2026 Life Logs, Day 273: Happy Birthday, Heather
Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Weather: Mostly Cloudy with Some Sun Peeking Through; High Temp 67, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Happy 51st birthday to my beautiful, talented, brilliant daughter. Can you tell I am her mother? 🙂

We celebrated as a family at the new Indian restaurant in Mashpee. Jonah had a soccer game this afternoon and Ollie had golf practice, but we were all able to get to Mashpee by 7:15 pm to celebrate.

I spent my morning in meetings. First I had an Indivisible Falmouth planning meeting for NO KINGS Vote Early activities on October 17. I went from there to Coffee O to meet with a couple who are going to be visiting Timor ‘Lest. It is an independent county on the east side of the island of Timor and West Timor on the west end of the Island is part of Indonesia. Mark and I visited Timor West on our sail around the world, so we spent an hour and a half talking about sailing in general and then that part of the world. I west home to eat lunch and then I was off again for a meeting with the acting Town Clerk to go over Indivisible Falmouth’s plans for October 17. Then by 4 pm I was in the stadium at the high school to watch Falmouth take on Nauset. We lost this one 0-1. Hopefully the team can bounce back to go for a win over Martha’s Vineyard on Friday.

2026 Life Logs, Day 272: To Do List, Sister Patsy, and Wine Group
Date: Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Weather: Some Misty Rain, Overcast; High Temp 63, Low 57 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

I kept chipping away with that ‘to do’ list today while dealing with my sister’s diabetes issues. I spent part of the afternoon with her at Bridges and she continue to amaze me. She does know who I am, but she has fleeting memories of the people in our family. But the strangest thing is her attempts to be funny which is the opposite of the quiet, shy person she has always been. Then tonight I met with my wine group. That is always a good time.

2026 Life Logs, Day 271: Dealing with Diabetes and Dementia, FHS Soccer
Date: Sunday, September 28, 2026
Weather: Rain Continues; High Temp 66 Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

The storm lingers with a misty rain tonight and tomorrow with more clouds. But it feels warm, so all is well. My day was divided between dealing with my sister’s diabetes, having a mid-year check-in with my physician via Zoom, meeting with a woman who has become a dementia mentor to me and introducing her to another friend whose sister is being moved into the same memory care facility as my mentor’s sister, and then ending on the high note by attending a Falmouth High School soccer game.

Falmouth won, but Heather and I had to leave with 10 minutes to go so I could get her to her Select Board Executive Committee meeting by 6 pm. A little later I drove over to make sure the boys were ordering pizza for dinner. Jed was at a Board of Health meeting, and I did not have time to today to cook dinner for them. Besides, they love having a take-out pizza night.

2026 Life Logs, Day 270: Another Day Working on the To Do List
Date: Sunday, September 27, 2026
Weather: Still Rainy with Some Wind; High Temp 65, Low 60 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

It was another inside day as the nor’easter is still with us. It was windy this morning but calmed down as the day progressed. We had an hour or two reprieve in the early afternoon with the sun peaking through the clouds. But then the rain returned. My neighbor Andy is the neighborhood weather watcher, and he reported this afternoon that so far here on Lakeview we have had 5 inches of rain. The rain is expected to continue tomorrow, dissipating by Tuesday morning.

I took on one project that was not on the to do list today. I started reorganizing my closet, switching positions of my fall and winter clothes with my summer clothes. I had hoped to get rid of a lot of things, but the pile going away is very small. I have a really hard time getting rid of things, but I will keep trying.

September 27 is always a special day for me. It was the due date for my first child, one of those dates you never forget. I didn’t know the baby was going to be a girl. But I did know her name was going to be Heather if she was a girl. But September 27 came and went with no baby. Two days later, on September 29, I was frantic. Why was this baby not coming? We lived in Alexandria, Virginia at the time, close to the Potomac River. Another friend I had met in Lamaze classes suggested that we go sit by the river that day. Maybe that would get the labor going. It worked. I got home from sitting on the river bank all day and started to fix dinner when the first contractions started. It took almost thirty-two hours, but at 11:30 pm on September 30, that baby arrived. And she will celebrate her 51st birthday this Wednesday.

2026 Life Logs, Day 269: Wasted Day
Date: Saturday, September 26, 2026
Weather: Stormy; High Temp 61, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

I am not a stormy day kind of person. I think rain just sucks all of the energy out of me, so much so that I can’t even sit and read. I did mark more things off the to do list, but already I have no idea what they were. Must not have been as important as I thought!

Shadow was groomed yesterday, but after our walks in the rain today, he now looks like a really big, black, wet rat! According to my neighbor Andy, we have had 3 inches of rain so far and it is still coming down. It looks like the wind and rain will linger for another couple of days. I am hoping to get energized tomorrow and get more done. Or not.

