by Judy Handley | Oct 8, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 281: Omne Trium Perfectum
Date: Thursday, October 8, 2026
Weather: Sunny and Warmer Day; High Temp 69, Low 51 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Today fit the saying that good things some in threes. And as I just wrote that, I wondered where that saying came from. I looked it us and found that it goes way back to ancient times and is rooted in the Latin phrase omne trium perfectum which translates as “everything that comes in a trio is complete or perfect.” At least that is the quick answer to my question. There is more about the number three symbolizing totality, sacredness, or completion, but I’ll let you look into that if interested.
My three things today were a Newcomers program meeting, a birthday luncheon for Jane Woodin, and attending a soccer game between FHS and Monomoy. The last one was tense for me. I did not know until I got there that Jonah was going to be the goalie today.
No matter whose kid is in the goal, I always feel for them because there is so much pressure. I know Jonah ‘thinks’ soccer and knows where the ball will probably go, but it was hard for me to relax into the game with him as goalie. Teddy, the normal goalie has to have knee surgery, and the other goalie was elbowed in the head in the game on Monday, resulting in a concussion. Jonah is the only other member of the team with the ability who is willing to fill in, so there he will be, probably for the remainder of the season. Go, Jonah!
There was a fourth thing, but I did not attend. I left the soccer game at half time to go pick up Ollie up from a JV golf match. I also picked up food Heather had ordered from Le Bon Jour for the whole family and delivered both Ollie and the food home. Heather and Jed were going to head home right after the soccer game, gobble down dinner, and head to a Scout Court of Honor with Ollie. A family with three teen-aged boys makes for a busy enterprise.
by Judy Handley | Oct 7, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 280: Another Busy One
Date: Wednesday, October 7, 2026
Weather: Sunny, Still Cool; High Temp 62, Low 57 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I was on the move today and I am feeling the exhaustion tonight. But nothing a good night’s sleep won’t fix. I think it was so tiring because I moved from place to place. I spent an hour at an indivisible Falmouth Steering Committee meeting and then drove to East Falmouth for two hours to knock on doors for candidates, Jack Richarson for State representative and Dylan Fernandez for State senator. I then went to spend an hour visiting with my sister and found her in an exceptionally good mood. At 2:30 pm, I wheeled her off to a different part of the building for a Wampanoag drumming circle. I wish I could have stayed but I needed to ge home to let Shadow out and grab some lunch before going to a late afternoon reception for Dylan Fernandez. And in between all of this, I was on the phone with my sister’s doctor’s office as well as Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina. Somehow, even though I made absolutely sure everyone knew that Patsy’s medical insurance changed on August 1, I discovered yesterday that her primary care is still sending claims to North Carolina. Overseeing her medical needs is constant. Every single time I think I have things under control, another problem arises. But I can keep hoping that one of these times, there is not going to another single thing to deal with.
by Judy Handley | Oct 6, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 279: Trip to Hyannis
Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2026
Weather: Sunny but Cooler; High Temp 61, Low 42 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
By the time I got up and did all of the things one must do to get ready for the day( plus take Shadow for his morning walk), it was time to head to Hyannis for an annual eye exam. Actually, the last time I went was in the spring of 2024, but both of the lens of my current glasses are so scratched that I have been wearing glasses from four years ago for the past month. This was an appointment I couldn’t miss. The good news is I will have new glasses in 10 days. The bad news was that there is evidence of the beginnings of cataracts, but thankfully not enough to be referred for surgery. I was hoping to never have to deal with cataracts, but it looks like my hope was in vain.
