain returned. It was just dibble dops, not a hard rain, but it continued on into the afternoon. Mid-afternoon Heather and Jed arrived with the van and with Ollie. They headed on to Boothbay where they are sleeping tonight, but by 8 am they need to be two hours further downeast from Boothbay for the survey of Eider. After the survey, the sailboat will be put in the water, and they will get aboard for the sea trial before heading home. They are hoping to be home by midnight tomorrow night. In the meantime, I will pick Sam and Jonah up from their biking adventure tomorrow morning and we will spend some time mowing grass for my neighbors and then go to their house to get ready for my 4:15 dining-in friends to arrive. We are meeting at Heather and Jed’s so the boys can get things ready for school the next morning and put themselves to bed. Shadow and I will sleep on the sofa and be ready to head home when Heather and Jed arrive. Or maybe we’ll stay there for the night. It all depends on when H & J get home.
Ollie and I had a lovely afternoon together. He has a terrible cold, but he is feeling okay—just lethargic. I helped him work a globe puzzle ball
and he helped me take apart the shelves I use to start plants, transport them to the basement, and put them back together.
And on his own, he took the screens for my living room windows from the basement upstairs and installed them.
He seemed to really enjoy helping. Then we started another 300-piece jigsaw puzzle called “Strut Your Mutt”—lots of dogs and their owners. We did that one on a portable frame so we can take it with us tomorrow. Then it was dinner and get ready for bedtime. Ollie and Shadow are fast asleep in the guest bedroom and I am going to follow suit and get to bed early tonight. I have to leave here by 8:45 am to drive the 45 minutes or so to pick up Sam, Jonah, and a friend. I’m hoping Ollie can sleep in and just be getting up when we return.
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring “that all persons held as slaves are, and henceforward, shall be free.” But it took another two and a half years for a Union Army Major General to ride into Galveston, Texas, and issue General Order No. 3 proclaiming that the enslaved African Americans there were free. That was on June 19,1865 and it became known as the Juneteenth Independence Day. Now, one hundred and fifty-seven years later, today was finally the first June 19th that we are celebrating as a national holiday. The holiday is tomorrow, but today was the day. “Let Freedom Ring.”
by Judy Handley | Jun 18, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 169: Celebration in Falmouth
Date: Saturday, June 18, 2022
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Turning Cooler; High 71, Low 51 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
There is one thing Falmouth really knows how to do and that is celebrate. Downtown today was one big celebration. Arts Alive, a showcase of all the arts, was on display on Main Street today. Mullen Hall, the downtown elementary school was having its end-of-school-year carnival. And further down Main Street, St. Barnabus Episcopal Church was having its annual Strawberry Festival featuring lobster rolls, barbecue of all sorts, and strawberry shortcake. We had one little snag, however. Ollie was supposed to play violin as part of Arts Alive this morning, but he coughed all night and hardly slept. He tests negative for Covid, so he probably just has a cold, but Heather didn’t want to chance passing this to others by having him play with Sonnay Fiddlers inside a tent. Eventually, we did all go downtown, but Ollie stayed masked in hopes of not spreading the cold. Despite not getting much sleep last night, he was feeling okay and we had a great day welcoming summer to Falmouth. The weather, however, did not get the message that summer arrives on Tuesday morning. The high today was 71 degrees F, but the wind from the north felt cool. Tomorrow the high will be 60 degrees. That is going to feel downright cold!
Tomorrow Heather and Jed leave for Boothbay, ME, and then on to Brooklin, ME on Monday morning for the survey and sea trial of Eider. Ollie will stay with me tomorrow afternoon and night, and on Monday morning we will drive to Yarmouth to pick Sam and Jonah up at Camp Greenough at the end of their weekend biking adventure. Then on Monday afternoon, the Goldpebbles and I will host my dining-in group on the Goldstone’s back deck. Heather and Jed hope to be home by midnight on Monday night and out the door early on Tuesday morning for Ollie’s end-of-year school assembly. Whew! We are moving in the fast lane these days.
by Judy Handley | Jun 17, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 168: A Little Overwhelmed
Date: Friday, June 17, 2022
Weather: Cloudy with Light Rain; High 72, Low 62 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I must admit that I feel overwhelmed with what is happening in our country. I have been trying to watch as much of the January 6th Committee Hearings as possible. I have been recording them and watching a bit at a time. Listening to a conservative and well-respected Federal Judge say that Donald Trump and his allies are a “clear and present danger to our society” was chilling. Then today was the beginning of the first ever Juneteenth weekend. Tonight, I joined friends and my daughter in Woods Hole to a Juneteenth weekend kick-off presentation by Dr. Chad Starks. The title of the talk was “Be the Messenger: Tell the Truth about Independence in America and its Impact on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.” All you have to do is read those words slowly and let them sink in to feel the heaviness of that presentation. All things we all needed to hear, but hard to figure out what each of us can do individually to move toward an America that lives up to those words. Lots to think about.
On a lighter note, tonight was the beginning of Arts Alive, Falmouth’s festive three-day celebration of the arts that takes place in downtown Falmouth. Ollie plays with Sonnay Fiddler’s tomorrow morning, so I will head downtown early to that and then check out the other activities. Jonah and Sam are off early in the morning on a 3-day Scout biking expedition. And on Sunday Heather and Jed leave for Maine. On Monday they will be there for the survey and sea trial of Eider, the 36-foot Cape Dory sailboat they are buying. Ollie and I will hold down the fort here, pick up Sam and Jonah on Monday morning at the end of their biking adventure, and then all come home and welcome my dining-in group at their house on Monday afternoon. Heather and Jed will either be home very, very late on Monday night or on Tuesday morning. It is going to be a jam-packed three-day weekend.
Then later in the afternoon I drove to Concord, New Hampshire to for a celebration of New Hampshire Public Radio’s 40th anniversary.
Mark would be so proud of how his visions have been fulfilled. Then I drove back to the coast to Greenland, New Hampshire to spend the night with Tom and Detta. Shadow stayed with them while I went to Concord, and by the time I returned, he had bonded with their dog, Attie.
