by Judy Handley | Jun 5, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 |
Day 238, Year 10: My Favorite Things
Date: Friday, June 5, 2015
Weather: Mostly Sunny, High Temp in the 70’s F
Location: At Home with Alan and Helaine Kanegsberg, Bow, NH
This evening we attended Chris Rath’s retirement party in Concord, NH. The theme was based around the The Sound of Music, with the focus on the song “My Favorite Things”. It was a thoughtfully organized program and was an overwhelmingly successful event. My favorite thing was seeing good friends and colleagues and being able to personally thank Chris for her support during the years we worked together. From 2000 to 2005 I worked out of the School Board Office with a team of fantastic teachers—Steve Rothenberg, Chris Demers, and Linda Stuart. Steve was the technology genius, Chris was the ‘Data Boy’, Linda was the math coordinator, I was the professional development coordinator, and as Superintendent, Chris tried to ride herd on us. We kept her busy with new ideas and projects. And all of us agreed tonight that she was the best boss ever. Here’s hoping her retirement years are as successful as her years as Superintendent of Schools in Concord, New Hampshire.
by Judy Handley | Jun 4, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 |
Day 237, Year 10: Headed to New Hampshire Tomorrow
Date: Thursday, June 4, 2015
Weather: Partly Sunny, Still Windy, High Temp in the Low 60’s F
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA
We are headed to New Hampshire tomorrow. The Superintendent of Schools that I worked for just prior to my early retirement is retiring and the ‘celebration’ is tomorrow evening in Concord. Chris Rath made it possible for me to spend my last six years in the Concord School District living out a dream and I will always be grateful to her for that. So it is important to me to go tomorrow night to help celebrate the end of her very successful career as an educator. In the late 1990’s, I wrote a proposal for a sabbatical from my classroom teaching position. I wanted to do something to make professional development for teachers easier and more meaningful. I was awarded the sabbatical and after that year, I was hired by Chris to continue on in the position of Professional Development Coordinator. Concord had never had a person in this position and I enjoyed the next six years doing just what I had proposed in my sabbatical. I loved it and was very reluctant to retire early to live out Mark’s dream of sailing around the world. But I did it and never looked back. I went from my dream job to a dream sail around the world. Lucky me.
Strangely, by heading north we are going to have warmer weather. The daytime temperature in Concord will be in the mid-70’s. Hurray. It is supposed to reach the 70’s here next week and we are certainly looking forward to that. In Concord we are staying with our friends the Kanegsbergs, and after a Saturday morning visit with them, we will return to the Cape via Billerica, Massachusetts. My niece Candi lives there and we are going to visit and have dinner before heading home. Candi’s daughter Katie had a baby in May and we are going to get to meet Hailey. After dinner in Billerica, we will make the last leg home. Mark has to work on Sunday, so we’ll try to roll in here before too late on Saturday night.
by Judy Handley | Jun 3, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 |
Day 236, Year 10: We Can See Clearly Now
Date: Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Weather: Partly Sunny, High Temp in the Low 60’s F
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA
Mark and I spent our morning hanging out with the eye doctor and we can see clearly now! This was just an annual check-up and nothing much has changed. So this is good.
We spent our afternoon hanging out with our grandchildren. This was much more fun than hanging out with the eye doctor. But the reason we were with Sam, Jonah, and Ollie was to take them to their annual dentist appointments. We just can’t seem to get away from doctors. We picked Ollie up from school in Woods Hole at 1 am and he napped while we then drove back to East Falmouth to pick Sam and Jonah up from school at 2 pm. Then we drove back to Woods Hole and met Jed at the dentist’s office. Herding three boys through dental check-ups and cleanings is definitely a two or three man job, and since Heather was in Boston all day today, we were glad to help with the herding. Mark and I then took the boys to the park to play and then on home while Jed went back to work. When Jed got home, we worked together to get dinner ready and we had a delightful dinner together. It was still light when Mark and I got back to Quissett Harbor, but it wasn’t warm. We are using the propane heater again tonight to keep us toasty. I think this is one of those years when summer is not going to come to New England until July.
by Judy Handley | Jun 2, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 |
Day 235, Year 10: Cold, Rainy Weather
Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Weather: Cold and Rainy All Day, High Temp Barely 50 degrees F
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA
I wish I could report that it was warmer today than yesterday, but it was not. If anything, it was a couple of degrees cooler. Cool is one thing, but damp and cool is just no fun. The weather forecast shows that we should gain a few degrees each day until next Wednesday when the high should be 70. All I can hope is that it just keeps climbing from there!
We seem to spend a great deal of time in doctors’ offices these days and today was no exception. We started at 8:30 am with my appointment with the rheumatologist. The good news is that I don’t need to see her again as I do not have rheumatoid arthritis. Instead, I’m privileged to be one of the 27 million Americans that suffer from common osteoarthritis which I already knew. And there’s no magic pill for this. You just have to keep moving. Use it or lose it is what the doctor said. So she sent me to physical therapy and the rest is up to me. Yesterday’s x-rays showed that my left knee is a mess, but I already knew that as well. But the doctor did confirm that I’m not hurting anything by putting off surgery. So I’m good to go. Mark’s appointment with the orthopedic doctor was this afternoon and he basically got news. The doctor thinks his partially dislocated rotator cuff is healing. He gave him a cortisone shot for the pain and sent him to physical therapy as well. So we’re going to keeping those therapists busy in the next couple of weeks.
