by Judy Handley | Feb 28, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 59: Reciprocity
Date: Saturday, February 28, 2026
Weather: Sunny, Warmer; High Temp 51, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
No gloves, no hats were needed today. It was sunny and warm enough to be comfortable, not even needing to zip up your coat. When I first walked out the door with Shadow this morning, the birds were serenading as if maybe spring is coming. But … tomorrow will be 16 degrees cooler than today and we are supposed to get a bit of snow, less than half an inch. After the official 21-22 inches they say we got on Monday, four-tenths of inch seems like nothing.
The standout on the Green was great today. Some of us brought snow shovels, which really are not helpful at this point because the snow is so icy. There was one flat edged shovel that worked great, but for the most part, people were happy just walking through the snow. Next week there is the second National Day of Science. Last year this protest was held in Woods Hole, but this year we will be on the Green on Saturday as usual.After the standout, I went to the library to meet with Aminta who will be our presenter on Monday evening for our first Indivisible training leading up to NO KINGS Falmouth on March 28. We needed to scope out the room and decide on how we will set up the chairs. Then it was home for lunch before returning to the library for a 3:30 presentation by Wampanoag elder Leslie Jonas. Just before I was ready to leave, my friend and landlord Lynda stopped by to check on things after the snowstorm. She was in Pennsylvania this week and just returned today. I let Shadow out to play in the driveway while we talked and when we walked out, there was no Shadow to be found. I called and called, but no Shadow. I called Andy across the street to see if he was there. No Shadow. Lynda drove around the block while I went out on the front deck to call for him. Still no response. I saw no paw prints in the backyard so I assumed he must have escaped out onto the street by way of the driveway. Heather was going to the presentation at the library with me, so I quickly called to tell her I wouldn’t be picking her up as I was on a hunt for Shadow. Shortly after we got off the phone, she arrived with Jed and Jonah to help search. Lynda and Jed were driving all over the immediate area when Jonah walked back by the entrance to the studio apartment and saw paw prints going down the hill from there. Heather put on her snowshoes to follow Jonah down to the backyard to see if he might be trapped in some deep snow in the empty lot behind my house. And sure enough, he was there. Not trapped in deep snow, but frolicking in it. Jonah thinks he was chasing a squirrel. But whatever, everyone was very relieved. And I was doubly relieved to find him and to know he had not run off. He was just playing in what he considers his backyard.
Everyone disbursed and I headed to the library. The talk, ‘Relationality, Reciprocity, and Gratitude’, explored the ideas in Robin Wall Kimmerer’s ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’. Falmouth has a community read each year and this is the book for 2026. I have been a follower of Kimmerer and I especially love the way she writes about the importance of reciprocity in the Native American culture—the Earth gives to us and in return we give back. Unfortunately, the rest of us got off track and just became takers with no giving back. The talk today made me even more excited about Encore’s April program which is a presentation by Leslie Jonas on the major elements in the Wampanoag culture—Earth, Fire, Water, and Air.
I loved a photo Heather shared tonight of Ollie at Chapaquoit Beach using his new camera to capture the sunset and the planetary alignment in the evening sky. I have been so busy that I didn’t even know about this. I Googled it and found that in the early evening there was a rare six-planet alignment of Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune where they appeared to be lined up. Only four were to be visible to the naked eye. I can’t wait to see what Ollie captured.
by Judy Handley | Feb 27, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 58: Impromptu
Date: Friday, February 27, 2026
Weather: Sunny, Warm Enough to Melt More Snow; High Temp 41, Low 26 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
This day got filled to the brim with impromptu happenings. Because I had no set meetings until 4 pm, I decided to start the day doing a post-storm house check in for friends who are out of town. Then I got a text from a neighbor where I used to live in East Falmouth asking me to go to their summer vacation house that they rent as an Airbnb. The internet/cable was not working. By the time I drove to East Falmouth to check on one house and then to West Falmouth to check on the other, it was noon. Then I got an email about a Board of Library Trustees issue that had to be dealt with today. Suddenly, I was immersed in that. Then, believe it or not, I got another email with another issue that had to be dealt with immediately. So, one impromptu happening after another brought me to my 4 planned pm meeting. That was in Woods Hole. When it was over, I made a trip to Waquoit, as far as you can get from one part of Falmouth to another, to pick up some items I had left at another friend’s house. While there, I got a very generous, impromptu invitation to dinner.
