2025 Life Logs, Day 66: Stand Up for Science
Date: Friday, March 7, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Very Windy, Winds 25-30 NW; High Temp 42, Low 32 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

A few hundred people gathered in Marina Park in Woods Hole this afternoon to Stand Up for Science. The Cape Cod Times reported 600 were in attendance, but I have no idea if that number is accurate. All I know is that there was a seat of scientists and people who support science in attendance.

And we were not alone. As President and CEO of Woods Hole Research Center, Max Holmes, reminded us in his remarks, there were Stand Up for Science rallies all over the US and around the world today. Hundreds gathered in the Boston Commons, with smaller gatherings in Philadelphia, in Chicago, in Atlanta, and on and on. But the largest gathering of thousands was in Washington, DC. Obviously, many people in this country believe in the absolute necessity of keeping science alive.

Heather spoke to the gathering in Woods Hole representing the Falmouth Select Board and her 28 years as a student and employee in Woods Hole. It was certainly another ‘proud mama’ moment

!

The keynote speaker was John Holdren, former President of Woods Hole Research Center and Senior Science Advisor to President Obama. There were other scientists who spoke, plus a sprinkling of politicians. US Representative Bill Keating and Thomas Moakley, who is our newest and youngest State Representative, both spoke to the group. I don’t remember who said that those of us in Woods Hole might have the windiest conditions for any of the rallies today, but whoever said that, I think they might have been right. Starting around 11 am, the wind ramped up to 25-30 miles an hour with higher gusts. Thankfully the temperature was in the 40’s, so it was cold, but not freezing.

The scientific institutions in Woods Hole have 2,000 employees. One of those institutions is NOAA. I know specifics the weather today thanks to NOAA. I learned tonight that a week or so ago there were not enough NOAA employees to send up weather balloons in Alaska. The data gathered by these weather balloons is needed to forecast the weather accurately. Today in Albany, New York, and in Gray, Maine, again, there were not enough NOAA employees to send up those balloons. That is just one little, but very essential task being affected by the DOGE reduction in staffing. And I read that on Monday, more cuts are expected to NOAA nationwide. What kind of disaster is going to have to happen to make it clear that these indiscriminate government cuts have got to stop? My sign today said, SCIENCE—Defend not Defund. Defend is what we all need to do.

Midge Frieswyk and I went to the rally together, and Christina Brodie joined us. We all came back to my house afterwards, where we had planned to just have tea. But when I realized none of us had eaten lunch, I served dinner leftovers as an impromptu lunch. It was easy and stress free, and I think all three of us appreciated the time together to decompress and process together what is happening in our world these days.

I can’t end without relaying one more little tidbit of information. Today the AP released a list 26,000 documents and photos that the Defense department is going to delete from websites due to their connection to DEI in some way. But one of the items is a photo of the Enola Gay, the first plane to drop an atomic bomb. What does that have to do with DEI? They searched for the word ‘gay’ and that is why it is being deleted. A famous plane named for the pilot’s mother is being deleted from a website because of its name. This seems unbelievable, but it is true. What is next?

2025 Life Logs, Day 65: Wonderful Visit with Friends
Date: Thursday, March 6, 2025
Weather: Sun, Clouds, Fog, Rain, Winds10 S to 20 WNW; High Temp 52, Low 29 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

The weather threw a little bit of everything at us today. I spent much of my day in Dedham, near Boston, where it is sometimes cloudy, sometimes party sunny. But when I left the Cape this morning and returned late this afternoon, it was overcast and foggy, with rain was sprinkled in here and there.

I was in Dedham visiting with good friends, Helaine and Alan Kanegsberg, this afternoon. Alan and I have back-to-back birthdays that we sometimes celebrated together, so I made a surprise visit to deliver a birthday cake to Alan. We had a long overdue visit, making it even more special.

And tonight, Heather, Jed, and boys took me out to a birthday dinner at Shipwrecked. I tried an Asian avocado salad that was really good along with sushi. Thank you, Goldstones!

