by Judy Handley | Oct 7, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 279: From Oysters to Sculling
Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 64, Low 57 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
I was so upset about my niece last night that I totally forgot to mention one of yesterday’s highlights in my log. On my way home from town late yesterday afternoon, I stopped by to visit with Karen Baranowski in the Taj Garage. The Baranowski’s newly floored and freshly cleaned garage has become the place to meet as the weather gets cooler. Peter went oystering over the weekend and when I was leaving, he asked if I would like some oysters.
I asked him to just give me two or three so that I could have them as an appetizer. When I got home, I put them on the grill and when the ‘lids’ popped, I put in a little garlic butter. They were delicious. Thank you, Peter.
Today I had a chiropractor and an orthopedic appointment to check out the problem I have been having with my left hip and leg. I assumed it was a result of my back issue, but I just wanted to make sure since it was my left knee that was replaced last year. I was assured all around that the knee replacement was fine as shown in the x-rays that were taken, and that, yes, it is a problem stemming from the herniated discs. Exercise, especially biking and religious morning stretching was prescribed, so I must get myself out on my bicycle every day. But at least all of that was the news that was expected—no bad news.
Then mid-afternoon I volunteered to take Sam to his sculling session. Sculling is when a rower uses two oars, or skulls, to pull a very thin-hulled boat or “shell” through the water. The long, narrow boat with two oars per rower is referred to as a scull, the oars can be called sculls, and the person rowing is also referred to as a sculler. You can scull with just one person in each boat or you can have a team in a boat and compete in crewing events. This was only Sam’s second session and he really loves it. Doing this requires a 45-minute drive to another 45-minute drive from Lake Wequaquet near Hyannis and a two-hour wait while he rows, so it is quite a time commitment. I hope Heather and Jed will choose to let me continue to help with the transport as I love watching the kids row while I spend time reading and being close to the water. So peaceful.
And right now, I need to seek opportunities for peacefulness in my life. While one niece is in hospice dying from cancer, I found out this afternoon that another niece, Jennifer, who was scheduled to have a kidney removed on October 14 due to cancer, was hospitalized this afternoon and is having emergency surgery tomorrow. The doctors discovered a tumor on her spine that needs to be removed immediately. That surgery is scheduled for 2 pm tomorrow afternoon. If my writing seems a bit scattered, please forgive. These are difficult times.
by Judy Handley | Oct 5, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 278: Appointments and Visits
Date: Monday, October 5, 2020
Weather: Partly Sunny; A Little Rain; High 64, Low 49 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Today started by taking the car in for an oil change and tire rotation. Then in the afternoon, I had a dental appointment to get my teeth cleaned. I missed my appointment in March and two subsequent appointments due to Covid, so this was a long overdue cleaning. Tomorrow I have a chiropractor appointment and an appointment with my knee surgeon’s assistant. So, this feels like the week of appointments. Wednesday I drive to Scituate to visit the aunties who alternate living next door and closer to Boston in Scituate. The auntie’s niece and my friend, Karen Baranowski, will drive up and take lunch. Yesterday was Doris’ 102nd birthday, so we will have a little celebration.
Tonight I am thinking of my niece Lynn who was moved to a hospice house last week. In fact, I think of her all day, every day. Because of Covid, I am not allowed to visit, but my other niece Candi and my sister-in-law Sue keep me updated every morning and evening. The hospice nurses think Lynn has only a few days to live, so I expect to go visit with the family later in the week. Plenty to keep me busy this week.
by Judy Handley | Oct 4, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 277: Great Progress at 43 Grasmere
Date: Sunday, October 4, 2020
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 65, Low 53 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Great progress was made at 43 Grasmere this weekend, culminating in Ollie and Jonah getting to move into their bedroom tonight. When the Goldstones moved into their new home in April, the carpeting was stripped from the two upstairs bedrooms and it has been a constant project to get walls removed. walls painted, and wood flooring laid. They got a little help with the removal of walls in Jonah and Ollie’s bedroom and painting in that room, but otherwise, Heather and Jed have done all the rest of the work themselves–painting walls and trim and laying wood flooring themselves. This weekend they made a huge push to get Ollie and Jonah moved out of the bonus room over the garage and into their new bedroom. Jed finished off the flooring before the weekend, but they had to get the trim in, assemble the new beds and desks, and remove a ceiling fan. By dinner time tonight, the move was mostly complete. The bonus room was turned into an office and quiet space and furniture was moved into Ollie and Jonah’s room. They still need to work on lighting and a few small details in the new bedroom, but it looks great.
