2025 Life Logs, Day 301: Fifty-One Years Ago Today
Date: Monday, October 27, 2025
Weather: Partly Sunny, Chilly; High Temp 52, Low 41 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

I sound like a broken record, but I shall ask again, “Where did the time go?” How can it be that 51 years have passed since Mark and I were married at sunrise overlooking the Gulf of Mexico?  I was 27 and Mark was 32. For the six months prior to getting married, we drove to Alaska and back to the Pacific Northwest in search of a piece of land where we could build a log cabin.

It really does feel like it was just yesterday, but two kids that are 50 and 48, and five grandkids that are all teenagers, are a reminder that it was definitely not just yesterday. Every day, I miss Mark more than the day before, but I always smile when I think of him because we had 43 years together doing all of the wild and wonderful things we dreamed of doing. Happy Anniversary, Mark!

My day was spent coming up with a handout listing resources for those who want to know more about the Nonviolence in Action film screening being presented on Wednesday. The film, A Force More Powerful, shows original film footage of Gandhi in India in 1930 when he was leading his people in one of the most successful nonviolent mass actions in history. We will also watch original film footage of college students in Nashville, Tennessee, thirty years later, using nonviolent mass action to successfully break the grip of segregation in that city.

Tomorrow morning, I turn my attention back to the Board of Library Trustees when the Resource Committee meets to begin budget discussions for 2025-2027. I’m finding it difficult to plan for next year while we are currently fighting for the life of democracy. But whatever happens, I do know we need to protect our public libraries.

2025 Life Logs, Day 300: Board of Library Trustees Report and Dining-In
Date: Sunday, October 26, 2025
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 55, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

I spent my whole day working on the treasurer’s quarterly report for the Board of Library Trustees. I am still learning the system, so it takes me twice as long as it should to do a quarterly report. But I got it done. Then I turned my attention to dinner with my dining-in group. Tonight’s theme was Italian, and I was in charge of the appetizer. The main entrée was Amatriciana. The sauce gets its flavor from rendered guanciale (cured pork cheek), tomatoes, and Pecorino Romano cheese. Midge is a master chef and the dish was delicious. We had a great evening together.

2025 Life Logs, Day 298: Saturday Rally on the Green, Dinner with Jonah and Ollie
Date: Saturday, October 25, 2025
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Cool; High Temp 55, Low 43 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Today was a beautiful fall day. I took an extra-long walk with Shadow this morning, spent some time working on the resource list for the film series, and then went to the Village Green for the weekly standout. After the 2,400 people on the Green last week, our weekly regulars looked sparse today. But the conversations and networking that happened are invaluable. So, whether it is 100 people or 2400 people, gathering is a positive thing.

After coming home and having lunch, I went back to work and then this evening I went over to have dinner with Jonah and Ollie. Heather and Jed were invited to a combination social/work dinner and I offered to fix dinner for the boys. But once I got there, we all three decided that we would love to have Indian take-out from The Golden Swan on Main Street. Jonah had Chicken Makhni (butter chicken). Ollie had Chicken Tikka Masala. And I had Bhindi Masala which is okra cooked with onions, ginger, tomatoes, and spices. I had never had it before and really enjoyed it as I am a true okra lover.

2025 Life Logs, Day 297: Meeting, Class, Research, Soccer, Football Game
Date: Friday, October 24, 2025
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Cooler; High Temp 52, Low 44 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Degree by degree the temperature has been going down. I just checked and the forecast for the next ten days is more of today, a high temperature in the 50’s, low in the 40’s, some mostly sunny days, some rainy days. Yes, it is fall on Cape Cod. I knew that for sure tonight when I went to the high school football game. I went because it was Step Up Night for the middle school band. Ollie plays in the band, but I missed the ‘opening act’ when the middle school band was on the field with the high school band.

So that both Heather and Jed could be at the high school, I offered to drive Jonah and friends Jean Luc and Kaiden to Mass Maritime to a soccer game. We got slowed down with traffic trying to get off the Cape and I didn’t get back to Falmouth until just after half time at the football game. I stayed for the last half of the game … wearing my winter coat! It actually felt warmer tonight than in the late afternoon but a winter jacket felt just right. That is when I knew for sure that “Fall has fell.”

My day started with an Indivisible Falmouth Zoom meeting, followed by my “We the People” Friday class. I spent the afternoon working on a resource list for the next Nonviolence in Action film screening next Wednesday. The Nashville lunch counter sit-ins in 1960 and Gandhi’s nonviolent defiance against the British Crown in 1930 are the two stories that will be shown. The resource list will be a handout.

Heather was back in Boston today at a conference and Senator Ed Markey was one of the speakers. She sent me a photo of him and the sign beside him said, “Not Just Do-Gooders – Can-Doers.” It was a reminder that in these difficult times, we all need to be can-doers, doing whatever we can to save our democracy.

2025 Life Logs, Day 296: Learning About Nonviolence
Date: Thursday, October 23, 2025
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Windy, Getting Colder; High Temp 60, Low 44 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

I had two meetings today, but other than that, I spent the entire day learning more about nonviolence and some of the successful movements during the past century. Organizing a film series is one thing. But implementing it, at least to me, requires me to know as much as possible about the topic. As a lifelong learner, this is my thing. So, yes, I am spending hours and hours researching and learning, and I am enjoying every minute of it.

