by Judy Handley | Sep 5, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 248: Out of Focus
Date: Thursday, September 5, 2019
Weather: Partly Sunny and Cooler; High 77, Low 53 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I felt like I was ‘out of focus’ today. I did a little of this and a little of that, but I couldn’t quite get a clear picture of what I needed to do. I was so saddened when I learned of Rich Kole’s death last night and I just couldn’t shake that today. I did go to the Farmer’s Market and Carrie from Peach Tree Farms had 30 pounds of tomatoes for me. So I definitely know what I am doing tomorrow. On Saturday Sam and Jonah have their first soccer games of the fall if weather permits. But it is possible that we will have tropical storm force winds in the wee hours of Saturday morning and lots of rain as Dorian passes by. So soccer games might happen, or they might not. On Sunday the weather clears and I have my Newcomers Dining-in Group coming to dinner. On Monday I have two doctor appointments. So, I’m not going to have to think about what I am doing for a few days. I just have to do what needs to be done.
by Judy Handley | Sep 4, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 247: Friends
Date: Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 86, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Lunch today was with friends celebrating Olivia White’s birthday a little more than a month late. Her birthday was the end of July, but she was busy with friends at the time and August just got too busy for all of us. Better late than never. It was wonderful to be together today.
Friendship is a precious thing. And in one day I celebrated life with friends over lunch and then tonight I got word that the husband of one of my best friends from New Hampshire passed away today. I am still in shock over the news. I have often visited with Leslie and Rich in Rye, New Hampshire, and am devastated by the loss of Rich. He was chef extraordinaire, a dedicated and loving husband and father, and the proud grandfather of Luke and Piper. My deepest love is sent to Leslie and daughter Jess and family.
by Judy Handley | Sep 3, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 246: Sand in My Shoes on First Day of School
Date: Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Weather: Sunny; High 83, Low 62 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It was the first day of school for the Goldpebbles. It is really hard for me to believe that Sam is in seventh grade this year. Jonah is in fifth grade and little Ollie is growing like a weed and is in second grade, not so little any more.
01 Granddad Picks Up Sam and Jonah at Woods Hole Day Care
When Mark and I ‘landed’ here on the Cape in 2011, Jonah and Sam were both in preschool and Ollie was still to come. On the first day of preschool that year, Mark and I picked Sam and Jonah up at the end of the day. I just took a trip down memory lane by looking at the photos of that event. My, how these grandkids grow up so quickly! I didn’t see them today, but Heather took photos that she shared on Facebook. Thank you, Heather.
Now to the sand in my shoes today. I got up with absolutely nothing on my calendar. I decided that I wanted to spend some time at the beach, take a long walk, and enjoy the sunshine. Then I realized that I could do all of those things by driving to the Outer Cape to see the gray seals at High Head Beach in North Truro . . . a field trip for the first day of school. When Heather, Jed, and the boys told me about their trip to High Head Beach this past weekend, I knew I just had to go there. So today was the day. It is about an hour and a half drive and then a 15 to 20 minute walk through deep sand and up and over a dune to get there. But it was certainly worth it. What I saw was a beautiful beach with what I would estimate to be more than a hundred gray seals frolicking in the water. From a distance they just look like black rocks in the water. Some were far in the distance and some were just off the beach where I arrived . . . a greeting committee.
Since I have never seen gray seals before, I just sat in the sand and watched them for over an hour. Sam had told me that they have HUGE nostrils and he was certainly right about that. Their heads are elongated and they appear to love just sticking their noses straight up for long periods of time. A few times it looked like a couple were in a little battle with their heads while looking towards the sky. Seagulls lined the tide line to watch while little sanderlings skittered about. Just glorious. On the walk back to my car, I took the time to look at the dune flora. There was a ground cover with red berries that I was not familiar with, but when I got home I looked it up and found it to be bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi). Evidently it has small whitish-pink urn-shaped flowers in April and May and red berries that appear in August and last through the winter. There was also a lot of sweet goldenrod (Solidago odora), but what I found out when I looked it up tonight is that it is not the same as ragweed, which is the popular belief. Evidently, sweet goldenrod does not cause seasonal allergies and if you crush the leaves, they smell like licorice. Who knew? Certainly not me. But that’s why you go on field trips and do research afterwards. I also learned a lot about gray seals this evening. Grey seals (Calidris alba), spelled ‘gray’ in the United States, live on both shores of the North Atlantic. They are known as horsehead seals due to the shape of their heads and are commonly referred to as “true seals” or “earless seals” as they do not have external ear flaps. Average females are about seven and a half feet long and weigh about 550 pounds, while males on average are ten feet long and weigh about 880 pounds. I also read that at low tide, the gray seals at High Head Beach sometimes come up on the beach to lounge around. I will definitely be returning at low tide to see the seals on the beach and to enjoy getting more sand in my shoes.
