by Judy Handley | Nov 4, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 308: Day After Historic Election
Date: Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 64, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth MA
The Guardian Headlines … Democrats win control of Congress as voters punish Trump … US voters rebuke Trump as Democrats win control of Congress in ‘blue wave’ … Resounding wins for Democrats is a wholesale rebuke of Trump’s Maga. US headlines all included words like rout or blue wave or tsunami, or they said things like, “Voters reject Trump’s GOP as Democrats rack up wins.”
My friend, Jerry Lanson, wrote a Substack post today. He wrote the same things I have been thinking. Here are some excerpts from that post:
“Americans spoke … They voted this election day in anger and disgust but with purpose. They spoke up for health care and affordable housing, for sane gas prices and utility bills, for food prices they can afford. But they spoke up for more — for decency and a roll back of overt, daily corruption … They elected a governor in Ohio abused as a child and mocked for it by her opponent. They elected a senator in Iowa, who was a para-Olympian and campaigned from a wheelchair. They elected a logger in Maine to the U.S. Senate and the pastor of a mega-church in Kansas. They elected a Native American to the Senate from Minnesota and may yet elect an African-American from the deep red, southern state of Mississippi. They elected a Muslim-American smeared as a terrorist and non-American in Michigan. They elected a Latina governor of Texas and an African-American governor of Georgia. And they elected a 37-year-old Texan, part populist, part preacher, raised by a single mother with a closet for his nursery as a babe. He ran against Elon Musk and the $212 million Musk donated to defeat him. And he beat him, and the state’s long term conservative incumbent governor, in part by casting the race as David vs. Goliath, with the voters of Texas as his slingshot. Meanwhile, close to home, I am now represented by a 24-year-old state Assemblyman who took on a long-entrenched Republican well-liked in my community but nonetheless tied in some ways to Trump’s party and brand … What an extraordinary group of candidates and now new elected officials. What a diverse group in a country in which the president has done everything he can to deport people to countries they’ve never set foot in, to erase their history — our history, to intimidate, bully and threaten anyone who stands up to him. In truth, relatively few college presidents, members of Congress, business leaders, or law firms have. The Supreme Court has largely crumbled, but the court system, federal and state, beneath that high court has not … Nor have the American people.”
Personally, I am still trying to internalize that this really happened. Since January 2025, I have worked hard for something like this to happen, but I never let myself think that this midterm election would be this successful. But as throughout history, the American public once again voted for what is right and just.
You and I–all of us—can take time to celebrate, but then we have to stay vigilant and push very hard against the widening inequalities that are corrupting our system … and keep pushing very hard for democracy and social justice.
by Judy Handley | Nov 3, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 307: On Election Day
Date: Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 62, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth MA
What an election night! The power of the people in the election was definitely stronger than the people in power and the millions and millions of dollars they spent to try and buy this election. The people of this country said loud and clear through their votes that we are not having it. Candidates willing to fight for our democracy while not taking big money in order to get elected have won the night so far. They did not have the millions from the richest man in the world poured into their campaigns, but they did have millions of people knocking on doors, making phone calls, writing postcards, sending small donations, getting out the early vote … people power is winning!
Heather and I went to local candidate Jack Richardson’s watch party tonight. Jack is only 24 years old and is running against a well-liked Republican incumbent to be the State Representative for part of Falmouth, Mashpee, and Bourne. It was a tense evening as the results from Falmouth in-person voting today showed Jack behind David Viera.
But as the evening progressed and results from early voting were added in, Jack pulled slightly ahead. But when Heather and I left sometime after 11 pm, votes from Bourne were still not in. When I got home, I turned on the television to get the latest update on the national scene. During the watch party, we had watched one Democratic candidate after another being projected to win their races. But it wasn’t until I was home, cuddled up on the couch with Shadow, that I began to truly realize what had been accomplished through this election—truly phenomenal. It is now 1 AM and I am going to bed. I still do not know if El-Sayed in Michigan is going to win. And the results in Maine are still not in. So, I go to bed feeling great about the results so far but not yet celebrating until the final votes are counted.
One thing I do know as I go to bed on this election night is that I have done everything I could in the past year, right up until the sun set today, to use my personal ‘people power’, and that feels good. I will sleep peacefully. This morning I traveled to New Bedford to be a non-partisan election observer for the New Bedford Coalition to Protect the Vote. Foreign-born residents living in New Bedford make up more than 20% of the population and the Coalition wanted to make sure those who are eligible to vote could do so. Federal agents were at the polls for the primary in September, so we were there to make sure those who are eligible to vote could do so. But the federal agents did not show up for this election, at least not at the poll where I was stationed. My only regret when I left there just before noon was that I do not speak Portuguese. So many people in southeast Massachusetts are Portuguese speakers, so maybe this is something I will add to my to do list! Then after getting home to walk Shadow and eat lunch, I went to the Dems Headquarters to get a sign for Jack Richardson and headed to one of the precinct polling places to hold the sign until the sun went down. Thankfully, Heather and Jed invited me over for dinner so I didn’t have to cook before heading to the watch party. It was a full and uplifting election day watching so many people streaming in to vote.