by Judy Handley | Feb 26, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 57: Lunch with Friends, Storm Recovery Progress
Date: Thursday, February 26, 2026
Weather: Sunny, Warm Enough to Melt Some Snow; High Temp 42, Low 19 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
This morning, I was supposed to have a meeting with the woman who will be leading our Indivisible “Prepared Protester” training on Monday, but she had to postpone to the afternoon. I was relieved because I really didn’t have the PowerPoint presentation ready for her, so I worked furiously all morning to get it done.
But before I knew the meeting was going to be postponed, I headed out the door to take Shadow for his morning walk. We had some melting yesterday and it froze overnight, so our walk was short lived. I was so thankful to even make it around the block without falling. The pavement looked harmless, but it was dangerously slippery. When I got back, I had to launch into an unexpected shoveling project as the town had come through early this morning to clear the sidewalks. That process left piles of chunky, icy snow across the entrance to my driveway that had to be moved before I could get the car out.
So that was my morning. I finished the PowerPoint just before noon and headed to Mashpee for a birthday luncheon for friend Midge Frieswyk. We had a delightful lunch, and I didn’t check my phone until I got home to let Shadow out quickly before heading to Woods Hole. That’s when I found out that the meeting was going to have to be postponed until tomorrow. That gave me time to take care of another Indivisible issue and all of a sudden it was 7 pm.
I am writing this early as I am taking the rest of the night off. I think I’ll just veg in front of the television. But one last thing. There is good news for Falmouth residents on the power restoration. We have gone from 93 percent without power initially, to 70 percent by the end of yesterday, to 22 per cent today. Eversource is hoping that by 6 pm tomorrow, everyone will be back online. That is wonderful news.
by Judy Handley | Feb 25, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 56: The Haves and the Have Nots
Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Weather: Cloudy, Some Mixed Precipitation; High Temp 38, Low 30 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
The decision on whether of not I was cancelling tomorrow night’s film screening at the library had to be made by 9 am this morning. That meant I needed to know if the library had power restored. It did not, so that made the decision. I then spent the rest of the morning getting all of the resources organized for Monday night’s Indivisible ‘Prepared Protester’ training.
By noon, I was ready for a break, so I took time to deliver a few books to my friend Karen Baranowski. She and Peter still have no electricity, no internet, and no cable television. So she needed something to read! The Baranowski’s have a generator, so they are not without power. But three days with no contact with the outside world has left them feeling very isolated. That reminded me of just how lucky I have been through this storm. I have been one of the ‘haves’, whereas most people in Falmouth have been the ‘have nots’. At the end of today, still 70 per cent of the town’s properties are without power. That includes, the rec center, the Senior Center, the library, I assume most stores on Main Street, but more importantly so many people without heat. I am incredibly thankful for my good luck, but very worried for so many without.
by Judy Handley | Feb 24, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 55: Snow Recovery Day
Date: Monday, February 24, 2026
Weather: Sorm Over, Beautiful Day; High Temp 33, Low 19 degrees F
Location: Back Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Last night on my last trip out with Shadow, I took a photo of the glistening snow down the driveway. When I went inside and looked at the photos I had taken, I noticed something I had not seen earlier. There are two very tall evergreens down by my mailbox and one of them was minus its top. The top was on the ground in the driveway.Obviously, the heavy snow had gotten to be too much.
But with that one exception, Shadow and I weathered the storm in style with heat and internet and cable TV, all the things many people in Falmouth didn’t have. I woke up early to bright sunshine and a clear deep blue sky. It was gorgeous outside.
