After almost 6 years of traveling, we sailed into Woods Hole on Cape Cod. We continued living aboard for the next five years and I wrote about that, adding ‘and Beyond’ to the title of the blog. Then shortly before Mark’s death in 2016, we sold our beloved Windbird and my travel logs became land logs. At this point, I had written a daily account for each and every day for 11 years. I fully intended to end the blog at that point, but when I wrote that news in a log, I got many responses saying that I really needed to keep posting. At the same time, I realized that I couldn’t stop writing. Summarizing each day had become a permanent part of my life and I will probably continue writing until I can no longer. These postings reflect the ordinary, and sometimes the extraordinary, days in my life and I would like to invite you to join me on my journey.
2025 Life Logs, Day 348: Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow
2025 Life Logs, Day 348: Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow
Date: Sunday, December 14, 2025
Weather: Snowy All Day, Now Windy; High Temp 36, Low 14 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
The gently falling snow has finally stopped, but now the wind is blowing something fierce and the temperature is dropping precipitously. We are going to be in a deep freeze overnight and into tomorrow, but then the temperature rises slowly to get us back into the 40’s on Wednesday. I don’t love the super cold weather, but I do love the snow. Every window I looked out of when I got up this morning afforded a beautiful view.
Outside, one of my favorite ‘views’ was the rail fence that I decorate with garland and lights each year. The snow made it picture perfect.
Shadow loves playing in the snow, so I spent some time outside with him today. He runs so fast in the snow that he sometimes just looks like a black streak with ears flying high.
I also attended a Resistance Lab on Zoom. And then tonight, I joined the Goldstones for the lighting of the menorah on the first night of Hanukkah. This house still has piles of notebooks and papers everywhere, but over the next day or two, I hope to get that under control. Tomorrow, however, I have to focus on Christmas and make sure Santa has all of the gifts needed for my family.
2025 Life Logs, Day 347: When is Enough, Enough
2025 Life Logs, Day 347: When is Enough, Enough
Date: Saturday, December 13, 2025
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; Snow Expected Overnight; High Temp 40, Low 29 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
At 4:30 pm this afternoon, I got a text letting me know a Christmas gift that I ordered was supposed to be delivered by FedX today, requiring a signature, is now going to be delivered tomorrow. I had planned to go to Costco and IKEA tomorrow morning, but with that notification, I knew that I would now need to be home tomorrow to accept the FedX package. So, I made a last minute decision to head north to do the shopping tonight. I needed some food items from Costco and was picking up a Christmas gift at IKEA. Once I got there, I texted Heather to ask if she needed anything from Costco. The answer was no. Then when I got to IKEA, I tested her again, and her response was, “Meat balls, cinnamon buns, chocolate bars, elderflower syrup … really, just grab anything in the grocery section.” I chuckled but did as directed.
I left IKEA with a huge bag of “everything from the grocery section.” I got in the car and listened to Christmas music all the way home. When I delivered the huge bag from IKEA to the Goldstones, you would have thought I was Santa Claus. Ollie and Jonah were elated with the bag of goodies. I came home on a real high. Playing Santa Claus was really fun!
Once I got home, I checked my phone to see if there were any important messages since I had left home 4 hours earlier. I had my phone with me but had not checked emails. When I checked my email, I saw the breaking news about the shooting on the Brown University campus leaving two people dead and others injured. Reading that was like a gut punch. Probably because I was in such a good mood, the news hit especially hard. I turned on the TV to see what I could find out, but the whole time I was saying to myself that this has got to stop. When is enough, enough? We’ve had Columbine, Sandy Hook, Margory Stoneman, and so many, many, many more school shootings in between. It is heartbreaking, yet we don’t have the will to do anything to stop this madness. We have a lot of madness going on these days, but the protection of our children, whether in pre-school or graduate school, should be sacred pledge. Things have gone very wrong in this country, and we who have stood by and let this happen right in front of our eyes need to dedicate our lives to stopping it.
What can we do to stop this attack on the future? I don’t have the answer, but I am certainly going to do what I can. Our children deserve better, so let’s figure out a plan of action and do something about it. Okay. Deep breath. Rant over … but not forgotten.
Today was Saturday, so I was on the Green for the weekly Standout for Democracy. Every week I meet new people in our community. Today, as soon as I arrived, I stopped to talk to good friends. Then this man walked up to our little group. He knew one person in the group and then somehow he and I got deep into a conversation about why coming out every week to protest on the Green is important. That led to what each of us is doing to try and save our democracy. He was particularly interested in the Nonviolence in Action film series we just wrapped up. Then he revealed that he is a filmmaker, and he shared a recommendation for a future workshop. We shared email contacts as he wants to be contacted if we do more with the film series. At that point, his wife and/or significant other came up, introduced herself, and said she had just been talking with another Indivisible Falmouth Steering Committee member about the film series focusing on nonviolence. One of the true gifts of the Saturday rally is this meeting of new people and sharing of ideas. The couple left and I went to talk to the person she had been talking with to find out more about them. She is Woods Hole native, now a neuroscientist teaching at MIT, and the man I was talking to is a filmmaker of significant acclaim. Wow! And the great thing is that he would like to keep in touch and possibly be involved in future film-based workshops. I introduced him to Pramila Jayapal’s Resistance Labs, and he is interested in those. The talent in this community constantly amazes me. Every single Saturday, I meet new people, all amazing. How lucky I am to live here
2025 Life Logs, Day 346: Things Get Worse Before They Get Better
2025 Life Logs, Day 346: Things Get Worse Before They Get Better
Date: Friday, December 12, 2025
Weather: Windy and Cold; High Temp 35, Low 28 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
All I have to say is that I hope the saying that things always get worse before they get better is true. I started rearranging things in the house yesterday and at the end of the day today, my living room and dining room both look like a cyclone hit. Let’s hope I can get things back in order by the end of the day tomorrow.