I got a few photos tonight, but will have to get better photos of the completed project during the day. I am just so happy that so much progress was made and that now all three boys have completed bedrooms that they love and that the bonus room can now be used as a school space for Sam and his friend Robert, and a quiet get away for everyone else in the family who needs a change of scenery from their school and office spaces in other parts of the house. Redesigning a home to accommodate working and schooling at home is quite a challenge during these cornonavirus days, but I think the Goldstones have nailed it.
I talked to my good friends Kevin and Claire tonight. Mark and I met Kevin and Claire when we were both living aboard our sailboats in Boston in 2003. Mark and I were living aboard Windbird and Kevin and Claire were living aboard Merganser. Even though Kevin and Claire are in the same age bracket as our children, we became friends for life. More recently, they have been living aboard Merganser in Philadelphia while Kevin worked from home and Claire was managing a research project at Princeton in New Jersey. In mid-September, they sold Merganser and are moving their land yacht, a motor home, to the Los Angeles area where they will continue their work remotely. They called today because they have finally left Pennsylvania and are headed cross country. They are in Ohio tonight and will be heading to Bloomington, Indiana, tomorrow, and have promised to keep me updated on their travels. Their destination is the Golden Shore RV Park in Long Beach, California. Kevin’s mother, his sister and her family, and Claire’s only sibling, a sister and her family all live in the LA area. So, they are very excited to get there to be closer to family. Here’s hoping they have a wonderful trip across this country and reach their destination safely.
by Judy Handley | Oct 3, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 276: Pamper the Puppy Day
Date: Saturday, October 3, 2020
Weather: Sunny; High 66, Low 47 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
This was not a national ‘pamper the puppy’ day—simply a day when I had the time to pamper my puppy. Shadow had his first birthday a couple of weeks ago, but he is definitely still a puppy. Today I had the time to walk with him, play catch multiple times, give him a bath, sit in the sun with him while he was drying out, and then sit and read while holding him. That was just about it for my day. I did have a great phone call with Helaine Kanegsberg tonight and I finished my Louise Penny novel. Nothing more productive to announce, but it was a great day.
by Judy Handley | Oct 2, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 275: Free Friday
Date: Friday, October 2, 2020
Weather: Mostly Cloudy & Cooler; High 68, Low 49 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
I basically took the day off . . . phone conversations, sneaking time to read my current book, two walks with Shadow plus time to play catch, and finally getting a little house cleaning done. Early this morning, I talked with my niece in North Carolina that has recently been diagnosed with kidney cancer and will be having her left kidney removed mid-month. She has her ups and downs accepting this, but when talking with her this morning, she seemed to have a really positive attitude. It is difficult for me to watch two of my nieces battling cancer at the same time. My heart and positive thoughts are with them both. After talking with my niece, I went for an extra long walk with Shadow and then returned home to listen to the construction noise of putting in a new septic system one house away. They have been working on this all week, but today they were finally starting to bury the new system and this required some very loud banging for hours. Shadow usually barks at every noise, but somehow the loud banging only bothered him when we walked too close to the construction site. After I ate lunch, I launched into a cleaning frenzy, sweeping and mopping the floors. Once that was done, I decided to take the rest of the afternoon off and read my current novel. I have read the October and November book club assignments, so I am currently reading the 16th book in Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series just because I love the series. “Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec digs beneath the idyllic surface of village life in Three Pines, finding long buried secrets—and facing a few of his own ghosts.” The name of this newest book is ‘All the Devils Are Here’ and it has me totally sucked in. The other 15 novels in this series take place in Quebec, mostly centered around the little village of Three Pines. The author lives in a small village south of Montréal, the location of the fictitious town of Three Pines featured in this series of mystery novels. However, this latest novel takes place in Paris. It is fun to learn a little about Paris while enjoying the mystery. Then tonight I caught up on the news of the hospitalization of our President. I got a text from Heather early this morning saying that it was announced during the night that the President and First Lady have both tested positive for Covid. If you read this log, you probably are aware that I am not a fan of this President, but I would not wish Covid on anyone. I sincerely hope both he and the First Lady get through this without complications. But it is my hope that the White House might start following the same Covid “rules” that are recommended for the rest of us to live by. And by doing so, encourage everyone in this country to do the same so we can get this virus under control. I think that is wishful thinking, but I’m allowed to hope.
