by Judy Handley | Sep 10, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 254: Kevin and Claire Arrive
Date: Sunday, September 10, 2023
Weather: Overcast, Humid, A Little Rain; High 77, Low 68 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
It was not a beautiful day outside today, but it was certainly a beautiful one inside. Kevin and Claire arrived mid-afternoon. We spent the afternoon catching up on life and preparing for a family dinner tonight. Heather, Jed, and boys were returning from a weekend camping trip late this afternoon and were then going to join us. Tomorrow is the 7th anniversary of Mark’s death and I wanted our dinner to be a celebration of his life. I don’t know if Kevin and Claire adopted Mark and me, or we adopted them, but from the time we met, Kevin and Claire were family. So, it was fabulous to have them with us tonight. If only Justin and family could have been here, it would have been complete.
Kevin and Claire are my friends, but they are the ages of my children. Kevin and Justin share the same birthdate of September 14, just not the same year. Kevin, Claire, and Jed all went to undergraduate school at Yale, so they have that in common. And we all love sailing, so there is always a lot to talk about. The table will piled high with food and we devoured most of it, and talked way past bedtime for the boys who have to go to school early in the morning.
But I wouldn’t trade the time we had together for anything. I almost felt like Mark was there with us.
by Judy Handley | Sep 9, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 253: Canning Day
Date: Saturday, September 9, 2023
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 80, Low 69 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Today was canning day for those tomatoes I processed yesterday. I ended up with 24 pints of marinara sauce from the 30 pounds of organic sauce tomatoes.
Hopefully with what is left over from last year, this will be enough to get the Goldstones through the winter.
Tomorrow my good friends Kevin and Claire arrive. They can only stay a couple of days, but we’ll just make the best of the time we have together. Today I heard from another friend, Peppe Christianson, and she and her sister that she is visiting in New Hampshire are hoping to come for a few days, arriving on September 23. And then Lynne Kirwin, my friend who lives in New Zealand but visits with family in Michigan each summer, is hoping to come right after that to spend a few days. My September days are filling up quickly! But that is fine with me as I am really looking forward to the visits.
by Judy Handley | Sep 8, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 252: Tomatoes
Date: Friday, September 8, 2023
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 82, Low 71 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
It is that time, time to process tomatoes and can marinara sauce for the winter. So, my day was mostly spent in the kitchen.
But when I did go out on the deck for a break, the hummingbird that loves my firecracker plant came to visit. I tried to get a photo, but this is when I realized the limits of a cell phone camera.
My Google Pixel phone camera is great, but it can’t capture small, fast-moving creatures like a hummingbird. Made me think I need to buy a ‘real’ camera.
Tomorrow, I spend the day canning tomatoes, and then on Sunday, Kevin and Claire arrive. Heather and family are in western Massachusetts for the weekend. They are all doing a Boy Scout camp out weekend with white water rafting tomorrow. I never knew there were places to do white water rafting in this state, but there certainly are. Can’t wait to hear all about it.
by Judy Handley | Sep 7, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 251: Some Like It Hot
Date: Thursday, September 7, 2023
Weather: Hot; High 84, Felt Like 91, Low 70 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Some like it hot, and I am one of those people. I love summer and I love hot weather, just not extremely hot weather. Here on the Cape, we often have a ‘hot’ first week of school, but that ‘hot’ weather is usually in the 70’s. A high temperature of 84 that feels like 91 in September on the Cape is hotter than normal. Sam and Jonah were both supposed to have soccer games at 4 pm this afternoon, but those games had to rescheduled for 6 pm due to the extreme heat. I went out to play catch with Shadow at 6 pm as I do most every day, and today he simply stopped playing and fell to the ground. He does that when he is tired, but today he didn’t get up. I finally got him to drink some water and then he went to the door to wait to get back inside. He has never done that before. I know that people in other parts of this country and around the world have high temps 20 degrees or more higher that we do, but this is just scary. I saw an article in the NYT yesterday with a title something to the effect of, “What are the High Temperatures in Your City Going to be in the Future?” I didn’t read it, but I am going to go back and find that article. We can’t bury our heads in the sand. We have to be prepared. And I have to remember to not run my Shadow so hard when it is this hot. What was I thinking?
My project today and tomorrow is processing the 30 pounds of organic paste tomatoes that I bought yesterday. I waited too late this year and won’t be able to buy my usual 90 to 120 pounds to turn into marinara sauce. We will just have to make do with less this winter or breakdown and buy commercially canned organic sauce. A few years ago, when Heather and I started the annual canning of enough marina sauce to get them through the winter, there was no organic sauce to buy. At least now we have that option.
by Judy Handley | Sep 6, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 250: Happy 20th Anniversary to Heather and Jed
Date: Wednesday, September 6, 2023
Weather: Hot and Hazy; High 81, Low 69 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
When I talked to Justin on Sunday, he asked me what I thought about having a son with a graying beard. And today Heather and Jed celebrated 20 years of marriage. I guess both should make me feel old, but they don’t. I’m just grateful that both of my children are happily married and that each is living their version of the good life. I went back through my photos this evening to see what we were doing on September 6 of each year since 2003. Of course, in 2003 we were in Boothbay, Maine, surrounded by family for a fabulous wedding weekend.
Then it was not until Mark and I returned from our sail around the world that I have photos of Heather, Jed, and boys on the anniversary day. In 2011, we were all (minus Ollie who was not yet born) having an anniversary dinner aboard Windbird in Woods Hole for the 8th anniversary.
01 Anniversary Dinner on Windbird
For number 10 in 2013, Heather and Jed went out dinner while Mark and I stayed with the boys. It was the first year that the anniversary photo included all three boys.
01 Look What Ten Years Can Do
A milestone. In 2017, I went with the whole family to Anejo on Main Street in Falmouth to celebrate number 14,
and then in 2021, we had a family dinner on the deck to celebrate the 18th anniversary and Rosh Hashanah.
Tonight’s photo was the first I have with no children in it.
Number 10 was the first with all three kids in the picture and number 20 is with none. Another milestone in life. Last year, September 6th was the first day of school and I have no anniversary photo—just photos of boys. Tonight, Heather and Jed went out to dinner at Bleu in Mashpee, and I am holding down the fort with those three boys. Happy Anniversary, Heather and Jed. Unless I live to be 96, I won’t be around for another 20 years, but I can only imagine what those years will bring … college and careers for Sam, Jonah, and Ollie, hopefully three marriages that will be as loving and lasting as Heather and Jed’s has been, grandchildren, and retirement years. Mark and I were married for 42 years, and each year just got better and better. I hope the same for Heather and Jed. At the 20-year mark, they have only just begun.
I enjoyed a wonderful morning sailing aboard L’Escargot
with Jane and Bruce Woodin and Sam Paterson.
It was a truly delightful sail. We had about 7 knots of wind, but as Bruce said, Sam is the master of sailing in light winds. Thank you, Bruce, Jane, and Sam. 
But I wouldn’t trade the time we had together for anything. I almost felt like Mark was there with us. 
