by Judy Handley | May 28, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 148: Ugly Weekend Weather Forecast
Date: Friday, May 28, 2021
Weather: Overcast and Cool; High 62, Low, 46 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The Memorial Day weekend weather forecast is grim. Wind, rain, no sunshine, cool temps. I looked back at my logs for the past four years and there was no Memorial Day weekend with rain on all three days. I guess I’m still hoping the weather forecast is wrong, but it has not changed and doesn’t look good. I feel bad for my new neighbors, the Dearman’s, who are spending their very first weekend in their new summer home with such a dreary forecast. I’m going to keep hoping for a miracle.
I spent a laid back day. All morning I kept up with the text messages from Jed letting Heather and I know how Ollie was doing. Everything was delayed and they didn’t get home until about 6 pm, but Ollie said everything went great. It was just a long day. I talked with Justin and he is feeling a little better. But Ziggy is feeling a little worse. Coco is fine and Jo is also okay. They will all get the results of their testing tomorrow, but Justin is convinced that they all have Covid and he thinks it started with Coco. She was only sick for one day and was then fine. But if tests for Jo and Coco come back negative, he is thinking of renting a place for them for a week so they will not get further exposure. Then I changed gears and went visiting. I was invited to the Dearman’s for coffee at 1:30 pm and I tried to give them an overview of life in Falmouth. I got a tour of their totally renovated home. No rooms are totally finished, but enough is done that you can see what a beautiful home it will be. When I arrived the two youngest kids were jumping off the dock—an activity with which I am very familiar. I wish I could get the Goldpebbles together with them, but with the ugly weather forecast that might not be possible.
Late in the afternoon I had my first private lesson with The Reliable Dog trainer, Ian. Shadow is making progress, but I am still not sure I can do what is required of me. I never put either of my children in a crib or a play pen and I am still struggling with the amount of time I am supposed to keep Shadow in his crate. So, so hard for me. But he does now sleep in his crate all night and never makes so much as a peep. Maybe I’ll get there with the other requirements.
by Judy Handley | May 27, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 147: On the Road Again
Date: Thursday, May 27, 2021
Weather: Sunny and Much Warmer; High 79, Low,52 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I spent another day driving up and down the highway hearing Willie Nelson softly singing “On the Road Again” as I drove along. I drove to Boston and back this morning and to Hyannis and back this evening which meant that I enjoyed a beautiful day from inside my car. Today’s driving was on top of driving to Costco near Boston yesterday. The most remarkable thing about the two days of being on the road was the weather. Yesterday was foggy with a high of 68 on the Cape, but it was sunny and 90 degrees F at Costco near Boston. Today it was sunny and almost 80 degrees F here and the same in Boston. I simply don’t understand enough about New England weather to understand why the weather would be so different in the two locations on one day and the same the next. But I surely enjoyed the beautiful, sunny, warm day today, even from inside my car.
I volunteered to take Ollie to Boston this morning for his Covid test. It took us an hour and 45 minutes to get there, 5 minutes of waiting time, and 1 minute for the test. Then we turned around and drove back. As we drove out of the parking garage at Children’s Hospital Ollie said, “It seems so strange that they make you drive all this way for a test that takes a minute.” I wanted to add to that that it was a test that could have been done anywhere. At the same time, I understand why a hospital like Children’s takes every possible precaution to keep Covid out. Ollie was told by the nurse that unless his parents got a call with a positive test result, he was to return tomorrow morning for his procedure. He will have the fluid on his knee drained and get a cortisone shot. This will be done in a surgical setting so that he can be anesthetized. The reason for the caution is to make sure the surgical settings are 100 per cent Covid free. Fair enough.
Ollie spent some of the travel time today having me ask him questions about his experience with Lyme disease. He took notes that he intends to use to write about his experience. He talked about how he was scared when he first found out that he Lyme disease. But then the fear turned to nervousness. Now he just wants this to be over, as do we all. It has been a three-month battle but we still have to wait and see what happens next. There have been some challenging times during the last three months, but he has come through it all like a champion.
