2025 Life Logs, Day 318: From We the People Class to a Birthday Dinner
Date: Friday, November 14, 2025
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 46, Low 31 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

This morning was the last ‘We the People’ class I have been attending once a week since September 19. I have not been a good student this fall as I have been too busy to always do the reading for each week, but I am still glad I went to class. For the spring, Jane Scarborough announced today that we will read the book, These Truths: A History of the United States, by Jill Lepore. Lepore is a Professor of American History at Harvard University and a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine. This book is not her newest, but it might be her longest at over 900 pages. I’ll put it on my Christmas list, and if I get it for Christmas, I will start the reading during the winter. Maybe by April, I will be ready for the first class.

The class was over at noon. At 1 pm, I had a meeting with the Indivisible Falmouth full steering committee on Zoom. We spent an hour solidifying plans for our next general meeting. Some of us met yesterday to come up with a plan and we worked out the kinks today with the larger group.

Next was a trip to FedEx to send medical forms to my sister’s assisted living facility. I almost fainted when the FedEx guy said the 4 pages would cost $100 to send overnight. The last time I sent something overnight, the cost was $20. That must have been in the Dark Ages!

I ended the day at a birthday dinner for a woman I first met in June. In fact, all the women at the dinner were friends I have met through Indivisible and the Falmouth Immigrant Rights Coalition in the past few months. We chose The Golden Swan, Falmouth’s Indian restaurant, for the affair. I had planned to stay only an hour and then head to Woods Hole for a Falmouth Forum presentation. But we were having so much fun, I just enjoyed the dinner and conversation with new friends.

2025 Life Logs, Day 317: Another Meetings, Meetings, Meetings Kind of Day
Date: Thursday, November 13, 2025
Weather: Overcast, Windy, Spitting Rain; High Temp 47, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

The meetings started at 10 am and continued straight through until 4 pm today. The 3-4 pm meeting was on Zoom and I ducked out of it to talk to Justin. So, I still need to watch the recording. Nothing exiting to report today.

I do have very sad news. A friend from Newcomers and Encore passed away late last night. Carol Ann Cronin had metastatic pancreatic cancer and fought bravely. I didn’t know her well, but she and her husband Bob were charter members of the Public Policy group, and they were two of the five of us in the very short-lived Vegan Lunch Bunch. But I knew her long enough to know that she was a kind and beautiful person who always had smile on her face. Her family wrote on Caring Bridge: “We aren’t certain where her soul and spirt are now, but that place is enriched with her presence. We will look for it in the beauty of nature, especially in beautiful Cape Cod sunsets over the ocean.”

2025 Life Logs, Day 316: From Ardenna to Nonviolence in Action Film Series
Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2025
Weather: Mostly Cloudy and Windy; High Temp 46, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

I did it! And idea that was hatched last April became a reality and now is in the past. When Warren Brodie suggested a film series on nonviolence and handed that idea over to me, I had no clue in the world how to put together a film series. And I am embarrassed to say I had a very limited knowledge of nonviolence movements. I had the surface knowledge we all have, but very little beyond that. I thought about it all summer, and finally in August I got to work. I formed a small committee, we found a way to evaluate and choose the films we would feature, and I spent hours and hours and hours of watching films and reading about nonviolent civil resistance. As of tonight, it is over and I will have a chunk of time freed up to spend on other things. The problem is that I learned enough to know that we all need to learn more. I have a feeling there will be a continuation of the study in some form. It might not be another film series, but something. For now, however, I am going to enjoy the extra time.
I had an Encore Board meeting this morning and then an afternoon of getting ready for the final screening tonight. The film was Cesar Chavez (2014). I think most people my age know that he fought to unionize farm workers, but I didn’t know much about him personally. What I learned is that he was a truly completely principled and committed advocate of nonviolence. His knowledge of Gandhi, of Martin Luther King, Jr., and his deeply rooted belief in Catholicism all combined to give him amazing strength as a leader. You can watch the film for free on Amazon Prime Video, but you have to put up with the ads. Even with that, I think it is a film worth watching, more than once.
Working backwards to the beginning of my day, I was delighted to get a text from Heather saying that Ardenna was out of the water and safely on the trailer, mast on the crane truck, ready to head to its winter home here in Falmouth. Another sailing season comes to an end.