2025 Life Logs, Day 64: Birthday Surprises
Date: Wednesday, March 5, 2025
Weather: Partly Cloudy, Rain Late, Winds 20 SSW; High Temp 52, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

It’s my birthday and it started off with a wonderful surprise. Justin called early to wish me a happy birthday. As we were finishing up, he told me to make sure I check my email for a little surprise. I love surprises, so we hung up and I checked. There was an email from Ticketmaster announcing that I have 2 tickets to a Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan Outlaw concert on September 7 in Mansfield, near Boston. The only item I have on my bucket list is a Willie Nelson concert, so you can only imagine how excited I was. I felt like a teenager because I actually squealed in delight and called Justin right back to thank him. He knows I love Willie Nelson, and I only hope he can make it to September! Thank you, Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco.

Getting the ticket that included Bob Dylan, I decided I would give myself a birthday treat and go see the movie about him, A Complete Unknown starring Timothée Chalamet. I am familiar with him as Paul Atreides in Dune, so seeing him in such a different role was interesting. He was so convincing in this role that I totally thought I was watching Bob Dylan, not an actor. Plus, I loved the music. I was talking on the phone with Christina Brodie about Encore business this afternoon when I mentioned I was going to the movie tonight. She said she and Warren would love to go with me and even invited me to dinner before the movie. Warren even went out and got little chocolate decadent individual cakes so I would have a birthday cake with a candle. Thank you, Christina and Warren.

As I announced last night, Heather had an emergency Select Board meeting tonight, so we are doing a birthday dinner tomorrow night. But I stopped by on my way home from the movie just to say hello. I was greeted by the Goldstone’s singing Happy Birthday and presenting me with another birthday cake. It was a great day.

2025 Life Logs, Day 63: You won’t even believe … Like never before …
Date: Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Warmer Winds 20 SW; High Temp 42, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

No, I won’t believe, like never before. Watching Trump’s speech tonight, I found it hard to believe that a President of the United States of America would ever openly say everything he could possibly think of to cause even further division in his country. But on that point, Trump was successful. I fear more rhetoric like tonight’s speech is going to cause more problems than “you ever thought possible before.”

2025 Life Logs, Day 62: Another Project Day
Date: Monday, March 3, 2025
Weather: Still Sunny and Cold; High Temp 29, Low 24 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

This morning when I went out for my walk with Shadow it was 19 degrees F but felt like 6 degrees according to WeatherUnderground. I was dressed for the cold, but after less than a half mile of walking, my face and gloved fingers were freezing. So, we cut our walk short and headed home. I spent the remainder of my day inside on my computer. Every winter, I try to spend a few days working on photo organization. Saturday, I spent the day working on 2022 photos. Prior to 2022, from 2005 to 2021, I have every photo named and placed in folders by date. With a few exceptions. The photos I took when we came home in 2006, 2007, and in 2009 are not named or in any order. So, I have photos taken by me, by Mark, and by Heather and Jed and they are all a jumble. It took all day, but I did get the 2006 and early 2007 photos organized today when we came home for Sam’s birth. Hopefully tomorrow I can attack the next trip home in late 2007 going into 2008. It is slow, tedious work, but I enjoy doing it. I estimate I need five more days to complete the whole job, including getting 2023 and 2024 organized. But since I always seem to underestimate the time needed for a job, that probably means double that many days. However many days it takes, I am hopeful that I can get this done before the weather turns warm.

2025 Life Logs, Day 61: From Rally to Oscars and In Between
Date: Sunday, March 2, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Cold, Winds 15 NNW; High Temp 29, Low 14 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

The Stand Up for Ukraine rally outside the Waquoit Congregational Church at noon today was well attended and inspiring. So many people came and as we all sang Pete Seeger’s anti-war song ”Where Have All the Flowers Gone” you could feel a bond being formed between all of the people. Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary fame, died in January of this year, but the sound of that trio singing “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” lives on. Yarrow’s parents were Ukrainian-born and he made it known that the song was partly based on a Ukrainian poem about the futility of war. Today, Ukrainian flags flew in the wind as people held up their handmade signs in support of Ukraine.

I was glad to see that our US representative, Bill Keating, was present and he spoke out strongly in support of Ukraine. My favorite sign of the day said, “Tyranny requires your fear, silence and compliance. Democracy requires your courage.” These words were spoken by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker last week. We all need to have the courage to get out and stand up for Ukraine and stand up for our democracy.