2026 Life Logs, Day 268: First Fall Class, Storm Prep, Time at Bridges
Date: Saturday, September 25, 2026
Weather: Overcast, Rainy, Windy; High Temp 61, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

The first thing on the list for the day was driving Shadow to Bourne to be groomed. His hair grows way too fast, and I should probably get this done every month. But I simply can’t afford that. So, I take him every 7 weeks, leave him for the day, and pick up a beautifully groomed Shadow late in the afternoon.

Next on the agenda was the first fall class with constitutional law Professor Jane Scarborough. We are focusing on the second half of Harvard Professor Jill LePore’s book, “These Truths.” And while we were in class this morning, the Supreme Court came out with an emergency order allowing the Trump administration to resume using a modified version of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database to check voter citizenship. Trump did not get his SAVE (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) Act passed by Congress but today the Supreme Court gave him what he wanted. I could spend hours writing about what is wrong with today’s ruling, but to what avail? It is what it is, and we just have keep on going. I heard Marc Alias say tonight that the people have a larger platform than the government. We just have to use that platform to get out the vote and win these midterms while we let the lawyers continue litigation. He emphasized over and over that each of us needs to use our personal platforms to do what we can to make sure as many people as possible get out and vote. He said to talk to everyone in your bridge group, your book group, your Mah Jongg group, your dining group, your neighbors, your families, and add any other groups you might be a part of. His idea is that if each one of us does this, it will make a huge positive difference.

After class I did some shopping to get ready for the coming storm. Between tonight and tomorrow night this time, we are supposed to get at least 3 inches of rain, with more rain Sunday and Monday morning. Overnight tonight, the sustained winds will be in the 30’s with much higher gusts. Tomorrow is definitely a stay at home day. I left a huge grocery bag of “storm goodies “ for the Goldpebbles at their house; nothing healthy, just fun! The rain started just as I was coming out of the grocery store, but it was not a heavy rain. And after dropping off the goodie bag, I drove to Bridges in Mashpee.

Today’s visit was all business. Patsy’s Dexcom sensor that allows me her constantly check her blood glucose number was due to be replaced on Sunday. But because I have no idea what this weather will really be like on Sunday, I decided to change it out this afternoon. Then I met with a friend who has a sister in assisted living at Atria in Falmouth and just found out that she needs to be moved to memory care. She was interested in seeing Atria, so I invited her to meet with me there. It was good for both of us to share with each other some of the many frustrations of being responsible for our sisters. Her sister is 20 years younger than mine, but the frustrations are the same. We could have talked all evening, but at 4:45, I had to leave to go pick up Shadow before the groomer closed for the day.

I just took Shadow out and it is pouring. The strong winds have not set in yet, but I have a feeling I will sleep to the sound of pouring rain and roaring wind all night.

2026 Life Logs, Day 267: Eating My Way Through the Day
Date: Thursday, September 24, 2026
Weather: Partly Sunny, Windy; High Temp 63, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

I started my day having breakfast with a woman who is new in town and requested to meet with me to learn about Indivisible Falmouth. I went from there to take lunch to Peter Baranowski. Karen has been gone all week, in Boston where their daughter is in the hospital, so I just wanted to give Pete a little break from cooking for himself. Then I headed home to make lasagna for the Goldstones. All 5 of them had different and crazy schedules this afternoon and evening, so I offered to make lasagna and sit it out on their center island where each one could grab a piece when convenient. So that is why I named this log, “Eating My Way Through the Day.”

After delivering the lasagna, I headed to Mashpee to Jonah’s soccer game, The stands were too far away to get good action photos, but I did catch a rare moment when best buds, Jonah and Kaiden, were on the sidelines talking to each other and then Jonah waiting to go into the game.

I went from the game to Bridges to check on a furniture delivery that happened today. The dresser from her bedroom set I bought in June was backordered. It just arrived and was placed perfectly in her room. Then I went to the golf course to pick up Ollie and take him to his weekly Scout meeting. Both Heather and Jed were at the high school for Meet the Teacher night—one of them meeting Jonah’s teachers and the other meeting Ollie’s.

It was a busy day, but it was not stressful. I was eating and having fun with friends and family. Now I have to get ready for the Nor’easter that is slated to begin wreaking havoc by tomorrow evening. Indivisible has already been asked by the town to consider cancelling our Saturday rally as they are going to put out a message to all to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary. We normally meet on the Green rain, shine, or snow. But we did cancel for this Saturday. Sounds like a serious storm coming our way.

