2022 Life Logs, Day 58: The World We Live In
Date: Sunday, February 27, 2022
Weather: Sunny, Windy from the NW; High 37, Low 18 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The world we live in here on Cape Cod right now is still an icy one. The two to three inch mantle of ice and frozen snow still covers most everything. The roads that were plowed are cleared and driveways that continued to be in use during the snow are now most cleared, walking just beside the road is in ice and snow. The high today was 37, but with the wind chill, it was colder. Not a lot of thawing happened. The temperature drops tonight and does not get above freezing tomorrow. So, ice and snow will be a part of our world for a few more days.

Sunday night in my world is usually filled with Masterpiece Theater productions from the BBC. Starting on the last Sunday of 2021 and continuing until last Sunday night, I watched their creative reinvention of Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days. The book was published 150 years ago in 1872, but the story is ageless. In the book, which was not based on a true story, Phileas Fogg, a most proper Englishman, takes a wager to travel all around the world in just 80 days. He is accompanied by his sidekick Passepartout and pursued by a detective named Mr. Fix. In the Masterpiece Theater series, Phileas Fogg is accompanied by his newly acquired valet, also named Passepartout, and a determined young woman journalist named Abigail ‘Fix’ Fortescue. It is a thrilling adventure, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Tonight, presented a behind the scenes view of the series as a public television fundraiser, but I even enjoyed that. I am going to miss Phileas Fogg, Passepartout, and Ms. Fix. Thank you, Jules Verne, for your adventure novel realizing the dream of circumnavigating the known world in less than three months. And to the young American journalist known as Nellie Bly, whose real name was Elizabeth Jane Cochran, who took on the challenge of traveling around the world even faster than Verne’s Phileas Fogg. In 1889, she circumnavigated in only 72 days. Quite an accomplishment for a young woman in the Victorian Age.

While on the topic of circumnavigating the earth, I will mention that editing The Voyage of Windbird continues to be the focus of my world. All I seem to do these days is editing, puzzling, reading, and walking with Shadow. I took time late this afternoon to drive to Heather and Jed’s to welcome them home. The weather last week was not perfect for skiing and snowboarding as it was too warm on two of the days, but they managed to have a good time despite the weather challenge. I was surprised that it was 60 degrees in Maine on one of the days. I certainly don’t see them everyday when they are home, but I sure miss them when they are gone. And I swear Sam grew 3 inches in the one week!

Now to the world we live in currently. I continue to be inspired by the resolve of the Ukrainian people and their young leader. “In a world full of sham tough guys, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has turned out to be the real deal.” In just a few days, Zelenskyy has managed to capture the respect of the entire world. I do fear for his life, but I am in awe of what appears to be his fearless resolve to do whatever is necessary to save his country. I dug through old photographs today, looking for the pictures of Mark’s trips to Kiev in 2004 and the visit of the young Kiev journalists to New Hampshire Public Radio in that same year in December. Mark was in Kiev in August of 2004 and then in the middle of the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, the young journalists flew to New Hampshire to learn more about starting a public radio station in Kiev. Just like Zelenskyy, they were unstoppable. They were determined to succeed. While they were visiting, we invited them to come to Boston and visit us aboard Windbird at Shipyard Quarters. We toured the USS Constitution and then walked into Boston. A gift from New Hampshire Public Radio was presented to them at lunch. It was a picture of the Rosie the Riveter showing her muscle with the World War II slogan, “We Can Do It.” I’m hoping with all my heart the Ukrainian people can somehow do it this time.

One last note. As I looked back through the photos, I used the spelling Kiev which was pronounced key-ev. In the past week, I have only heard the name of the capital city pronounced as keev and spelled Kyiv. Today I looked up why there has been the change. Kyiv (keev) is derived the from Ukrainian language while Kiev(key-ev) is from the Russian language. The change came about as part of a movement to better inform the international community about the correct forms of Ukrainian placenames.

2022 Life Logs, Day 57: Hard Frozen Snow
Date: Saturday, February 26, 2022
Weather: Sunny, Blue Skies, Cold; High 30, Low 25 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The temperature plummeted last night, and the already icy snow froze hard as a rock. I didn’t have to put my boots on this morning to take Shadow out as I could walk on top of the snow and not get any snow in my shoes. But that was the only perk. It was slick, making it easy to fall, so I had to take baby steps.

