by Judy Handley | Aug 31, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 243: Another Day Trip
Date: Monday, August 31, 2020
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 73, Low 61 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
I spent this last day of August on the road again. Early this morning, I drove friends from my Newcomers Wine Group, Don Mroz and Susan Lapine, to Newburyport, a coastal town about 35 miles northeast of Boston. They needed a ride there as they were getting aboard their new to them power boat which they will motor from Newburyport to the Cape over the next few days.
I’ve never been in Newburyport before and found it to be a delightful town. It is a historic seaport, located where the Merrimack River enters the Atlantic. Don and Susan’s new boat is a Mainship Pilot Sedan and I think they said it is 32 feet long. The ‘sedan’ part just means it has a hard top. It is a beautiful boat and I was so happy that I could drive them up and drop them off. As you have probably guessed by now, I love nothing more than finding excuses to be on or near the water. And doing so today gave me a chance to do some visiting. On the way home I stopped in Scituate, another beautiful coastal town south of Boston, to visit with the “aunties” from next door. The “aunties” live at Doris’ home in Scituate part of the year and here in Shirley’s home across the driveway from me the other half of the year. Shirley is 95 and Doris will 102 in October. We had a great visit. The only negative thing about today is that I had to leave Shadow alone all day. He was very happy to see me when I got home.
by Judy Handley | Aug 30, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 242: Day Trip to New Bedford
Date: Sunday, August 30, 2020
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 79, Low 55 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Today was spent driving to New Bedford to meet up with good friends, Detta and Tom Porat. I haven’t seen them since mid-December, so it was definitely time to find a way to see each other. Detta and Tom were in Connecticut for the weekend, so I drove north and west to New Bedford to meet them on their way home to New Hampshire. I picked up lobster rolls for lunch and had planned to meet them at Fort Rodman by the water. But when Shadow and I got there, we discovered that due to Covid-19, only New Bedford residents with a special sticker can park there. So I quickly sent them a text with a change in plans to meet in downtown New Bedford near the Whaling Museum. We didn’t have the ocean as a backdrop, but we were so busy talking that I don’t think any of us noticed. Detta teaches second grade in Bedford, New Hampshire, and has opted to do only online teaching. From her experience this spring, she knows it is much more demanding than teaching little ones in person, but for health reasons, she really doesn’t want to go back to the classroom until there is a successful vaccine. Her first day of school with students was this past Thursday and it was a riot just listening to her describe teaching on Zoom. There are barking dogs, parents doing the dishes in the background, kids screaming that they can’t find their scissors or glue, and not a thing Detta can do about that. Going to school virtually is just not easy for anyone, but it is something we have to make work for this year. I took Shadow with me and he was really a good little doggy. He loves to ride in the car, so on the way home, we took a detour and went to Costco. It was my first Costco visit since Covid. Shadow was in the car, so I went in quickly, got a few things that I can only afford when I get them at Costco, and headed home. Unfortunately, the main reason I went to was to get Shadow a good quality dog bed that I can afford, but the only ones they had were just too big. I can get one at LL Bean, but it costs four times as much. Guess I’ll just have to spring for that. I have to make an appointment for him to be neutered, thus the need for a bed on the floor. Right now he uses the sofas and my bed, but after the surgery, he will not be able to jump up. Or at least I am supposed to try and prevent it. I’m hoping a comfy bed on the floor will do the trick.
Rant. If I hear one more time that most of “Donald Trump’s America” is peaceful, I am going to have a screaming fit like those second graders who can’t find their scissors or glue sticks. Last time I checked, Donald Trump is the President of ALL OF THESE UNITED STATES. This divisiveness has to stop. He says he is asking for proper investigations. That’s a start, but that is not enough. Instead of just spouting rule of law and law and order, I’d like to hear some words of healing. It is true that we need law and order, but we need law and order for ALL. That means doing something tangible to stop police violence as well as doing something to stop violent protests. But we certainly don’t want to stop the peaceful protests until some action is taken. If we didn’t have racially targeted police violence, we wouldn’t have protests. The end.