2025 Life Logs, Day 345: Slowing Down a Bit
2025 Life Logs, Day 345: Slowing Down a Bit
Date: Thursday, December 11, 2025
Weather: Windy; High Temp 44, Low 23 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
As I begin to write this log, it is 31 degrees outside, but because of the wind, it feels like 18 degrees F according to WeatherUnderground. And the wind is forecast to continue into tomorrow afternoon before calming a bit. I’m planning an inside day for tomorrow!
As the wind rachets up, my life seems to be slowing down a bit. I’m almost afraid to say that, but at least today there was only one Zoom meeting and dental cleaning. And tomorrow I have nothing on my calendar until tomorrow evening. I am going to take advantage of the time to do some rearranging in the house to get ready for Justin and family’s visit after Christmas. The rearranging started today out of necessity. I brought a lot of plants inside a few weeks ago. I loved the bright orange Impatiens in long deck-rail planters that were on the back deck. So, I brought them in to see if I can keep them alive until next summer … story to be continued.
I got as far as the last paragraph when I received a text from Heather inviting me over to for Christmas tree decorating. I never say no to Christmas tree decorating, so I headed over and now, three hours later, I am home. The story I started about rearranging my living room will be continued tomorrow night. Maybe the whole job will be done by then. I just barely got started today.
2025 Life Logs, Day 344: Encore Holiday Luncheon
2025 Life Logs, Day 344: Encore Holiday Luncheon
Date: Wednesday, December 10, 2025
Weather: Mostly Cloudy but Warmer; High Temp 49 Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
It was warm enough today that I didn’t even wear a coat. After the chill yesterday, today was wonderful, even though it was cloudy. But this afternoon, the wind started building and tomorrow and Friday are going to be super windy. No matter the temperature, it will feel chilly again. But at this time of you, you cherish warm days like today. This afternoon, I even did a little garden clean up.
But this morning and into the afternoon, I was at the Coonemessett Inn for the Encore Holiday Luncheon. I, along with the Assistant Program VP, were in charge of the luncheon and I think a good time was had by all. Ann Loos, the Assistant VP invited Laura Sciortino and four of her ballet dancers from Turning Pointe Dance Studio to come greet people as they entered the foyer of the Inn and take their donations for the Falmouth Service Center. Then the dancers performed to music from the Nutcracker before lunch was served.
There were 3 girls from high school and one younger. They were all spectacular, lunch was great, needy children in Falmouth will receive new waterproof gloves, mittens, and hats for Christmas (the donations), and I hope a good time was had by all.
2025 Life Logs, Day 343: Marathon Day
2025 Life Logs, Day 343: Marathon Day
Date: Tuesday, December 9, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Cold; High Temp 38 Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Everyday just seems to get busier and busier. Today, I felt like I was running a marathon. I started with a walk with friend Joanie Thompson and her dog, Archie. We try to walk the dogs together once a week. Then I took Shadow to a vet appointment to get annual vaccinations, on to Book Club, necessary clothes shopping in Mashpee, then grocery shopping, home for mid-afternoon lunch, off to take Ollie to his saxophone lesson, back home to eat dinner, out again to attend a Board of Library of Trustees meeting, and then a late trip to Hyannis to buy poinsettias at Trader Joe’s for tomorrow’s Encore Luncheon. They close at 9 pm and I got there at 8:54. Whew! Now I am headed to my exercise bike before I hit the bed. No matter how busy the day, I always start with a walk with Shadow and end with 30 minutes on my exercise where I catch up on the day’s news. Tomorrow there is just one thing on my calendar, but it is a biggie. Ann Loos and I are in charge of Encore’s annual Holiday Luncheon. Hopefully we have thought of everything, and the luncheon will go smoothly. Here’s hoping!
2025 Life Logs, Day 342: Nonviolence in Action Workshop
2025 Life Logs, Day 342: Nonviolence in Action Workshop
Date: Monday, December 8, 2025
Weather: Sunny, N Wind, Cold; High Temp 38 Low 14 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
It was sunny and cold today and will be colder tomorrow. Yikes! Winter really is upon us. I spent my entire day getting ready for a workshop tonight. It was not well attended, but the people who did come generated some really creative ideas.
