by Judy Handley | Dec 12, 2011 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 34, Year 7: Some Good News and Some Not So Good News
Date: Monday, December 12, 2011
Weather: Partly Sunny, Continued Chilly Temps
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, North Falmouth, Massachusetts
Life is all about balance. You know you have to take the good with the bad, but some days the bad overtakes the good. This was one of those days. Boatworks came this morning and Windbird is covered for the winter. That is the good news. The bad news is about Mark’s health situation. He had a colonoscopy today and the results were the worst case scenario. He has a tumor and the doctor today said his thirty years of experience tells him it is the dreaded “C” word. We knew cancer was a possibility and I thought I was prepared, but I now think there is no way to be prepared to hear that the person you love so deeply, the father of your children, the grandfather of your grandchildren, probably has this terrible disease. Mark took the news much more in stride than I. He is upbeat and ready for the battle. I can’t talk about it without crying. We have an appointment with a surgeon on Thursday of this week and hopefully the biopsy report will be back by then. The tumor has to be removed whether or not it is cancerous, and the doctor today recommended that it be done as soon as possible. Mark has decided that if that operation can be in the next couple of weeks, he will have it done and we will have to cancel our Christmas visit to New Mexico. If it can’t be scheduled until after the first of the new year, however, we will go ahead with our current plans. We so desperately want to go to New Mexico to spend time with Ziggy, but Mark’s first reaction after hearing the news today was, “How soon can we get this done.” Unfortunately, his bad news for the day wasn’t over. As soon as we got back to the boat, Mark started shaking like a leaf and he felt so bad he couldn’t even think about eating dinner even though he has had almost no food for 48 hours. It took us a bit to figure out what was going on. He has known since late last week that he has a bladder infection, but he couldn’t take the antibiotic until after today’s procedure. Evidently that was just a few hours too late as he spiked a fever of 102.5 F this evening. Because they had to remove a polyp in the colon today, he is not allowed to take any pain reliever other than Tylenol for a couple of days, and of course, our only Tylenol onboard had an expiration date of 2008. I gave him that anyway and then at 8:50 pm I rushed out to go and buy some new Tylenol. Thankfully, a nearby neighborhood store was still open. Mark has now had his first and second round of antibiotic and some old Tylenol. His temp has come down .5 degrees and in another hour I will check it again. If the temp is still going down, I’ll give him a round of the new Tylenol and then set the alarm to keep checking his temp through the night. I’m hopeful at this point that we aren’t going to have to make a middle of the night trip to the ER. I hope we have things under control.
After getting the bad news this afternoon, we had lunch in Hyannis before heading back to Falmouth. Mark mentioned during lunch that our timing for sailing around the world was just right. He thanked me for pushing to get us going. I had always said that I wasn’t going unless we could get home before Mark turned 70. We made it with a year to spare, but just in time to deal with these health issues. And it was the best thing we have ever done other than having two beautiful children. More than ever, we both believe that you must not wait to fulfill your dreams. You never know what tomorrow might bring. I’ve mentioned this before, but it is so appropriate today that I must bring it up again. On our refrigerator we always had the following saying attached with magnets.
On an ancient wall in China
Where a brooding Buddha blinks
Deeply engraved is the message
“It’s later than you.”
The clock of life is wound but once
And no man has the power
To tell just when the hands will stop
At late or early hour.