by Judy Handley | Nov 2, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 306: On Election Eve
Date: Monday, November 2, 2026
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 62, Low 51 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth MA
Midterms 2026. Months of work by so many people across this country have gone into preparing for tomorrow. But when all is said and done, it will not be the end of anything. It will either be the beginning of a massive effort to begin to rebuild or it will be a continuation of the work we have been doing. I am so hopeful that the people of this country will come out in record numbers to say loud and clear that what has been happening in the past two years is not representative of the vast majority of this country. But whether or not there is a blue wave (I’m hoping for a tsunami), the tide is turning and we just have to keep swimming.
by Judy Handley | Nov 2, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 305: Darkness Comes Early Now
Date: Sunday, November 1, 2026
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 55, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth MA
Spring Forward, Fall Back. So, last night we ‘fell back’ by moving our clocks back one hour to Eastern Standard Time. That made for a bright morning, but sunset was at 4:38 pm with last light at 5:06 pm. Darkness coming in the late afternoon is not my favorite thing, so I just have to look forward to March when we go back to Daylight Savings time and later sunsets.
I spent three hours of my day knocking on doors to remind people that have not yet voted that Tuesday is the day. I have committed to doing another door knocking shift and that will end by newfound canvassing ‘career’. Canvassing for political candidates is something that I had only done one time before this election cycle. In 2004 I was convinced by my niece Lynn to knock on doors one afternoon in New Hampshire when Bob Kerry was running against George W. But in August of this year, I realized that knocking on doors and talking to people face to face is the most effective way of getting the word out about candidates. People don’t read the campaign literature sent in the mail. Phone calling can be effective if people answer their phones, but most people do not these days. That leaves door knocking. Some choose not to answer their doors, but most do and most are appreciative of information about the candidates. I have learned so much by talking to people while canvassing. But that said, I will be glad when tomorrow’s last shift is done. And like everyone in this country, I will really be glad when this election is over and done. But we all know that will not be on Tuesday. It will not be over until those people that win on Tuesday are certified and seated in January. Then, hopefully, we can breathe a sigh of relief as we begin the work of putting this country back together. At least that is my optimistic hope.
Today was also Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead. I had dinner at the Goldstone’s tonight, and we had a toast to celebrate those who have left us and are now our guardian angels. We also celebrated that Jonah sent off his first college applications for early action (not early decision) and Ollie got a snowplow blade for this lawn tractor.
by Judy Handley | Oct 31, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 304: A Halloween Treat
Date: Saturday, October 31, 2026
Weather: Sunny but Cooler; High Temp 54, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth MA
I am giving myself a Halloween treat and taking the night off. I’ll be back tomorrow!
by Judy Handley | Oct 30, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 303: Last Day of Noon at Noonan, Visit with Patsy
Date: Friday, October 30, 2026
Weather: So Warm and Beautiful; High Temp 69, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth MA
Today was the last day of early voting in Falmouth, so it was the last day of Noon at Noonan. I stayed at Peg Noonan Park alone and sent the other three people to stand at the entrance to Town Hall where people vote early. We all had signs that announced the “last day” of early voting, but almost everyone I talked to today has already voted. The weather was gorgeous and it actually felt hot. It was almost 70 degrees and those of us who came to stand out today were dressed for cooler weather.
I am so glad I decided to do the daily stand out. A few people today stopped to tell me that they voted early because they saw us standing there every day. Other people took time today to say that the information on the ballot questions that we distributed was so very helpful. A big thank you to those who joined me during the past two weeks—Jennifer Owens, Luean Anthony, Mo Lewis, Kathy Shaffer, Michael Lambert, and Sandy Faiman-Silva joined me on multiple days. Thank you, thank you.
As I did the noon time walk to Town Hall today, I took time to take photos of the Halloween decorations. My favorite has been right beside me for all 12 days of Noon at Noonan … Lady Liberty. But seashell mermaid came in as a close second.
I was going to go home afterwards, but it was so warm and beautiful that I decided to go visit with my sister and take her outside in the garden to enjoy the sunshine. We had a wonderful time together in the sunshine and then I took her inside for a Halloween party. I didn’t stay for the party, but she was enjoying watching as everyone came in and put on a pair of crazy Halloween glasses. Patsy chose to be a pumpkin! And I told her she was a perfect match for her great-grandson Jack. Patsy’s granddaughter, Jessica, sent a photo of baby Jack as a jack-o-lantern!