2025 Life Logs, Day 315: Cold and Blustery Veterans Day 2025
Date: Tuesday, November 11, 2025
Weather: Overcast, Blustery, Cold; High Temp 41, Low 35 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

While standing on the Falmouth Public Library lawn this morning for the Veterans Day program, we actually saw a few snowflakes fall. It was overcast, blustery, and cold, but Ollie, Heather, and Jed marched proudly in the parade. Jed marched with the Scouts, Heather with the Select Board, and Ollie was in the Honor Guard. So proud.

Otherwise, I spent my day getting the flowers from the deck moved indoors and took some summer things down to the basement. I also went to my book club meeting a little late due to the Veterans Day program. I missed the discussion of this month’s book, but I got there in time to choose books for next year. We each recommend 2-4 books and we chose one book from each member. It was a hard choice because all the suggestions sounded so interesting. But here’s our final list:
January—The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict
February—The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
March—Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
April—Becoming Madame Secretary by Stephanie Dray
May—The Lioness of Boston by Emily Franklin
June—The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
No meetings in July and August.
September—The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown
October—Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
November—Isola by Allegra Goodman
December–TBD

2025 Life Logs, Day 314: Temperature Dropping
Date: Monday, November 9, 2025
Weather: Overcast with Misty Rain; High Temp 58, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

It was a gloomy day and tonight the temperature is dropping quickly. Last night the low temperature was 52 degrees F. Tonight, it will come very close to freezing as it is forecast to be 33 degrees. Today I had hoped to transplant the flowers on my deck into a big pot and bring them inside for the winter. That didn’t happen and tomorrow morning it might be too late. They were so beautiful this summer. Oh well, I have the memories.

I had film series meeting and spent the entire morning getting ready for that. Wednesday is the last film and I have more work to do tomorrow. But I punted on that tonight and with to a FalCan (Falmouth Community Action Network) meeting tonight to be introduced to En-Roads, an online global interactive climate simulator that allows you to explore the impact various policies have on factors like energy prices, temperature, air quality, and sea level rise. Very impressive.

2025 Life Logs, Day 313: Slow Moving Sunday
Date: Sunday, November 9, 2025
Weather: Sunny to Cloudy to Stormy; High Temp 58, Low 52 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

This morning was sunny and warm and just perfect for a nice, long relaxing walk with Shadow. When we go on our long walk through town this time of year, there are spots where the walnut trees have dropped hundreds of walnuts. Most are still in the hulls that surround the nut shellm but many have been on the ground long enough that they hulls are gone leaving just the nut in its shell. I always want to pick them up and take them home, but I know from experience when we lived in West Virginia in the late 1970’s that hulling and cracking the nutshell of walnuts is truly hard work, plus you end up with your fingers dyed a very dark brown and they stay that way for a very long time.. So, I walked on this morning, bringing home only a few that have already lost their hulls. But cracking the nutshell is no easy task. It can take a good number of hits with hammer to crack one nut and when it cracks, the pieces fly everywhere. I was able to crack two or three to taste them, and indeed they taste like the black walnuts in West Virginia that I love so much. They taste nothing like English walnuts. Black walnuts are almost sweet. If I had a vise, I could crack them more easily, so maybe I’ll check with Jed to see if he has a vise I could use. If so, maybe I will pick up those walnuts and bring them home.

The rest of the day was uneventful (which is good). I worked on a number of projects and then had dinner with the Goldstones. We got a chance to talk about holiday plans. They are going skiing on Thanksgiving Day, so we will have our feast on Friday when they return home. I learned that we are going to Revels on Sunday, December 21. We will stay in Boston that night and then they think they will head to Maine on Monday morning, the 22nd, coming home by the 27th or 28th. I will come home from Boston unless I can find someone to keep Shadow, but that is doubtful over Christmas. So, I will have Christmas at home alone with Shadow, but before you feel sorry for me, here’s the great news. On the 28th, Justin and family are flying up for a few days. Woohoo! What a wonderful Christmas present. We will celebrate once we are all together.

2025 Life Logs, Day 312: Bringing the Outside In
Date: Saturday, November 8, 2025
Weather: From Cloudy with Light Rain to Sunshine; High Temp 59, Low 44 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Last weekend I started the process of bringing plants inside for the winter. This afternoon, I continued that process. I now have the parley, sage, rosemary, thyme, and a poinsettia potted and in my living room and it is starting to look like greenhouse. Of course, one thing leads to another, and I needed to change the spacing of the shelves where the plants will live this winter. That required moving the shelving units and that led to cleaning the area under and behind the shelves. I needed to take some of the shelving I have been using to organize the various aspects of my volunteer life—notebooks for Encore, for Indivisible, for the Falmouth Immigrant Rights Coalition, for the Nonviolent in Action film series, for the “We the People” class I have been taking, and for the Board of Library Trustees and the Treasurer ‘box’ of supplies.. That’s a lot of notebooks! I had to move all of those notebooks off the shelves in order to rearrange. I’m still no done, so this will continue tomorrow.