I went for a nice long walk with Shadow and my friend Olga this afternoon. We walked on the streets in her neighborhood which were nicely cleared. Not as nice as a walk in the woods, but that would have been treacherous today. Otherwise, I’m sure you can guess what I did—editing and puzzling. I made my last trip to Heather and Jed’s to feed Mel, Leo, and Zuzu. The Goldstones returned home today and are having pizza for dinner and watching Fiddler on the Roof. Not sure what I am having for dinner, but whatever it is, I think I will eat it while watching Belfast.

The following ‘advice’ was in a Facebook post of a good friend. It is so cold outside right now and this ‘advice’ makes me feel warm. I hope it does the same for you.

Advice from a Sea Turtle

Swim with the current
Be a good navigator
Stay calm under pressure
Be well traveled
Think long term
Age gracefully
Spend time at the beach!

2022 Life Logs, Day 56: Icy Snowy Day
Date: Friday, February 25, 2022
Weather: Overcast, Icy Snow; High 36, Low 19 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Shadow and I ventured out the first time today at 6:15 am. The ground was covered with a heavy, icy snow which felt like teeny, teeny tiny balls of hail as it fell on us. By 9:15 am when we went out the second time, there was twice as much of the icy snow covering the ground and filling in our footprints from three hours earlier. At 1:00 pm, the icy pellets were mixed with a little rain, but the icy pellets prevailed. And finally, at 4:30 pm a light snow was falling. It was just an icy snowy day with a modest accumulation.

I ventured out after my 1pm outing with Shadow to drive to Heather’s to feed the kittens and guinea pig. The roads in my neighborhood were partly clear and the highway was totally clear. Heather’s neighborhood was more of a challenge, but I had no problems. I did decide to make only the one trip today. I usually go in twice a day to feed the critters, but they will just have to be fine until tomorrow morning. It is cold tonight and all of the slush is going to freeze, but by mid-morning I hope to be able to venture out again.

It was hard not to watch the news today. The first black woman nomination to the Supreme Court and following the happenings in Ukraine took part of my day. I did, however, finish the first edit of two more chapters and I started a new jigsaw puzzle. This one is a scene from Sweden. It was a productive day. While doing all of that, my heart was breaking with every report from Ukraine. The people there, as well as the people willing to protest in Russia, are so brave and inspiring. I know they are wondering where the rest of the world is while they are having to face total devastation alone. While I wonder the same thing, I logically understand why we can’t get involved. Yet, at a gut level, it just seems wrong.

2022 Life Logs, Day 55: Bracing for More Snow
Date: Thursday, February 24, 2022
Weather: Overcast, Cold North Wind; High 34, Low 28 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Parts of New England are bracing for snow overnight and into tomorrow. Here on the Cape, the forecast is for the snow to turn to rain at some point tomorrow morning. But closer to Boston, they could get 10 to 12 inches. I heard from Heather late today that they are extending their stay in Maine until Saturday so they can get in one more day of skiing and snowboarding. That means they won’t have to drive around Boston tomorrow afternoon when things could be a bit nasty. Good decision.

I spent part of today reflecting on Ukraine’s situation. It brought back memories of sitting at table in an iconic Boston food establishment in 2005 having clam chowder with five young people visiting from Ukraine. They had all been part of the Orange Revolution in 2004 that was successful in keeping President Yushchenko in office after an attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to rig Yushchenko’s re-election to install a more Russian leaning leader. History does repeat itself. But there they were in Boston, just a few months later, visiting from Kyiv (Kiev) to learn about the public radio system in this country. They were hoping to establish something similar in Ukraine. This visit was close to the time Mark and I were leaving on our sailing trip around the world. The young people from Ukraine so enthusiastically tried to convince us to sail to Ukraine. They had to draw a map on a paper napkin showing me how we could sail from the Mediterranean into the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey, on through a tiny opening into the Sea of Marmara to Istanbul, and finally through a canal connecting the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea and on to the southern coast of Ukraine. They were so enthusiastic about the future of their country. As I thought of them today, it saddened me even more as I watched what was happening in Kyiv today. Same Vladimir Putin, same story, just a different method. Tomorrow I must find the flag of the Orange Revolution they gave us, and that map drawn on a paper napkin. I am sure both are somewhere in my basement.

