by Judy Handley | Aug 17, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 229: Sunday Thoughts
Date: Sunday, August 17, 2025
Weather: Sunny, Windy PM; High Temp 78, Low 63 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
All is well with Justin and family in Puerto Rico. Hurricane Erin just caused a lot of wind and rain. Jo thought there might have been some coastal flooding, but not for them as they are up in the hills. It looks like Erin might come close to the Carolinas mid-week and then close to Cape Cod on Friday or Saturday, but not close enough to do any major damage. At least, we hope that is the case.
All is not well in the country, however. I want to share a piece written by Robert Reich that he published today entitled, Sunday Thought—America without a President.
“People ask me almost daily: Can he really do this?
My answer: He’ll do anything he can get away with.
He believes he can get away with anything as long as:
• his Republican lapdogs remain in control of Congress,
• as long as congressional Democrats remain wimpy and disunited,
• as long as the Supreme Court immunizes him from prosecution,
• and as long as he feels he can disregard lower-court rulings with impunity.
This is why it’s so urgent that We the People are rising up:
• making a ruckus at Republican town halls,
• phoning our senators and representatives so often we’re jamming congressional switchboards,
• joining our local Indivisible resistance groups,
• demonstrating,
• forming sanctuary communities,
• and boycotting corporations (such as Tesla and Target) that are caving to Trump.
Another thing we can do is stop recognizing him as president. He may occupy the Oval Office, but he has repeatedly violated his oath of office to “faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and … preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
• He sends the National Guard into Washington, D.C., on the pretext that the city is overrun with crime when its crime rate has plummeted to its lowest in 30 years.
• He supports Vladimir Putin’s demand that Ukraine cede territory it controls to Russia, thereby rewarding Putin’s aggression and breaking with our European allies.
• He orders ICE to “disappear” people — including American citizens — into detention camps and foreign jails.
• He instructs Republican governors to super-gerrymander in order to gain more Republican seats so Republicans have better odds of staying in control of Congress after the 2026 midterms.
• He usurps the constitutional power of Congress to dispense federal funds.
• He usurps its authority to regulate commerce with foreign nations. He takes personal gifts from foreign powers, also in direct violation of the Constitution.
• He invites corporate executives to give him personal gifts in return for government favors. He and his family make a fortune on cryptocurrencies, which he has officially encouraged.
• He smothers criticism of him and his regime. He attacks universities, media corporations, and law firms that have offended him. He fires public servants who tell the truth.
This is the same man who attempted a coup against the United States less than five years ago: refusing to accept the outcome of the 2020 election, telling Republican governors and secretaries of state to change election returns and his vice president not to certify the results, encouraging a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol, and later pardoning all who were found guilty of participating in that assault. By repeatedly violating his oath of office, he has relinquished the presidency. His presidency is illegitimate. We must disavow our allegiance to him. We don’t yet have the votes to impeach him, but we should stop referring to him as President Trump. Urge others to do so as well.
We will not fall for his strongman bullshit.
• He wants us to think he’s invincible and that we can’t stop him. But we won’t allow him to intimidate us, and we will stop him.
• He wants to make us so cynical and hopeless that we give up our opposition to him. But that we will never do. We will keep fighting.
We will assume that everything he says is a lie. Ditto for his “spokespeople.” And for his White House staff and Cabinet. We will never fall for or repeat his lies.
We will not even listen to him. When he’s about to speak, we’ll turn off whatever device we have. We will not even read accounts of what he says, because they are meaningless drivel.
We’ll pay attention only to what he does. We’ll take whatever nonviolent action we can to stop him from trampling on our rights and freedoms.
I say all this more in sorrow than in anger. We are living through a profound tragedy. America is suffering a grievous loss. Some day we will once again have a president. We will support people of integrity who seek the highest office in the land. People who will honor their oath of office.”
by Judy Handley | Aug 16, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 228: Hurricane Season is Upon Us
Date: Saturday, August 16, 2025
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 76, Low 66 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
When I went to bed last night, Hurricane Erin was Category 1 and its trajectory looked like it was starting to curve to the north and west. Well, this morning Christina Brodie emailed saying she was worried about Justin and family in Puerto Rico because of Erin. I sent a text to Justin and asked if all was well. He replied that no one expected Erin to come near Puerto Rico. But, like mine, his information was from last night. When we both checked, we found that during the night Erin went from a Cat 1 to a Cat 4 and was on its way to being a Category 5 AND it was not heading north and west, just west for now. It did reach Cat 5 status this afternoon, but it is now back down to Category 4. The latest report I saw had the hurricane location about 150 miles north of Puerto Rico. Thankfully, no direct hit, but probably a lot of rain and wind. Hopefully all is well at Finca Maravilla, but I will check in the morning and let you know tomorrow night.
I spent the early afternoon at the weekly rally on the Green. There were more people on the Green today than last week and the downtown area was full of people here for the Road Race. The general atmosphere was more like a celebration than a rally today.
