by Judy Handley | Mar 22, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 81: Laura Knoy and Ollie’s Second Birthday Cake
Date: Sunday, March 22, 2026
Weather: Overcast, Rain in the PM; High Temp 45, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I got a text from my good friend Detta this afternoon saying she was going to a hear Laura Knoy talk about the book she wrote. Mark hired Laura soon after we moved to New Hampshire in the early 1990’s. She was from New Hampshire originally, but at the time she was working part time at WAMU in Washington, DC. Mark wanted her to do a morning call in show to launch on New Hampshire Public Radio. Her show was a smashing success and as the years rolled by, Laura became more like family than an employee. The last time I saw her was a year or two after Mark died and she told me she was planning to ‘retire’ so she could write a book about a family story. I knew that she had retired, and I had heard that she writing the book, but not until this afternoon did I know it has been published. About an hour after I first heard from Detta, I received another text with a photo of Laura and Detta and other photos of a personal note to me inside the cover of one of her books. It was so exciting to find out that she realized her dream and that I will get to read her book as soon as Detta sends it to me.
I did some house cleaning and cooking today, I think for the first time in two weeks! And we had another little birthday celebration for Ollie tonight with a birthday cake with 14 candles, instead of just the one candle the cake had last night. Tonight’s candles had flames of different colors and two candles that kept relighting. They were quite the hit.
by Judy Handley | Mar 21, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 80: Happy Birthday to Ollie
Date: Saturday, March 21, 2026
Weather: Sunny Day, Milder Weather; High Temp 51, Low 35 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
On this first day of spring 2026 it actually felt like New England spring day, and Ollie celebrated his 14th birthday. It was wonderful to welcome spring without it feeling like the dead of winter. And although I still cannot believe Ollie is 14, we had a fun day of family times together. The 48th annual Falmouth STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) Fair, what we used to call a Science Fair, was this morning and both Ollie and Jonah were recognized for their achievements. So that was a great start to the day.
I left the STEAM Fair to go to the weekly rally on the Green, and then afterwards, I meth Heather, Jed, and Ollie downtown for a birthday lunch at the Tap City Grille on Main Street. Then it was home for present opening. Ollie got a new zoom lens for the camera he got for Christmas. This lens has a 70-300 mm capability and should be good for taking bird and sports photos, both of which he is interested in. Parents and grandmothers went in on the gift, and I had made arrangements for Ollie to go on a teaching photo shoot with a photographer friend who specializes in bird photos. Heather and I were both very surprised at how excited Ollie seemed by that. Teenagers normally think they know everything and aren’t interested in ’lessons’, but this time it worked.
Then tonight, Heather and Jed went out to the Falmouth Education Foundation yearly affair and I did dinner and spent the evening with Jonah and Ollie. We had sushi take-out from a Chinese restaurant in town, and it came with fortune cookies. Ollie read his and then I read mine. It said, “A long-lost memory may resurface tonight.” That prompted Ollie to tell me that he had recently done a writing assignment connecting their sailboat, Ardenna, to Windbird. And to him, Windbird is a ‘long-lost memory’. So, he asked me to share some of those memories with him. A full two-hours later we were jolted back to reality when Heather and Jed got home. Who knew a fortune cookie could spark such a wonderful conversation? Ollie asked me to share some memories from Windbird and that led us to the map on their dining room wall where I did a geography-based tour around the world. Then I asked if he would like to see some photos of the places I had just told him about. He did, so we went into the living room, and I got out my computer. Away we went around the world looking at photos from my top 10 favorite places. Ollie had all sorts of interesting questions, and it was almost like the world stopped for 2 full hours while we traveled. None of my grandchildren have ever asked about the voyage of Windbird, so this is the first time I have ever shared the full story with any of them. Jonah was in the room watching a soccer game, but he must have been listening, as he chimed in a couple of times. It was a wonderful evening, and all because of a fortune cookie!
When Heather and Jed got home, we celebrated with birthday cake. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day. Congratulations to Ollie and Jonah for their award winning science (Jonah) and engineering (Ollie) projects. Happy birthday to Ollie. Welcome spring. And thanks to that fortune cookie for causing those memories to resurface tonight.
by Judy Handley | Mar 20, 2026 | Cape Cod, USA |
2026 Life Logs, Day 79: All Work and No Play
Date: Friday, March 20, 2026
Weather: Mostly Sunny Day, Rain Tonight; High Temp 408 Low 38 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I literally sat at my computer for more than 9 hours today, only taking breaks to take Shadow outside and eat a quick lunch, so literally nothing to write about. But I will wish Jed’s mom, Marti, a happy birthday, and look forward to having a sushi dinner with Ollie tomorrow for his birthday. And tomorrow is going to be a little warmer. Maybe it will actually feel like the first day of spring.
by Judy Handley | Mar 19, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 78: Another Crazy, Busy Day in the Life
Date: Thursday, March 19, 2026
Weather: More of the Same—Sunny and Chilly; High Temp 40, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
In addition to my already truly busy life, I took on a job for pay just this week and all of the work needs to be completed by tomorrow. In between that work today, I had a dental appointment to have a tooth crowned. I came home from that and did a little more work and then I was off to an Exploring Public Policy meeting. The presentation today was focused on water quality management in Falmouth. And then I was off to a Falmouth Immigrant Rights Coalition Community Watch training. This time I was going as an attendee, not as the workshop organizer. Bu unfortunately, not enough people showed up. The training will be rescheduled and I’ll try again. Heather had also showed up as an attendee and as we were leaving, she invited me to come over for dinner. I latched on to that invitation immediately and enjoyed the time catching up on what’s happening in the Goldstone household. The busy life will continue tomorrow morning.
by Judy Handley | Mar 18, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 77: OLAUG to NO KINGS
Date: Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Chilly; High Temp 37, Low 27 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
The Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage (OLAUG) presented at this morning’s Encore program meeting. And what a dynamic group they are. Susan Baur, an 86 year-old author of oceanography books turned psychologist, founded OLAUG after years of solo evening swims in Cape Cod’s freshwater ponds. During these swims, she learned to love the turtles that shared their ponds with her. That relationship led her to find a way to help them by clearing garbage out their ponds, improving the water quality. In 2018, she recruited two other women to help her. Her solo effort has now gained national and even international interest. Other places around this country are reaching out to Cape Cod’s OLAUG to learn now to form their own OLAUG team. At this morning’s meeting, we got to hear all about their history and current work. After the meeting, I had a wonderful conversation with Susan Baur. She has a book coming out in September and I can’t wait to read it.
The remainder of the day was work, work, work and last night was attending a two-hour webinar on getting prepared for No Kings on March 28. We have already had our in-person training here in Falmouth, but I like to keep track of what others are doing.
