by Judy Handley | Sep 7, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 250: Welcome Home, Goldstones
Date: Monday, September 7, 2020
Weather: Sunny; High 75, Low 63 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
The Goldstones returned from their family vacation in Maine this evening. The boys were so excited to tell me of all of their adventures and I was so glad to see them. I bought pulled pork at Wicked N’ Wood, an outdoor barbecue take-out, made fresh buns, coleslaw, and mac and cheese and took it over so they wouldn’t have to cook on their first night home. Earlier in the day I went over to clean the guinea pig cages and make sure everything was ready for their arrival. It’s great to have them home.
Normally, school would be starting just after Labor Day. But not this year. I know I don’t have to remind you that everything is different this year in these Covid times. School here starts on September 21, so the boys have two more weeks of summer freedom. I’ll be continuing Camp Oma during the next two weeks, but there will be a break of a couple of days when Jed’s brother Tobi and his significant other, Stephanie, come to visit at the beginning of next week. I’m still not clear exactly what ‘school’ is going to look like for the boys as plans are evolving. The one thing that I think we have all had to learn during the past few months is to not depend on plans as things change so quickly. I know I have had to become much more flexible. Probably not a bad thing.
by Judy Handley | Sep 6, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 249: Happy Anniversary to Heather and Jed
Date: Sunday, September 6, 2020
Weather: Sunny; High 78, Low 62 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Today was a beautiful day, much like the day that Heather and Jed got married 17 years ago on Saturday, September 6, 2003. The wedding destination was in Boothbay, Maine, at Spruce Point Resort. Jed’s family has a summer home in Boothbay and the oceanside Spruce Point Resort was the perfect place for their wedding. They are in Boothbay today, so I hope they got to drive out to Spruce Point in honor of their wedding day. Happy 17th to Heather and Jed.
I completed canning the tomatoes today and spent time talking to Justin and family in Puerto Rico and to Lynne Kirwin in New Zealand. Heather and family return tomorrow and I am anxious to see them. And let this gorgeous weather continue forever. It has truly been absolutely beautiful.
by Judy Handley | Sep 5, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 248: Back to Tomatoes
Date: Saturday, September 5, 2020
Weather: Sunny; High 77, Low 59 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
This log didn’t get posted yesterday because my computer took hours to update. I went to write my log at 9 pm, but my computer said it was updating. I know they have to do this from time to time, but it usually happens overnight. I waited patiently until 10 pm, then 11 pm, and finally midnight. It was still updating, so I gave up. It wasn’t a very exciting day anyway. It was a beautiful day, but I spent most of it processing the last half of the 30 pounds of tomatoes I got earlier in the week. I did take an hour out of the afternoon to just sit in the sun. Tomorrow I will can the tomatoes and be done with marinara sauce for this year!
by Judy Handley | Sep 4, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 247: Judy Handley Squared
Date: Friday, September 4, 2020
Weather: Sunny and Hot; High 83, Low 59 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Can you believe there are really two of us? Today I met with another Judy Handley. Here is what she posted on Facebook: “Today’s happy meeting between two strangers, now friends. The reason? .. we are both named Judy Handley, and we both live in Falmouth. My namesake is way more interesting than I am, but we got along great, and we look forward to figuring out ways of getting to know each other with COVID restrictions. Maybe I can think of something as exciting about my life as her … among other things…sailing around the world for six years on a 42 foot sailboat.”
And here is what I added: “Now I must add that the other Judy Handley has done things in her life that I find fascinating. For one, she taught middle school for her entire career. That makes her a saint! And after retiring, she trained and became a guide at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The stories of the people she has met through that connection are so interesting. I must admit that it is a strange feeling to meet someone with your same name. It kind of felt like we were long lost friends. We will definitely continue to meet and get to know one another.”
It did feel surreal to meet another person with the same name, but we hit it off right away.
Judy and her partner Craig met me on Main Street. Craig went to the French bakery to get coffee for all of us and we sat at a picnic table on the library lawn and talked for two hours. Judy and I are both retired teachers and both of us lost our husbands to colon cancer. The other Judy has lived in the same part of Massachusetts all of her life while I have bounced all over the country. She is a Handley by birth. I am a Handley through marriage. She is tall; I am short. She’s an Aires’ I’m a Pisces. So, we have some similarities and some differences in the paths our lives have taken. But I really felt like I was meeting a kindred soul and I look forward to opportunities to get to know each other better.
This evening I went to the Baranowskis for dinner. We had barbecued ribs, coleslaw, and calico beans. The food was fabulous, but as always the company was even more awesome. Bob and Jan Paninski, also Newscomers, were also there and were celebrating their 44th wedding anniversary. Great evening. And congratulations to Bob and Jan.
by Judy Handley | Sep 3, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 246: A Very Special Group of Friends
Date: Thursday, September 3, 2020
Weather: Overcast Misty Rain, Clearing Late PM; High 75, Low 69 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
This afternoon at 4 pm, my Newcomers Dining-in Group came here for our September get-together. Karen and Peter Baranowski joined with me in hosting this evening’s affair on the deck of my landlord next door, Shirley Wiedemann, who is also Karen’s aunt. Shirley is currently staying at her sister Doris’ home in Scituate, but she said we could use her deck for our gathering. Shirley’s deck is elevated and overlooks the Eel River. The view is beautiful and I was hoping that by being elevated above ground level we would have fewer insects. But that theory didn’t bear out. No-see-ums evidently don’t care about elevation. At least we didn’t have mosquitoes. So that was a good thing. The misty rain that we had all day was supposed to stop by 2 pm, but it did persist through the first hour of our gathering. Then it cleared. So that was another good thing. I love getting together with this group. The conversations are always lively and over the past three years, we have all become very good friends. Due to Covid, we have met outside this summer, all of us bringing our own food and keeping appropriate social distancing. In anticipation of cooler weather, we will meet in the Baranowski’s two-car garage in October with the doors open. If weather allows, we can pull out chairs out into the driveway. We are going to have to get very creative to think how we might be able to continue to meet in person during the winter. If our creativity fails us, we’ll go back to Zoom meetings. But by whatever means, we will continue our monthly gatherings.
