by Judy Handley | May 5, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 125: Shop ‘til You Drop on Cinco de Mayo
Date: Thursday, May 5, 2022
Weather: Sunshine!!!; High 63, Low 46 F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
On this sunny Cinco de Mayo, I went with friend Jane Woodin across the bridge to shop ‘til we dropped. Actually, we just made a trip to Costco, but we did make a couple of other side trips . . . more shopping than I have done for some time. It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed our little outing. When I got home, I went for a walk with Shadow, and then drove into town to pick up Jonah and bring him here to do yard work for a neighbor. Ollie and Jonah have said they will do the yardwork for two neighbors this summer season, Andrew and Lara, and Shirley. When I took Jonah home, Heather came out to say hello. We were checking our calendars and I saw a new entry for this Saturday. Sam is going to work at Corner Cycle. I am so proud of him for getting a job, but it literally brought tears to my eyes. How could he be old enough to work? My grandbabies are growing up.
by Judy Handley | May 4, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 124: Book Club Luncheon
Date: Wednesday, May 4, 2022
Weather: Overcast with Light Rain, Fog Tonight; High 57, Low 47 F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today was another cloudy day with some rain. For my evening walk with Shadow, I wore my winter coat. It is not really cold out, but the damp, sunless days make it feel that way. Tomorrow we are supposed to get a glimpse of the sun before it disappears again for a few days. I can’t wait to celebrate the sunshine.
The highlight of my day was meeting with my book club for lunch. We cancelled our normal book club meeting for this month and decided to just meet socially. It was so nice to spend time getting to know more about one another and to talk about current issues rather than a book for a change. We did all bring a recommendation for a book that we have read recently that others might be interested in, but that was the extent of our book ‘talk’. We met at the Flying Bridge on the Falmouth Harbor and they let us sit in a huge dining hall that was empty other than us. With the threat of Covid rising again, it was great to have our own dining room. This morning I got word that friend Peter Baranowski has Covid. My thoughts are with Peter, hoping he has a light case and bounces back quickly . . . and that somehow Karen manages not to get Covid.
by Judy Handley | May 3, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 123: Some Enchanted Evening
Date: Tuesday, May 3, 2022
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 56, Low 45 F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
“Some enchanted evening, you may see a stranger,
You may see a stranger across a crowded room,
And somehow you know, you know even then,
That somehow you’ll see here again and again.
. . . Once you have found her/him, never let he/him go,
Once you have found her/him, never let her/him go.”
I love that song and many others by Rogers and Hammerstein. Their music dominated the early lives of those of us now in our ‘twilight’ years. Lyrics from musicals like Oklahoma! (1943), South Pacific (1949), The King and I (1951), The Sound of Music (1959) . . . just to name a few.
Tonight, my good friend Jane Woodin invited me to attend an opening celebration at the Cotuit Center for the Arts. This celebration hosted an evening of conversation, music, and art with Oscar Andrew Hammerstein, the grandson of the beloved librettist and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein. This event was free, and it was wonderful.
There was food, live music, complimentary drinks, and an intimate conversation between the Executive Director of the Cotuit Center for the Arts, David Kuehn and Oscar Andrew Hammerstein (pronounced ‘stine’ not ‘steen’), painter, writer, lecturer, and family historian.
The conversation kept me at the edge of my seat.
The current Oscar Hammerstein described his grandfather as being ‘marinated’ in the theater as his father, his grandfather, and his uncles, all were in theater in various ways. When he went to Columbia in pre-law, he met and married, had a child, needed money, and reverted to the family ‘business’ of theater to make money. And he was good at it. As his grandson said tonight, “Theatre is a communicable disease.” He also shared a family belief about theatre: “When things are too emotional to say, you sing. When things are too emotional to sing, you dance.” He talked about how some of his grandfather’s music was specifically written to match the talent as in “South Pacific” with Mary Martin and Ezio Penza, while other scripts were rewritten to fit the talent, as in the case of Yul Brenner in “The King and I.”