2026 Life Logs, Day 266: Childhood Memories
Date: Wednesday, September 23, 2026
Weather: Partly Sunny, Windy; High Temp 63, Low 52 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

My sister Patsy was almost 14 years old when I was born and my first memory of her was when I was somewhere between 3 and 5 years old. Our older brother Bennie must have been home on leave from his 6-year stint in the US Navy. But in this memory, he was not in uniform. He and Patsy were doing the jitterbug. Of course, I didn’t know the name of the dance, I just knew they were having a great time. Bennie would ‘roll’ Patsy over his back and then slide her through his legs and out the other side. I remember them both laughing and laughing and then dancing some more. And then I don’t remember ever seeing either one of them dancing again.

This afternoon, family members were invited to Bridges to a jazz concert. It was supposed to be outside in the Courtyard, but it was just too windy. So, it was inside. Patsy is now confined to a wheelchair as she is just too unsteady on her feet, so I didn’t expect any dancing this afternoon. But I was amazed to see how deeply she felt the music. The Bart Weisman trio is known for their klezmer swing music and during almost every song in the hour and a half concert, Patsy would close her eyes and do dance steps with her feet while keeping time with her whole body. For the few songs that were smooth jazz, she just sat and listened. But as soon as they started to ‘swing’, she went into her ’dancing’ mode. There were at least 50 people in the room, and she was only one of about three people that I could see who were visibly enjoying the music. I truly don’t remember Patsy ever enjoying music or dancing other than my one distant memory, but she sure enjoyed it today. She was so into the music that afterwards she asked me where I sat during the concert. I had been right beside her the whole time, but she had no memory of that.

I spent my morning and early afternoon attending an Indivisible Steering Committee planning meeting for NO KINGS day on October 17 and then volunteering at the Falmouth Dems headquarters for three hours. After the concert, I picked Ollie up from his after-school golf practice before heading to East Falmouth to deliver some ‘vote early’ flyers to a League of Women Voters sponsored postcarding event. Tomorrow my schedule is not quite so jam-packed, so maybe I’ll get back to that ‘to do’ list.

2026 Life Logs, Day 265: Working on the ‘To Do’ List
Date: Tuesday, September 22, 2026
Weather: Partly Sunny; High Temp 65, Low 53 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

My entire day was spent working on the ‘to do’ list. I added more things to yesterday’s list and managed to get halfway though today’s list. Tomorrow I am out and about all day, so will keep working on the list as I can.

I took time out to go pick Ollie up from after school golf late this afternoon. The JV team has 15 players. The top six normally play in the competitive games, but today the coach thought the opposing team would be bringing 8 players, and Ollie was going to be #7 for Falmouth. But the school bus bringing the team from Sandwich had a flat tire and never arrived. Ollie ended up just playing a normal 9 holes of what he calls 2v2—he and a partner against 2 other players. When I arrived his group of 4 was moving from the 8th to the 9th hole and I managed to get a long-distance photo of Ollie on the course. The coach hopes to reschedule today’s match, so Ollie might still get to play in one game this fall. Go, Ollie!

2026 Life Logs, Day 264: Making a List and Checking It Off
Date: Monday, September 21, 2026
Weather: Rain Early, Then Cloudy, Turning Partly Sunny; High Temp 64, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

I am not an early riser, so my day begins sometime between 7:30 and 8:30 am. I’d say most of my days are about 12 hours of focused activity with downtime after 8 pm. If I round things off, I work about 12 hours a day and sleep and have downtime for the other 12 hours. My twelve hours of work is never enough to do all of the things I want to do, but I haven’t found a way to invent time. So I have to live the time I have. Since we moved my sister here in late June, some big chunk of my work time each day has gone to her. I thought it was getting down to less than hour a day plus visiting time, but the past few days have shown me that it was a pipe dream that things were settling down. Today I documented 2 hours of work time dealing with Patsy’s issues plus an hour and a half visit. And that doesn’t count the 40 plus minutes of travel time and the fact that I only got through a third of the tasks related to my sister that are on my ‘to do’ list. And this afternoon when I went to visit, some major tasks were added to my list. Deep breath. My rant is over for tonight, but my level of frustration is no less. I just have to keep on doin’.

Otherwise, my day was spent working on other items on my ‘to do’ list. I have fewer commitments on my daily calendar this week, so I will keep chipping away at that list tomorrow.

Tonight I watched the Rachel Maddow Show as I do on most Monday nights. Over the past year and a half she has dedicated a great deal of each of her Monday nights to showcasing the power of the people. Tonight she highlighted a woman who has been standing out in front of the Kennedy Center almost every day since early spring holding her handmade signs. The woman used to work for the National Orchestra in the Center and her first sign last spring said, “Hands off the Kennedy Center.” This past weekend she was joined by hundreds of other protesters who have also installed a web cam that they monitor 24/7 to make sure that if “Trump so much as takes a chisel to the Center”, they will be there en masse to surround the center with their bodies and their love. And that woman will continue to be a lone sentinel every single day. I don’t remember her name, but she is my new hero.