While in Hyannis, I thought I would do a little shopping. I hate shopping, but I needed organic green tea from Whole Foods and my sister needs so many different items of clothing. The most pressing is that she needs nightgowns not pajamas. And I am the last person on earth who should be shopping for nightgowns. I have never owned one and honestly have only ever bought one pair of pajamas for myself in the past 50 years. I used to wear old t-shirts for pajamas, but I did buy one summer pair of pajamas and one pair of knee length pajama bottoms about 10 years ago. I have been trying to order things for my sister online, and I do have a few things coming, but it is so hard to judge quality and size online. All of this is complicated by the fact that she can only wear petite sizes due to arm length and not every store has petites. My intolerance for mall shopping and the fact that they had nothing for me to buy today has convinced me that I am going to have to do her shopping online and pay whatever price is asked. I was looking for things on sale or for affordable prices, but I now know that is just not going to work. She has the money. I just hate paying such high prices for things.
I didn’t get home until almost 3:30, fixed and ate lunch, played outside with Shadow, and then was off to pick Ollie up from golf practice. I had a huge bag of chocolate goodies for the Goldstones from Trader Joe’s, and that made Ollie very happy. Trader Joe’s was my only successful shopping stop of the day. Whole Foods didn’t even have the organic green tea I needed. I think my 9-month stint of refusing to order from Amazon is over. I give in. In person shopping is just not my thing.
by Judy Handley | Oct 5, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 278: Scheduled Minute by Minute
Date: Monday, October 5, 2026
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 67, Low 43 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
My day today was literally scheduled minute by minute. But I survived! Tomorrow is almost the opposite. I have only two things on my calendar, the first being an eye exam in Hyannis. With travel time, that will take at least 3 hour of my day, but I only have to get back in time to pick Ollie up after golf practice. But first I have to survive the early morning temp in the low 40’s. Ouch! Early Wednesday morning looks the same, then it warms back up a bit on the overnights.
by Judy Handley | Oct 4, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 277: Heather’s Birthday Sail Aboard the Liberté
Date: Sunday, October 4, 2026
Weather: Partly Sunny, Turning Overcast, Rain PM; High Temp 63, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Jed’s birthday gift to Heather was an afternoon sail on the Liberté.
The Liberté is a 77’ three-masted steel schooner that takes people for sailing excursions out of the Falmouth Harbor. Today was the last trip of the season and ten of us were lucky enough to be aboard. Jed invited two couples plus the six of us. Grace and Mike are the parents of one of Sam’s good friends, Robert. And Kate and Jeannot are the parents of Jean Luc, one of Jonah’s best friends. Robert is back at school in Miami and Jean Luc had to pick up a friend at the airport, so just the parents could come today.
We motored out of the harbor at noon with and lucked out with good winds and enough sunshine until near the end of the two plus hour sail. Heather and Sam got to pitch in and help while raising the sails, but the rest of the afternoon was just enjoying a beautiful fall day on the water.
We slowly sailed our way toward Nobska Light and when we turned to head home, the cloud cover came in. Shortly after that, I heard someone say the rain was coming in 24 minutes. We sailed more quickly home, and lucky for us, the first drops of rain didn’t hit the deck until just at the moment we arrived at the dock.
When I got home, despite the little bit of rain we were having, I needed to launch into a gardening project. When I lived in the cottage in East Falmouth, Ollie got a butterfly garden starter kit for his birthday in 2020. It had Echinacea seeds in it, so we planted them. I babied the little plants and by summer’s end we had a few Echinacea plants with beautiful pink flowers that the bees loved.
Echinacea is a perennial, so every year I had more and more. When I moved from the cottage, I dug up all the Echinacea plants and brought them here with me. I planted them all in a big round white plastic tub and they have been flourishing there Just beside my back deck for the past three years. But last week, I was told I had to move the tub of Echinacea because a contractor is coming to do some work right where the tub sits. Well, sat, as it has now been moved. There was no way I could move the foot and half high tub that is two feet across and full of garden soil, so I dug up clumps of plants and put the clumps in buckets and took them to Heather’s and transplanted them in her front yard. Hopefully they will have a permanent home there. That took at least a couple of hours and suddenly it was time for dinner. But I got to do the two things I love to do all in one day. I had a lovely time on the water sailing and then spent the rest of the afternoon gardening. It made for a perfect fourth day of October.
