by Judy Handley | Dec 29, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 363: Message from Google
Date: Tuesday, December 29, 2020
Weather: Partly Sunny and Cold; High 43, Low 22 Degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
The full moon is rising in a clear sky and the temperature is 30 degrees F. But Weather Underground says it feels like 19 degrees and it felt colder than it was all day long. So other than my walks with Shadow and our afternoon game of fetch, the rest of my day was spent inside. And it was a good day to stay inside because I needed to deal with a computer issue. I got a message on my phone saying that my Google storage is almost at capacity and if I don’t deal with it, when I run out of space I will no longer receive my email. Yikes! You can either pay for more space or you can get rid of the things taking up space. I have two Gmail email addresses and two Google accounts. On the old account I pay for cloud space, so I don’t want to pay more for the other account. I wish I understood all of this. I really don’t, so I spent today, and will continue tomorrow, trying to find out the best way to deal with this. I love Google Photos and Gmail, so no complaints.
by Judy Handley | Dec 28, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 362: Garden and Yard Work Outside
Date: Monday, December 28, 2020
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High 51, Low 31 Degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Yes. It is December 28 and it was warm enough for me to do garden and yardwork today. I also made trips into town to feed to guinea pigs at the Goldstones and when it got dark outside, I came inside and started working on photo organization. This is an ongoing process. Tomorrow is not going to be as warm, so maybe I’ll spend the day continuing to work on the photos.
One of my Christmas presents to Ziggy was something called a levitation wand. I also gave one to the Goldpebbles. It is a wand that lights up and is attached to your hand with a thin black string. When you spin it around in the dark, it looks like you are magically levitating the wand. I got a video from Justin of Ziggy performing with the wand and I was quite impressed. I can’t share the video here, but I can share a photo that gives you the idea of what I am talking about.
by Judy Handley | Dec 27, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 361: Catching Up
Date: Sunday, December 27, 2020
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 39, Low 28 Degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Today was a day of catching up . . . catching up with friends and catching up on watching things suggested by friends. As I write this, I am watching Handel’s ‘Messiah’ for Our Time. It was performed by Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society. They haven’t missed a performance of Handel’s Messiah since 1854, so they weren’t going to let a pandemic stop them. The musicians and singers were masked, except for the brass section, socially distanced, and there were photographs of Boston during the pandemic interspersed. It was aired a week ago, but I recorded it and just now had the time to watch. Interesting, Shadow sat right up on the sofa and watched quietly. I think he must like classical musical.
I spent a great deal of my morning and early afternoon catching up with friends on the phone. First, I talked with Linda and Mike Stuart in Colorado. I got to hear about their quiet Christmas with just the two of them and I got an update on their month-old grandson, Grant. He was born prematurely, but he is doing fine now. Linda and Mike will not get to meet Grant until Covid is under control, but they are certainly looking forward to that time. Then I talked to Kevin and Claire who are currently living in Long Beach, California, in their motor home. They are both working remotely and moved to California to be close to family. They split their Christmas between being with Kevin’s mother and sister and her family and Claire’s sister and her family who all live in the greater Los Angeles area. The one thing that was most interesting was finding out that both Linda and Mike and Kevin and Claire have all started eating a mostly vegan diet. I have moved away from a vegan diet to a modified Mediterranean diet, but I was most interested in listening to their reasons for doing this. Kevin and Claire and I agreed to share some of our favorite vegan recipes and I am going to invite Mike and Linda to do the same. Focus on diet seems like a great way to start the new year.
I got a call from the Goldstones tonight. Sam called to tell me that they were sitting in a hot tub in the condo they are renting at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine. He was joking, but I fell for it which gave all the boys a good laugh. There is no snow other than machine-made, but they are not going to let that stop them from having a good time.
by Judy Handley | Dec 26, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 360: Quiet Day After Christmas
Date: Saturday, December 26, 2020
Weather: Partly Sunny, Still Very Windy; High 40, Low 25 Degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
After three days of festivities, today was a quiet one. I got some cleaning done—a laundry, cleaning out the refrigerator, and cleaning the fish aquarium. I walked and played with Shadow and went to Heather and Jed’s to pick up the recumbent exercise bike I got for Christmas.