I took Ollie back to school, came home to take Shadow on his daily mile walk, fixed lunch, took a 15 minute ‘nap’, and went back to school to pick up Ollie at the end of the school day. Then, like I do on most Thursdays, I drove Sam and friend Alex to Hyannis for their rowing practice. The rowing session officially ends shortly after 6:30 pm, but today it was so warm that Sam and Alex went for a swim afterwards. We didn’t start the trip home until almost 7 pm and it was about 8 pm when I got home. I rushed in the house to get Shadow and take him out to play ball before dark. When we got into Shirley’s side yard, we saw a new dog down by the water. I had never met the dog, but I knew he must belong to my new neighbor. I had met Andrew who bought the house next Shirley last fall and he told me he had a big, yellow lab named Hugo. When I met Andrew in the fall, he explained that he had bought the home and was having it totally renovated. That work has been ongoing all winter and spring and today the whole family arrived to spend the Memorial Day weekend.
Andrew and family live in New York City just north of the Bronx near New Rochelle. Andrew and his wife are both from England and all three of their children were born in England, although the youngest only spent the first three years of her life there. I got to meet the whole family tonight, but it was not a planned event. Once Shadow discovered Hugo, Shadow started yelping like Hugo had attacked him. Hugo had not moved, but Shadow was obviously afraid of him. But Shadow, being Shadow, ran back to him and started yelping again. This brought Andrew out of his house to see what was happening. Hugo kept ignoring Shadow but eventually the two of them learned to tolerate one another. While that was happening, one by one, the other members of the family came out to see what was happening. Andrew’s wife, Laura, is delightful, as are the children. The children are the same ages as Sam, Jonah, and Ollie, but the only boy is Charlie who is Jonah’s age. I met the oldest child, Lilly, last fall when she came with her dad to check on the house. And the youngest child is Lana. She is a lively one and I think she and Ollie will get along great. Andrew and Laura are hoping we can get the two sets of kids together this weekend.
By the time I got back inside, it was too late to call Justin to check on the Covid situation there. But I sent a text. I wanted to get an update on how he was feeling. He got right back to me saying that he was feeling okay. I’m not sure exactly what ‘okay’ means, but I will call in the morning to find out. Jo, Ziggy, and Coco got Covid tests this morning but they won’t get the results until Saturday. Ziggy is the only other one with symptoms and they are trying to all stay separated in the house. Justin said that is so hard for them. They just want to be together.
by Judy Handley | May 26, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 146: Covid and Lyme Disease Issues
Date: Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Weather: Foggy; High 68, Low, 60 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
While shopping at Costco with friend Jane Woodin, my phone rang. It was Justin, so I answered even though I was in a store. He had what he said was “not so good news.” He has Covid and he thinks Coco and Ziggy do as well. They are not sure about Jo as any symptoms she has are very slight. But all will be tested tomorrow. This past weekend, Coco got what they thought was a cold, but it was gone the next day. Then Ziggy got the ‘cold’ and then Justin. Ziggy and Justin both have respiratory symptoms, but it was a headache that sent Justin to town to get tested this morning. He has never had a headache in his life and knew that could mean this was not really a cold but Covid. He tested positive. Justin and Jo were scheduled to get their second Moderna vaccine next week, so hopefully having had the first vaccine they will not be hit too hard. Please hope with me that this will be the case.
If Covid doesn’t get you, you then have to worry about the Deer ticks and Lyme disease. Heather and Jed have spent full time this week dealing with the doctors at Children’s Hospital trying to sort out the next steps for Ollie. They had a Zoom meeting with the Infectious Disease specialist yesterday at 4 pm and basically all she could them is that research indicates that giving Ollie more antibiotics will do no good. There are no tests to that will tell them whether or not he still has Lyme, so they just need to wait and see if it rears its ugly head again. This is not very reassuring. Regardless, Ollie has to return to Children’s Hospital in Boston on Friday to have fluid removed from his knee and to have a cortisone shot. This time they are going to anesthetize him, and that requires that he goes to Children’s in Boston tomorrow for a Covid test. The test has to be done at the same hospital where the procedure will take place on Friday and they will not make an exception. And the procedure has to take place at Children’s. Ugh. This is so complicated and time consuming.