The current Oscar Andrew Hammerstein, known as Andy, also talked about his life’s work as an artist. There were examples of his artwork in the background during the interview, and he pointed out how some of his work expresses space over time (circles),
while other works express time over space (rectangles).
It was an enchanted evening. Thank you, Cotuit Center for the Arts. And thank you, Jane.
by Judy Handley | May 2, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 122: Atlantic White Shark Conservancy Field Trip
Date: Monday, May 2, 2022
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High 54, Low 46 F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Chatham is a lovely town located on the eastern most coast of Cape Cod in the area known as the Lower Cape. And located in Chatham is the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.
I traveled there today with a Newcomers group. The displays are very informative and very user friendly.
After spending an hour in the Conservancy, we drove to the Chatham Fish Market where, in season, there are always lots of seals. But today not a seal was to be seen.
Obviously, we are not ‘in season’ yet. We then had lunch in a Chatham favorite, the Chatham Squire. Fun day.
by Judy Handley | May 1, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 121: Breakfast, Soccer, Another Cape Dory
Date: Sunday, May 1, 2022
Weather: Sunny, A Little Warmer; High 62, Low 44 F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Jonah, Ollie, and I started our day with French toast smothered with whipped cream and strawberries.
Then Jonah was off to a Scout leadership committee meeting. Ollie went with me to take Jonah, but then wanted to come back to my house while Jonah was in his meeting. In the early afternoon, Heather and I watched Ollie’s soccer game
that Jed was refereeing while Jonah and Sam played soccer on another field with friends. It was Sunday soccer time.
During all this, Heather received an email from the young woman who showed us the Cape Dory 36 yesterday. This morning’s communication was about another Cape Dory, a 33-footer, that could be viewed in Cohasset this afternoon.
Heather couldn’t go as she was hosting her book club, so Jed, the boys, and I went. Heather wanted the boys to see if they thought the reduction of 3 feet made this boat too small for the family. This boat was one year older than the one we saw yesterday, but it was in much better shape and the boys loved it.
In fact, all of us were impressed. And even though the trip took 4 hours of our day, I think we were all glad we went to see it. Jed and boys were going to give Heather a full report over dinner, and I shared all the photos I took.
The boat search will continue, but we have all learned a lot in just two afternoons.
by Judy Handley | Apr 30, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 120: Soccer, a Sailboat, and an Overnight
Date: Saturday, April 30, 2022
Weather: Sunny; High 56, Low 39 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
My morning started with a walk with Shadow and a then going to one of Jonah’s soccer games.
The sun was shining, and the sky was a beautiful blue dotted with puffy white clouds . . . but I was still wearing my winter coat due to the chilly north wind.
This afternoon, Heather and Jed invited me to go to Tiverton, Rhode Island with all the Goldstones to check out a Cape Dory 36 sailboat that is for sale.
They have been looking for a sailboat for a couple of months, but this is the first time they have gone to see one. Inside, the Cape Dory 36 is so much like Windbird that I felt right at home. Heather, Jed, and all three Goldpebbles loved the layout inside and, like me, they felt right at home in the cockpit. There are two other Cape Dory 36 boats for sale in New England right now, so they might try to check those out before making the decision to purchase. But I think they have agreed that this is the type of boat for them.
We had planned to have artichokes for dinner at my house when we returned. I had prepared them before we went as I knew the turnaround time was going to be tight as Heather and Jed were going out for a “jazz night” date. But it was tighter than expected because we spent more time going over every inch of the sailboat than planned. So, I sent Heather and Jed home with two of the artichokes and kept the boys with me for dinner. Then after dinner we made an obligatory stop at Smitty’s Ice Cream as it is the opening weekend for the summer. Oh, my, that ice cream was so good! I then took Sam home as he has to be up for an early soccer game tomorrow, but Jonah and Ollie decided to stay with me and Shadow tonight. When I dropped Sam off, they grabbed their PJ’s and back we went to the cottage. It has been too long since they have spent the night and having them here has made Shadow especially happy.
The three of them are now tucked in for the night. Life is good.