On the positive side of life, I got a short text message from Heather saying they are really enjoying their time in Maine. Vacation is a wonderful thing!
by Judy Handley | Aug 29, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 241: Another Day Off
Date: Saturday, August 29, 2020
Weather: Overcast, Then Rain; High 77, Low 65 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Yesterday was a recovery day and today was another day off. I did almost nothing and enjoyed every minute of it. I started the day taking a walk with Shadow. I then drove into town to feed the guinea pigs at Heather and Jed’s and made a quick stop at the grocery store. The g-pigs needed some greens and I needed to buy a few things for our Newcomers Dining-In Group that will meet here, outside, on Thursday.
And I did get the tomato basil pizza sauce canned. I am still celebrating getting the 90 pounds of sauce tomatoes canned and will deliver them to Heather and Jed’s over the next few days. In between little jobs, I took an afternoon nap and did a lot of reading. It was a rainy afternoon and a good time to lay back and take it easy.
Tomorrow morning I drive to New Bedford to have a picnic lunch with my good friends, Detta and Tom Porat. They are driving home to New Hampshire from Connecticut, so we picked a place along the way to meet. I haven’t seen them for months, so I am really looking forward to our visit.
by Judy Handley | Aug 28, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 240: Recovery Day
Date: Friday, August 28, 2020
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds; High 78, Low 68 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
After four nights of watching the Republican National Convention, I needed a recovery day. I’ve seen and heard way too many negative things this week. My goal for today was to experience only positive things. Lucky for me, I live where I am surrounded by beauty. I started my day as I always do, taking Shadow for a walk down by the water. This morning, we just walked down to the dock to soak in the beauty of the marsh. We saw an egret and small green herons flying in and out of the marsh grass. Shadow helped me (just kidding) get the two-man inflatable kayak off the dock and up to the concrete pad where it is normally stored. I have been meaning to do this for weeks, so it felt really good to get that done. I then continued doing only things I wanted to do. Number one on my list was to finish canning the last of the 90 pounds of tomatoes and I got that done. Second on my list was to nap outside in the sunshine for at least 30 minutes, and I did that. The last thing I wanted to do was to experiment with making tomato basil pizza sauce with the six pounds of sauce tomatoes I picked earlier in the week from my garden. I got the sauce made and will get it canned it tomorrow. I picked more tomatoes and beans and then late in the afternoon Midge Frieswyk’s daughter, Alyse, arrived with her friend David. They had asked if they could come over to launch their kayaks for a paddle out to Washburn Island. Shadow and I were outside in the garden when they arrived and Shadow fell in love with both of them. It was great to take a break and talk to them. During the day, I made a couple of trips into town to Heather and Jed’s to feed the guinea pigs and to put in another load of laundry. Today’s load was polar fleece jackets. And that was it for my day. It was totally positive, with just enough sunshine peeking through the clouds to make me very happy. At the end of the day, I have only one question. Where in the world is the lid to the pot I have been using to blanch tomatoes all week? It is not small and my kitchen is not big. But I can’t find it anywhere.
by Judy Handley | Aug 28, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 239: RNC, Night 4
Date: Thursday, August 27, 2020
Weather: Overcast with Mid-Day Sunshine; High 72, Low 62 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
If you can’t say something nice, then say nothing at all. So, I will say very little about the last night of the RNC which shamefully used the White House as a backdrop with a crowd of 1500 people not using social distancing and almost no one wearing a mask. And just one more thing. Rudi Giuliani was a disgrace. Thankfully, the conventions are over. Now we can get to work on making sure everyone gets to vote this fall.
Our weather here today was mixed. It was mostly overcast with a bit of rain early and a few more sprinkles in the afternoon. Actually, there was very little much needed rain, just gloom. So, the drought continues here. But things are different further south where they are getting lots of rain. Thankfully for those in Louisiana and Texas, the highest projections for the Hurricane Laura storm surge were not realized. Yet the devastation was massive and the wind and the rain continue moving inland. My heart is with all affected by this storm.
