by Judy Handley | May 26, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 146: Enjoying a Beautiful Day
Date: Sunday, May 26, 2019
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 72, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today was the second day in a row that could convince me that it is finally spring and that summer is right around the corner. It was deliciously sunny and warm, a repeat of yesterday. Ollie and I had a lovely morning together and I realized that he has the right name. He is Oliver, but his nickname is Ollie—my mother’s name. And in my family, Ollie’n around was a familiar phrase. My mother was famous for finding every way in the world to not get something done. And this morning, Ollie was Ollie’n around. But I just let that play out as he was as happy as a little boy can be. At his request, we played chess while eating a late breakfast. 
He eventually got dressed and went out to continue his Farmer Ollie job of using his little battery-operated tractor to deliver bricks to my house from Shirley’s across the drive-way. He got the job done, but he spent an enormous amount of time just driving in circles. He was Ollie’n around, but a little boy should have the time to do this, so I just let him drive in circles. When I thought it was time to take him home, he decided that he really needed to kayak for his first time this season. 
And so he did. I sat on the dock and watched him as he paddled out toward Wallers Island.
It is close enough that I could hear him call my name if he needed help, but usually Sam is out there with him, so this solo ride made me a bit nervous. I know he loves to try and kayak in the narrow cut through the island, and that is what he tried today. I couldn’t see him, but I could his orange-tipped paddle. As I suspected, he made it half-way through the cut and then started going backwards as he had gone aground. What I didn’t know is that when he got stuck, he simply stood up and turned his body around so that he could paddle his way out. When he got back to the dock, he was beaming with pride because people in the yard close to the cut had congratulated him on his ingenuity. I have to admit that I’m not sure I would have thought of doing that. Once I convinced him that it was time to head home, he announced that he needed to drive that tractor in a few more circles before we put it in the car headed home. It was almost 1 o’clock when we got there. I dropped Ollie off and then headed into Falmouth to buy some organic tomato plants for Heather. There is only one source of fully organic plants in Falmouth and it was closed . . . on Memorial Day Weekend. The woman who grows these plants is named Jenny and to be closed on this prime garden planting day on Cape Cod led me to believe that she has either sold out all of her plants for this year or some sudden personal issue came up. Whatever, I was now on a quest to find tomato plants that have not been sprayed with herbicides or pesticides. I went to a nursery that I thought would have the closest thing to certified organic plants and they did. BUT the place was crazy busy. I had not had lunch, so I decided to return to Heather’s, have lunch, and check with her as to whether these mostly organic plants would be okay before fending my way through the frenzy of people. After a lunch break, I was ready to go back into the fray. I took Heather’s van as Sam and Ollie advertising car washes and my car definitely needed a good cleaning. Heather was having neighbors over dinner and needed somethings from the grocery store, so I volunteered to do the food shopping while out to get the tomato plants. I accomplished my mission, but by the time I got back, I certainly didn’t have time to do any planting. Maybe tomorrow. Heather invited me to stay for dinner, which I did. I really enjoyed the dinner and the conversation with Heather’s neighbors, Jean Harper and Dan Hennen. Tomorrow morning begins with a Falmouth Memorial Day Parade and ceremony before we can get back to gardening. Hopefully by tomorrow evening, we will have most of Heather’s garden planted and mine as well. If not, I can finish up on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, I head to Nyack, New York, to spend a couple of days with my friend Lynne Kirwin. She is moving from Nyack to Michigan the first of June, so I want to have one farewell visit. Michigan seems so far away, but I know we will find ways to continue seeing each other.
