2025 Life Logs, Day 46: Making My Neck Happy
Date: Saturday, February 15, 2025
Weather: Overcast and Windy, Snow Late; High Temp 29, Low 25 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

It has been snowing for the past couple of hours. Shadow and I just went outside and found about a inch of lovely white snow on the ground. It is 26 degrees out right now, but during the night the temperature is going to go up, not down. By the middle of the night, it will go up above freezing and by 10 am the forecast says it will be 40 degrees with rain all day tomorrow. I definitely prefer the snow, but unfortunately, I don’t control the weather.

Since October, I have had what I will call a stiff neck, just on the left side. I’m sure I have written about this, but I don’t think I mentioned that I finally started physical therapy for it this last week. I have learned a lot in that week about what makes my neck ‘happy’ and after this morning’s session, I came home and spent the rest of the day rearranging things that aggravate my neck. My television was too high, so I had remove the half-high bookshelf it was sitting on and put it on the same low IKEA low shelving unit it was on when I lived in the cottage. Here, I was using that low shelving unit in the kitchen. But now it is in the living room and the half-high bookshelf is in the kitchen. Last weekend, I moved the location of my computer to a higher table, but it is still not right. I have ordered an adjustable shelf for my laptop and will have to buy a wireless keyboard at Staples tomorrow. And then there is my cell phone. It is the real problem. I tend to read all of my news on my phone, work my daily mini-crossword, and on and on, all while holding the phone in my lap. That means I am looking down and that is a no-no. It needs to be at eye level like my computer screen and my television. Did you know your head weighs about 15 pounds. And your neck is happiest when your back is straight and your head is facing forward, not up or down. The PT told me this morning that they are now getting a deluge of teenagers in physical therapy with the same neck problems that I have been having. And it is all because they spend so much time looking down at their phones. And now I am going to go to bed and read, sitting up straight and holding that book up at eye level.

2025 Life Logs, Day 45: Happy Valentine’s Day
Date: Friday, February 14, 2025
Weather: Blue Sky Sunny Day, Windy; High Temp 34, Low 19 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Happy Valentine’s Day to all. I feel like there must be a Valentine joker who made my day disappear right before my eyes. I got up, walked with Shadow, had breakfast while reading the local weekly paper, and suddenly it was time to pick Ollie up after school. Where did those hours go? I had a flurry of emails about Encore business and did some research on possibilities for field trips for my Newcomers/Encore field trip group. Evidently that took 5 hours, or the Valentine joker simply made those hours disappear.

Heather and family are off to Vermont for the upcoming school vacation week to ski and snowboard. Heather and Jed ski. The boys snowboard. Last night Heather sent a text inviting me to come visit them next Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, they move from an Airbnb they are sharing with friends to one just they will occupy. And evidently there is room for Oma for a night or two. Pets are allowed, so Shadow and I might make the trek to Vermont. Otherwise, I have the whole week to work on a few projects I have been trying to find time for since November. So, I’m hoping the next few days are way more productive than today.

2025 Life Logs, Day 44: Drippy, Messy Day
Date: Thursday, February 13, 2025
Weather: Rainy, Melting Snow; High Temp 44, Low 26 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Shadow and I had to do our morning walk in a rainy world this morning. It was not pouring rain. Just drippy and messy as the rain was melting some of the snow still on the ground. I then went to a Newcomers General Meeting where the program was Reverand Nell Fields spoke for No Place for Hate–Falmouth. No Place for Hate is a national organization with local affiliates whose purpose is to build bridges, combat bias, and promote respect for all people through advocacy and education. Nell, as she is affectionately referred to in this community, started by telling us the story of the eraser. The rubber eraser was invented in 1770. It was almost 100 years later in 1858 when it was added to the end of a pencil making it so easy to erase your mistakes when writing. Nell then went on to define eraser versus the act of erasure and led us to the present day when certain words are being removed or erased from federal websites. She noted that you can remove the words but that does not make them go away. She moved on to diversity, pointing out that bio-diversity is necessary for a healthy environment. We were then led through an interactive exchange which pointed out that we all have much more in common than we have differences. The presentation was a timely and very positive focus amidst the deluge of negatively in our lives right now.

I went from one meeting to another to picking up Ollie after school and finally getting home to take Shadow out to play. But by late afternoon, it was foggy and truly messy outside. The snow in the yard was mushy with areas of standing water and in the driveway there were patches of ice. We chose the icy driveway. It was challenging, but we managed to play fetch successfully.

