by Judy Handley | Mar 17, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 76: Rainy St, Patrick’s Day
Date: Monday, March 17, 2025
Weather: Rain, Rain, and More Rain; High Temp 54, Low 39 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
What does one do on a rainy, rainy St. Patrick’s Day? You don’t plant peas, which is the Cape Cod tradition. I went to see a movie with a friend. We went to see Anora because it won so many Oscars. I had heard terrible reviews from anyone I know who has seen the movie, but I wanted to see it for myself. I must say I have never heard the ‘f’ word so many times in a movie and the explicit sex scenes had nothing to with love. They were scenes of sex workers at work which comes across as raw porn. Definitely not a family movie. But the feisty sex worker who refuses, at least at first, to be bullied by Russian mafia types, made her a hero. When she did cave, she lost all. So, standing up for herself, even in the face of physical violence, gave Anora, aka Ani in the movie, real appeal deserving of Best Actress.
Tonight, I went to hear a presentation on two articles that will be voted on in April’s Town Meeting. Hilda Maingay and Earle Barnhart from The Green Institute here in Falmouth, presented the details behind the two articles they are sponsoring to do local research on using Urine Diversion to help solve our nitrogen pollution problem. Most every home in this country must use some method of getting rid of all the water that flushes through your home. You are either tied into a sewer system or a septic system. The problem with both is that after the wastewater goes through either of these systems, the treated water still has most of the nitrogen from urine in it. Most homes in Falmouth are still using traditional septic tanks. Hilda and Earle are trying to educate and convince the masses that urine diversion is cheaper and actually gets rid of most of the nitrogen, thus more environmentally friendly. After tonight’s presentation, I certainly had a much clearer understanding of Innovative/Alternate (I/A) septic systems and Urine Diversion.
The woman who introduced Hilda and Earle tonight ended the evening with a quote I had never heard before. It comes from tennis great, Arthur Ashe, and applies in so many situations.
“Start WHERE you are.
Use WHAT you have.
Do WHAT you can.”
by Judy Handley | Mar 16, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 75: Sunny, Warm Sunday
Date: Sunday, March 16, 2025
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Winds S 10 AM, 22 PM; High Temp 61, Low 52 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
On this last Sunday of winter 2025, we had a wonderfully warm day. No hat, no gloves, no coat needed. And somehow. I just melted into the day and now it’s time to go to bed. The south wind that brought us warm weather today is bringing rain during the night, and it is forecast to stay with us all day tomorrow and tomorrow night, ending early Tuesday.
I did accomplish one thing today, but only with Jed’s help. A computer desk that my son Justin left with us when he moved out west in 2007. Mark and I kept it in storage while we sailed around the world and at some point after we returned, Heather and Jed used the desk for awhile. When they no longer needed it, it was disassembled and stored in their basement. Fast forward to this February. When I started PT for my neck pain, the therapist recommended adjusting the height of my computer. I tried a make-shift desk using a wooden card table. It was better than what I had been using, but it was still causing problems. Then I remembered that steel and glass computer desk and asked Heather and Jed if they still had it. They did, and this morning Jed got it out of their basement for me. They had used it at one point but then took it apart to store it when it was no longer needed. I took the parts home, and later in the afternoon Jed came over to put it back together for me. We were missing some special screws with large flat heads and one of the rubber pads needed for the glass desktop. I got into my box of screws and bolts and found a plastic bag with some screws that looked just like the ones we needed. When Jed opened the bag, he couldn’t believe it. It was the original screws and that missing plastic pad that have been hidden away for years. I tend to keep things forever, which can sometimes cause a space issue, but today it was a lifesaver.
by Judy Handley | Mar 15, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 74: Science Fair and 2025 All Cape Jazz Festival
Date: Saturday, March 15, 2025
Weather: Overcast, Foggy; High Temp 46, Low 41 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
The annual Falmouth Public Schools Science Fair was held this morning in the high school gymnasium. Ollie was the only Goldpebble with an entry this year. I enjoyed having him explain his experiment to me, as well as talking with other budding scientists about their projects.
This afternoon I went with Heather and Jed to Hyannis to the Sturgis East Charter Public School who hosted the 2025 All Cape Jazz Festival. Jonah was the Goldpebble in this event. He plays trombone and this afternoon he played in the Falmouth High School jazz band and then in the All Cape Jazz Big Band. There were exhibition jazz bands from Nauset, Sandwich, Barnstable, Sturgis, and Falmouth. I might be a bit biased, but I thought Falmouth’s jazz band was the best, by far.
by Judy Handley | Mar 14, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 73: Taking Care of Business and Trivia Night
Date: Friday, March 14, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Warmer; High Temp 51, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
No meetings, no political events, just a day of sitting at my computer taking care of business. Then tonight, I went to the high school for Trivia Night, a fundraiser for their spring play. I really don’t like Trivia because I am terrible at it, but a friend pleaded with me to fill an empty seat, and I just couldn’t say no. Actually, it wasn’t as bad as I anticipated, but I think I embarrassed my oldest grandson, Sam, by being there. I had no idea he would be there, but when I saw him, I went over to say hello. He said he saw my car when he arrived and wondered what in the world I was doing there! I loved that in the first three rounds, my group had more points than his. But in the end, they surpassed us. And it was great that the winning group was a table of Falmouth High School teachers, not students. Their team’s name was “Over Educated, and Under Rated.” Good, healthy, fun competition.