by Judy Handley | May 25, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 145: Ollie Sleepover
Date: Saturday, May 25, 2019
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 72, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Ollie is spending the night with me tonight. I always love having him here for a sleepover, but there is usually one or both brothers with him. So, I think he was feeling a little lonesome tonight and decided he wanted to sleep with me in my bed. Jed is in Maine with Jonah and Heather is probably just now driving home from Boston with Sam and two of his friends. They went to a Revs game tonight. The Revelations are Boston’s professional soccer team. For Christmas, each boy got tickets to a Revs game with one parent and a friend or two, and tonight was Sam’s night. Heather worked outside all day today, as did I, and if she feels anything like I do, the drive home from Boston at this late hour will be challenging. It was great to be able to be outside today, but I am worn out. I arrived at Heather’s at 8 am so she could go for a run. The June Jog is in two weeks and the miserable weather we have been experiencing has not been great training weather. So, she took advantage of the sunshine this morning. We then divided up the chores for the day and got to work. Sam had a Scout meeting this morning, Ollie worked on cutting the grass in the morning and then washed the van in the afternoon, Heather cut the boards for making another deep bed and worked on other gardening projects, and I swept the van to get it ready for the trip to Boston this evening, got the boys’ room ready for Sam’s friends to spend the night, worked on laundry, went to the nursery to buy some plants, and went to my house to get some of the plants I have been growing for Heather’s garden. Heather transplanted strawberries from the main garden to a raised bed in the front yard and I finished planting the raised bed just off their deck and planted one large container with Aurora peppers that I started from seed. I brought Ollie’s little tractor to my house at the end of the day, and he made a few trips bringing bricks from Shirley’s concrete patio over here to use as garden edging. He will finish that job in the morning as this day just wasn’t long enough. That’s why there is a tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | May 24, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 144: Organic Puppy Food
Date: Friday, May 24, 2019
Weather: Sunny Early, Then Cloudy and Windy; High 69, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
No, I don’t have a puppy yet. But I am getting closer, so today I sat at the computer researching training methods and different types of puppy food. While doing this, I got a call from Jonah asking if he and his had could stop by in about five minutes to pick-up his marsh mucking boots to take with him to Maine for the weekend. So, I got up from the computer to get the boots and some snacks ready for Jonah. When they stopped by, Jonah must have walked by the computer because as he left he said, “I see you are looking at organic puppy food. Oma, are you getting a puppy? And are you really going to feed the puppy organic food?” I explained that I am getting closer to making a decision on a puppy, and that yes, if and when I get one, I will feed it organic puppy food. He looked at me with a puzzled expression and then he and Jed were off for Boothbay. They will spend the long weekend opening Jed’s mother’s Maine home for the summer and doing some outdoor projects for her. After they drove off, I kept thinking about Jonah’s question about feeding a puppy organic food. Then I left to go to the gym to ride the stationary bike. While riding, I started a new book, Michele Obama’s BECOMING. In the Preface she writes, “There’s a lot I still don’t know about America, about life, about what the future might bring. But I do know myself. My father, Fraser, taught me to work hard, laugh often, and keep my word. My mother, Marian, showed me how to think for myself and to use my voice. Together, in our cramped apartment on the South Side of Chicago, they helped me see the value in our story, in my story, in the larger story of our country. Even when it’s not pretty or perfect. Even when it is more real than you want it to be. Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.” What a profound statement. I think many people don’t realize they have their own story. But I know I do and this afternoon between Jonah’s comment about organic puppy food and Michelle’s comment that everyone has a story, I realized that a great deal of my story deals with food. I had never thought of ‘my story’ in that way before. When I think of my story, I think about growing up poor in West Virginia. I think about going to and graduating from college with no monetary help from my parents. I think about my adventures with Mark—building a cabin in the mountains of Idaho, building a home and farm in Minnesota, building a bigger home and a bigger farm in southern West Virginia. I think about sailing around the world. And I think about our children and how all of our life decisions were made based on what we thought best for them. What I hadn’t thought of before this afternoon was that those beginning adventures with Mark were driven by an intense desire to live self-sufficiently, growing our own organic food. Even the first adventure, building the cabin in Idaho before we had children, revolved around food. I insisted that before we build the cabin that we clear enough ground for a garden and get that fenced and planted before cutting the first tree for the cabin. That took us six weeks, but we did it! So, Jonah’s comment about feeding a puppy organic puppy food sure brought forth a lot of my story that I hadn’t thought of before. My search for finding a way to eat healthy food started in 1974 and is continuing today. I believe that the most important decision we make three times a day, every day, is what we decide to eat in order to fuel our bodies. I believe, based on lots of evidence, that eating genetically modified foods and foods grown with chemical fertilizers and sprayed with poisons, is certainly not a healthy choice. So whenever possible, I eat only organic and verified non-GMO (genetically modified) food. And I certainly wouldn’t even feed a dog anything different. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.
by Judy Handley | May 23, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 143: Quiet, Cool Day
Date: Thursday, May 23, 2019
Weather: Overcast; High 63, Low 51 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I’m sitting here in a lightweight sweater plus a sweater vest and I still feel chilly. The high temperature was 63 degrees today, certainly not considered ‘cool’– but with no sun, it sure felt cool to me. I looked up the temperature scale for spring and basically temps in the 50’s are considered cool and temps from 59 to 75 degree F are considered warm. Since it was 63 degrees F today, I just need to get a grip!