Fast forward to tonight’s Oscars Awards. I was particularly touched by the acceptance of the Oscar for Best Documentary. It was the Israeli-Palestinian film, ‘No Other Land’. I loved what one of the people accepting the award said, “It doesn’t have to be this way.”

And there were so many other very respectful and passionate pleas for all of us to value kindness and truth. I was so excited that Adrien Brody won for best actor in The Brutalist. At the end of his thank you he said, “This is, you know, it fills me with great joy, but I am also filled with a lot of sadness tonight because I’m accepting an award at such a strange time. And, you know, my experiences in making this film made me very aware of the sadness and the dehumanization of people at times of war, and the repercussions of war. And whomever you believe in, if it’s God or Allah, may He watch over you. And let’s pray for a peaceful and swift resolution. Thank you.”

In between the rally and the Oscars, I continued working on one of my winter projects. And, indeed, it did feel like winter today. Heather and Jed went out to check on the damage caused by last Sunday’s brush fire that got out of control in the lot where their sailboat, Ardenna, is spending the winter. The fire destroyed their dinghy, dinghy motor, and boom. The picture Heather sent showing their inflatable hard bottomed dinghy totally gone (except for the hard bottom) literally sent me to the verge of throwing up.

It is hard to look at such devastation, but at the same time, Ardenna is just fine. When you think of all the devastation caused by the wild fires in California recently, it puts things into perspective.

2025 Life Logs, Day 60: Project Day
Date: Saturday, March 1, 2025
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds, Winds 15-20 NW: High Temp 48, Low 18 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

The first day of March, a day when we try to decide if March is coming in like a lion or a lamb. I am not sure what animals would represent the midpoint between a lion and a lamb, but whatever it is, I think that is our March 1st this year. It has warmed up a bit from the frigid temperatures we have been experiencing, but the overnight temperatures are diving back down into the teens. Last year the few days before and after March 1 the lows were in the 20’s 30’s, and 40’s, not in the teens. And it is windy. So, I say, pick an animal that is wilder than a lamb, but a little calmer than a lion for this year.

I spent my day doing projects around the house. It was warmer for my morning walk this morning, but very shortly the wind whipped up and sun hid behind the clouds making it feel much colder. On the brighter side, I did find the very first sign of spring on my morning walk with Shadow earlier this week. The delicate, little Galanthus, commonly called snowdrops, are up and in bloom with their small white bell-shaped flowers drooping down towards the ground. I am imagining that their heads are drooping in shame for what the Trump regime is doing to our country. I think the snowdrops are on our side.

2025 Life Logs, Day 59: Good Versus Evil
Date: Friday, February 28, 2025
Weather: Sunny, S Winds 15 mph: High Temp 47, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Morning: I walked with Shadow and then drove 30 minutes one way for a 45-minute PT appointment for the neck pain I have been experiencing. I had to wait 20 minutes as the physical therapist was running late, so I didn’t get home until well after noon.

Early Afternoon: I turned on the television to watch last night’s Stephen Colbert monologue while eating lunch. This is one of my daily delights. Instead, I found myself watching replay of the disgusting, shameful, embarrassing ambush of Zelensky by the Trump-Vance team. They are just pure evil. It seems that every day I say the same words in reference to yet another Trump debacle. “Never in my lifetime did I think I would see this happening in my country.”

Mid-Afternoon: I went to see the monthly free Academy Award nominated film at the public library. This month it was SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE. This film is based on a historical fiction novella by Claire Keegan. It takes place in 1985 in a small Irish town that’s controlled by the Roman Catholic Church. Coal merchant Bill Furlong, played by Cillian Murphy, uncovers disturbing ‘secrets’ happening in the local church. Bill Furlong is the good, and Sister Mary, played by Emily Watson, is pure evil.