by Judy Handley | Oct 1, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 274: New Month, Full Moon, Good Life
Date: Thursday, October 1, 2020
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 71, Low 58 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
I love the first day of the year and the first day of every month. Just like refreshing your PC, the beginning of the month gives you a chance to start anew. In September we see the end of summer. But in October, we always hope for a period of unseasonably warm weather that we refer to as Summer. This new month is beginning with a full moon. I don’t think there is any significance to that other than it is a lovely night outside.
This first day of October was filled with activity. At noon I headed to Karen and Peter Baranowski’s to meet with my Newcomers Dining-In Group. Before Covid, we met monthly inside. We didn’t meet in the early spring, but then we started meeting outside on decks. Last month we met here on the deck next door at 4:30 pm, but we realized that the shortening days and cooler late afternoons were not going to continue to work for gatherings. So, we decided to try meeting in someone’s garage at noon. Karen and Peter volunteered their garage which is always cleaner than my house and we took them up on the offer. What we didn’t know was that Peter decided to pour a new Epoxy-based floor in the garage and clean it from top to bottom. It felt more like being in a fancy restaurant than it felt like being in someone’s garage. When Olivia and Terry White arrived, Olivia said she didn’t know she was being invited to the Taj Garage. That brought a smile to everyone’s face and I think the term will stick. With all the garage doors and windows open, it was almost like being outside and we felt Covid-safe. It was so successful that we are going to try it again in November. We all bring our own food, but today Karen made one of her famous carrot cakes for all to share since Jane Woodin’s 75th birthday is coming up next week. We had a lovely luncheon and birthday celebration in the Taj Garage. Happy birthday to Jane. And thank you to Peter and Karen for hosting.
I got home with just enough time to play a round of ball with Shadow before the first meeting of the year of the Newcomers Technology Tips group on Zoom. Today we focused on bank apps, paying by phone, and money transfers. Each meeting ends with a bonus app and today it was an app called Frameo. You get your children to buy you a Frameo digital frame as a gift. Then you use the Frameo app which allows your kids to send photos directly to the frame that you put on a timer so that it is rotating photos all day and goes to sleep at night. You can then enjoy up-to-the-minute photos of your grandkids without doing anything. The photos just slip right into your current rotation.
And speaking of photos from your kids, today I saw some current photos of Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco that Jo had posted on Facebook. If the photos are an indication of how they are doing, they are doing great while living in what looks like paradise. I also followed a link from Jo’s Facebook page to watch a video accompanying Silvermouse’s newest single release called Imagining. They hung an iPad from a tree to video the four of them making a mandala together while the song played. A mandala is a geometric configuration of symbols and the video showed JJZ&C clearing a space on the forest floor and then building a beautiful design by gathering and placing leaves, sticks, and flowers in the space they cleared. The result was awesome, as was the accompanying electronic music produced by Justin and Jo. You can see the video on YouTube by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6OdsU58f74&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0WFiukBjm682gyZMWVNAjfMlblOixpwRnAHmU9gw_JInQASNq6OLmJBsQ