I finished my jigsaw puzzle featuring a scene from Ancient Greece and have started on another. This new one features a scene from Sweden. I completed editing half of the chapter of The Voyage of Windbird about our passage from the Galapagos to the Marquesas in French Polynesia. I should have been able to finish that chapter today, but somehow life got in the way. Hopefully I will complete it tomorrow morning in between trips outside to play in the snow with Shadow.

2022 Life Logs, Day 54: Catch-up Day
Date: Wednesday, February 23, 2022
Weather: Overcast and Windy; High 67, Low 24 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Today was spent running to and fro and catching up on planning and communication. No writing and no editing. Every six to eight weeks, Shadow has to go to the groomer to get his hair cut and today was that day. The groomer is 25 minutes away, so one hour of my day was spent taking him and going back to pick him up. And then I drove into Falmouth twice today to feed Mel, Leo, and Zuzu—the Goldstone menagerie of pets. I haven’t heard from Heather since Monday, so hopefully no news is good news, and they are continuing to have a great time. They are supposed to return on Friday, but we are expecting snow Thursday night and Friday morning. It turns to rain here on the Cape by Friday afternoon, but not so in the Boston area. They are expected to get 8 inches of snow. Hopefully the roads will be cleared by the afternoon so they can have a safe trip home.

I have been working on planning a field trip for the Newcomers Teacher Group. It is usually not such a difficult task, but this one turned out to be harder than expected. But I got it done today and can now look forward to going to tour the State House in Boston and the Museum of African American History which is just down the street from the State House. Things are loosening up with Covid, but masks and a Covid vaccination card are still required by the city of Boston. And many restaurants are not open. Some have closed permanently. I found what looks like a nice little French restaurant for lunch that is close-by. Since we will taking public transportation into the city, we will be walking and needed everything to be close together. The trip is not until the third week of March. Hopefully Covid issues will continue to lessen and the weather will feel more springlike so we can have a good trip.

The high was supposedly in the 60’s today, but it was very windy and did not feel that warm to me. But it gets cold again tonight and stays that way for a while. I keep looking for signs of spring, but I am not seeing them!

2022 Life Logs, Day 53: A Day Trip to the Galapagos Islands
Date: Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Weather: Overcast with Rain, Warmer; High 51, Low 48 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Today my editing took me on a day trip to the Galapagos islands. I wrote in that chapter that the Voyage of Windward was originally Mark’s dream. And that is true. But it was my dream to go to the Galapagos. The fact that we were able to get a permit to stay there for six weeks was surely a dream come true for me. We could only sail to five islands, but we actually spent most of our time on only two of them. We did take a five-day trip aboard a tourist sailing vessel that took us to another few islands. We saw so many plants and animals that were endemic to the Galapagos (found there and only there), that after three weeks I wrote that I had started feeling like I was endemic! On one snorkeling outing, I saw more varieties of fish than in any other place around the world. Our time there was truly extraordinary and made doubly so because Heather and Jed joined us for three of those weeks. I did complete the first quick edit of the chapter today. But I only reduced its size by 2,000 words. I have to go back and delete more, but I have to say it is painful. Everything we experienced there seemed important that it is very hard to choose what to leave out.

I just came in from taking Shadow out for a pee break and it is nasty outside tonight. It is raining and my phone tells me we have a gale warning until 7 am. At least it is a bit warmer.

2022 Life Logs, Day 52: Presidents’ Day
Date: Monday, February 21, 2022
Weather: Sunny and Warmer; High 47, Low 35 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
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My Presidents’ Day celebration was to take a Washington Post trivia quiz and I failed miserably. Here are some of the

1. Which president’s name appears twice on the roll call of presidents because his two terms were not back-to-back?
2. Abraham Lincoln was born in a humble log cabin. Who was the first president born in a hospital?
3. This president liked to skinny-dip in the Potomac River early in the morning. While that may seem shocking to us, it wasn’t uncommon in his day. Which president was this?
4. Which president banned broccoli from his dinner plate?
5. When the king and queen of Great Britain visited the White House, which president served them hot dogs?

It went on and my total score was ZERO. The answers to these questions are at the end of this log.