So, now is the time you own
And the past a golden link
Go cruising now by brother
It’s later than you think…
by Judy Handley | Dec 11, 2011 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 33, Year 7: Ice in the Tonka Truck
Date: Sunday, December 11, 2011
Weather: Partly Sunny and Chilly
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, Massachusetts
Mark and I spent the night at Heather and Jed’s last night and woke up to beautiful, sunny, but very chilly morning. Since it was so beautiful and sunny, Sam wanted to go outside to play. He went out and a few minutes later, he came back to the sliding glass door in the kitchen and announced, “I can’t play out here. It’s too cold.” He then proceeded to show us how much ice had formed in the bed of his big Tonka truck. The temperature was barely below freezing, but it has been so unseasonably warm that normal freezing weather for December came as a bit of a shock. But with the sunny skies, it made for a great morning to go outside and decorate the big evergreen in Heather and Jed’s front yard. The lights have been on for over a week now, and we have worked slowly to get some of the bird food ornaments ready to hang, but today we put forth a full family effort. Heather, Jonah, and I worked to get ornaments ready, Sam would deliver them to Jed who was standing on a ladder, and Jed would hang them on the tree. Sam also hung many of the ornaments, so the bottom of the tree is a little heavy and the top a bit sparse since there is no way to get ornaments up there except by boat hook, but regardless, the tree is looking great. So far we have dried corn on the cob, whole tangerines infused with cloves as well as pieces of tangerine, peanut butter-coated pine cones rolled in bird seed, and strings of peanuts in the shell. We know the squirrels are going to like some of these more than the birds and it should be fun to watch them scramble for the goodies. Heather worked on making popcorn and bird seed balls (not as easy as we thought it should be) and I am going to continue working on stringing the HUGE bag of peanuts I bought. We also have suet to hang. Using red ribbon to string all of these things really gives the tree a festive look and both boys seemed to really enjoy their part in decorating the tree for the birds. So it was a successful morning’s work and it certainly got me into the holiday spirit.
Mark worked at West Marine today and came home with more seafood delights. Sue, one of the assistant managers at the store, continues to keep us supplied with yummy seafood. Well, her husband brings in the clams and oysters, but she fashions them into yummy treats and shares these with us. Yesterday Mark brought home Stuffed Clams and today he brought home Oysters Rockerfeller. Mark is threatening to leave me for Sue, but I reminded him that she wouldn’t have the seafood unless he went out to get it. That ended that threat!
Tomorrow is Mark’s big day in the gastro-intestinal testing world. He has a colonoscopy scheduled for 11 am and he hopes they are doing the upper gastro-intestinal check at the same time. I won’t be keeping Sam and Jonah tomorrow afternoon as I will go with Mark in the morning so I can drive him home.
by Judy Handley | Dec 10, 2011 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 32, Year 7: Overnighter
Date: Saturday, December 10, 2011
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Temperature Dropping
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, Massachusetts
Mark worked today at West Marine and I did the last bit of Christmas shopping. I have actually bought almost everything online, but there are some things that I needed to see before purchasing and that required shopping trips. You couldn’t tell today that we have slowed economy, at least not by the number of shoppers out there. And they were definitely buying, not just looking. I had to return something to a Gap outlet and the line was like one you would experience at Disney World during the holidays.
After I picked Mark up from West Marine, we headed to Heather and Jed’s. We were spending the night there as we were babysitting while H & J attended the Highfield Hall Holiday Ball and wouldn’t get home until almost midnight. Sam wasn’t convinced that adults should be able to go out without their children, but then he remembered that we were going to have a popcorn party and watch the second half of Cars 2 while mommy and daddy were out dining and dancing. That made things okay. Heather and Jed both look great in their formal dress. We took photos and as soon as they left, the boys had their evening baths while I scrubbed the kitchen floor. Part of the popcorn party was that I would open the lid to the popping corn and let it pop onto the floor; thus the need for a clean floor. Both boys loved picking popcorn kernels off the floor to eat and then they settled on the sofa to watch the movie, each with their own bowl of popcorn. Mark and I got quite a kick out of watching Cars 2. Sam is in love with Francesco Bernoulli and Jonah with Lightening McQueen, and Mark and I loved the humor. So we all enjoyed our special evening.