My time at the rally on the Green was interrupted today because I got a call from the assisted living facility where my sister lives. Evidently, they sent her DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) paperwork to the hospital with her and it did not get returned. They wanted something immediately, so I left the Green and went home to try and figure this out. What I found out is that this can’t be done without going through her doctor. So, this will have to be done on Monday. I returned to the Green in time to help take down the banners and get the audio equipment put in the car that was taking it home. Our fearless leader, Jim Newman, usually does all of the set up and take down, but he had surgery to repair a torn muscle in his thigh last week and is missing in action for a few days. We are now much more appreciative of all he does for us each week.

2025 Life Logs, Day 311: Time for Friends, No Time for Amazon
Date: Friday, November 7, 2025
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 58, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

I have been so busy for weeks that I have had very little time to stay in touch with my friends. So, after a morning meeting and spending a bit of time making arrangements for my sister to be released from the hospital, I took a little time for myself. I spent extra time outside playing with Shadow, drove to East Falmouth to visit with Karen and Peter Baranowski, and then met Jane and Bruce Woodin at Taco Blanco for dinner. It was great to catch up. And what a nice feeling to not have a deadline to meet.

I also took time today to drop my Amazon Prime subscription. It feels a bit like losing a best friend, but I will get over it. I can no longer give money to an organization that is funding a regime that is trying to take down American democracy. When you get online to drop your subscription, you are asked to fill out a survey. I had to respond by saying Amazon was a brilliant idea, and I have always loved everything about it. But for the reason I dropped by subscription, I had to check ‘other’ and write a blurb about why. I felt really good saying I was dropping my subscription because Jeff Bezos financially supports the Trump regime. The next question was about when I might start subscribing again. The answer to that was easy. When Jeff Bezos stop funding the Trump regime. I’m sure only a computer will read my remarks, but it still felt good to write them. Now we’ll see how long I can hold out as I was truly an Amazon addict for more than a decade. Give me the strengths of my convictions!

2025 Life Logs, Day 310: More Meetings, Good News About My Sister
Date: Thursday, November 6, 2025
Weather: Sky Blue, Sunny Day; High Temp 59, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

I attended the Newcomers Board Meeting all morning, met with the Assistant VP of Encore Programs in the middle of the day, and then got on Zoom to see What’s the Plan? This is Indivisible’s weekly hour-long Zoom meeting that helps to keep all of the 2,700 local Indivisible Groups around the country updated on what’s happening and what we are planning to do about it. I then got on the phone with my sister’s case manager at the hospital. She needed to check some details with me and told me they think they are planning to release her tomorrow if things stay stable. Woohoo! They discovered that she has a UTI and put her on an antibiotic for that. She is feeling good and ready to go home, so this was very good news.

2025 Life Logs, Day 309: Nonviolence in Action Film Series
Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2025
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Windy; High Temp 60, Low 45 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

I spent my day getting ready for meetings. Late this afternoon was the third film screening in the Nonviolence in Action series. The films was about Denmark when Nazi’s occupied the country during World War II and Poland when Lech Walesa led the Solidarity movement that transitioned the country from communism to democracy in the 1980’s. The films in the series have been very well received, and most people have been very engaged in the post- film discussions. We have one more film next week. It has been quite a learning experience for me as I knew nothing about organizing a film series and very little about nonviolent movements in the 20th century. I have really enjoyed organizing and roiling out the film series, but it has taken an enormous amount of time. After the screening next week, I should have a little more time in my life!

About 25 minutes before the start time for this afternoon’s film, a doctor from the hospital called to talk with me about my sister. He was very thorough and had question after question. I had to take the call as I had waited all day to talk to someone at the hospital, but I was off with just one minute to spare before introducing the film. Whew! The good news from the doctor is that he hopes he can release Patsy to go home by Friday afternoon.

I drove home to feed Shadow after the film screening and then drove right back to the library, this time wearing my library trustee ‘hat’, for a meeting about the plans for building a new library in East Falmouth.