by Judy Handley | Jan 3, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 03: Family Snowboarding and a North Conway Explore
Date: Saturday, January 3, 2026
Weather: Overcast, Cold, and Windy; High Temp 22, Low Temp 10 degrees F
Location: With My Family in Intervale, NH
During the morning when the rest of the family was snowboarding, I stayed home and caught up on writing my logs for the past three days. When I checked the weather for the day, I saw that at 11 am this morning, it was 19 degrees F. But with the wind chill factored in, it felt like 0 F. I worried that it might be too cold for the snowboarders and skiers, but not so. They returned in the early afternoon, all happy with their morning on the mountain. It was then that I learned that Justin wore Jed’s banana costume all morning on the slopes and became Attitash ‘famous’ as Mr. Banana!
Sam was leaving to drive home, so he and the other kids decided we were going out to lunch in North Conway so Sam could be with us. We scratched the idea of doing the Conway Scenic Rail trip so we could spend the last little bit of time with Sam. And when he headed home, the rest of us would do a little exploration of the shops downtown. Ollie found a place called The Moat and it was a great choice.
The portions were huge and everyone loved their choice, so it was a win. When lunch was over, we all said farewell to Sam and then drove downtown. Fun shops and another bookstore where Coco managed to find even more books to buy. Her carry on is going to be quite heavy headed home.
Earlier today there was some concern that Justin and family will not be able to fly home tomorrow. We learned that the US had abducted Maduro in Venezuela and taken him temporarily to Puerto Rico. So, all flights to and from San Juan were put on hold. But from what we can tell, the hold on flights has been lifted. That is good news. But just when you think the totally out of control regime in this country can’t come up with one more thing more outrageous than the last, they do. I am going to focus on enjoying every minute with my family and not concentrate on this last, most outrageous move until Justin and family are home safely.
Tomorrow morning, I head to Boston with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco and Heather, Jed, Jonah, and Ollie head home to Falmouth. The trip to Boston is going to be an all day affair. We will take the scenic route and leave here, drive north and west to Crawford Notch, on to the Mt. Washington Hotel area where we might take the Cog Railway half-way up Mt. Washington. Then to Franconia Notch where we turn and head south to Concord. Justin wants to stop in Concord and do a little tour of St. Paul’s where he went to high school as Ziggy and Coco have never been there. Finally, we will head to Boston. Their flight is supposed to leave at 7:30 pm. PR is an hour ahead of us, so they will arrive in San Juan after midnight and spend the night there before heading home on Monday morning. At least, this is the plan. We’ll see what really happens. Stay tuned.
by Judy Handley | Jan 2, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 02: Family Snowboarding at Attitash and Oma Roadrunner
Date: Friday, January 2, 2026
Weather: Sunny and Cold; High Temp 16, Low Temp 9 degrees F in Intervale, NH
Location: With My Family in Intervale, NH
Today was a family snowboarding day at Attitash Mountain Resort for everyone but me.
Skiing is something I tried once in 1991 and said never again. It is just not my thing. So, I was happy to volunteer to run errands today. But even that turned into an adventure! Sam has only has a few days more at home and one of his best friends flew in from Montana after Sam left on New Year’s Day. So, he is driving home early to be with Ethan. But when Sam got here yesterday, his back passenger tire was so low it couldn’t be driven. I offered to work on the tire issue today while I was out food shopping.
After delivering Justin and crew to the mountain, I headed home to call AAA to come pump up the tire so I could drive it to a tire place to see if it could be patched. I also called the 3 places that could check the tire and repair it and found only one who said they ‘might’ be able to work me in. The woman wouldn’t set the appointment time until AAA came to make sure the tire would hold air. Also, when we got to Attitash, we realized one of the lunch bags had been left at home, so I volunteered to drive that back at 12:30. The AAA guy was supposed to arrive at 10:40, but he didn’t get here until after 11:30. He pumped up the tire and it seemed to be holding, so I called the tire place and they wanted me there at 1:00 pm. That started the adventure of getting the lunch bag to Attitash by 12:30, which required a rather long walk on solid ice from the overflow parking area and back to the car, and then driving home to change cars and drive the 20-minutes to Conway to the tire place. I made it by 1:10, but then the wait started. I was to be back to Attitash by 3:30. But the wait for the tire was almost 2 hours, so it was 3 pm before I could head north, stop at the store, drop the groceries off at home, change cars, and get back to Attitash. I felt like I was in a marathon! I was a little late picking up the crew at the mountain, but they didn’t mind hanging out in the ski lodge. It just made for a whirlwind of an afternoon for me.
Tonight, all is well. We had food for dinner, Sam’s tire is fixed, and everyone had a really good time on the mountain today.
The afternoon was challenging as it got icy, so tomorrow might just be a half day of snowboarding with maybe a ride on the Conway Scenic Railway in the afternoon. Ot maybe we’ll just chill.
by Judy Handley | Jan 1, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 01: First Snow of 2026 and Trip North to New Hampshire
Date: Thursday, January 1, 2026
Weather: Snow Overnight; High Temp 19, Low Temp 3 degrees F in NH
Location: With My Family in Intervale, NH
What a wonderful beginning to 2026! We woke up to a world of white, so Justin, Ziggy, Coco, and Shadow went out to play in the snow and build a snowman. While they were outside, we got another little snow squall, which made it a winter wonderland for Ziggy and Coco. Shadow made snowman building a bit of a challenge as he was determined to wreck it, but the kids were successful!
