by Judy Handley | Jun 3, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 154: First Beach Adventure of the Season
Date: Wednesday, June 3, 2020
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds; High 70, Low 60 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
We are experiencing a mix of weather during each day with sunny mornings that turn into afternoons with a mix of sun and clouds. When the sun is out, it can feel warm, but when the clouds take over and there is wind, you need to grab a jacket. I had offered to take the boys this afternoon since it was a live webinar day for Heather. I didn’t hear back, so I assumed they had made other plans. But while watching the webinar, I heard my phone ding announcing a text. I checked and then saw that Heather had texted earlier, but I had missed it. She was asking me to pick up the boys before the webinar. Oops. I headed that way, but by the time I arrived, the webinar was almost over. At least the house was quiet. Each of the boys was in a different part of the house reading. But Heather and Jed both had an afternoon of work to do, so the boys went home with me. Ollie brought his violin so he could have his 4 pm violin lesson on Skype, but before that there was time to head out in the kayaks for a little water play. It was cloudy and there were even a few raindrops, but that didn’t stop the fun.
Ollie headed back to the dock in time to get ready for his violin lesson and I went back to the house with him in case he needed my help. He didn’t, but it gave me a chance to do a little prep for dinner as I had invited the whole gang over. Since I always sit down on the dock when the boys are out in the kayaks, it can make getting dinner ready a little tricky. So the violin lesson gave me a chance to ready things. After the violin lesson, we headed back down to the dock and the boys spent another hour kayaking out to a shallow area where they were able to get into the water. The clouds had cleared and it was suddenly very sunny and warm. I had to wear a jacket prior to the violin lesson but certainly didn’t need one later. Sometime around 6 pm, the Goldpebbles returned to the dock and were ready to call it a day.
That is, until we got back to the cottage and Sam suddenly decided that we should head to the beach. Even Jonah, who is usually freezing, was anxious to make a first trip to the beach. I called Heather and Jed and asked them to meet us at the beach and we were off. The boys wanted their snorkel gear but I told them momma had already thought of that and was bringing it. Actually, what Heather had said to me on the phone was that she and Jed would meet us at the beach and they would bring masks. I assumed that meant snorkel masks. But what she meant was face masks! But that didn’t stop the boys from diving into the water. It was windy and felt cold at the beach, which is only 2 miles from the cottage, but they were absolutely ready for their first beach adventure of the season. I headed home to get dinner ready. We did have a late dinner, but it was worth it as we had three very happy boys.
by Judy Handley | Jun 2, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 153: More of the Same
Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds, Felt Chilly; High 64, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today was just more of the same. More weather that felt cooler than it should, more gardening, another trip to a local nursery to buy a few plants. I did sit outside in the sunshine to visit with Karen Baranowski. She had come to help the aunties next door and we visited afterwards. And I did a refrigerator clean out that meant I spent time cooking some things to keep them from going bad. I had a Zoom physical therapy session and the trainer came up with a new exercise he wants me to do before I go on walks with Shadow. I have been struggling with pain during those walks and he thinks this new exercise might help. He also wants me to keep doing those press ups. He believes the good they can do outweighs the possible inflammation they can cause. I’ll try them until I meet with him on Zoom again on Thursday and then decide if they should remain as part of my daily schedule.
by Judy Handley | Jun 1, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 152: June 1st
Date: Monday, June 1, 2020
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds, Felt Chilly; High 62, Low 46 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
To me it seems like it was just yesterday that it was mid-March and we launched into the coronavirus stay-at-home time. Now it is June 1st and I am having a hard time knowing where the time went. It has just been a blur. I know that for the past 6 weeks I have been dealing with back issues and dealing with a puppy with gastro-intestinal issues. Those issues, plus the Goldstone move from Vidal Avenue to Grasmere Drive, filled the last two and a half months. Time just seems different in these coronavirus days.
I did work on gardening today and got a few things planted, but I am paying for it with increased pain tonight. I met with my primary care physician on Zoom this morning and he agreed to order an MRI to see what is really happening. I have an appointment on June 9th for the MRI. I meet on Zoom with the physical therapist tomorrow and I’ll have to report that I have not been doing those McKenzie press ups that he prescribed since our last meeting. I thought it was helping to relieve the inflammation by not doing them, but tonight I am in more pain that before. So maybe I should try them again. We’ll make that decision tomorrow.
Overshadowing everything in life right now are the protests in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by a policeman. Our President today made what I consider crazy statements about how he plans to proceed to establish law and order by using our military against the people. We need a President of peace and justice, not a President of law and order. We all know that violence only begets violence. We need leadership to try to steer us away from violence and toward a peaceful and just solution. But we know that leadership is not forthcoming. Where things go from here is just too scary.
by Judy Handley | May 31, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 151: Kayaking, Silent Community Vigil, Visit with Friends
Date: Sunday, May 31, 2020
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 68, Low 45 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It was a lovely Sunday. The sun was shining, and it felt warm despite the wind from the north. My back issue is no better, but at least I am able to do half-mile walks with Shadow twice a day. I didn’t really get to the gardening today. Maybe tomorrow.
