by Judy Handley | Jan 29, 2020 | 2019 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 29: Leader of the Pack
Date: Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 39 degrees, Low 24 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today I had my first training session as a puppy owner. The first thing I learned is that Shadow thinks he is the leader of the pack, not me. And in an hour and a half I was given instruction on how to move myself into the leadership position. It all sounds so easy, but it is not. Shadow is a smart and headstrong puppy and I have to be smarter and more headstrong. We’ll have another ‘class’ in a week and half and we’ll see if I am able to be carry through with the instruction. Here’s the basic premise of the Dogman Training: “Dogs are domesticated wolves. To live successfully with your dog, you must be the pack leader. In order to get that message thru to your dog, there must be corrections. We use the leash and collar to correct our dogs because a correction on the neck makes sense to the dog.” It requires using a chain collar on Shadow and pulling or snapping it with the leash every time he doesn’t comply with instructions. I hate the idea, but I did see that it works. So, I will give it my best try. Already he walks with me on walks, not pulling me along. One of my assignments is to get him to sit and stay while I put food in front of him for a full five minutes before letting him eat. I managed 45 seconds today and that was not easy. So, we shall see. But I do like Joe, the trainer, and I will at least complete class number two before deciding if this is the training program for me and my Shadow. And the one really good thing about the session was that Shadow loved meeting Joe’s eight-month old puppy named Stubby. Shadow has not been around many other dogs, but he interacted very playfully with Stubby. Joe suggests I start taking him to the Dog Park to play with other dogs.
I took Ollie to his violin lesson this afternoon and afterwards we went to the Falmouth Pet Center and bought a couple of new fish for my aquarium. Ollie chose two Neon Tetras. Then tonight I played Mah Jongg. That is another challenging hurdle for me. Try as I might, I still can’t get all of the rules straight. But I love being with the group of women I play with and will continue on for the rest of winter and spring before deciding if this is something I want to continue.
by Judy Handley | Jan 1, 2020 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 365: Happy New Year to All
Date: Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Weather: Dreary and Misty; High 38, Low 28 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Happy New Year to all of you from me and my Shadow. We are having a quiet evening at home except for Shadow’s barking fits when fireworks go off. In fact, Shadow has been a little crazy all day. Maybe he is affected by the dreary weather. I know I am. It rained all day yesterday and today there was so little light inside that it was hard to see to work on my puzzle. So, I read and slept and cooked while Shadow ran around like a crazy pup. My friend Bruce Wooden posted this on my Facebook page a few days ago: “Having a puppy is like having a strong, fast, lightly armed infant that loves you unconditionally, but gets bored easily.” Yep. Even a long walk didn’t help today. We did take one nap together on the couch, but I was abruptly awakened with a wild black furry thing sitting on my head.
I got a text this evening that said, “SNOW, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW.” That was a message from Jonah. Evidently, they have had two days of snow in Maine and are headed to the slopes tomorrow for a few days of snowboarding and skiing before heading home. And then I got a Skype video call from Justin. The Handley-Hunts in Puerto Rico are bringing in the new year by camping out on the beach with many friends and lots of music. Ziggy was wearing the greatest 2020 gold rimmed glasses. And as soon as I hung up from talking to Justin, Lynne Kirwin called via Whats App from New Zealand. She is spending our winter, their summer, in New Zealand and is having a wonderful time connecting with friends. So from snowy Maine to tropic beaches to warm and wonderful New Zealand, I spent the last couple of hours of 2019 communicating with wonderful friends and family. And I just watched the ball drop in Times Square. Happy New Year to all!
by Judy Handley | Dec 30, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 364: Rainy Day
Date: Monday, December 30, 2019
Weather: Cold Rain; High 35, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today was a good reminder that it is winter. The sunshine and mild temperatures of the past few days abruptly ended last night when the it started raining. It didn’t get cold enough to freeze, but this morning when I first went out with Shadow, we didn’t stay out long. I came inside and got out my heaviest winter coat for the next trip outside. I continue to improve, feeling a bit better each day. But I won’t be going out on New Year’s Eve. I have launched into a few organizational projects and work stay home to work on those. If I can’t feel great for the first day of the new year, at least I can feel organized.
by Judy Handley | Dec 29, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 363: For the Love of Mangoes
Date: Sunday, December 29, 2019
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Rain Late; High 43, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
When Heather left for Maine, she gave me two mangoes that had come with her Misfits delivery and would go bad by the time they get home. I ate the first one the next day and felt like I had been transported to the tropics. It tasted soooooooo good. Then tonight, I cut into the second one and had a repeat performance. I honestly don’t remember tasting anything this good ever. So, thank you Heather! I do love mangoes.