I had invited Jane Woodin over for lunch, but things looked iffy because of the clouds and morning sprinkles. We communicated via text and I voted to go ahead and hope for clearing weather. Magically, just as Jane arrived, the sun came out, allowing us to have lunch down by the dock overlooking the water. I have only seen Jane a couple of times since March, so it was great to have a break in the weather allowing us an hour and a half to visit before the clouds and sprinkles returned.
I headed to Heather and Jed’s when Jane left to feed the guinea pigs and water the plants on the deck. Despite a few sprinkles, they were in desperate need of water. I have done most of the work to get an automatic watering system going and hope to get that completed in the next few days, but in the meantime, watering is necessary. It was late afternoon when I got home and time for me to call my friend Leslie Kole. We had arranged to talk this afternoon and the time had come. Both of us are coming up on the anniversary of losing our beloveds. Leslie lost Rich last September 4th and I lost Mark four years ago on September 11th. We commiserated about living alone without the loves of our lives . . . not the happiest time in our lives. But we also reflected on how lucky we are to both live near children and grandchildren and to be healthy and active. I haven’t seen Leslie for months, so I am hoping to get together with her in the next few weeks. I ended my day by letting the last of the tomato sauce burble down as I watched the RNC spectacle.
by Judy Handley | Aug 26, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 238: RNC, Night 3
Date: Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Weather: Sunny and Cooler; High 73, Low 55 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Today I had a great visit with my nieces, Lynn and Candi. It was a two hour drive north to Chelmsford, Massachusetts and a three hour drive during rush hour home, but it was worth it. Lynn looks amazing good despite what she has been through in the past few weeks. We had a picnic lunch in a gazebo on the grounds of Lynn’s apartment complex and then I took Lynn to a local AT&T store to get the data from her iPhone synched with her new iPad. She handled all of that just fine, but when she walks, she really needs to have her oxygen with her. However, the tank she has is so big and unwieldy.
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There are small, compact portable oxygen concentrators that weigh only 2 pounds and I think she deserves to have one of those. They are expensive and I’m not sure they are covered by insurance, but if it were me, I’d definitely want one of those. I will plan to visit her every week or so this fall if she is up to having visitors. I think the visits will depend on how she handles the chemotherapy. I did get to meet her new little kitty named Susie. What a cutie and such wonderful company for Lynn.
There is so much happening in this country tonight that it was hard for me to really pay attention President Pence did mention that all of us are thinking of the people in the path of Hurricane Laura and he did acknowledge the devastation to those who have lost family members to the coronavirus. But many of his claims about the national leadership during the virus were just not true. And I think his argument that Joe Biden presided over the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression was a weak one. When I see the graphs that show the steady, yes slow, but steady, rise in the economy over the 8 years that Obama-Biden were in office, and how that upward movement simply continued under Trump, I think that rise is quite amazing. The law and order part of Pence’s speech made me cringe. The situation in Kenosha, Wisconsin right now, the Milwaukee Bucks canceling their playoff game tonight in protest which caused a domino effect of other teams cancelling their games—none of this was mentioned. I think maybe the Republicans highlighted the wrong heroes.
After watching from afar as Hurricane Maria destroyed Puerto Rico in September of 2017, and then not knowing for four days if Justin family were okay, I’ll never be able to keep my heart from aching as I wait to hear how another hurricane has affected the lives of people. Hurricane Laura is due to make landfall on the Louisiana side of the Louisiana – Texas border between 1 and 2 am. The only good news is that this hurricane is making landfall in an area that is not highly populated. But for the people that do live there, it will be devastating. We can all only hope the storm surge does not live up to the projections. It all depends on exactly where it makes landfall. I’m hoping to wake up in the morning to hear a best case scenario. Even best case will be devastating, but better than the worst case.