by Judy Handley | Dec 9, 2011 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 31, Year 7: Yes, Judy, There Really is a Santa Claus
Date: Friday, December 9, 2011
Weather: Sunny and Warmer, High Temp in the 50’s
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, Massachusetts
On a couple of afternoons this week, Mark has been locking himself in Heather and Jed’s guest bedroom saying he was working on a Christmas surprise. I thought he was doing some sort of wood working project, maybe a carving for me for Christmas. That thought was solidified when he came out and said that his work was going slowly because his skills just aren’t as good as they used to be. Then late this afternoon while we were at H & J’s, Justin called and said he, Jo, and Ziggy were in an internet café in Santa Fe and wondered is we would like to connect via Skype. We have not been able to see Ziggy on Skype since Justin and Jo moved to their new home as the internet connection is just not strong enough to support video. Heather and Jed weren’t home with their computers and we hadn’t brought one with us today, so I thought Mark told Justin we wouldn’t be able to talk this afternoon. But then Mark asked me again if I would like to see Ziggy. My reply was that of course, I would love to see Ziggy. So Mark gave me the present he has been working on. The present was not a carving, but a new computer to replace my old best friend, the IBM ThinkPad. Mark was planning to give it to me sometime before we leave for New Mexico and he has been working to get it set-up. He has heard me bemoan the fact, over and over, that I won’t be able to use our “passage” hours on the bus very productively without a computer. So now I have one which just proves that there really is a Santa Claus. The new computer is a Toshiba. She is a beauty but it is going to take some time to figure out all her nuances. I’m still having trouble letting go of my trusty old IBM, but I’m sure before we leave for New Mexico, I’ll have a new best friend. Thanks, Santa.
We had a good Skype call with Ziggy. He got to see Sam and Jonah and they got to see him. They see way too little of each other. It is so hard when families are scattered across this very big country. At least we get to see Justin, Jo, and Ziggy when they fly to England to visit with Jo’s family. But we are going to have to make a Handley-Goldstone pilgrimage to New Mexico at some point in the next year.
I can’t end without giving an update to the bird war. When we woke up this morning the winds had calmed down and I was afraid to look out on the deck. Without the flags flapping in the wind, I was sure the deck would be covered in poo. What I found was some poo, but not nearly so much as there was before we put up those ‘spiky things’ from Bird-B-Gone. So that was good. I walked up to the clubhouse and when I came back down the dock, I watched a bird land right on top of the mast amidst the ‘spiky things’ Mark put there a couple of days ago. The bird didn’t land directly on the spikes, but just beside them on the mast light. Unbelievable. I went ahead and washed down the canvas and deck yet again and then Mark went back up the mast yet again to put more ‘spiky things’ on the spreaders. They had been cleaned off by the rain but were already accumulating new poo. Boat Works came late morning to start the covering process, but they barely got started when the winds picked up again. They left for today but will return on the first non-windy day. And we’ll see in the morning how effective the newly installed Bird-B-Gone spikes are. I’m hoping, but not hopeful. These birds are relentless.
by Judy Handley | Dec 8, 2011 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 30, Year 7: Happy Birthday to Jed and Phil
Date: Thursday, December 8, 2011
Weather: Sunny, Windy Day with Extremely Low Tide, High Temp 40’s
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, Massachusetts
Today was our son-in-law Jed’s 40th birthday. And we know he had a happy one. Heather gave him a Kindle and we kept the kids tonight so Heather and Jed could have dinner with good friends. It is the first time since Sam was born that they have been able to get together for a dinner date with friends. That’s what kids do to you! And a very happy birthday to Phil Hunt across the pond in England. Phil is Jo’s (our daughter-in-law) father and he celebrated his 65th today.
We celebrated our day on Windbird with a few fireworks as Mark worked on the electrical system. He is still trying to undo wiring that was done in Thailand to hook us up to a 220-volt system and for some reason the wires are an absolute maze. Just when he thought he had it figured out and working, I smelled that awful electrical wire smoldering smell coming from the engine room. Just as we got that taken care of, Randy who has been working on our reverse-cycle heater-air conditioner arrived with the parts to finally get at least the heater side of things working. So we have unplugged the oil-filled electric heater and are now using the reverse-cycle heater. This will work until the outside water temperature reaches freezing. Then we will have to go back to the electric heaters. And we know the reverse-cycle has a Freon leak. We just don’t know where. So it might not last all that long. We’ll just have to see.
