by Judy Handley | Apr 22, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 112: Earth Day 2025
Date: Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 51, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I took the day off yesterday, but the rest of the world didn’t. Early, early yesterday morning, Heather drove Jed and Ollie to Providence to the train station for their trip to Washington, DC. Ollie will spend the week in DC with his Scout Troop, and Jed will help chaperone a couple of the Scout events and spend time with his mother doing ‘spring chores’ at her home. My sister was released from the hospital yesterday and is adjusting nicely back at her assisted living facility. And I attended the wake of a fellow Encore Board member
I spent my day today doing something I love … trying to solve a sailboat problem. I learned yesterday that Heather and Jed have not had any luck getting people to return their calls about a boom refit or replacement for Ardenna. (Their boom was destroyed in the brush fire that got out of control.) So I asked Heather if I could do a little research and she agreed. This morning, I called the guy in Chatham who is repairing their dodger to see if he had any suggestions. He has a best friend who he thought would know and he offered to call him for us. Half an hour later, he called with suggestions, and I spent the rest of my day traveling to Mattapoisett, Marion, and Wareham (all across the bridge) going from boat yard to boat yard checking things out. I have more checking to do in the morning and am waiting for a return call from Cape Cod Shipbuilding, but I learned so much and think we have a few options. The problem, of course, is time and money. They also need to replace their dinghy and dinghy motor due to the fire and that will be my next project. I am going to Rhode Island on a field trip on Friday morning and will visit boat yards there in search of a dinghy replacement. Boat yards are unbelievable busy this time of year. I went from office to office, but no one was in. I had to walk through the boat yards, the fun part for me, looking for people. All the while, I am sure their phones in those empty offices were ringing off the hook. Going in person is about the only way to get answers.
I celebrated Earth Day #55 by going to the first of three readings of the Cape Cod Climate Action Plan sponsored by the Falmouth Climate Action Network (FalCAN). Earth Day was first observed on April 22, 1970, and has been celebrated each year since on that same date. It is a time for people to come together to celebrate with environmental education and action, so I chose to spend my evening focused on environmental education. In an article in the NYT this morning, climate experts were asked what the single most important thing each of us can do to for the planet. “First, it’s important to understand that climate change is a symptom of a larger issue: ecological overshoot, or the fact that humans are consuming resources faster than they can regenerate and producing more waste and pollution than nature can absorb.” It went on to say that one of the most effective ways to avoid consumption, and an obvious way to do that is to have smaller families. Or if you do have children, make sure they are aware of their responsibility to help reduce consumption. Reducing consumption requires a whole new mindset about how we live. Another thing you can do according to the expert interviewed if change your diet to being more plant-based. “If the average person in a high-income country skips meat just one day a week for a year, for example, they can save the carbon equivalent of driving 850 miles in a gas-powered car, and enough water to take a shower for 38 hours straight.” What an easy thing to do for the health of our earth.
by Judy Handley | Apr 21, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 111: Personal Day
Date: Monday, April 21, 2025
Weather: Partly Sunny, Windy with a Chilly Wind; High Temp 51, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I took a ‘personal day’ today with nothing to report. Check back tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Apr 20, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs, Cape Cod, USA |
2025 Life Logs, Day 110: Celebration of Sam’s College Decision
Date: Sunday, April 20, 2025
Weather: Sunny, Warmer; High Temp 63, Low 39 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Sam has been waiting to hear from Groningen University in the Netherlands to see if he made it into their International Relations program. He got into their history program, but the International Relations program admittance is done by a lottery system. This was his first choice, so we are all so happy for him.