Heather sent an email this afternoon inviting us to dinner tonight. She said the boys requested our presence, so, of course, we accepted. Tomorrow we are going to pick the kids up from school early and take them to their annual dentist appointment. Heather is out of town tomorrow, so Jed will meet us at the dentist office and help rotate the boys through. It is most convenient that the dentist is right in Woods Hole, so Jed can walk over from work in a couple of minutes. With Heather and Jed both working, their schedules can get absolutely insane and we are so glad we are here and can help out a bit. We love any excuse to spend time with those little Goldpebbles.
In between doctor appointments today, Mark and I both worked in the storage unit. Mark’s job was to go through our extensive collection of sailing books and decide which ones to get rid of. We ended up with three plastic bins to sell or give away and one box to keep. So, painful as it is, the paring down of things in the storage unit continues and will do so until Heather’s yard sale on June 20. What we don’t sell there will go to the Swap Shop at the dump. Books will be donated to the Falmouth Library for their annual 4th of July week sale.
And now the news on longevity. I finished the book, “Spring Chicken”, and as expected, there is no fountain of youth out there . . . yet. Scientists are working hard on this, but one of the issues is whether or not this earth can really sustain a ‘living longer’ population. I think most of us would just like to be healthier for the years we have. And there are things that look promising in helping us to do that. But there are lots of ‘buts’. Here’s my take on the suggestions in the appendix to the book listing things that might work.
1) Scientists know that resveratrol is definitely effective in preventing aging, BUT getting enough of this to do the job is the trick. It is in red wine, but you can’t get enough by just drinking wine. And the supplements on the market are not reliable. Supplements are not regulated by the FDA and sometimes you simply don’t get what you think you are buying. But drinking red wine is probably a good idea as many studies show that moderate drinkers of any kind of alcohol are far better off than teetotalers, especially in terms of cardiovascular health. And since red wine has the redeeming quality of resveratrol, it seems the best thing to drink.
2) After years of saying coffee is bad for you, some scientific studies now indicate that drinking coffee might extend your life. One thing it seems to do is lower your risk of getting Type 2 diabetes.
3) And there is good news for those people who do have Type 2 diabetes and are taking metformin. For some mysterious reason, it seems to be one the most promising anti-aging drugs available. Lots of studies show that people on metformin have less cardiovascular disease, less cancer, and possibly even better cognitive functioning.
4) Curcumin, an ingredient in the spice turmeric, is trying to be a shining star in the longevity race, but like resveratrol, it is hard to get enough of this. It definitely works as an inflammatory agent and this is a good thing. So it’s not a bad idea to eat turmeric anyway you can get. BUT if you take the Curcumin supplements, try hard to find out if you are really getting what you are paying for.
5) Aspirin and Ibuprofen are both anti-inflammatories, so if you are taking them for pain, you get double your money. They might be extending your life span as well. One study found that ibuprofen is associated with a significantly lowered risk of Alzheimer’s. That’s an interesting concept that certainly needs more research.
6) Vitamin D . . . If you live in this country you have more than a 70 per cent chance of being Vitamin D deficient. BUT taking a supplement might not be enough to alleviate the problem. At least one scientist who has studied Vitamin D extensively advocates a little bit of sun exposure a few times a week without sunscreen. Evidently Vitamin D supplements need UV rays to activate. BUT then we have to worry about melanoma.
The two things that are mentioned over and over in the book are eating less and exercising more. Since neither of those things costs us a penny and certainly can’t hurt us, I guess they would be the best advice, no BUTS about it.
by Judy Handley | Jun 1, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 |
Day 234, Year 10: Breezy and Freezy June 1st
Date: Monday, June 1, 2015
Weather: Overcast, Windy, and Cool; Temp in the Low 50’s F
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA
Well, it is not exactly freezing outside, but no sun, wind, and a high temp of under 55 degrees F (different depending on where exactly in Falmouth you are) makes for a cool evening out here in the mooring field at Quissett Harbor. It was so cool this evening that we had to fire up the propane heater. I thought it was supposed to be warming up. The calendar tells me it is now June. But it is supposed to be even cooler tomorrow. We’ve turned the heater off now, but it did serve to take the edge off the chill. And I think we’ll need to use it again tomorrow evening for a bit.
Mark dropped me off at the Falmouth Hospital at 7:45 am. He took the car to West Marine and I walked to town after my appointments. My complaints about joint pain resulted in x-rays and another appointment tomorrow morning with a rheumatologist. That made me feel old! All I could think is, “What is a rheumatologist anyway?” I’m currently reading a great book recommended to me by Alan Kanegsberg. I love the title: Spring Chicken—Stay Young Forever (or Die Trying). Author Bill Gifford leads you through all of the latest research in the science of aging. The things scientists are discovering about how and why we age (or don’t) are very interesting. I can’t wait to get to the appendix that lists things that might work. I’ll share those when I get there. In the meantime, eat less and exercise more. That seems to be the name of the game.
by Judy Handley | May 31, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 |
Day 233, Year 10: Slow and Easy Sunday
Date: Sunday, May 31, 2015
Weather: Mostly Cloudy and Windy, Stormy Looking by Evening
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA
It was a slow and easy Sunday. At least, that’s my story. Mark, on the other hand, had a very busy Sunday at West Marine. I have an annual check-up with my Primary Care physician in the morning at 7:45 and Mark has to be at work by 8 am, so we are definitely going to turn in early tonight. And I think this might be the shortest log I have ever written. More tomorrow night.
