by Judy Handley | Jul 14, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 195: Back to Work
Date: Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Weather: Partly Cloudy and Windy; High Temp 786 Low 71 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I was all over the place today. I had a 10 am Board of Library Trustees meeting that unexpectedly lasted until noon. I flew home to eat breakfast/lunch, and was then off to see my sister. I did not get to see her yesterday, but she was great today. When I left she was going on a virtual field trip to see the tall ships in Boston. The Life Enrichment folks at Bridges are amazing. They keep the residents engaged in creative activities all day every day.
While sitting outside with my sister, I sent a text to my friend Karen Baranowski asking about Peter. He had a knee replacement last week and it was a rough week for both Karen and Peter, with very little sleep for either one of them and a lot pain on Peter’s part. But in response to my text early this afternoon, she said they are back on track and invited me to stop by on my way home from seeing my sister at Bridges. So, I did. Karen and I had alone time on the porch to ‘debrief’ while Peter was inside working with the physical therapist. I was so glad to see first-hand that they both doing fine now.
Then I was off to the grocery store to buy things for a taco dinner with the Goldpebbles. Heather had Select Board tonight starting at 5:45 pm and was still going strong at 11:20 pm when I turned the local FCTV broadcast of the meeting off. I was watching because there was a presentation and then a vote tonight to put the debt for the proposed East Falmouth Library project on the November ballot. Jed had a Board of Health meeting beginning at 5:30. So, I was in charge of dinner for the boys. I dropped the groceries at Heather and Jed’s and took Ollie to the Falmouth Country Club for a golf lesson at 5 pm. Then I went home to play with and feed Shadow and pick up more supplies for dinner. Back to pick up Ollie and then to Heather and Jed’s to fix dinner. Sam had just arrived home when Ollie and I got there. He went to Boston today to see the Amerigo Vespucci tall ship and was headed back out to play soccer at the high school and pick up Jonah and bring him home after Jonah’s soccer practice. Jonah and Sam got home around 8:15 pm, just as Ollie and I were eating dinner. The sweaty soccer players both took a shower and joined us and then Jed got home to have a late dinner with us as well. I call these busy Monday nights at the Goldstones ‘rolling’ dinners. Something tells me things are getting back to normal. This kind of ‘all over the place’ day sounds very normal to me!
by Judy Handley | Jul 13, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 194: All Over the Place
Date: Monday, July 13, 2026
Weather: Some Sun, Some Clouds, Windy; High Temp 78, Low 68 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I was all over the place today. I had a 10 am Board of Library Trustees meeting that unexpectedly lasted until noon. I flew home to eat breakfast/lunch, and was then off to see my sister. I did not get to see her yesterday, but she was great today. When I left she was going on a virtual field trip to see the tall ships in Boston. The Life Enrichment folks at Bridges are amazing. They keep the residents engaged in creative activities all day every day.
While sitting outside with my sister, I sent a text to my friend Karen Baranowski asking about Peter. He had a knee replacement last week and it was a rough week for both Karen and Peter, with very little sleep for either one of them and a lot pain on Peter’s part. But in response to my text early this afternoon, she said they are back on track and invited me to stop by on my way home from seeing my sister at Bridges. So, I did. Karen and I had alone time on the porch to ‘debrief’ while Peter was inside working with the physical therapist. I was so glad to see first-hand that they both doing fine now.
Then I was off to the grocery store to buy things for a taco dinner with the Goldpebbles. Heather had Select Board tonight starting at 5:45 pm and was still going strong at 11:20 pm when I turned the local FCTV broadcast of the meeting off. I was watching because there was a presentation and then a vote tonight to put the debt for the proposed East Falmouth Library project on the November ballot. Jed had a Board of Health meeting beginning at 5:30. So, I was in charge of dinner for the boys. I dropped the groceries at Heather and Jed’s and took Ollie to the Falmouth Country Club for a golf lesson at 5 pm. Then I went home to play with and feed Shadow and pick up more supplies for dinner. Back to pick up Ollie and then to Heather and Jed’s to fix dinner. Sam had just arrived home when Ollie and I got there. He went to Boston today to see the Amerigo Vespucci tall ship and was headed back out to play soccer at the high school and pick up Jonah and bring him home after Jonah’s soccer practice. Jonah and Sam got home around 8:15 pm, just as Ollie and I were eating dinner. The sweaty soccer players both took a shower and joined us and then Jed got home to have a late dinner with us as well. I call these busy Monday nights at the Goldstones ‘rolling’ dinners. Something tells me things are getting back to normal. This ‘all over the place’ day sounds very normal to me!
by Judy Handley | Jul 11, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 192: Holding My Breath
Date: Saturday, July 11, 2026
Weather: Gorgeous Day; High Temp 83, Low 61 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I desperately wanted to go to Boston today to see the parade of tall ships as they sailed into the Boston Harbor. But I would have been going by myself, and last night I decided that I just didn’t have the energy to do it. Mark and I saw the Parade of Tall Ships from the water in 2000 aboard Skybreaker. The USS Constitution had to be towed, but as it passed by Skybreaker, it was the thrill of a lifetime. And then Sam, who bought Windbird in 2016, met me in Boston for the Parade of Tall Ships in June of 2017. So I have seen this spectacular event, but today was special because it was in honor of the 250th. My friend Midge Frieswyk did go today, and she sent some phenomenal photos. I enjoyed this parade of tall ships vicariously.
