by Judy Handley | Mar 11, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 71: COVID-19 Affecting Our Lives
Date: Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 53 degrees, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Hopefully you nor anyone you know and love will get the coronavirus, but today it became clearly evident to me that is going to affect all of our lives whether or not we get the virus. The Governor of Massachusetts declared a state of emergency this morning to further support the state’s response to the virus and that prompted a number of decisions to cancel things. Also, early this morning I found out that the grandchild of a friend woke up with a 102-degree temperature. The grandchild lives near Boston, but the grandparents travel back and forth weekly. Hopefully the temperature has nothing to do with the coronavirus, but for now, anyone with a temperature will give us pause. By the time I took Ollie to his violin lesson this afternoon, I learned from his violin teacher that some colleges in the state that are on spring vacation issued a statement today that students are not to return to campus at the end of vacation. This affects two of her children, and possibly a third. Students will be allowed on campus to pick up any belongings they need, but for now, they will continue their college education at home through online classes. Then when I took Ollie home, I found out from Jed that Falmouth’s All Band Concert set for tonight had been cancelled. I didn’t see Jonah or Sam, but I know they must have been terribly disappointed. As we move forward, there will be many more cancellations and closings. Hopefully these measures will help flatten the spread of this virus, so all of us must follow recommendations and think seriously about socializing in large groups for now. To my knowledge, we have had no active cases here on the Cape, so I am planning to go to a Newcomer’s Shamrock Luncheon at a local Irish pub tomorrow. But if we start to have active cases on the Cape, I’ll seriously assess whether to attend future social gatherings. I heard from Mike and Linda Stuart this morning. These are my good friends that are biking around the world. They were traveling from Florida to Spain on a cruise ship, planning to disembark in Barcelona and then head across northern Italy. In her email, Linda explained that since the borders of Italy are closed, they hopped off the ship a day or so early in Malaga and will spend time biking the southern coast of Spain for now. It is evident that each and every one us, no matter where we are in the world, need to be diligent in making decisions of how to live as safely as possible as the coronavirus continues to spread.
Other than becoming painfully aware of just how deeply the spread of the coronavirus is going to affect all of our lives, I spent my day writing in preparation for my Memoir Writing class tomorrow. And since the All Bands Night was cancelled, I went to play Mah Jongg with my Wednesday night group. And Shadow and I enjoyed our time outside today in the sunshine.
by Judy Handley | Mar 10, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 70: Book Club at The Cottage
Date: Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Weather: Partly Sunny and Breezy; High 50 degrees, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today it was my turn to host my Newcomers Book Club. Seven of the eleven women were here and we had a very insightful discussion about this month’s book, The Underground Railway by Colson Whitehead. Reading this book rattled my soul. Colson writes in a way that allowed me feel some of the pain that slaves felt. One of the statements early in the book that drew me in was made at the end of a rare evening of the slaves having a birthday celebration. “The music stopped. The circle broke. . . Then it comes, always—the overseer’s cry, the call to work, the shadow of the master, the reminder that she is only a human for a tiny moment across the eternity of her servitude.” The book is full of prophetic and heartbreaking statements like this and that led to deep discussions today.
I took Shadow to Heather and Jed’s and left him there in his crate during the Book Club meeting. I knew that there was no way to keep him quiet enough to have a meaningful discussion. But taking him there gave me the chance to do my weekly laundry. I put my laundry in to wash during the meeting. When I picked Shadow up afterwards, I put the laundry in the dryer and then when I went over after school to take Ollie to his tennis lesson, I picked up my laundry. So, today was a book club and a laundry day. Tomorrow is set aside as a writing day. My next Memoir Writing class is on Thursday and I haven’t yet done my homework.
by Judy Handley | Mar 9, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 69: A Day of Visiting
Date: Monday, March 9, 2020
Weather: Sunny; High 52 degrees, Low 43 degrees F (much warmer near Boston)
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
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Today was a day of visiting. I drove north for a short visit with Alan and Helaine Kanegsberg to introduce them to Shadow. When we confirmed the visit, we knew the weather was going to be nice, so we planned a walk through the Newbridge community. It was much warmer near Boston than here on the Cape and we had a wonderful walk. Then I drove further north to have lunch with my niece Lynn in Chelmsford and to introduce her to Shadow. So Shadow was the center of attention today, but it was great to catch up with everyone. On the way home, I made my customary stop at Costco. It was a 9 to 5 day as I left home at 9 am and got home at 5 pm. I spent my evening getting ready to host my book club in the morning. In hurrying around to put things away, I managed to drop a bottle of very expensive organic elderberry syrup. Purple syrup and glass went everywhere. What a mess!
by Judy Handley | Mar 8, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 68: Spring Forward
Date: Sunday, March 8, 2020
Weather: Sunny; High 47 degrees, Low 39 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It seemed early to me, but today was our day to spring those clocks forward an hour into Daylight Savings Time. I’m especially grateful this year as I can now do Shadow’s evening walk at 5:30 instead of 4:30 and still get home with time to spare before it gets dark. On the days that I take Ollie to violin and tennis lessons, it has been hard to get home in time to take a walk without having to use a flashlight. Now I won’t have that problem.