2025 Life Logs, Day 295: Soccer Game and Dinner with My Nephew Tommy
Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Windy; High Temp 65, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

My nephew Tommy from North Carolina works for a company that has had their national conference here on the Cape for the past few years. And when he is on Cape for the conference, he always comes to visit. Today was that day. Since he wasn’t coming until 6 pm, I went to Jonah’s mid-afternoon soccer game. He got some good playing time today and did a great job. He loves playing soccer (number 14) and it is such a joy watching him play.

Heather and Jed couldn’t make it to the game, so I took Jonah home, picked up food I was adding to the dinner, and headed to Heather and Jed’s to have dinner there with Tommy. We talked and laughed and solved all of the world’s problems until the clock struck midnight. It was a wonderful evening.

2025 Life Logs, Day 294: Planning for the Next Film Series Screening
Date: Tuesday, October 21, 2025
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Windy; High Temp 65, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

My day was spent working on the film series project. I spent the morning preparing for a meeting with the committee, went to the meeting, took Ollie to saxophone lesson, and then spent the entire evening back on the researching material for the next screening and getting another press release to the local newsletter. Tomorrow my nephew Tommy from North Carolina come to visit in the evening. He has been in Chatham at a work-related conference. We will have dinner at Heather and Jed’s.

Happy birthday to my friend Lynne in New Zealand!

2025 Life Logs, Day 293: Gale Force Winds and Shifting Tides
Date: Monday, October 20, 2025
Weather: Rain and Gale Force Winds; High Temp 64, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

The gale force winds of earlier today were on the low end of the scale, but still gale force which means windy. Often, here on Cape Cod, the winds are from the NE. But during this weather system, the winds were coming from the south, so it was warmer today than it has been. Tonight, the winds are down and there is just a Small Craft Advisory. And tomorrow is forecast to be sunny. So one day of sunshine before it rains again.

“Shifting Tides” had nothing to do with the weather today. It is the name of a short documentary film that was shown tonight by the Falmouth Climate Action Network (FalCan). The filmmaker, Angela McNerney, was at the screening tonight, along with Lyra Brennan, Director of the Mass Audubon Coastal Waterbird Program, and Dr. Charles “Stormy” Mayo, co-founder of the Center for Coastal Studies. The film was beautiful, but I found it certainly didn’t move me to take any action. McNerney says that she did the film to give people hope. But hope is not a strategy. Research shows that taking action, getting involved, is what will give you hope. This is true whether you are talking about fighting back against an authoritarian take-over of your government or against those who dismiss climate change altogether. Again, my two cents.

2025 Life Logs, Day 292: The Third Harmony
Date: Sunday, October 19, 2025
Weather: Another Beautiful Day; High Temp 64, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

This afternoon was the first of four film screenings/discussions in the Nonviolence in Action series I have spent so much time organizing in the past few weeks. It was a beautiful fall afternoon, a football afternoon, a Falmouth Chorale Concert afternoon, and an afternoon with many other activities, so I feared we might not have more than 5 people attending. We didn’t have a crowd, but we did have between 25-30 people who were all very engaged. The film was The Third Harmony done by the Metta Center for Nonviolence. It was about the theory of nonviolence and featured many people who are currently nonviolence leaders around the world. We learned about the three harmonies—harmony within ourselves, harmony with those around us, and harmony with the earth. One of the people featured in the film was Dr. Bernard Lafayette. He was a Civil Rights Movement hero, continuing as a nonviolence activist for nearly fifty years. “Dr. Lafayette was a co-founder and leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Nashville Sit-ins, a courageous Freedom Rider, an associate of Dr. King in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and national coordinator of the Poor People’s Campaign.” While making the point that nonviolent tactics are a weapon more effective than violent tactics, he said that the only weapon you need for nonviolence is love and to love you have to have a heart. Since everyone has a heart, when you emerge from a shower every morning, you ae fully armed. I love that analogy. This afternoon was a good beginning, and now it is time to get ready for the next screening in a week and a half.

Heather invited me over to dinner tonight. Otherwise, I might have starved. I haven’t been to the store for days and the refrigerator is almost empty. Hopefully, this week, I will have the time start living a semi-normal life again. There were just too many meetings last week! Onward.

2025 Life Logs, Day 291: NO KINGS II
Date: Saturday, October 18, 2025
Weather: Beautiful Day; High Temp 61, Low 48 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Our Falmouth NO KINGS II protest began at noon today on a perfectly gorgeous Cape Cod fall day. The Village Green was filled with people with all kinds of signs, some in inflatable costumes, some wearing the chosen color of yellow signifying solidarity, some in good old red, white, and blue, and there were plenty of American flags throughout. We had the Freedom Singers, the Fight Against Fascism group with their new neon signs, enthusiastic members of the Boston Teachers’ Union who took a lunch break from their annual conference which happened to be in Falmouth, and a fantastic line-up of speakers, one of which was Heather as Vice-Chair of the Falmouth Select Board. She gave an awesome speech! We read the Preamble of the Constitution, all 2,400 of us together, and the bell made by Paul Revere that hangs in the belfry of the adjacent Congregational Church rang out over the Village Green. Wow! It was truly a picture perfect, fantastic day.

As soon as I got home, however, I had to buckle down to get ready for the first screening in the Nonviolence in Action film series I have been organizing for months now. It starts tomorrow at 3 pm. I just finished the final prep, but I still have to make copies of handouts for the attendees tomorrow morning. I truly don’t know how many people will attend, but even if it is only 5, it will be a beginning.