I chose not to go to Hyannis for the Veteran’s protest at the Hyannis rotary today. I really needed a day off. But I am so proud that Cape Cod’s Indivisible groups showed up and made the national news tonight on the Rachel Maddow Show. Rachel believes that the local pushback is working, so she highlights protests from all around the country that are happening every day. Today was our turn. Pushback, pushback, pushback.
And tonight, on Rachel’s show the April 5 HANDS OFF! national protest by Indivisible, 50501, and many other organizations was announced by Ezra Levin from Indivisible. Local groups from all over the country have been pushing for one centralized protest in addition to the protests springing up all over the country. So, plan your trip to DC now for the April 5 event. Until this February, I don’t think I have ever participated in a protest in my life. Now I have been to four in four weeks, and I certainly plan to go to DC. Hope to see you there.
I’ll end with a quote I borrowed from a Robert Reich post:
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.” ? Theodore Roosevelt
by Judy Handley | Mar 13, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 72: Encore Monthly Meeting to Full Moon
Date: Thursday, March 13, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Cold; High Temp 41, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Today started with an Encore monthly meeting and is ending with the anticipation of the full moon in the middle of the night at 2:55 am. There will also be a lunar eclipse during the night, beginning just before midnight. Since it is already 11:30 pm, I’ll get to check out the very beginning. But I am choosing not to get up during the night to see the full eclipse.
What else happened today? Kevin and Claire tried to call me on my birthday last week so Kevin could sing Happy Birthday to me, but the timing was not working for me. It took until today for us to find a common time to talk. They really want to get the boat repair work completed and get the boat into the water to cruise the Sea of Cortez next winter. They have friends on two other boats that they would love to cruise with. So, here’s hoping they can get all the work done in time. After that I tuned into the every Thursday afternoon at 3 pm Zoom call with Indivisible (national). The main topic today is the decision the Democrats have to make by tomorrow on how to vote on the budget. Go along and keep the government open or go against and shut down the government. Almost a no-win situation.
Then this evening it was off the a Falmouth Democratic Town Committee (FDTC) meeting. I’ve never attended one before, but I decided it was time to check it out. And when I got home from that, I made one more trip out for today. I delivered by old Canon camera to Heather and Jed’s so they can use it to try and get photos of the eclipse tonight. That gave me a chance to catch up with them and found that they had attended the installation of art pieces for a display at WHOI done by the Ninjas (Ollie’s middle school art honor group). Jed sent me a photo of Ollie sitting beneath the piece he worked on. Once again, so proud.
by Judy Handley | Mar 12, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 71: Falmouth’s All Bands Night and More
Date: Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Weather: Sunny, but Cooler; High Temp 46, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
The Falmouth Schools’ All Bands Night has become one of my favorite nights of the year. I think all of the mamas, the papas, the grandmas, the grandpas, and the brothers and sisters in attendance love hearing Falmouth’s 5th grade band, 6th grade band, middle school band, and high school band, all gathered in the high school gymnasium playing music. The evening starts with the high school band playing the Star-Bangled Banner. Then the youngest musicians play one piece, and the next and the next, on up to the high school band. Just hearing the progression of expertise is always “music to my ears.” They then start over, with each band playing another piece. There is a short pause while the jazz bands at each level come forward. They each play two songs, always upbeat and a delight to hear. The evening then ends with all of the musicians playing America the Beautiful written by Falmouth’s own Katherine Lee Bates. How they pull this off with only one practice run just before the concert begins is amazing to me. It is always a tearjerker but tonight, with the situation in our country, it was even more so. America is beautiful and for just a short period of time tonight, everyone in that gymnasium set politics aside and became one. Thank you, Falmouth School District, for the opportunity you offer your students and the gift you give each of us in attendance on this one special night each year.
I started my day with an all-morning Encore Board meeting, followed by a Shamrock Luncheon at Liam MacGuire’s hosted by Newcomers. Next was an Exploring Public Policy meeting with Town Moderator and state representative speaking with us about local government and how to get involved.
In between each of these activities, I would hurry home to let Shadow out. And then the day ended with the All Bands Night. Busy, but wonderful day.