Late morning the Goldstones arrived and took off on a kayaking and fishing adventure down the Eel River to the Washburn Island. Washburn Island provides the barrier between the river and the Nantucket Sound. Each of the Goldpebbles was in their own kayak when they left the dock and Heather and Jed were in the two-man inflatable. Once they were off, I went back to the cottage to organize things for lunch when they returned and took time to play ball with Shadow and just sit in the sun and read the New York Times daily news on my phone. When the gang returned, we had a late lunch, sitting outside. The Goldstones then headed home so they could ride their bikes to the Village Green for the 4 pm Silent Community Vigil honoring the memory of George Floyd. I traveled separately, but met them on the Green for the 15-minute silent vigil.
It was a very comforting feeling to see so many Falmouth families with children, young people, and the older generation all wearing masks and using physical distancing during the vigil. The bells from the Congregational Church rang to begin and end the vigil, and during the 15-minute vigil a woman kept beat on a drum. After the vigil, the Goldstones headed down Main Street and I headed to Midge and Bill Frieswyk’s home for a gathering of our dining-in group. We were minus Olivia and Terry White as Olivia is on the Steering Committee of the No Place for Hate group that sponsored the vigil and they were meeting on Zoom afterwards to make plans for future actions. I arrived late for the gathering of friends, but it was great to visit outside, using proper physical distancing, with Bruce and Jane Woodin, Karen and Peter Baranowski, and the Midge and Bill Frieswyk. This group has become my inner circle of friends and this was the first time we have been together since February. We didn’t have dinner together as usual, but each brought our own drinks and appetizers to enjoy while visiting.
Right now I am watching what is happening across the country tonight in protest of the murder of George Floyd. But it is much more. The rage of years of racism are exploding all over the country and it is so hard to watch. It seems unbelievable that we are living through a pandemic like none we have seen since the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, an economic crisis that rivals the Great Depression of the 1930’s, and civil unrest that rivals what we saw in 1968. Our democracy is being tested. May we be strong enough to come through this and be a better people, a better nation.
by Judy Handley | May 30, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 150: Saturday—Not Sure Where It Went
Date: Saturday, May 30, 2020
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 71, Low 57 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
This was one of those days that just flew by. I’m really not sure where it went. I went to Heather and Jed’s near noon to deliver a few things and just say hello. Then I came home, had lunch, and worked on setting up the drip irrigation system in my raised beds. I got started on this project last fall, but never completed it. I’ll continue to work on that tomorrow and hope to get things planted as well. I did watch the SpaceX launch this afternoon. That was a great success. And then tonight I watched a movie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood with Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt. It was a nice diversion.
by Judy Handley | May 29, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 149: Saving the Soul of Our Country
Date: Friday, May 29, 2020
Weather: Rainy Day; High 67, Low 61 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
For the past three months we have been living through a time of political upheaval here and around the world, while also living with a world-wide pandemic. It has seemed almost surreal. And in this country, we have had no national leadership to help us through this. We are all doing the best we can and those of us with governors who have risen to the occasion are very grateful for their leadership. But we need a captain at the wheel of the ship. Now we have the protests over the brutal and needless murder of a black man by a police officer. People are angry, and rightly so. We have all watched the video of this police officer kneeling on the neck of man gasping and saying that he can’t breathe. And then when the man became unconscious, the police officer continued kneeling on his neck for another two minutes and 53 seconds. I know more violence does not right the problem, but I understand the frustration of the protestors. George Floyd’s murder is national tragedy. The video of his merciless killing finally makes it crystal clear to everyone that chooses to look that we have a deep and fundamental problem in this country. It is not just one bad police officer. We have got to face racism head on and find our way forward. Again, I say, we need national leadership. But in that void, each of us must come forward and do what we can to erase hatred at the same that that we are trying to survive the ravages of the coronavirus. I hate seeing the images of the protestors and the violence from around the country, but they are doing what they feel they have to do. They are screaming for help. They know we have to find a way to save the soul of this country, one person at a time.
It was a dreary, rainy day here on the Cape. It wasn’t a hard rain, just drizzly, so you could be out and about. It was a grocery shopping day for me. The Goldstones and I have been making it for long periods of time between supermarket outings by having food delivered, but once every couple of weeks it becomes necessary for one of us to go to the supermarket to get things you can’t find elsewhere. I offered to do the shopping today. I left home at 11 and went to their house to get their list. After shopping, I delivered their things, ran a couple of errands, and headed home. When I got home, I saw a notice on my phone that my weekly Misfits delivery had come. But it wasn’t here. I unloaded the car and drove two doors down to the house where my things are continually misdelivered. And there was my box. So, I carried it to the car and headed home again. By the time I got everything put away, fed the puppy, and had a very late lunch, it was almost 4 pm. At 5 pm, I had a Zoom meeting with my wine group and afterwards I checked in with Heather. So goes a day in the time of coronavirus.