I have spent my evening burying my head in the sand, ignoring our current political situation. Instead, I finished watching The Mandalorian. I’ll be back at it tomorrow.

2025 Life Logs, Day 43: The Rollercoaster Went Off the Rails
Date: Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Weather: Snow Overnight, Overcast and Snow Flurries; High Temp 37, Low 32 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Last night I was feeling a bit of hope because people were starting to push back on the Trump/Musk bulldozer approach to dismantling the United States government. It seemed that we the people were making a tiny, tiny bit of progress. But this morning, when Tulsi Gabbard got confirmed as Director of Intelligence and Pete Hegseth spoke to NATO allies and outlined Trump’s plan for Russia and Ukraine, it was obvious that the roller coaster we have been riding since Trump’s inauguration went completely off the rails, crashed and burned. I can’t even write about it. I’m sitting here holding my head in between sentences. Zelensky, as the voice of Ukraine, is not even going to be at the table to discuss the fate of his country? Freaking unbelievable and unacceptable. But what to do???

It seems a shame to end a day so depressed when my life here in Falmouth today was so delightful. We got a thin covering of snow overnight, so our world was freshly white this morning. After clearing off the walking path and my car, I headed out to spend my morning and early afternoon at the First Congregational Church giving my Voyage of Windbird presentation to their Women’s Union group (three different women’s groups merged into one).

I went early to set up my computer and the projector, sat through their business meeting, gave my presentation, answered questions, and had lunch. I always love giving the presentation as it brings back so many wonderful memories and today’s audience was most receptive. I think we all enjoyed spending an hour of our cold, snowy day sailing through the tropics. Then I came home to play outside in the snow with Shadow and spend an afternoon catching up on email communications. Life was good … then I caught up on the news of the day. That’s when the roller coaster crashed. I dare not think what tomorrow might bring.

2025 Life Logs, Day 41: Autocratic Breakthrough
Date: Monday, February 10, 2025
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; Temp 34, Low 19 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

When I hear people saying our country is heading into a Constitutional crisis, I shake my head and ask why they are saying ‘heading’. We are in the midst of a Constitutional crisis. Judges are ruling that things Donald Trump is doing are illegal and he is simply ignoring them. And so far, there have been no consequences. As Rachel Maddow said on her program tonight, that leads to autocratic breakthrough. If what our courts are saying is ignored, and Trump just keeps steamrolling along, we are going to wake up one morning and realize we are living under a dictator. At that point, ‘going back’ will be very difficult. It is almost impossible to know what to do. But as I see it, if a few Republican Senators don’t stand up to what Trump is doing or the courts do not find a way to impose consequences, we are going to get to that ‘break though’ point sooner rather than later.

Well, that was dark, but I had to get it off my chest. Other than the totally devastating things that are happening in this country, life here in Falmouth is going along as usual. Today was a Monday when Heather had a Select Board meeting and Jed had a Health Board meeting, so I was on dinner duty at the Goldstones. Tonight, it was chicken soup with matzo balls. After dinner, Sam shared with me that this morning he received an acceptance notice into a history program at Groningen University in the Netherlands. This acceptance is conditional, pending his final grades and AP exam results, but it is a step forward. He will not hear until May whether or not he is accepted into their international relations program, the one he really wants. But I say any acceptance should be celebrated as the college acceptance waiting game is so stressful. On the health front, Heather took Ollie to the pediatrician this morning and found he has not one, but two ear infections—one in each ear. So, he is on antibiotics and tomorrow morning she is going to take Jonah in to be checked as he is having trouble with his ears as well. But the good news is that all of the Goldstones are feeling a tad better. The boys are super anxious to get totally healthy so they can enjoy their week of snowboarding during next week’s winter break. I’m routing for them.

2025 Life Logs, Day 42: Book Club, More Prep, Wheels Turning
Date: Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 31, Low 26 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett was the book our book club chose for this month and today was the discussion. When I came home, I put the finishing touches on my Voyage of Windbird presentation for tomorrow. Shadow and I walked this morning and played in the snow this afternoon. I am loving that we have had snow on the ground for a few days. It makes the cold weather worth it.