I picked up Sam and Jonah and brought them to boat today. They haven’t been on Windbird for afternoon naps since we moved here, so it was fun to have them aboard. While I was reading a pre-nap story to them, Mark was continuing to work on the electrical system. All of a sudden we saw sparks and I had to yell up to Mark on deck. It probably scared the kids to death, but they both handled it without panic. Mark had all sorts of equipment out for checking the wiring system, and all Sam had to say was, “You guys are real professionals.” I had to laugh. He didn’t mean it in a sarcastic way, but at that moment, I felt like we are anything but professional with our electrical work. But we’ll keep plugging away at this and either run new wiring and by-pass all the old or remove it if we can trace its path.
It was too windy today to go up the mast to put up more Bird-B-Gone spikes and it was definitely too windy to get the boat covered. We are hoping that both can be done tomorrow. The weather forecast is for sunny weather with temps in the low 50’s and very little wind. Sounds perfect for a boat covering day.
by Judy Handley | Dec 7, 2011 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 29, Year 7: The Wars Continue
Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Weather: Steady Rainy with Wind, High Temp in the 50’s F
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, Massachusetts
Hopefully we are not fighting a losing battle with these birds, but the measures we took yesterday were not enough to deter our fine-feathered friends. This morning when I looked out hoping to see a clean deck, all I saw was bird poo everywhere. Once again, I had to hose down the deck. I think there is no way to win this war but we can at least minimize the damage. Yesterday we thought we needed to add more of the Bird-B-Gone spikes on the spreaders; now we know that to be true. Today was just not the day to do it. We had steady rain all day and it is still going. The boat didn’t get covered today because of the rain and it probably won’t get covered tomorrow due to the gusty winds that are predicted. So maybe on Friday. Hopefully this will give us a chance to get Mark back up the mast to put on more Bird-B-Gone spikes before we are covered. I’m thinking this rain was a gift as it has hopefully washed the bird poo off the spreaders. Mark can then apply the ‘spiky things’ to clean spreaders which is much more inviting than applying them over poo-encrusted surfaces. After tomorrow, we will have the mast and spreaders well protected from the birds, but they will still be able to perch on the stays (the wires that come down from the mast to the deck). There is nothing we can do about that, so if they are persistent they will probably win this war. But at least we will go down trying.
We also made some progress with our war on Mark’s health issues. We called the Tropical Diseases unit at Mass General and had the cardiologist here on the Cape, who ordered the recent blood tests and stool samples, FAX the results to this division of Mass General. Hopefully we will hear back from the Tropical Diseases office tomorrow or Friday with an appointment time. We have no idea if parasites picked up in the tropics could be Mark’s problem, but it is certainly worth checking out.
Just before starting to write this log, we got an email from eBay and Toys R Us regarding 2011’s Top Toys. I was appalled. Everything was made of plastic and was either a toy encouraging violence or was princess pink. Looking at that ad, I became a very a proud parent. Heather is trying desperately to reduce the amount of plastic in their home and has requested that Christmas be down-sized tremendously. Justin and Jo have requested that we buy no new plastic toys of any sort and that we avoid toys and clothes that are made in countries where young children are used as the labor. We have brought used Duplo Legos and Fisher-Price toys on eBay for Ziggy and have tried to abide by “less is more” for everyone. There will be no toys that require batteries and very little new plastic added to the world through our purchases. The insistence of our adult children that their children learn to appreciate the natural resources of this planet Earth is the best Christmas gift we as grandparents could every hope to receive.
And while I am on the topic of being proud of people I love, I want to add my sister-in-law Conda to the list. She is having a battle with cancer and I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone in this situation with such a positive outlook. She isn’t worried about herself, only how her situation is affecting the lives of her children and grandchildren. She has a deep faith that she says has always served her well and she is relying on that to carry her through this. Conda, our thoughts are with you and we are inspired by your faith and your attitude.