Sam came home with me to help me carry it in. I thought I might need to rearrange the livingroom furniture, but for now it fits just fine facing the television. Since I can’t have visitors other than Heather and family during Covid, it can stay right there and I can exercise while watching a movie or catching up on the news. I am so excited to have it. Thank you, thank you to Heather and Jed and Justin and Jo.
Last night when I got home from Heather and Jed’s, my sister Patsy called from Tennessee. I had not seen any news all day and had no idea there had been a bombing in downtown Nashville early on Christmas morning. Patsy lives in Mt. Juliet which is about 15 miles east of Nashville, but still she was affected by the bombing which targeted the AT&T building. It is the tallest building in Tennessee and is called the Batman Building as the top looks like Batman as you drive into the city. It is an office building that houses 2,000 workers, but it must also house the the technical inner workings of AT&T for that area as the explosion has interrupted all AT&T communications for miles. My sister’s house phone is not working and the med-alert bracelet she wears has been disabled as no one can call 911. Her cell service is through Verizon, so at least that is working for her. Nashville had a devastating tornado in March just prior to the Covid lockdown, then Covid, and now a bombing destroying more than 40 businesses in downtown. Recovery is going to be tough.
Tonight, I talked to Lynne Kirwin, my very good friend who is currently living in New Zealand. New Zealand must be the only place on earth that is still functioning like normal. When Covid first started spreading around the world, they did a complete shutdown and now they live normally. They do still have to wear masks on busses and trains, but otherwise things are like they were before Covid. They go to movies, gather in huge crowds, go out to restaurants . . . all those things we used to do. Lynne is Jewish and doesn’t celebrate Christmas, but her friends in New Zealand do and she had a fabulous couple of days despite the fact that Ed died on December 23 two years ago. The friends in New Zealand knew Ed and they incorporated celebrations of his life in their Christmas festivities. Lynne can still only talk about this through tears, but I am so glad she is in New Zealand with good friends rather than being here with Covid.
The Goldstones leave tomorrow morning for a few days at Sugarloaf in Maine where they will ski and snowboard for a couple of days before returning home. They have rented a condo at the base of the mountain, where they can ski or snowboard out the front door and take a lift up to the main lift. They will have to wait in lift lines, but otherwise they will not have to mix with other people. They will cook their down meals and ski down the mountain to their condo for lunch. The boys are extremely excited, so I hope they all have a wonderful time.
Today I got some great photos from Jo of Christmas Day at Finca Maravilla that I will share in my log tomorrow night. I love my exercise bike which will help keep me healthy, but my greatest gift of the holiday season is seeing my children and grandchildren happy, healthy, and enjoying life.
by Judy Handley | Dec 25, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 359: Christmas Day
Date: Friday, December 25, 2020
Weather: Rainy All Day and Very Windy: High 55, Low 30 Degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
For three days, Heather, Jed, Sam, Jonah, Ollie, and I put aside all the issues of 2020 that we would all like to forget. We all seemed determined to enjoy this Christmas and we did. We feasted, played music, exchanged gifts, talked to family and friends far away on Skype, Zoom, and on the phone . . . and we just played. Reality will return soon enough, but we will have wonderful memories to cheer us when things get tough again.
Today started early and none of us got as much sleep last night as needed. But we didn’t let that deter us. The gifts in stockings were opened first and then we took turns opening the other presents, of which there were many. Santa brought the boys a foosball table that was discovered in the basement which has been turned into a rec center for the boys. New window seat cushions from me were discovered in their bedrooms. New Gravitrax sets were received from Grammy Marti. All of which brought exclamations of joy. When it was time for me to get a special present hidden in the master bedroom, Heather got on a Skype video call with Justin and family. The present was a joint gift and I was in total shock when they rolled out an exercise bike. I was thrilled. The last gift to be opened was a joint gift to Heather and Jed from Jed’s mother and myself. It was a Roomba and the Goldpebbles were almost as excited about that as their gifts. As the day went on, they gave their Roomba a name. It is Kevin and they all are taking a role in properly ‘training’ Kevin. But it was heartening to see that some of the small gifts were equally cherished. Jonah loved the anaconda skin (I think I have the correct reptile) journal that Grammy Marti gave him And when I was talking to Justin and family later in the afternoon, Coco was totally engrossed in playing with a tiny Polly Pocket compact. Big and small, each gift was cherished, and there were lots of hugs and squeals of happiness. It was a very Merry Christmas, both here and in Puerto Rico. At dinner tonight, each of us talked about the one thing we are most grateful for this Christmas. I was impressed by Sam who said he was grateful that we are all healthy and could be together for Christmas. That truly is a gift. And if you celebrate Christmas, I do hope you found a way to safely enjoy this Christmas 2020.