At this point in my day, I wanted to run away from all the evil in the world. But then …

Tonight: I attended an event in Woods Hole sponsored by Farming Falmouth. This was another film spotlighting a moral dilemma that each of us faces every day. Do you make choices that support the industrial food complex (the evil in this story) in the United States? Or do you make choices that support local food producers (the good guys) when possible? The film, FOOD AND COUNTRY, is produced and narrated by well-known food writer Ruth Reichl who says, “We all eat. But few of us know how food reaches us.” In this film, she follows the stories of farmers, ranchers, an innovative seafood grower, and chefs, focusing on the challenges and success stories of those innovators trying to create a more humaine and sustainable food system in this country. I left wanting to do a better job of buying locally. I do buy only organic, but most of my food shopping happens at Stop and Shop. From now on, I will make the extra time and money effort of buying from local food producers.

Upcoming: On Sunday, there will be a standout in support of Ukraine at noon at the Waquoit Congregational Church. If you live in the Falmouth area, I hope you can come “Stand Up for Ukraine” with me and others.

2025 Life Logs, Day 58: Economic Boycott Tomorrow
Date: Thursday, February 27, 2025
Weather: Overcast, Periods of Light Rain: High Temp 49, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Tomorrow is the Economic Boycott. I haven’t really paid attention to the ‘rules’ for the day, but I plan to spend zer00000000000000 money on anything tomorrow. I have no idea what kind of impact this might have, but I see it as a test run of what we might have to do going forward as one way of making our voices heard. I hope you will join me tomorrow. And keep an eye on the Supreme Court tomorrow. Today the chief justice blocked an order that would have required the Trump administration to pay nearly $2 billion in foreign aid reimbursements. He ordered both parties to respond by noon tomorrow (Friday). It will be most interesting to watch and see what happens.

My entire morning was spent dealing with issues relating to my sister and my afternoon was spent working on personal projects. Spring is coming too fast for me as I have barely made a dent in my winter projects. “Maybe tomorrow” has become my mantra.

2025 Life Logs, Day 57: Changing Focus for a Day
Date: Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Weather: Beautiful Day, Again; High Temp 52, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

A change of focus today, from politics to sailboats … what a refreshing change of view. Jed’s mother, Marti, and I gave Heather and Jed the promise of a new dodger for Christmas. As part of that gift, I volunteered to do the research necessary to find the right place with the right price to do this. What I found out immediately was that the price of replacing a dodger has increased exponentially in the past few years, so Heather suggested I start researching the possibility of just replacing the vinyl ‘windows’ in the dodger. You might be asking about now, “What is a dodger.” It is like a roof with a windshield that covers part of the cockpit and the companionway or entrance going down into the sailboat’s interior. The ‘windows’ in the dodger are like the windshield of a car and the roof is canvas. The canvas fits on a metal frame to support it and the clear vinyl windows snap down on the cabin top. If you aren’t familiar with the term cockpit, it is the outside area of the boat where the controls are located and where people sit to navigate and also to enjoy each other’s company. On a boat, a saloon or salon is the inside living room and the cockpit is the outside living room. The cabin top is the solid roof of the boat.

So, today I drove to Chatham on the Outer Cape to get another opinion and estimate. It was a Cape Cod blue sky day, a perfect day to enjoy the beauty of the Cape. I was visiting Mike Berg at Seaside Designs whose main focus is fine cabinetry and woodworking for boat interiors. But evidently, he also does canvas work. I learned quickly that Mike is an avid sailor. He just returned from Florida where he competed in the Helly Hanson Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg. I have never had any interest in sailboat races, but I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to talk to a fellow sailor about common places we have where we have both sailed. Plus, I got a very affordable estimate on refurbishing the dodger with new vinyl windows. Mike estimates that the canvas from Ardenna’s current dodger has 5 more years of life and he recommended just sewing in new vinyl windows for now and think about a complete replacement in a few years. He will also help with the installation of solar panels on the top of the dodger. Heather and Jed will make the final decision, but the price was right, and my gut reaction was positive.

Last night just before I went to bed, I saw that I had a voice mail message. It was from the speaker for today’s Exploring Public Policy meeting telling me he could not make it to the meeting. At 11:30 pm, I sent out a ‘Cancelled’ email, but this afternoon I showed up in case not everyone read an email sent at midnight! There were a couple of people, and we had a great little mini-meeting.