Before I knew about this, I invited Heather and family over for Easter dinner. Sam’s college decision just gave us an extra opportunity for celebration. Congratulations, Samuel Ellery Goldstone! I am a proud Oma.
by Judy Handley | Apr 19, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 109: Rally, Soccer, New Friends
Date: Saturday, April 19, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Windy; High Temp 54, Low 49 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
The first shots of the American Revolution were fired on this day 250 years ago. More than 60 years later Ralph Waldo Emerson memorialized the first shot of the Battles of Lexington and Concord with the words, “The shot heard round the world.” Those shots were fired to separate us from England and the King’s rule. Today people all around this country held ‘No King’ rallies. We got rid of one king, and we surely do not want another. People who attended today’s rally that were at the April 5 ‘Hands Off’ rally on the Green estimated that there were about 400 people protesting today, not quite as many as on April 5, but enough to make a difference. Representative Bill Keating came and led the crowd in a boisterous cry saying that Trump is bending and breaking the law, but “We will not bend a knee and we will not break.” As Trump defies the Supreme Court, “We will not break.” It went on, but I think you get the idea. He also thanked those in attendance by saying that if wasn’t for the people turning out at rallies in Falmouth and all around the country that we wouldn’t have a chance of fighting back against the Trump regime. We the people are making a difference.
After the rally, I rushed to watch Ollie (number 23) playing in a soccer game against Fall River. Falmouth lost by the only point scored in the game, but they held their own.
During all of this I was texting back and forth with my nephew and the woman who is a paid companion that was with my sister today to try and figure out why she was not being released from the hospital. I called the hospital early in the morning and again between the rally and the game, but no one was calling me back. We finally got an answer. The hospital cannot release her until a nurse from her assisted living facility comes to check her condition and give the okay for her to return. There is no nurse on duty on the weekends, so it will be Monday before we can hope someone will come to give the okay. So that saga continues.
Tonight, Heather invited me to go to dinner at the home of one of Jonah’s friends to meet the grandparents. They are transitioning from their home of 40 years in Connecticut to living with their daughter and her family here in Falmouth. We talked about everything from neurosurgeons to Newcomers, and I look forward to meeting with them again to help them settle into life in Falmouth. Their daughter has already introduced them to Falmouth’s Senior Center and they are finding that there are so many opportunities open to them.
by Judy Handley | Apr 18, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 108: Beyond the White House, Mingle and Mix, My Sister
Date: Friday, April 18, 2025
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 55, Low 49 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
It was another day of dealing with my sister’s hospitalization in North Carolina. I am finding out just how difficult this is to do long-distance. The good news is that the doctor has okayed her release from the hospital. The bad news is the physical therapist wants her to go to rehab and that is complicating matters. More on this tomorrow.
I attended my second ‘Beyond the White House’ class today. This week we focused on John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States, and son of John Adams, the second president. The truly fascinating thing about John Quincy is that he ran for a seat in the House of Representatives after his presidency and spent nearly three decades in the House truly making a difference.
Then last night I went to an Encore Mingle and Mix. These are small gatherings of people who all bring food and drink and then have two hours of conversation while eating and drinking. This one lasted way beyond the two hours, but that was fine with the hosts, and we all enjoyed the extended conversation. Thanks to Peter and Karen Baranowski for hosting this month.
by Judy Handley | Apr 17, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 107: Topsy Turvy
Date: Thursday, April 17, 2025
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 55, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
By 8:45 am this morning, I had done my morning back exercises and had taken Shadow for his morning walk. I took a deep breath and thought that I had a whole day before me with the only pressing thing I needed to do was to finish reading a few pages of the book for my Friday morning “Beyond the White House” course. This week’s chapter focused on John Quincy Adams, son of the second US President, US Senator, US Secretary of State, sixth US President, and then member of the US House of Representatives from Massachusetts 1831 until his death in 1848. At 8:45 am, I was imaging sitting down with a cup of tea and reading for a bit. But that is not what happened. The day with nothing to do went topsy turvy. I spent my entire morning texting, emailing, and talking on the phone about my sister who was hospitalized yesterday. By the end of the day today, she was doing fine and might go home tomorrow. But because I am my sister’s legally appointed health care proxy and literally oversee her daily life from afar (she is in North Carolina), there was an entire morning of texts, emails, and phone calls required in dealing with things. I did get to do my required reading in the afternoon, but that relaxed day just didn’t happen.
My day did end with a bit of fun. Heather invited me to join the family for dinner at Liam Maguire’s Iris Pub on Main Street where we listened to Thursday night live jazz as we ate. Ollie’s saxophone private teacher and Jonah’s high school band director were playing with the group tonight. Both are fabulous musicians and role models. So at least my day ended on a high note.