Now add to all this that Heather found a Deer tick attached to her arm yesterday. It has been sent away and she will know on Monday or Tuesday if she is infected. And this afternoon when I took Ollie home from school, he got a cut on his finger that just would not stop bleeding. Heather was not home, so Jed took him to the Urgent Care. They had to wait quite a while for it stop bleeding and then have the cut glued. As Heather said, “What else can happen?” I don’t want to know the answer to that question.
Ollie got home from Urgent Care and Heather reported that he was chipper. I talked to Justin just now and he is feeling better and that Jo’s rapid test came back negative. I just hope things stay on this positive trajectory and we have no more issues!
by Judy Handley | May 25, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 145: Noon Tunes, PICC Line, Hadal Zone, Full Moon
Date: Tuesday, May 25, 2021
Weather: Sunny, Windy and Cool; High 64, Low, 57 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Interesting happenings today. At 11 am I left to pick up friend Olga Mitchell. We drove downtown, parked in front of the library on Main Street, and walked the quarter of a mile to The Station Grill at the bus station. We wanted to get some exercise while we were walking to lunch and to hear some mid-day music. Another friend, Bruce Woodin, and the music group he plays with called Noon Tunes, were playing outside The Station Grill providing toons for people at noon.
Noon Toons play Celtic fiddle music and today they added a Turkish tune or two. The bus depot is right on the bike path, so bikers stopped to listen. Olga and I had lunch while we listened. Terry and Olivia White were there, so Olga got to meet them. I was not dressed for the occasion. The sun was shining, but the wind was howling. We were all cold. I was glad we had to walk back to the car as that gave me a chance to warm up. Olga and I then drove to Wood Neck Beach and the Sippewissett Marsh.
Olga had never been there, so I decided she just had to see it. By the time I got her home, it was time to go pick up Shadow at home and then go pick up Ollie after school. I had gotten a text from Heather saying I didn’t need to take Sam to Hyannis for rowing as their was a wind advisory. So I took Shadow with me. Ollie and I took him for a walk and then I went to get Sam from his drum lesson, took him home, and then Shadow and I headed home.
Heather, Jed, and Ollie had a 4 pm Zoom appointment with the Infectious Disease doctor from Children’s Hospital in Boston. This was the meeting Heather thought was happening yesterday. But it did happen this afternoon and the order was given to remove that PICC line. A visiting nurse came to do that. I am sure that made Ollie very, very happy. He has not been able to get his arm wet for a month. I’m sure he will still have to careful until the insertion point heals, but at least he doesn’t have a plastic line hanging out of his arm that he has to constantly protect.
The MIT Club (those people who have graduated from MIT) had their annual meeting on Zoom tonight and the topic of the program was the Hadal Zone. I certainly didn’t graduate from MIT, but I have a friend who did and she always invites me to their programs. Heather and Jed could also invite me, but they are so busy that they themselves don’t attend. I had to Google ‘Hadal Zone’ before the presentation. What is it? The name comes from the word hades or hell. This zone in the ocean was named ‘hadal’ because it encompasses the deepest regions of the oceans from 6,000 to 11,000 meters or 4 to 7 miles deep. These regions are called trenches and they comprise almost 50 percent of the earth’s oceans. Tonight’s program was about how those areas are being explored by a new kind of autonomous vehicle and what is found there–extreme cold, extreme pressure, and complete darkness. Sounds like hades to me! When you get down to 8,200 meters or 5 to 6 miles there is life but there are no fish. The program got more and more engaging as it went along and left me wanting to know so much more. But two things stuck with me. One was the photos of what the scientists thought was some sort of seaweed that ended up to be an octopus camouflaged as seaweed. The other was the answer to a question about how climate change is affecting life in the deep ocean. The answer was that the ocean life found in the canyons (deeper than Grand Canyon) off the East Coast of the United States is migrating northward because of the increase in water temperature. And according to ALL current models, the area of the East Coast that will be affected the most is off Cape Cod. The deep sea temperatures in our area are changing faster than in other areas. Depressing.