Tonight when I caught up on the news of the day, I felt just a tad of hope on the political front. After showing protests all over the country and outlining what the House Democrats have said they will do to save the Department of Education, Rachel Maddow said the following:

And so you’ve got direct action. You’ve got legislation threats effectively. You’ve got threats in terms of the political system on Capitol Hill. You’ve got the press being alerted to what is going on. You’ve got Democrats doing everything they can including no business as usual to try and stop it. And no, I don’t know if that will save the Department of Education. And now if this lawsuit will stop Trump and Musk from what they are doing. But I do know that they’ve got public opinion against them on this, too. Right? What Trump and Musk are trying to do to the Education Department, they don’t have the people with them on this. A huge majority of voters in this country, more than 60 percent of the people in this country want the Department of Education not to be eliminated. And so I know that the public is going to fight them on this. I know the Democrats are fighting like heck for it. I know that the courts are standing up against what they’re doing here. And I know that the people are out in the streets in Washington, DC, and all over the country, even in places you wouldn’t expect. Not just for protests. They are coming out in huge numbers for organizing events, to organize everything they can to stop what Trump is doing. And no, I do not know if it will work. But I do know if you don’t do it, they will take all the ground they can. And I do know if they are going to get stopped, it is going to take everything all at once. It’s going to take public opinion. It’s going to take Democrats being smart. It’s going to take organizing in the streets. It’s going to take organizing in clever and unexpected ways. It’s going to take people standing up and saying, “No. We’re not doing this.” And I do know that from ‘Sea to Shining Sea’ Americans are looking like they’re willing to do that. That they are willing to do what it takes to say no. (end quote)

It looks like those slow wheels of democracy are starting to turn.

2025 Life Logs, Day 40: Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow. Snow and Super Bowl LIX
Date: Sunday, February 9, 2025
Weather: Snow Overnight, Day Mostly Overcast; Temp 32, Low 24 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

The weather forecast was spot on. We got four to five inches of snow overnight and it was absolutely beautiful this morning. As soon as I got up, I headed out to shovel the snow on the walking stones out to the driveway. Then I let Shadow out to romp in the snow. And romp, he did. I took one photo as he was running madly toward me and when I looked at the photo, I laughed out loud. He was running so fast that his floppy ears were flying in the wind.
We went out for a walk a little later, but I spent much of the day trying to put the finishing touches on the Voyage of Winbird presentation I am to give on Wednesday.

Then I changed gears and made nachos to take to a Super Bowl party. It started at 4 pm, but I didn’t get there until after 5. We played Rummikub, which I had not played since Heather and Justin were in grade school. And then we watched the Super Bowl. Until Friday, I could have cared less who won. But when I was in Woods Hole on Friday night, I was told that Trump hates the Philadelphia Eagles. That sealed the deal for me. I became an instant Eagles fan! But like most people I know that watch the Super Bowl, we watch for the commercials and the half time show. I stayed at the party until there were 2 minutes until the halftime when I left to drive to Heather and Jed’s to watch the halftime with them. I knew watching Kendrick Lamar would be much more interesting with teenagers rather than a bunch of people my age who had no idea who he was. And I was right. Sam’s commentary made the performance much more fun. Once the second half started, I headed home to take Shadow out and then watch the last half of the game while riding my exercise bike. I was elated that the Philadelphia Eagles literally trampled the Kansas City Chiefs. I took it as a good omen that a team Trump hates had such a spectacular win!

The commercials … like many people my age, our favorite Super Bowl commercial of all time was during Super Bowl XI in 1977. It was a Xerox commercial featuring Brother Dominic using a Xerox copy machine to produce 500 copies of a handwritten manuscript. Tonight, my favorite was a Stella Artois commercial featuring former soccer superhero from England, David Beckham, who in the commercial discovers he has a secret twin who just happens to be Matt Damon. And then there was the “No Reason for Hate” commercial with Tom Brady and Snoop Dogg. After they insult each other for 15 seconds, Snoop ends the commercial by saying, “I hate that things are so bad that we have to do a commercial about it [hate].” And I agree.

So, snow and Super Bowl made for a fun day. But I also kept up with my daily reading of what is happening in our country. The following piece by Robert Reich gave me a little glimmer of hope, so I will share it here in the hope that it brings you hope as well.
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Flooding Trump and Musk’s Zone–How to deal with their tyranny
Robert Reich, Feb 9

Friends,

Before I post my Sunday cartoon, I want to share with you some thoughts about the third hellish week of Trump II.
As of Friday, Trump has signed more than 50 executive orders, covering every aspect of American life and much foreign policy.
It’s not just that this number of executive orders is unprecedented in modern American politics. Many are unlawful, unconstitutional, or both.

In the age of monarchs, kings issued decrees. The tsars of imperial Russia proclaimed ukases. The dictators of the 20th century made diktats.

Trump issues executive orders.