My day today was more of the same. Last night I started working the 1,000 piece Vintage Christmas Cards puzzle Jonah got me for Christmas and I continued that today. It is a bit challenging with a puppy. I usually work my puzzles on my coffee table. But as I discovered this morning, I can’t leave any puzzle pieces down that low without losing them to Shadow. I thought I was being smarter than him by putting most of the puzzle pieces on a card table and putting just the pieces I am immediately working with on a piece of cardboard on the coffee table so I can move it higher when not working on it. I think my mistake was a trip to the bathroom. I didn’t put the puzzle up as I was going to be right back. But right back is just the right amount of time for a puppy to steal puzzle pieces. I fought the evidence by the front door later in the morning. And then I made the mistake of leaving the book I am reading on the couch when I made a trip to the kitchen. It was a brand new, beautiful hardback book that now has the back edge chewed nicely by Shadow. These things hadn’t happened in prior days as I wasn’t reading or working puzzles. The fact that I am now doing that is proof that I feel better, but my perfect little companion was only perfect when I gave him my full attention. I’ll have to get smarter about leaving anything within Shadow’s reach that I don’t want chewed to pieces.
As I write this log, we have two days, 1 hour, 46 minutes until 2020. My hope was to be rid of this cold by New Year’s Day, but I’m not sure that is going to happen. Yesterday and today were slightly better, but I still have to sleep sitting up to keep the coughing under control. But again today, I felt good enough to spend some time working outside in the beautiful sunshine. The weather forecast for the next week is for more of the same relatively warm days with sunshine, except for tomorrow and Friday when we will have rain. Tomorrow’s rain has already begun with sprinkles, but there is a 100 per cent chance that we will get more than sprinkles by tomorrow . . . a good day for more reading and working on that puzzle.
by Judy Handley | Dec 28, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 362: Slow and Steady
Date: Saturday, December 28, 2019
Weather: Sunny; High 47, Low 32 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I would love to take one giant leap back to being totally healthy, but reality dictates that I must be satisfied with slow and steady progress. I do feel a tad better today and was able to be out and about doing laundry and running errands, so for that I am very grateful. But I’m afraid my goal of being rid of this cold by New Year’s Day might be a bit too ambitious. Shadow continues to be my best buddy. He really has been the perfect companion and I am so glad that I have him. We took a nice long walk today and played in the yard during the sunniest and warmest part of the day. Then we were back on the couch together. I think he likes the slower life style this cold has imposed on us.
by Judy Handley | Dec 27, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 361: Where in the World is Windbird?
Date: Friday, December 27, 2019
Weather: Overcast, but Warm; High 52, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
A number of people have asked me where in the world Windbird is these days and whether or not I will be sailing with Sam and Dawn this winter. So, I’ll bring you up-to-date. Windbird spent the summer tucked away in Curacao in the southern Caribbean, while Sam and Dawn lived with friends in the Pacific Northwest during Sam’s working summer months. Their plan was to return to Curacao in November, get Windbird ready for another sailing season, and then spend time in the San Blas in Panama and slowly work their way up through the western Caribbean. I had hoped to join them, maybe in the San Blas. They planned to end the season in New York City where they planned to live aboard for a couple of years. Some of those plans changed abruptly in late October when they bought a 2.3 acre lot on an airstrip at the top of the Kitsap peninsula, 15 miles west of Seattle. “ It’s just trees & grass taxiways now, but in a few years we’ll build our Northwoods dream nest, a hangar, a shop, a yard for Piper to run around…. We’ve enjoyed our life on the water and will continue to live & cruise aboard Windbird for a few years, but in the meantime we’re also building our land & air future together!” This purchase changed the immediate plans as Sam now needs to get back to work to pay for this. So, they decided to sail Windbird from Curacao to Bonaire and then make a quick run back to Florida where they will live aboard this winter so Sam can get back to work. On December 3, they left Bonaire and arrived in Fort Pierce, Florida on December 13. 
Sam posted on Facebook: “We did it! Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles to Fort Pierce, Florida, 1293 nautical miles in 8 days 19 hours 30 minutes (plus a 31-hour pause for weather in Grand Bahama), a fast-for-us average of 6.11 knots. We had a couple patches of rougher seas – including last night in the Gulf Stream – but Windbird handled them with aplomb and never missed a beat. With this passage the Caribbean cruising chapter of our life ends, but other adventures await. Tomorrow we’ll arrive at our winter home of Cocoa Village Marina where we’ll stay as I finish 737 Captain training & get on the line, then we’ll move Windbird up to New York City for the summer!” That’s update on where in the world Windbird is these days.
The update from here is not so rosy. My cold is no better. I actually started the day feeling a bit better, but then I couldn’t resist spending part of the afternoon outside as it was in the 50’s. Shadow and I enjoyed our time outside, but when we came in, I started coughing and felt lousy. Other than an early morning trip to the veterinarian for Shadow’s first rabies shot, we spent the rest of the day being couch potatoes . . . again. Maybe tomorrow.
