by Judy Handley | Jun 19, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 171: Encore Installation Luncheon on Juneteenth
Date: Wednesday, June 19, 2024
Weather: Gorgeous Day; Temp 74, Low 66 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
On the third Wednesday of June each year, Encore has its Installation Luncheon where the board members for the coming year are sworn in.
That happened today at what is known as the Poppy Tent, a summer ‘tent’ beachfront venue attached to the Popponesset Inn in New Seabury. On a gorgeous day like today, if you have to spend time inside, I can’t think of a more beautiful place to spend a couple of hours. The luncheon was lovely. It marks the end of the Encore 2023-2024 year and the beginning of the next year. As co-presidents, Christina Brodie and I spent the hour prior to the luncheon and the three hours afterwards in meetings with members of the 2024-2025 board. We have a full day of meetings tomorrow and then the bulk of the meetings will be completed. We can then relax into summer feeling prepared for the next year.
I was in charge of the meeting today and wanted to honor Juneteenth in some way. So, I used Ollie’s Juneteenth poster quote from Coretta Scott King in my opening remarks. I included it in last Saturday’s log, but I am going to repeat it here. Every time I read it, I realize how true it is. “Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.” It is the responsibility of each of us to do what we can to continue the struggle for freedom for all people on this earth.
When I got home in the late afternoon, I got a chance to read my emails from today. There was a message from Woodwell Climate Research Center announcing the passing yesterday of 95-year-old Dr. George M. Woodwell. for whom the center is named. Heather came to Woodwell four years ago to help lead the name change from Woods Hole Climate Research Center to honor the founder. I never met George Woodwell, but he is a Woods Hole legend and beloved in the climate change world. “George’s scientific inquiries hit on the biggest environmental issues of the late twentieth century, including DDT, nuclear radiation, and finally, what was, at the time, known as “the carbon dioxide problem.” His testimony at the first Congressional hearing on climate change in 1986 was prescient, and remarkable for the issues he brought forth there—the threat of permafrost thaw, the importance of forests—that have been enduring pillars of climate science, including our work at Woodwell Climate Research Center.” Heather heads up communications for Woodwell, so her day was spent focused on George Woodwell.
by Judy Handley | Jun 18, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 170: Vegan Lunch Bunch and Dining-In
Date: Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Weather: Sunny; Temp 72, Low 66 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
I guess you could say I ate my way through this day. First, I met with my Vegan Lunch Bunch and had a fabulous lunch and great conversations. Bob and Carol Ann Cronon hosted today and, in addition to preparing the main entrée, Carol Ann gave us a tour of her native plant gardens and shared tips on products they use to minimize plastic packaging. I love being a part of this group as I always come away with new, healthy recipes and ideas for healthy living. It was after 4 pm when I left the Cronin’s and hurried home to get an appetizer ready for my 6 pm Dining-In group. I arrived at what I thought was 5 minutes early but quickly realized that I was late. The time had changed from 6 pm to 5:30 pm, but I hadn’t updated my calendar. The appetizer was a little late, but better late than never. Again, we had a fabulous meal.
My day started at the dermatologist’s office. Last week I noticed a spot on my arm that had changed color, so I made the first appointment I could to get it checked. I was fearful that is melanoma, but I was assured that it is not. I was so grateful to hear that and I promised myself to be better about using sunscreen.
The next two days are even busier than today. I am feeling terribly guilty leaving Shadow alone so much, but he is hanging in there. I did come home to play outside with him between activities today and I started the day with a nice long walk with him before the dermatology appointment.
by Judy Handley | Jun 17, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 169: A Getting Ready Day
Date: Monday, June 17, 2024
Weather: Sunny; Temp 72, Low 65 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Today was a getting ready day. I had PT this morning and spent the rest of the day getting getting things together for my Vegan Lunch Bunch and Dining-In groups tomorrow and the Encore general meeting on Wednesday. It is a busy week, but hopefully now I am ready!
by Judy Handley | Jun 16, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 168: Happy Father’s Day
Date: Sunday, June 16, 2024
Weather: Sunny; Temp 70, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
A Happy Father’s Day to all of you fathers out there, especially to my two favorite fathers—my son Justin and my son-in-law Jed. Justin and family are in England and were on a train from Frome to Haslemere today.
Jo’s parents live in Haslemere and they were headed there to spend a few days before their next Silvermouse Concert. I think playing all the shows in England this summer is Justin’s Father’s Day gift.
Playing music is his happy place and doing a show in London last Thursday evening must have been super exciting.
Jed, Heather, and the boys went to the American Heritage Museum focused on military history, in Stow, MA, as Jed’s gift.
Jed and the boys had a great time. As proof, Heather sent a photo of all three boys totally asleep on the way home. They completely wore themselves out having fun!