I spent part of my morning going for a nice long walk with Shadow and then worked on planning for this week’s Indivisible Falmouth’s monthly meeting. Then I went to the Saturday rally for democracy on the Village Green, came home to have lunch, went to Heather’s to have her help me with more technology issues, got to say welcome home to Ollie, and then I was off to Bridges to see Patsy.
It was a gorgeous day, so we had a nice walk in the garden. She commented on the beautiful blue sky. I told her that color of blue is what I call Cape Cod Blue and that now that she lives on Cape Cod, she will see more of those blue skies. That seemed to please her. So, I am holding my breath in the hope that Patsy continues to make the adjustment to her new home.
There are so many things I still need to do to get my sister’s medical issues settled, so that constantly weighs on my mind. But for the third day in a row, she has been in such a good mood when I go visit, and she looks so good. I am holding my breath, thinking this is too good to be true. But for now, I’ll take this new Patsy. She talks with me and tells me very ‘interesting’ stories that I know have some base in reality, but she has no sense of time or place. But the Life Enrichment staff at Bridges actually got her to play Bingo today and they said she seemed to understand the game. Since she moved to Terra Bella in North Carolina in 2021, no one has been able to engage her in any sort of activity. Again, I am cautiously optimistic.
I have spent way too much of my evening watching soccer. At 5 pm the England vs Norway played. The entire living room at the Goldstones were cheering for Norway, but I stayed home this evening to watch with Shadow, and I wanted England to win for no specific reason. Maybe I chose them in honor of my daughter-in-law Jo who is from England. England won in overtime and then there was just time to go outside with Shadow and come into fix dinner before the Argentina vs Switzerland quarterfinal started. For this game, Argentina was my team because of Messi. The are the reigning champions and I would like to see Messi and company win one last World Cup. They won tonight in overtime and will play England on Wednesday.
by Judy Handley | Jul 10, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 191: Happy 93rd Birthday to Patsy
Date: Friday, July 10, 2026
Weather: Partly Sunny, Thunder Shower Tonight; High Temp 82, Low 66 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I started my day by having a breakfast ‘meeting’ with a good friend and then I was off to Bridges to have a birthday lunch with my sister. Just the two of us ate together in the library-game room. Today’s lunch was salad followed by grilled salmon topped with a mango and champagne grape salsa, with smashed Parmesan herbed (from the Bridges’ garden) peewee potatoes and roasted Brussel sprouts. Not bad. I gave her one of those Hallmark popup birthday cake cards to decorate our table, but then they brought in a real cake and we sang Happy Birthday.
After lunch she had a pre-arranged Facetime call with her daughter Janet who lives in an assisted living facility in Ohio and she had a call from her sister-in-law, also named Judy. After lunch she was off to a ukulele group performance. I left at that point because I had a Board of Library Trustees’ meeting back in Falmouth, but I do think she had a happy birthday.
Once home from the meeting at the library, I spent an hour on the phone dealing with medical ‘red tape’ associated with trying to get PT for Patsy. After that, I needed a change of pace, so I listened to a couple of Heather’s podcast, Not a Climate Scientist, and to yesterday’s Indivisible weekly call, What’s the Plan? I definitely needed to think about something other than medical issues, and I really enjoyed the ‘change of scenery’.
I saw on Facebook that Ollie had a good last full day of Scout summer camp at Camp Yawgoog in Rhode Island. I am not sure what a Bow Cap is, but evident it is a positive thing to receive. “Finally, to the important business of the Bow Cap! Today’s holders, Bowie and Jay, selected Ollie as the next recipient. They praised Ollie for the way he consistently mentors our younger scouts, whether demonstrating CPR, explaining how town government works, or simply taking the time to teach and encourage others throughout the week. Congratulations, Ollie—well deserved!” I will have to get the full story on this when Ollie returns home tomorrow afternoon.
by Judy Handley | Jul 9, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 190: Better Day
Date: Thursday, July 9, 2026
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 77, Low 69 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
When I got to Bridges to visit with my sister at 4 pm this afternoon, she was in such a good mood that it truly lifted my spirits. We had a nice walk in garden (me pushing her in a wheel chair), she opened a couple of birthday cards that she was holding on to when I arrived, and we had the best conversation we have had since she arrived. So I will take that as a WIN!
I spent my morning working on preparing an end of the fiscal year report that goes to the town from the Board of Library Trustees. As Treasurer, that is my job, as well as formulating a budget for next year. I will meet with the other two Trustees who serve on the Resource Committee with me on Monday morning to continue that process. Then I headed to the library for a special meeting of the Resource Committee about future budgeting for the East Falmouth Library project. That project just got moved up by two years, but we have to get this on the November ballot to get the approval of the people of the town for the budget override. Getting this job done is doing to take a lot of effort and more meetings than usual.
This evening, I went to Heather and Jed’s so Heather could help me get a new phone set up for sister. It will only be used to monitor her blood sugar levels, but as a ‘new’ refurbished phone, it had to be set up. Thank you, Heather!