One more tidbit, this time about Hurricane Dorian and President Trump. When I got home, I turned on the television to get an update on Hurricane Dorian. Thankfully it has moved on from the Bahamas and it looks like it will skim the US coast, maybe making landfall in the Carolinas. Hurricanes are never good news, but then this was the best case scenario projected and hopefully it veers off and doesn’t make landfall at all. The devastation in the northern Bahamas is heart-breaking with information from Grand Bahama Island still to come. But in listening to this update, I also saw a video clip of President Trump giving a hurricane press conference this weekend. I couldn’t believe what I heard him say. “A Category 5 is something that I don’t know that I’ve even heard the term . . . ” Really? Well, Mr. President. Katrina and Maria would be two very devastating Category 5 hurricanes that hit the United States mainland or a US territory and most Americans know that. Plus, there have been seven Category 5 hurricanes since you have been President. How sad that you don’t know this very basic information.
by Judy Handley | Sep 2, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 245: Gardening and Dinner with the Goldstones
Date: Monday, September 2, 2019
Weather: Sunnier Than Expected; High 80, Low 64 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The gardening part of my day took much longer than I expected. When I went sailing with Bruce and Jane on Saturday, Jane’s friend Ellen asked if I would like to come dig up some iris she wanted to get rid of. I mentioned this to Karen Baranowski yesterday and she was also interested. We arranged a time with Ellen and headed there late this morning. Digging up the iris was harder than expected, but we did it. I then had to come home and prepare a place to put the new addition. Rearranging things and getting it planted took most of the afternoon and then it was time to head to Heather and Jed’s. I had wanted to have them here for dinner, but since tomorrow is the first day of school and the boys needed to get to bed early, it seemed much more sensible to have dinner there. I bought salmon and calamari and Heather and Jed provided the rest of the dinner. We feasted on food and I got to hear all about their camping trip to the Outer Cape. They had a great time. They did a lot of biking, a lot of playing on beaches, and they found one beach with lots of gray seals. Of course, where there are seals, there are probably sharks, so they didn’t get in the water there. I’m so jealous. I want to see the seals. So I plan to make a day trip to the Outer Cape and hope the seals are there at the same beach.
Tomorrow is the first day of school. Sam has to catch the bus to Lawrence Hall at 7:20 and Jonah catches the bus to Morse Pond at 7:45. Then there is a break of an hour before Ollie needs to leave for East Falmouth Elementary. This is a new schedule for Sam and Jonah, and it will take time for the whole family to adjust to the earlier start times. The biggest adjustment is for Jonah who is usually getting up at about the time he now has to leave. When I left at 7:30 tonight, the boys were ready for bed, so hopefully they will all get a good night’s sleep and tomorrow morning will go smoothly. I’ll be anxious to hear how the first day of school goes.
My heart aches for the people on Grand Bahama Island that have endured Hurricane Dorian sitting right on top of them for almost 24 hours. Hard to imagine what that must feel like, but easy to imagine the total destruction that they will be left with. This hurricane is moving so slowly, but by tomorrow morning it should start to move on and we will have a much clearer idea of what its impact will be on Florida and the southeastern coast of the US. It is expected to head north without making landfall in Florida. This is the best case scenario, but still there will be high winds and storm surge. Let’s hope for the best.
by Judy Handley | Sep 1, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 244: First Day of September
Date: Sunday, September 1, 2019
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds; High 78, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Growing up, September was my favorite month of the year. I loved the cooler weather, the changing colors of the leaves, and the football season. Both of my children were born in September, so that added to my love of the month. But as I grew older and lived in colder climates, I began to resent September as it represented the end of summer. And anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE summer and am always reluctant to let go. Now I feel like I am entering the mellow years where resentment has no place. So, I embrace September, not as the end of summer, but as the bridge month to Cape Cod’s lovely (and hopefully long) autumn. So, welcome September.