I made it to the Galapagos in my editing today, but tomorrow’s work will be slow going. I loved the Galapagos and the number of words in that chapter show it. But if anyone is going to read it, I need to cut about two-thirds of what I wrote. That is going to be a very hard job for me. Wish me luck.

I received a text from Heather today saying she was going to be the slope photographer today. I hope she got some good pics. She also said it was so warm that they would probably have a shorter day. They went full out all weekend and probably needed that shorter day to power up for the remainder of the week.

Otherwise, things were unremarkable here today. It was much warmer which I enjoyed immensely. It made walking so much more enjoyable.

Answers to the Presidents’ Trivia Quiz:
1. Grover Cleveland was our 22nd and 24th president.
2. Jimmy Carter. His mother was a nurse in the hospital.
3. John Quincy Adams. If it was too cold for a swim, he’d go for a two-mile hike instead.
4. George W. Bush hated broccoli.
5. Franklin Roosevelt introduced the queen to hot dogs.

2022 Life Logs, Day 50: Getting Ready for Spring
Date: Saturday, February 19, 2022
Weather: Party Sunny, Windy, Snow Mid-Afternoon; High 40, Low 16 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

In yesterday’s log I wrote “Weather: Wind Storm Early.” Afterwards I thought maybe I had exaggerated using the term ‘storm’, but it sure felt like a storm to me. Today when the early morning wind piped down a bit, Shadow and I walked down to the dock. I saw that the tarp that covers my kayaks, the one that stayed put even through the raging blizzard of three weeks ago, had blown helter skelter in yesterday’s wind, as well as the winter cover for my double inflatable kayak. Seeing this, I don’t think I exaggerated those winds.

All of this wind has made me think that maybe the March winds have come early. That makes me think that maybe spring will come early. So, I decided today was the day to bring the shelving I use for seed starting up from the basement. I bought this particular IKEA shelving because it screws together so that the two 2’ wide by 6’ foot high shelving units can be collapsed. That way I can easily transport the units from the living room to the basement and vice versa. But when I took the shelving to the basement last fall, I decided that there was no need to bring it back upstairs since I use grow lights. The seedlings don’t need sunlight as well. I assembled it and found a permanent home for it in the basement. I thought. What I didn’t think of was temperature. The basement never gets warmer than 56 degrees F except during the hottest spells in summer. Seeds need warmth to sprout and grow. When I realized my mistake, I knew I would have to take the unit apart and bring it back upstairs to start seeds this spring. Today was the day and I got the job done.

I am watching the last of the Olympics tonight. I have enjoyed watching, but two weeks is enough. I also got in a bit of editing today and finished editing Chapter 5. This got me to Panama, so tomorrow I’ll get to go through the Panama Canal.

2022 Life Logs, Day 49: Cold Returns
Date: Friday, February 18, 2022
Weather: Wind Storm Early, Mostly Sunny PM; High 56, Low 20 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

As the wind clocked from the SW to W this morning, we had what I would call a wind storm with some rain. I waited until 8 am to go out the first time with Shadow and it was still so windy that I wouldn’t walk into the woods with him for fear of falling branches. But by noon, the wind had calmed down to 20 mph from the 35 mph we had at 8 am. And as the wind shifted to the W, the temperature started falling from the 50’s to the 40’s to the 30’s. We are back to winter for a few days, but thankfully not the brutal cold we experienced earlier.

Heather and family left for Bethel, Maine, this afternoon. It is the beginning of winter school vacation here and they will spend the week snowboarding and skiing on Mt. Abram and just a little further north at Sunday River. I sure hope they have good weather so they can enjoy each and every day.

I continued editing today. I have changed my chapter numbering system by making what I originally called my Introduction to a Preface and the original Chapter 1 is now the Prologue. I eliminated Chapter 2, so now the old Chapter 3 is Chapter 1. Confusing? Yes. But once I get through all original 19 chapters, I will have a book with 17 chapters. Unless, of course, I make more changes. I am now working on the new Chapter 5 which takes us from Union Island in the Windwards to Bonaire, Curacao, and on to Panama. When I finish this first run-through, I start again and have to cut about half of what I have written if I have any chance of getting it published. Quite a process, but I am still enjoying it.