After playing in the snow, we started the process of packing up to head to New Hampshire for a stay in and Airbnb on the Intervale-Bartlett border and snowboarding at Attitash Mountain Resort. It took us longer to pack than anticipated and about four and a half hours of driving, but we arrived successfully just after sunset. My car was the first to arrive, then Sam and Jonah, with Heather, Jed, and Ollie arriving around 6:30 pm as they had to stop to charge their car. But we had a taco dinner ready for them.
The Airbnb is certainly comfortable enough for the 10 of us. The four boys opted for the bedroom on the top floor with 4 beds. Justin and Jo and Heather and Jed each have a bedroom on the second floor. And Coco and I are in the basement playroom which has a standard sized bed, two bunk beds, and a twin. However, we are having a hard time figuring out how to get the basement up to a livable temperature. By bedtime Heather and Jed think they have it figured it out, but since it is only 58 degrees down here right now, Coco opted for sleeping on the sofa in the living room by the heater for the night. The temp in the basement playroom is rising very slowly, but I opted to sleep down here. I am wearing my heavy sweater to bed and have 3 quilts on top, so I will be warm.
by Judy Handley | Dec 31, 2025 | 2026 Life Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 365: The Last Day of 2025—Happy New Year
Date: Wednesday, December 31, 2025
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 32, Low Temp 29 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow and JJC&Z on Lakeview, Falmouth, MA
2025 was a good year for me personally, but it was a disaster for our country. I have to be optimistic that 2026 will be a better year, but it is going to take all of us to make that happen. In 2025, I went from Co-President of Encore to Past President and VP of Programs. I have very much enjoyed working with Ann Loos to plan all of Encore’s programs and luncheons for 2025-2026. I also ran in my first election (unopposed) to become a Board of Library Trustee and was appointed Treasurer of that group. I participated in Pramila Jayapal’s Resistance Labs and took an idea from a brainstorming session that led me to plan and execute a four-week long film series on Nonviolence in Action. Starting in February, I became active in Upper Cape Indivisible and by September I was working with a group in Falmouth to form our own Indivisible group—Indivisible Falmouth. I am now on the Steering Committee for Indivisible Falmouth and work on communications and education for that group. I also became a member of the Falmouth Immigrant Rights Coalition and serve on their Steering Committee. The sadness and anger and disgust over what is happening to our democracy has cast a terrible shadow over the year. I made the decision early on not to sit around and be depressed about the situation, but to take action and do something, anything. As a result, I have met a whole group of new people, and we are working to build the resistance community in Falmouth. This has kept me so busy that there is no time to sit around and fret about the situation. This was definitely the right choice for me.
The highlights of my year were seeing Willie Nelson in concert in September, attending the high school graduation of my first born grandchild, and seeing in the new year in with my whole family. In June, Sam graduated from high school. That was certainly a major event in my life. The birth of each grandchild was huge, and to see the first one headed out into the world as a young adult was huge for me.
For my birthday in March, Justin sent me two tickets for the Willie Nelson-Bob Dylan Outlaw concert in September, and Justin flew up to attend the show with me. This was the one thing at the top of my bucket list, and I was able to check that one off. Thank you, Justin.
And then what a gift it was that after Christmas Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco flew up from Puerto Rico so that my whole family would be together for the new year. So lots of positives in my life this year of 2025, despite the negatives on the national level.
This New Year’s Eve we celebrated at Heather and Jed’s. Jo suggested we do a fondue for dinner, so we had cheese fondue with veggies and meatballs and bread for dinner, and then chocolate fondue with a huge variety of fruit for dessert. We played games, watched some of the Ohio State and University of Miami football game to try and catch a glimpse of Sam’s friend Robert who is a drummer in the UM marching band, watched Back to Future, and then watched the ball drop in Times Square. It was a Happy New Year’s Eve for all of us. And I wish each of you a healthy and happy 2026.
by Judy Handley | Dec 30, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 364: Family Walk to the Knob
Date: Tuesday, December 30, 2025
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Windy; High Temp 34, Low Temp 24 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow on Lakeview, Falmouth, MA
Ziggy and I were the first ones up again this morning, so we took Shadow for his morning walk. This gave us alone time together for the second morning in a row. So special. After everyone had breakfast, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco headed out again to for a downtown walking exploration while Justin met with the Indivisible Falmouth website team to teach us more about how to maintain our website. A huge thank you to Justin for donating his time and skills to help us out.
This afternoon’s activity involving the whole family was a drive to Quissett Harbor and a walk out to the Knob.
Much of the walk was through the woods, but the last stretch is out in the open where we were walking directly into a very strong wind that made everything feel colder than the actual temperature. I wanted to get a group picture with us on the Knob, but it was a struggle in the wind to get a selfie of the whole group. As we were trying to figure this out, a lone walker popped onto the scene and took the photo for us. Lucky for us as we saw only one other person out to the Knob and no one on the way back. Once we were on our way back, we stopped for another photo of the cousins in one of our favorite climbing trees. Quissett Habor is so beautiful, and we have many happy family memories from the two summers Mark and I lived aboard there.
Tonight, we had a family dinner together at Heather and Jed’s and started thinking about our trip north to New Hampshire on New Year’s Day. We will be staying there until Sunday when I take Justin and family to the airport for their flight home. Already the time is passing much too quickly, so we are working hard to make the best of the time we do have. It is such a gift to have my whole family together. I am looking forward to tomorrow night’s New Year’s Eve festivities.