I was kind to myself today and didn’t worry about getting anything accomplished. I got up and went to Heather and Jed’s to feed the guinea pigs and finish up one last organizational task in the basement. Then I drove to Hyannis to do some food shopping. Shortly after I returned, friend Karen Baranowski came by and we managed to talk away the afternoon. After she left, I put my bike rack back together and went next door to visit with Shirley and Doris. In between activities, I watched a lot of coverage of Hurricane Dorian. When I sailed in the Bahamas with Sam and Dawn aboard Windbird in 2017, we visited a few of the islands in the Abacos that were hit so hard today. Elbow Cay, where Dorian first made landfall, is the home of Hope Town. 
It is one of the most beautiful little communities in all of the Bahamas and it is where the iconic candy-striped lighthouse, first opened in 1864, stands proud. Sure hope it is still standing after Dorian. It made me very sad this afternoon to think about the devastation there. It brought back memories of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in September of 2017 . . . dark memories that will live with me forever. I can’t even imagine how the people going through this feel. The Abacos have not been spared, but let’s hope the storm does take the turn northward and only grazes the coast of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. Especially thinking of sister-in-law Sue and Brad in Boynton Beach.
by Judy Handley | Aug 31, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 243: Sailing, Sailing . . . Motoring
Date: Saturday, August 31, 2019
Weather: Another Beautiful Day BUT No Wind; High 84, Low 57 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
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It was a beautiful day for a sail, but unfortunately there was no wind. That does not, however, preclude having a delightful time out on the water. I met Jane Woodin at her house, as did her good friends Ellen and Bob, and we drove together to the West Falmouth Boat Club where Bruce and Sam Patterson had L’Escargot waiting for us at the dock. Bruce and Jane bought the sailboat this spring from a long time Woods Hole friend, Ellen Bailey. And this morning Ellen and her husband were also at the dock to see us off. We had hoped to make it to Kingman Marina for lunch at the Chart Room, but the winds and current just didn’t cooperate. We tacked back and forth in the little wind we did have and joked that we might make in time for dinner. Finally, we gave it up, turned on the engine, and headed back to West Falmouth Harbor. We then chose a different location for lunch at Sopranos on Falmouth Heights Beach. So not a lot of sailing, but a lot of fun.
I then managed to spend the rest of my day and evening on the phone. I had a long conversation with Lynne Kirwin. Neither of us loves talking on the phone, but when you live far apart, the phone is what you’ve got. And thankfully so. While I was talking to Lynne, I saw that another friend, Susie Klein, was calling me. So, after Lynne and I solved all of the world’s problems, I listened to the voice mail message from Susie. She and her husband Jim were anchored in Tarpaulin Cove south of Woods Hole and were thinking of me, so she called. I last saw Susie and Jim when I made a presentation to their sailing association in Wayland (west of Boston) last November. At that time, they were preparing for a sabbatical in France. They returned in early August, just in time to launch their sailboat, Reveille, for some late summer sailing. After that phone conversation, it was time to fix dinner and shortly after dinner, Justin called and asked if I would like to Skype with the kids. They are just getting settled in after returning from their month in England in time to turn around and head to New Mexico next week. They have been invited to be in a couple of fall music festivals and they will take advantage of their time there to catch up with good friends and check on their converted Greyhound bus that is still in storage in Albuquerque. Both Ziggy and Coco were born in New Mexico, but neither has very clear memories of their time there. Justin and Jo, on the other hand, have very good friends there and are very anxious to visit with them. It was great to see the kids on Skype and hear about their current interests. Ziggy has plans to build a robot that can navigate by latitude and longitude directions and Coco is perfecting her acrobatic skills using Jo’s yoga swing and flying through the house on the roller skates I got her for her birthday. They light up when in motion and glow in the dark and she loves performing in them. I also got the full report of their visit with their cousins in England. I am still amazed with and thankful for the technology that allows me to see and talk with my grandchildren on my cell phone. We take it for granted, but it really is amazing.
