by Judy Handley | Jun 12, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 162: Day Trip to Dedham
Date: Thursday, June 12, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High Temp 77, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Today was a traveling day. Lynne and I drove to Dedham to see Helaine Kanegsberg. It has not been quite a month since Alan’s passing, and I was very pleased to see Helaine adapting to life so well. She has always been in many activity groups at Newbridge where she lives, and she continues to be engaged. We took a long walk all about Newbridge, through the villas, to the raised bed gardening area, along the Charles River where it is still the size of a creek as it runs on to become a full-fledged river running through Boston, on through the woods, and back to the central building where there are restaurants, meeting rooms, a work out gym, a pool, and just about anything else that a resident might want. When we returned from the walk, Lynne and I put together the ingredients we brought with us to make an arugula, red pepper, and cucumber salad topped with pumpkin seeds and crumbled salmon paddy pieces. Yummy.
Before 2 pm, we said our farewells to head home and hopefully keep in front of the onslaught of rush hour drivers. We made it back to Stoughton where we did a quick shop at Costco and returned items we bought at IKEA last week. Lynne and I then had a quiet evening at home with Shadow.
by Judy Handley | Jun 11, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 161: A Woodwell Conversation with John Holdren
Date: Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High Temp 81, Low 61 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
It was another busy day. I had an all morning Encore Board meeting, my last as co-president, and then met Lynne at Devour near Main Street for lunch. I had eaten there once before and was impressed with their salads. Somehow this second time the salads didn’t seem quite as impressive, but I had one with tostados which was quite good.
Lynne worked with me in the yard and garden during the afternoon. Then, after a quick stop at Lawrence Middle School, to see Ollie’s art on display at the annual art show, Lynne and I went to Woodwell Climate Research Center. This spring, they started a new series of monthly conversations on various climate related topics. They focus on navigating science, politics, and resilience. The events are called ‘Conversations’ and today’s conversation was with Max Holmes, President and CEO of Woodwell, and Dr. John Holdren, former Chief Science and Technology Advisor to President Obama.
Prior to going to Washington, John Holdren was the President and CEO of Woodwell, while also having a position at Harvard. After Washington, he returned to Harvard and still does some work with Woodwell. The conversation this evening was focused on how a climate research center can adapt and survive amidst the current political turbulence. Lynee had seen John Holdren speak a few years ago when she was here, but as we walked back to the car this evening, she said she was overwhelmed by John’s breadth of knowledge and experience. The conversation was truly impactful, albeit a bit stressful to hear a summary of just how much damage has already been done to science and education. However, he did end with some steps we can take. Now, we just need to get to work!
by Judy Handley | Jun 10, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 160: Visit with Olga, Book Club, Library Board of Trustees Meeting
Date: Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Weather: Rainy Day; High Temp 63, Low 60 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
When I went to bed last night, I was completely healthy. But I woke up at 3:30 am with such a sore throat that I could hardly swallow. I tried to drink water, but that was painful. So, I made a mix of salt and apple cider vinegar and gargled with that. It helped a bit, so I went back to bed but couldn’t sleep. Not being able to swallow without a lot of pain kept me awake. I got up and gargled a second time. Again, it helped a little, but I tossed and turned until 6:30 am. After that, I actually slept for an hour and then got up. I went to the walk-in clinic this afternoon. After describing my symptoms, they tested me for Covid, for the flu, and for strep throat. All were negative, so the doctor declared it a sinus issue with a whole lot of postnasal drainage. The doctor wouldn’t prescribe an antibiotic at this time, but if it persists, I am to come back.
Back to the morning … I had arranged with my walking friend, Olga Mitchell, for Lynne and I to come walk with her. She fell just before Christmas and injured her hip and hasn’t been able to walk long distances since. She thought she was ready, but when we got there, she explained that her hip was just too painful to walk. Instead of walking, we sat and had tea and coffee and just visited. It was so no nice her after so many months.