When they arrived back on the Cape, they headed here for a Father’s Day dinner.
by Judy Handley | Jun 15, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 167: A Day for Ollie and Ardenna
Date: Saturday, June 15, 2024
Weather: Rain Overnight, Partly Sunny Day; Temp 75, Low 53 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
This is Falmouth Arts Alive weekend and it began this morning at 10 am with an early Juneteenth celebration. Ollie Goldstone’s artwork was front and center. As a 5th grader at Morse Pond School, Ollie’s class read Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” at Falmouth’s Martin Luther King Breakfast. That experience was very meaningful for Ollie, so when Morse Pond students were asked to do a Juneteenth art poster this year, he took that task very seriously. There were posters from a few other students on display today, but Ollie was called up first and his poster was right in the middle.
He chose a Coretta Scott King quote for his poster, “Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won. You can earn it and win it in every generation.” Very timely for our political landscape in 2024. Congratulations to my very thoughtful, youngest grandson
.
The day ended with the arrival of Ardenna in Quissett Harbor. After the Juneteenth celebration, Heather, Jed, Ollie, and I headed to Fairhaven for Ollie’s soccer team’s championship game.
They lost the game 0-2, their first loss of the season, but it was a good game and the boys seemed to take the loss in stride. We left the game with one of Ollie’s friends, Seton, and headed to Mattapoisett where Ardenna was waiting on a mooring to be motored across Buzzards Bay.
I dropped them all off, watched Ollie drive the dinghy away from the dock and out to the mooring, and then I headed home. I stopped to see how Sam and Jonah were doing. They were happily watching the Le Mans 24-hour car race while eating a late lunch of left over pizza. Yes, they are teenagers! I told Sam that Heather expected Ardenna to arrive in Quissett Harbor around 5:30 pm and he said he would drive out to pick them up. Actually, when he arrived, they were just coming to the dock to fill the water tanks and Sam was there just in time to catch their lines. What timing. But they were not ready to come home as they still had to get the boat out to the mooring. So, Sam came home to continue watching the race and I drove to Quissett at 6:30 pm to pick them up. I love Quissett Harbor and relish any opportunity to go there and sit on the dock for a few minutes and recall some of the wonderful memories of living aboard there for the two summers before Mark died. In my opinion, it is one of the most beautiful of New England’s harbors.
Just before writing this log, I checked my email for the first time today. There was a message from good friend Patsy Decker. She and her husband Eric are spending the night at the Centennial Hotel in Concord, NH, and are headed to Boothbay for a family gathering starting tomorrow. She had read my log from last night and saw that Jed’s mother, Marti, was also headed to Boothbay today. Over the years, our lives have crossed paths so many times in so many ways. Patsy, if you are reading this, I will write back to you tomorrow. Enjoy your time in Boothbay!
I also heard from another good friend tonight, Lynne Kirwin. Lynne arrived from New Zealand about two weeks ago and is visiting with friends and family on the West Coast. She was waiting in an airport for a flight from California to Portland, Oregon to visit with friends in the Pacific Northwest. We had one of our very long catch-up conversations. I will look forward to seeing her later this summer. But in the meantime, Lynne …. Keep enjoying your West Coast visiting.
by Judy Handley | Jun 14, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 166: Ardenna Successfully Launched
Date: Friday, June 14, 2024
Weather: Partly Sunny, Very Windy, Rain Late Evening; Temp 73, Low 63 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
My day started with a physical therapy session. My knee is making great progress. I have already reached the end goal for knee flexion, but there are still lots of things to work on. I was zapped at the end of the session, but I had to come home and deal with some Encore business in between attempts at doing some gardening. Heather and Jed spent their day getting Ardenna ready to launch. Brownell was late picking up the boat, so she didn’t get into the water until late afternoon. Heather reported that it was not an easy launch with 20+ knot winds sideways, but she successfully got it out to a mooring. You always worry that after a long winter’s ‘nap’ that there could be engine problems, but thankfully both the boat engine and the dinghy motors started right up. Tomorrow, they will sail her across Buzzards Bay from Mattapoisett to Quissett Harbor. The mooring in Woods Hole is not ready quite yet, so that move will happen in a week or so.
Early afternoon I went over to Heather and Jed’s to see if my wire cutters were there. Sam and Jonah had their last finals today and Jonah was at the beach celebrating with some friends. Sam had taken them and come home and crashed. Finals week did him in! I offered to take him and Ollie to Smitty’s once Ollie got home from school, but Sam really just wanted to do nothing. By the time Ollie got home, Jonah was home with four of his friends, so Ollie and I went to Smitty’s and brought quarts of ice cream home for them. School does not officially end until Tuesday, but for the high school kids with no finals on Monday or Tuesday, today was the day for celebration.