On the other hand, the moon tonight is glorious. It is a Blood Flower Full Moon and a lunar eclipse will happen in the wee hours of the morning. I won’t be up for that, but I certainly enjoyed the beauty of this full moon when I took Shadow out for his final outing of the day.
by Judy Handley | May 24, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 144: Day School for Shadow, Writing, and Soccer
Date: Monday, May 24, 2021
Weather: Sunny, Much Cooler Than Yesterday; High 63, Low, 48 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Shadow had his third day of doggie day school and at the end of the day the trainer said that Shadow likes me too much. He has terrible separation anxiety when I leave him and gets way too excited when I come to get him. I pointed out that he has the same issue with Heather, Jed, Sam, Ollie, and Jonah and they have not been the ones that have spoiled him. That has been all me. But he ignored that and said that my relationship to Shadow is just not healthy for the dog. But he didn’t tell me what to do about it. In an upcoming private ‘people’ lesson I will hopefully find out what I should be doing. For this trainer, I know that means keeping Shadow in a crate at night and anytime I am not at home. But I hate the crate. I feel like I am abusing him. So therein lies the problem that I have to work through. Tough love. So hard.
While Shadow was in school, I met with friend Christina Brodie. She has been editing the chapters of The Voyage of Windbird for me and came by to deliver the last four chapters. She has such wonderful recommendations and I truly appreciate the time she has spent doing this for me. I gave her the last completed chapter and when she left, I continued writing. I have two more chapters to write to complete the first year of the voyage and I hope to have those completed by mid-June. Once Camp Oma begins at the end of June, I will continue to write, but would like to have year one behind me.
This evening I took Jonah to soccer practice near Hyannis. He plays for the Falmouth league as well as another league that has their practices at Cape Cod Academy near Hyannis. That is where we needed to go this evening. Heather had an important work meeting from 5 to 7 pm and someone needed to stay home with Sam and Ollie and get dinner on the table. So, I volunteered for soccer duty.
Heather and Ollie spent their day in Boston at Children’s Hospital which was a frustrating experience for both of them. Heather and Ollie thought the PICC line that was inserted for the infusion of antibiotics over the last four weeks would be removed today, but that didn’t happen. It will happen in the next couple of days, but since they are no longer to give antibiotics by infusion, why did the doctor not order the removal for today? So frustrating. And it was even more frustrating as Ollie has developed an allergic reaction to the dressing that covers the PICC line. The one bit of good news is that Ollie’s white blood cell count is normal which indicates that the infection is in control. Lyme disease is so difficult to deal with if not caught immediately, and in Ollie’s case it was not. Hopefully after almost three months of antibiotics, the problem has been resolved. We shall be hopeful that the treatment has been successful.
by Judy Handley | May 23, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 143: Helpers, Friends, Family
Date: Sunday, May 23, 2021
Weather: Sunny and Hot, A Little Rain Late PM; High 82, Low, 51 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The big news of the day was that the high temperature was in the 80’s. Unfortunately, that was short-lived. It is already back to 59 degrees F right now and the high tomorrow will only be 62. But I sure enjoyed today’s gift of warmth.
Jed, Ollie, and Sam came over late morning to help me with some landscaping projects. I had Jed cut down a couple of small trees that were totally shading the raspberries. Sam helped his dad and Ollie helped clear a patch where I will plant more tomatoes. Heather and Jonah stopped by on their way home from Jonah’s soccer game and they worked on trying to secure the screws that hold my new garden bench together. I had already stripped a couple of the screws and Jed will have to return on another day to ‘fix’ the problem. But we made great progress today.
Then it was on to a lunchtime gathering of my dining-in friends on the Frieswyk’s deck. When Terry White turned 80 in January, I gave him an I Owe You for a Smitty’s ice cream cake. Smitty’s is closed during the winter but opened in May. So, Terry made his special order for a cake with one layer of chocolate fudge walnut and a second layer of butter crunch. He decided he wanted to share his gift with the group, and we all appreciated his kindness. It was delicious.
I then got an invitation to Heather and Jed’s for an artichoke family dinner. I had left Shadow all afternoon, so I took him with me for dinner. The new kittens are not yet ready to meet Shadow, so I had Shadow on the deck while the kitties were playing in the living room. Shadow saw them and tore two good sized holes in one of the sliding screen doors trying to get to them. The kittens were unfazed, but I obviously have a lot of work to do to get Shadow ready for this introduction.