Shadow waited in the car while Lynne and I chatted with Olga. Then we went to my book club. After a walk through Lori’s gardens,
Lynne came in to meet everyone and then she walked with Shadow while I ‘talked’ books. We then headed home and had lunch. After lunch, I took a short 25-minute nap and was then off to pick Ollie up from school. The visit to the doctor that I mentioned previously happened after that. Then, tonight I had a Library Board of Trustees Meeting. And now off to bed.
by Judy Handley | Jun 9, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 159: Mostly Work, A Little Play
Date: Monday, June 9, 2025
Weather: Overcast with Drizzle; High Temp 61, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Today was mostly work, with a little play. I had another meeting at the bank associated with my new job as treasurer of the public library. After that meeting and running a few errands, I came home to pick up Lynne to go to Heather and Jed’s boat with me. The person who did the repair work on the dodger met us at the boat at noon to deliver it. It looks great but we didn’t put it on as the boat as to be hauled to Mattapoisett on Friday to go in the water, and no canvas can be on the boat. I was going to do a little more teak work, but it started to drizzle. Teak oiling will have to wait until the weather is a little more cooperative.
Lynne and I returned home, had lunch, and then I was off for another meeting, again associated with being treasurer for the Library Board of Trustees. Once that was over, my official work was over for the day, and we were invited to Bruce and Jane Wooden’s for Happy Hour. That began the play part of the day. Between Bruce and Jane’s travels and my busy schedule, we have not had much time to socialize since January. It was great seeing them. Lynne met them on a prior visit, so they had a good time catching up.
by Judy Handley | Jun 8, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 158: Family Brunch as a Final Graduation Celebration
Date: Sunday, June 8, 2025
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds; High Temp 69, Low 56 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
The last of Sam’s graduation celebrations was mid-day when we had a quiet family brunch at Heather and Jed’s. Sam opened his graduation gifts after we ate Cape Cod bagels with Jed’s leftover gravlax from yesterday’s party. Yummy. Sam seemed sincerely appreciative of his gifts from everyone. I still have to pinch myself when I look at him and realize that he is a young adult now. The photo frame of pictures of Sam through his 18 years was rolling in the background today reminding each of us that he is no longer the little boy in those photos. It is wonderful and exciting thinking about what the next few years hold for him, but at the same time it is hard to let go. Sam has a couple of days to recover from all of the graduation frenzy before he works W-Th-F-S at Corner Cycle. He repeats the same schedule next week before leaving for his graduation tour to Europe. Quoting what Heather said on her Facebook page, “I still can’t believe this is happening.” I couldn’t agree more.
Jed’s mother, Marti, leaves for Maine tomorrow morning. With graduation over, I think things will slow down just a bit. But there is boat work to be done before Ardenna is launched on Friday of this week. Lynne is here until Saturday, and I think things will settle down a notch or two this week so that we have time to do things together.
by Judy Handley | Jun 7, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 157: Sam’s Graduation
Date: Saturday, June 7, 2025
Weather: Mostly Overcast, A Little Rain; High Temp 68, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Samuel Ellery Goldstone, Falmouth High School Class of 2025 and on to the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Congratulations!
Today was the big day–the day my first grandchild graduated from high school. The threat of rain moved the graduation indoors, but the outside celebration in front of the school afterwards was joyous. Pictures were taken of Sam with … his brothers and mom and dad … both his grandmothers … his good friend Robert … Robert, Audrey, and Cece … Robert and Ethan … Sam, Jonah, and Ollie with Molly and Joey who the Goldpebbles regard as another brother and a sister … and on and on with other groups of friends. Congratulations to Sam and to all members of the Falmouth High School Class of 2025.
After the photo frenzy, we moved on to the after-graduation parties. Sam and Robert had a joint party immediately after graduation at Robert’s home. Then the graduates and some parents moved on to a late afternoon party at Ethan’s. Ethan, Robert, and Sam are headed to Europe later this month to meet up with Sebastian who rounds out the quartet of closest friends. After Ethan’s party, I think there was an evening of party hopping still to go.
Heather and I changed gears and went to Ollie’s last soccer game. Jonah was a line ref for the game, so we got to see both in action. But we had to watch much of the game in fog and then pouring rain. It was an ‘interesting’ way to end the spring soccer season!