2025 Life Logs, Day 341: Holidays-by-the-Sea 2025 …. continued
2025 Life Logs, Day 341: Holidays-by-the-Sea 2025 …. continued
Date: Sunday, December 7, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Not Too Cold; High Temp 42 Low 24 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
It was an absolutely perfect day for Falmouth’s annual Christmas parade. It was sunny and not too cold. Heather and two other members of the Select Board were near the beginning of the parade and the Lawrence Middle School Band, with Ollie playing saxophone, was toward the end. The parade today, the Jingle Jog yesterday where Jonah and friends, and Heather and Ollie, ran the 5 K, and the lighting of the Village Green late yesterday made for a fabulous Holidays-by-the-Sea weekend.
Jed took Jonah to a soccer tournament today up near Boston, so the two of them didn’t get to enjoy the festivities today. But they had a beautiful day for a soccer tournament. Jonah’s team lost the first game by 1 point but then won the second game with Jonah making 2 goals and 1 assist. After the parade, Heather, Ollie, and I visited Highfield Hall’s Shopkeepers’ Noël. This year’s theme was a Victorian Christmas. There were beautiful displays, a holiday craft room, and the annual Gift Gallery. And we didn’t stop there. A little later we headed to Shipwrecked for sushi. All this, and the weekend started with a full moon. What a joyous welcome to the holiday season!
2025 Life Logs, Day 340: Holidays-by-the-Sea 2025
2025 Life Logs, Day 340: Holidays-by-the-Sea 2025
Date: Saturday, December 6, 2025
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Some Rain; High Temp 43 Low 29 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Most of the day today was spent downtown Falmouth to enjoy Falmouth’s Holidays-by-the-Sea activities. The first activity was not associated with the holiday season. It was our weekly Standout for Democracy on the Green. It rained as I was driving there. But by the time I parked, the rain had stopped. I got home at 1:30, answered some emails, and then turned around and went back down to Main Street for the 3:30 pm Jingle Jog. Again, it rained as I was driving there, but miraculously the rain stopped and a little ray of sunshine came through. Jonah, his friend Jean Luc, and some other soccer friends I didn’t know, were running the 5 K ‘fun’ race.
And Heather and Ollie were also both running. Jed was working on getting the boat secured for the winter, but he arrived in time to watch the race. It is a fun race to watch as everyone is dressed in some sort of holiday fashion. The team of runners dressed as Santa’s reindeer won my prize for most festive this year.
Main Street was closed off for the race, the downtown Holiday Stroll (shopping) from 4-8 pm, and the Lighting of the Green at 6 pm. I headed home after the race and had just enough time to eat lunch/dinner before heading back to the Green for the annual lighting. Parking is always a challenge, but I thought I could drive halfway and park at Lawrence Middle School, then walk across the playing fields to the Green. But I was wrong. There was not a place to park anywhere. Every parking space and every patch of grass was taken. So I drove back home and walked as fast as I could to get there just in time to see the lights.
Then the caroling begins. I didn’t stay for all of that as I was meeting friends who had invited me to go see a Woods Hole Film Festival movie tonight. It was a fun-filled day. But the weekend is not over. Tomorrow is the parade and Holidays at Highfield.
2025 Life Logs, Day 339: All Things Christmas
2025 Life Logs, Day 339: All Things Christmas
Date: Friday, December 5, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Cold; High Temp 34 Low 28 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Shadow had his holiday grooming appointment today and came home wearing a holiday bowtie. He looked so handsome and I should have gotten a photo, but it was almost dark by the time he was ready for pick up. I did get a picture tonight, but it was all I could do to get him to raise his head a little while ‘resting’ on the sofa. Spending the day at ‘beauty shop’ must be exhausting.
When I got home from driving him the 20 minutes up to the bridge to the groomer and drove the 20 minutes home, it was nearing 10 am. I wrote the weekly checks for the library and delivered those and ran some necessary errands. Then it was time to head to Waquoit to buy my Christmas tree. It is a balsam fir. When I went to pick Ollie up after school, we stopped at my house and he helped me get it in the tree holder. It was so much easier with two people. I have done it by myself for the past few years but holding up straight while screwing in the pins that hold it in place is tricky. I always get it leaning one way or another and have to try, try, and try again. We got it done in 5 minutes with two of us. Just before I picked him up, I received a text message from Jonah with his Christmas list. When I mentioned that to Ollie, in about 10 minutes, I got a list from him. I had asked both boys over a week ago to get their lists to me. But evidently the other grandmother contacted Jonah today and he sent the list to both of us. Then Ollie did the same. So there has been a lot of back and forth between Marti, Heather, and Jed this evening figuring out who will get what.
But back to this afternoon. After taking Ollie home, I spent another hour going to get Shadow. Actually, it took longer, because he was not ready at 4 pm when I got there. It was 4:45 before we headed home. Tonight, I got the lights and the garland on the tree. Ornaments will be put on a little at a time over the next week. And last night’s full moon is still looking beautiful as it overlooks all of this holiday readiness activity. It is looking a lot like Christmas here.