Sundays at 1 o’clock, Shadow and I go to People Training group class. Today there were two other puppies younger than Shadow. There was a German Shepard female, also named Shadow, and the cutest little chocolate Portuguese Water Dog female whose name I think is Dhuesse. Shadow loves people, but he is skittish around dogs, even other puppies. Today there were also a few larger dogs, but size doesn’t seem to be the problem. The bigger dogs seem to leave Shadow alone and he is fine with that. It is the puppies that want to romp and play that he’s not so happy about. But hopefully after attending more of these group classes, he will warm up to the other dogs. So far, I would give myself a C- as a student. I have to get very stern with Shadow to make him sit and stay. But we are improving.
Tomorrow I head off-Cape for a morning visit with the Kanegsberg’s. I am taking Shadow with me to meet them for the first time. And then at noon, I will meet my niece Lynn for lunch before heading home.
by Judy Handley | Mar 7, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 67: Snow, Birthday Luncheon, Scout Banquet
Date: Saturday, March 7, 2020
Weather: Snow, Wind, and Sunshine; High 46 degrees, Low 26 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
S-N-O-W. This morning in Falmouth we woke up to a world covered with a white blanket of snow. We’ve had almost no snow this winter, but when I first got Shadow in November we had a similar morning and I learned then that Shadow really loves snow. 
He loves to romp in it and he loves to eat it. I love that guilty look he gets when he eats snow. He must think he is doing something he shouldn’t. I’m not sure why he thinks that, but he eats and eats and then looks up at me with that very guilty look. We spent some of our morning outside enjoying the snow before it melted and then I went shopping to buy myself a birthday present. I’ve decided that we are going to have a long, cool spring, so I gave myself the treat of buying a new spring sweater. Then it was time to go to my birthday luncheon at The Flying Bridge on the harbor with friends.
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The Goldstones were spending their day at the Scout Blue and Gold Banquet. This was a special one as Jonah was crossing over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. I missed the banquet and the ceremony where Jonah was awarded The Arrow of Light, but I arrived in time to see Ollie’s play and Jonah crossing over to Boy Scouts. With Heather as their director, Ollie’s Cub Scout group started the event with a ‘play’ of funny jokes. “What did one squirrel say to another squirrel?” Ollie’s answer, “I’m nuts!” Then there were awards to parents who volunteer their time. Jed and a woman who was Jonah’s first leader were given special awards. Then it was time for Jonah and the other Cub Scouts his age to cross over, literally over a bridge, to become Boy Scouts. It was so special that Sam was the Scout on the other side of the bridge that welcomed Jonah as an official Boy Scout. The Goldpebble Scouts remind me of The Three Bears. Sam is the big poppa bear, Jonah is the middle-sized bear, and Ollie is the baby bear. I am super proud of the Goldpebble Scouts and of Heather and Jed who have volunteered and supported them since Sam started as a Cub Scout seven years ago.
After the Scouting event, I went to Heather and Jed’s to help do a little more basement organizing and then came home to spend the evening with Shadow. I had checked in with Shadow a couple of times during the day, but basically he had been alone since noon. So, I spent some special time with him this evening. Then I got a birthday call from friends Kevin and Claire and we talked away the rest of the evening. It was a good Saturday.
by Judy Handley | Mar 6, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 66: Continued Birthday Celebration
Date: March 6, 2020
Weather: Overcast; High 45 degrees, Low 29 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
My birthday celebration continued this evening with a sushi dinner with the Goldstones. They offered to take me out to dinner, but I voted for sushi take-out as it is my very favorite dinner. When I arrived, Jed was also pulling in. He explained that he had just come from the storage unit where he was in a search of my birthday present. It got packed away and is no longer accessible. So now I can look forward to another birthday celebration when things are moved from the storage unit to the new house. But I did get a new book, Women Rowing North by Mary Pipher—Navigating Life’s Currents and Flourishing as We Age.
Otherwise I had a quiet day which started with an appointment to get my car oil changed and tires rotated. The young man who brought the car to me when the work was done said my mileage gauge read 123,450—only 6 miles off 123456. Pretty amazing. This afternoon I took some time to read in preparation for a book club meeting next Tuesday. canned the chicken mineral bone broth I made earlier in the week, and had a Skype video birthday call with Justin, Ziggy, and Coco. It was a special birthday treat to have the chance to catch up with Ziggy and Coco.