It was also a quiet day. I went to the gym for my first class since my knee surgery, and that went well. I stopped by Heather’s to do a little gardening and then I headed home for a day of quiet. I did some gardening and drew out a plan for installing a drip irrigation system. Then I spent all afternoon researching drip irrigation systems. I’m learning about all the components needed and found that one brand of tubing looks the same another brand, but their characteristics in terms of flexibility and durability are very different. The research into the right drip irrigation system took a lot of time and I am still not sure what to buy. I’ll continue that search tomorrow. When I needed a break from irrigation, I got back to my online search for a puppy. I have one possibility and will follow up on that tomorrow as well. I finished my day by cooking a chicken and bok choy stir fry dinner and then catching up on what’s happening in Washington and around the world. Not a lot of happy news there.
by Judy Handley | May 22, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 142: ‘Secret Ingredients’ and EFES Art Show
Date: Wednesday, May 22, 2019
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 68, Low 48 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Laura Winslow who became a health coach after successfully battling breast cancer. While dealing with her health issues, Laura came to the conclusion that she needed to make radical changes in her life. She started eating organic, non-GMO certified food and changed her cleaning products and personal care products to be as natural as possible. Due to my knee surgery, I missed Laura’s talk on GMO’s. But while Justin was here right after my surgery, I mentioned I was missing that meeting and that led to us watching ‘Secret Ingredients’ together. I was unaware that, Jeffrey Smith, a non-GMO acitivist for the past 21 years and executive producer of the film, is one of Justin’s clients. I told Justin about my health group, and he contacted Laura to see if she would like to show the film to the group.
The ‘Secret Ingredients’ in our food are the chemicals applied to our food as it is grown and the chemicals that are embedded in some of the genetically modified seeds. A person in the film hit the nail on the head when he asked why it is that a chemical company is in charge of our food production. Good question. For years Monsanto has declared that their most popular herbicide, Roundup, does not affect human health. Well, guess what. It does. And research that has been hidden and/or misrepresented for years shows that. Over the past couple of years, I have made the change to buying only organic whenever possible. If food is labeled as USDA organic, then it is non-GMO. Even better than organic is organic AND non-GMO certified. This film is just the most recent of Jeffry Smith attempts to bring forth this important information. I applaud him and his dedication to this issue.
After the morning at the library, I went to the gym to do my 30 minutes on the stationary bike and headed home for a late lunch. I then did prep for dinner for the Goldpebbles. Heather was in Boston today and Jed is still down south. Sam had jazz band after school, but thankfully another parent brought him home. Cassidy, the high school student from across the street picked Ollie up from school, and once I had dinner pre-cooked, I picked Jonah up from an after-school program. We all sat down to eat at 5 pm as Sam had soccer practice at 5:30 and Jonah and Ollie had their annual art show at the elementary school. Unfortunately for Sam, the parent that was picking him up for soccer arrived very early, just as we sat down to eat, so I sent him with an energy bar and promised dinner after soccer practice. I then took Jonah and Ollie to the elementary school where they enjoyed the ice cream social and shopped at the Book Fair. Heather arrived just in time for the art tour and I took off to pick up Sam. I took him home to eat and then returned to the elementary school to get my tour of the art work. Heather posted a Facebook thank you tonight to myself and the other parents who helped out saying that it takes a village. I am so glad that I am part of that village!
by Judy Handley | May 21, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 141: Amazing Women Sailing ATW Solo Nonstop . . . Again
Date: Tuesday, May 21, 2019
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Still Windy; High 72, Low 48 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Larry Beavers was the engineer for New Hampshire Public Radio during Mark’s years there as General Manager. He and his wife Angela had a daughter the same age as Heather, so we knew them well. I haven’t seen them for a few years, but today I got a message from Larry alerting me to a website he thought I might be interested in. There is a woman named Jeanne Socrates once again attempting to sail around the world nonstop and unassisted. The amazing thing is that she is 76 years old! In the late 1990’s, she and her husband began their sailing adventures. Unfortunately, her husband discovered he had cancer. He sailed for another year or two, but then the cancer won out. But Jeanne continued on all by her herself. Their boat was named Nereida, and even after losing the boat off the coast of Mexico, Jeanne continued in a new boat with the same name. That was in the early 2000’s. Right not she is off the coast of New Zealand. If you would like to learn more about the Jeanne Socrates adventure, you can go to her website at https://svnereida.com/articles-interviews. From there, you can get to her blogs and to her history. She is already the oldest women to sail around the world solo nonstop unassisted. She is now striving to be the oldest person, man or woman, to sail around the world alone unassisted. What a woman!
After reading about Jeanne, my day seemed very mundane. Exercise at home, a trip to the gym, home for lunch, off to the Goldstones to be at home when Jonah and Ollie got home from school. They are now leaving the school as walkers on Tuesdays. They are accompanied by a school volunteer to get across the main highway and then they walk home on their own. It is not far, but it gives them a sense of independence. In between all of this, I did a little gardening. It is still too cool to do much, but I am working on hardening off the seedlings started inside. This next weekend is Memorial Day weekend, the traditional planting time here on the Cape. But the weather has been so cool that we might need to wait another week or so.
