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 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.
by Judy Handley | Mar 17, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 76: Happy St. Patrick’s Day
Date: Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Windy; High Temp 56, Low 24 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Once again, I was either on the run or working on my computer every minute of today, so tonight, instead of writing a normal log, I worked on my jigsaw puzzle. I just really needed to think about nothing other than colors and shapes of puzzle pieces. It is very therapeutic. And since I have to get up very early tomorrow morning to go set up for the monthly Encore program meeting, I am headed to bed before midnight for the first time in ages. So, again, very little writing tonight. Just a listing of the craziness … Encore Programs planning meeting, book group discussing Andy Weir’s ‘Project Hail Mary’, errands, home to do computer work, off to take Ollie to his saxophone lesson (his first since breaking his arm in January), home to answer emails, phone calls, and texts that needed a reply by the end of the day, dinner, and jigsaw puzzle.
One little note about the weather. The high today was 56 degrees F, but that was at midnight. From there, it got cooler and cooler and the daytime high was 40 and tomorrow’s high will be 36 degrees F. This is a New England spring. Normally on St. Patrick’s Day, I celebrate by planting snap peas. But not this St. Patrick’s Day. It still feels too much like winter.
by Judy Handley | Mar 15, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 75: The ‘Lion’ Has Arrived
Date: Monday, March 16, 2026
Weather: Overcast with Rain and High Winds; High Temp 458 Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Busy, busy day … de-escalation training tonight … more than a hundred emails that are sitting there waiting to be read … and tonight periods of pouring rain and rip-roaring winds with gusts up to 50 mph. The ‘lion’ of March has arrived.
by Judy Handley | Mar 15, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 74: The Ides of March
Date: Sunday, March 15, 2026
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High Temp 42, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Today was the Ides of March, the date in 44 B.C. when Julius Caesar was assassinated in Rome. Fast forward more than 1600 years, when Shakespeare made this a day to “beware” as it marked the violent end of a dictator and a turning point in Roman and world history. Evidently, we were not “beware” enough, as we now have another great nation falling into the hands of a dictator. A violent end I am not wishing for, but a nonviolent turnaround, yes.
On this Ides of March, all I could think about was not a turning point, but a tipping point. Can we stop the madness happening in this country, nonviolently, soon enough to avoid another turning point in history? So, my day was spent getting ready for tomorrow’s Indivisible Falmouth de-escalation workshop. In 2026, we know from the extensive research done on the topic of civil resistance, that the fastest and surest way to turn a country from an autocratic break through back to a full democracy is through nonviolent resistance. The research shows that violence is actually slower and most often does not work. But the nonviolent approach doesn’t happen by accident. It takes the fierce determination and training and practice of a huge mass of the population. That is what Indivisible is doing nationwide by forming groups in every little town and every big city in every state across this country and offering trainings online and in person to thousands of people everywhere, all at once. I hope you are one of those determined people and that on March 28, the day of the third nationwide NO KINGS protest, you will be out there nonviolently making your voice heard. No Kings in 1776! No Kings in 2026!