Average people in the age of monarchs, tsars, and dictators were largely powerless. Resistance meant almost certain death.
Many people were resigned to vulnerability. They practiced passivity. They knew no life other than repression. But their deference entrenched and ensured the power of monarchs, tsars, and dictators.

Arbitrary power depends on the acquiescence of everyone subjected to it.

Right now, after three weeks of Trump’s “flooding the zone” (as Trumpers like to say) some of you may be feeling powerless.
Trump wants you to feel powerless. He depends on your passivity in the face of his takeover of American democracy.

He wants to be a strongman who can act unilaterally and arbitrarily — who can issue orders about anything that pops into his head. Purging, firing, prosecuting, or deporting anyone he wants removed. Obliterating, freezing, and pummeling any institution he wants destroyed. Unleashing the richest man in the world to do whatever the hell he wants with the government of the United States.

If you are dumbfounded into inaction, if you don’t even want to hear the news, if you feel as though you’re living through a nightmare over which you have no control, I get it. Every other day I feel the same.

But hear me out.

You and I have no real choice but to stand up to Trump, Musk, and their lapdogs. To allow them to bully us into submission invites more bullying, more lawlessness, more gonzo executive orders.

Last week I suggested a number of actions we can take. It wasn’t an exhaustive list, of course, only some possibilities.

Millions of Americans — including many who have been purged from their positions of responsibility — are standing up to Trump and Musk’s tyranny.

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski says the Senate phone system has been receiving around 1,600 calls each minute, compared to the 40 calls per minute it usually gets — thus disrupting the system.

We are beginning to flood Trump and Musk’s zone.

Let’s flood it out.

This coming April 19 will mark the 250th anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, which began the American Revolution and our war against monarchical power.

Anti-royalist militia in Massachusetts refused to disperse when ordered to by British troops. A shot was fired, and the troops kept firing, killing eight of those American resisters. Later that day, the militiamen returned that fire, killing a number of British soldiers. The revolution had begun.

Please don’t get me wrong. I do not advocate violence. I’m simply reminding you that this nation was founded on resistance to arbitrary authority. We built American democracy in the face of what seemed to be impossible odds.

And we will never, ever give up that fight.

My friend Harold Meyerson suggests that on April 19 we stage massive peaceful protests in every city and town — crowds of Americans celebrating the anti-monarchical uprising of 1775 and pledging their allegiance to that heritage by denouncing Trump’s increasingly autocratic rule: Thereby flooding Trump and Musk’s zone still further.

Sounds like a good idea to me. You?

2025 Life Logs, Day 39: Dining-in at the Baranowski’s
Date: Saturday, February 8, 2025
Weather: Sunny; Temp 32, Low 29 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Tonight, my dining-in group gathered at Peter and Karen Baranowski’s. My contribution was a lemony broccoli, white bean, and arugula salad. I had never made it before, so luckily it turned out to be quite tasty. The entrée tonight was a stuffed tiger shrimp dish which was also very tasty. We worked very hard to not talk about what is happening in our country right now as it is just too depressing. It seems like there is no end to the destruction. But, for tonight, I am going to put that out of my mind as those of us in this part of the world are bracing for a winter storm. We could get more snow tonight than we have seen for a while. So, I am going to go read myself to sleep in the hopes of waking up to a snowy world.

2025 Life Logs, Day 37: Taking a Break
Date: Thursday, February 6, 2025
Weather: Snow, Turning to Icy Rain; Temp 36, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

I am taking a break from writing about politics tonight. But thankfully, thousands of people across the country are not taking a break. They are pushing back. People are protesting, the Congressional phone system has been jammed by thousands of calls, lawsuits are being filed, judges are stopping some actions, and on and on. I am so grateful for everything people are doing. But all of that cannot help those people in need around the world that have been abandoned by USAID due to Trump’s actions. It is sickening and shameful.

But I had some things that I had to do today, so I put all of this on the back burner and forged by way through the day. I had a PT assessment to investigate the source of stiffness in my neck on the left side. It took 30 minutes to drive to the Spaulding Center for the hour-long assessment, and then another 30 minutes to drive home. The physical therapist asked me question after question and finally decided that the stiffness is caused by the way I sit when working on my computer. She is recommending that I get a wireless keyboard and find a way to sit my laptop at eye level with the keyboard located lower. That way I will not be continually leaning down in order to see the screen. I’ll work on that this weekend because when I got home, I rearranged things hoping to avoid buying the new equipment. But I can already tell that my make-shift move is not going to help. I am going to have to buy the keyboard and laptop stand.