I spent the remainder of my day emailing the people I have invited to my next Community Resistance Gathering on this Tuesday evening. I invited everyone in my dining-in group plus a couple of other people. Then I turned my attention to the nonviolent film series I am working on. I did my first film viewing tonight, and I chose Selma as I had never seen it before. It is hard to watch but a very strong reminder of the struggle to get the Voting Rights Act passed in the 1960’s. It is tragic that the Voting Rights Act has been significantly weakened, almost totally gutted, in the past 10 years. The struggle continues.
by Judy Handley | Aug 15, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 227: Falmouth Gearing Up for Road Race 2025
Date: Friday, August 15, 2025
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 79, Low 60 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
The number of runners in the Falmouth Road Race this year is 11,400, so the town was jampacked with people today. No matter where you went, it was a traffic jam.
I had a meeting this morning with a woman from Bourne who wants to help with the nonviolent resistance film series I am planning. Then tonight, Heather, Sam, and I had a sushi dinner together. Jonah was doing Road Race volunteer work from 3:30 to 7:00 pm, and then he stayed at the high school and played soccer with friends until dark, so he didn’t join us for dinner. Heather and I took his soccer gear to him at the high school, picked up our take-out sushi, and enjoyed the beautiful weather on the deck eating sushi until the mosquitos chased us indoors.
by Judy Handley | Aug 15, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 226: No More Stitches
Date: Thursday, August 14, 2025
Weather: Overcast and Warm; High Temp 75, Low 69 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Shadow had the remaining stitches removed today, but the incision is not healed. He has to continue to wear the plastic cone and be on leash at all times when outside for at least one more week. I can take the cone off when I have him on leash or when I am watching his every move. Poor Shadow. He must feel like he is in prison. I know he misses his off-leash time chasing a tennis ball every afternoon. But he has survived two weeks of quiet time with a plastic cone around his neck, so I know he can make it for another week. It is just not fun.
Late this afternoon I attended a meet and greet with our State Senator, Dylan Fernandez, at Christina and Warren Brodie’s. It was a lovely affair and a great opportunity to mix and mingle with friends and with Dylan. State Senators in Massachusetts are elected for just two years. He has been in office for one year and now has to spend the second year campaigning. He is young, enthusiastic, and is doing a great job.
I left the Brodie’s just in time to get to the next meeting of the Falmouth Democrats. There were guest speakers tonight on the topic of housing. And then there was a young man who asked to speak. He is running for the US Senate seat that has been held by Ed Markey for the last 12 years. Markey has been a good Senator and wants to keep his job. But I think we are going to see these young candidates challenging the status quo all across the country in 2026. I was just not quite ready to get into another election season already!
by Judy Handley | Aug 13, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 225: Computer Work Sandwiched Between Meetings
Date: Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Weather: Overcast and Warm; High Temp 75, Low 69 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
It was a workday. I had an all-morning Encore Board meeting and ended the day with an Indivisible Upper Cape meeting in Mashpee and then an Indivisible One Million Rising training session on Zoom. I had saved the afternoon to drive to Boston to pick up Jonah, but he took the bus. I just had to pick him up at the Falmouth station. So, one more Goldstone is home from Maine. That just leaves Ollie and Jed in Boothbay. I am not sure exactly when they are coming home, but probably sometime this weekend. And speaking of this weekend, it is Falmouth Road Race weekend with thousands of extra people coming to town. Jonah is working at Corner Cycle this weekend and he says it will be busier than the Fourth of July.
Since I didn’t drive to Boston to pick up Jonah, I spent the afternoon following up on things from the morning Encore Board meeting. Tomorrow, I start the day with vet appointment for Shadow. I am anxious to get a medical opinion on how the incision is healing. I don’t know if the hard plastic cone he has to wear is harder on me or on him. But we are surviving.
by Judy Handley | Aug 12, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 224: Workday
Date: Tuesday, August 12, 2025
Weather: Still Warm, AC on; High Temp 82, Low 66 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
It was a workday for me. I had to get ready to give my first financial report to the Library Board of Trustees tonight, prepare for the Encore Board meeting tomorrow, and send out communications inviting a few people to look through a list of 125+ nonviolent resistance films for the film series I am heading up for the Falmouth Immigrant Rights Coalition. I feel like a juggler that always has three balls in the air!
Shadow is moping around with the plastic cone on his head, but I took him for a long walk this morning and another one this afternoon. I had to hand-feed him last night, but I refused to do it this morning, so he didn’t eat. Tonight, I tried putting the food on a plate instead of in a bowl and I put it up on a step stool and that worked. The cone was hitting the floor when the food was at floor level.
Late this afternoon, another Goldstone returned to the Cape from Maine. Today it was Sam. He drove home so he can spend a little time with his friend Ethan who leave on Friday for university in Montana. I delivered Sam’s baskets of clean clothes this evening before my Library Trustees meeting. I hope most of the clothes stay clean until he packs. Monday and Tuesday will be packing days, and on Wednesday, he and Heather leave for the Netherlands. Never a dull moment around here.