by Judy Handley | Dec 25, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 358: Merry Christmas to All
Date: Thursday, December 24, 2020
Weather: Mix or Sun and Clouds, Very Windy: High 51, Low 52 Degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Merry Christmas! Christmas Eve had always been my favorite day of the year. My father was a very somber man, but on Christmas Eve he transformed into a truly joyous person. Because of that and because it was an evening when my brothers and their sisters and their children would come home to celebrate, Christmas Eve has been a special time for me. But who would have thought that in 2020 I would have the most joyous Christmas Eve ever? There were many reasons for that. I spent my morning delivering little Christmas bags of goodies to friends. I met Jane Woodin in Mashpee Commons at the Cape Cod Coffee Café for coffee at a street side table. The temperature was in the 50’s, so despite the wind, we could sit outside comfortably. Then I drove to Bill and Midge Frieswyk’s where Midge had set up a table and chairs so we could have tea out in the driveway. By this time it was noon, so I drove to Terry and Olivia White’s and we visited on their doorstep. Both of them had on the red sweaters and looked the picture of Christmas. I had one more stop to make, but I had to put that on hold because I had promised Sam and Ollie I would take them shopping to buy Christmas presents for Heather and Jed. Ollie needed to buy something for Jed and needed to buy for both. By the time we went shopping and drove to my house to wrap the presents and play with Shadow, it was mid-afternoon and time to take them home so I could get back to take Shadow for his daily long walk, prepare my part of dinner for tonight, and wrap presents. I had planned to wrap presents tonight when I got home from dinner with the Goldstones, but because of the possibility of high winds and rain in the morning, I thought I’d better get the presents wrapped and delivered tonight
Shadow and I enjoyed our walk and then I worked like a frenzied elf to get the presents wrapped and the bacon-wrapped scallops prepared. By 6 pm, I decided I had to pack the car and do the rest of the cooking at Heather and Jed’s. We were having a Feast of Seven Fishes tonight and when I arrived, the table was beautifully set, Heather’s yule log was on display, Jed’s crescent rolls were on the center island, and the gravlax, shrimp, and oysters were already set out. We put my scallops in the broiler and Heather took over the cooking of the whiskey-glazed carrots and green beans with almonds for me. Heather served the clams and then Jed brought out the huge piece of tuna that he coated with sesame seeds and grilled to present the best ahi tuna I have ever had. It was truly a feast and was enjoyed by all.
After dinner Heather and boys headed down to the basement. Heather said to me that I might want to come down as there was something I would want to hear. While Sam, Ollie, and I were out shopping, she and Jonah had practiced playing Pachelbel’s Canon in D with Heather on violin and Jonah on bass guitar. I haven’t heard Heather play violin for years and I was so excited to see her playing with Jonah. It brought tears to my eyes to watch them. Then Sam decided to join in by playing drums and Ollie asked if he could also play violin with them. He had never played Pachelbel’s Canon, but with just a little direction from Heather, he did it. To see Heather playing music with her children was like a dream come true. It was all improvised in the moment and was absolutely beautiful and the tears of joy were streaming down my cheeks. Jed was on the phone with his mother, Marti, during this and I think she got to hear some of what was happening. There were two very proud grandmothers witnessing this and then Jonah said that we need to get a keyboard so Jed can join them. What a great idea!
Justin and Jo have played music together since they met. Justin plays the stringed instruments and Jo modulates his music and plays the keyboard. I know that Ziggy is interested in playing the guitar and Coco has a ukulele. Hopefully they are all playing together as well. I talked to Justin briefly tonight and Jo sent some Christmas Eve pictures. While the Goldpebbles were opening pajama presents from mommy and daddy and a book from me, Ziggy and Coco opening the books I sent to them. It is such a wonderful feeling to know that we share the love of music and the love of books together on this special night.