My neighbor Andy arrived with his snowplow first thing, clearing a path for Shadow and I out to the road. Shadow was ecstatic, jumping up from the path to walk on the snow. On one side of the driveway, he fell through. But on the other side, he quickly learned that he could walk on the snow. He frolicked and ran and frolicked some more. Obviously, the path to road gave him the same sense of freedom it gave me. We were no longer trapped in our snow cave. Thank you, thank you, thank you to my neighbor Andy.
I did some shoveling, worked to check things off that never ending to do list, shoveled some more, and then went over to shovel off my car in Andy’s driveway. He was actually doing just that when I arrived. He was very carefully using a snow scraper to clean off the roof of my car. I grabbed a snow shovel and finished the job in a couple of seconds! Snow shovels these days have plastic guards on their edges and make great car scrapers. We finished that job and talked about the one remaining problem. He had cleared his driveway and the driveway of many neighbors today with his snow blower, but the more than two-foot wall of ice and snow that the snowplows had left blocking the entrance to his driveway was still there . He had tried to use his snowplow to get rid of it, but the pile was just too icy. I made him promise to leave it there until the guy comes tomorrow to plow my driveway. I said I would get him to do it. I went home and not even an hour later, I got a text from Andy saying the job was done. Neighbors, whose driveways he had cleared in the morning, had come to the rescue. An unlikely coalition of folks; a middle school art teacher, my neighbor on one side who is a Delta pilot, my neighbor on the other side who manages an online Cape Cod magazine. Of the four of them, I know for certain that two of them are stanch conservative Republicans, and I suspect the other two are progressive Democrats. How wonderful that those differences can be put aside to work together to get things done.
Then that euphoria of people working together for the common good was totally obliterated tonight when I watched the State of the Union spectacle. Promoting division seemed to me the core aim of the speech, along with way too much blood and gore. What kind of vicious, wicked person gives a speech like that?
Then one last thing. After the speech when I checked my phone, I saw a Facebook post by my daughter that made me so proud of her and the work she does for this community. “This is a storm for the books. As the sun was setting, just half of roads cleared, ~150 trees down in roadways, and 78% of households without power in Falmouth. This is not for want of trying. Town, contract, and Eversource crews are working as hard as they can, and I hope we can all remember that and be grateful even when the end result isn’t what we’d like. We have power, so if you need a warm place to stay tonight, let me know. There’s more info on resources in the release.”
FALMOUTHMA.GOV
Storm Recovery Updates • Falmouth, MA
Town of Falmouth Public Works and Public Safety personnel have been working non-stop to clear the roadways. At present, approximately 50% of the roadways have been cleared. Eversource is reporting 78% of properties are without power at this time.
by Judy Handley | Feb 23, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 54: 24 Hours of Wind and Snow
Date: Monday, February 23, 2026
Weather: Constant Snow and Wind; High Temp 32, Low 22 degrees F
Location: Back Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
We are finally down to gale force winds from blizzard-like conditions and the snow has stopped, but Hernando gave us a good 24-hour ride.
I am learning to love the sound of the whole house generator as it gives me heat and light when many have none. Thousands of people in Massachusetts are without power, and Ever Source here on the Cape is sending messages to people without power saying it is massive failure that will take 3-5 days to fix. The Baranowskis have a whole house generator, so they have power, but they have no internet or cable. Heather and Jed lost power at 3 am, but they got it back during the morning.
Since I have power and internet, I spent the day trying to catch up on projects that require the internet. When you put aside the misery some are going through due to this storm, you can enjoy the beauty. The white landscape is magical.
But today you had to appreciate it from inside. The time I spent outside was miserable because the wind was blowing the icy snow sideways and right into my face. Shadow loves snow but not snow that is this deep. And he really hates wind. So, it was chore convincing him to stay outside while I shoveled.
The clean-up will begin tomorrow morning, but today l don’t think there was a car on the road and certainly not a plow. I learned from shoveling my walk from the house to the driveway that as soon as I was finished, it was filled with snow almost immediately. Plowing would have been for naught. And besides, it would have been too dangerous because of the high wind. Most everything is closed again tomorrow, including the schools. But I imagine that there will be a flurry of activity in the morning with snowplows, snow blowers, and shovels doing their work to clear the roads and driveways.
